Excalidraw vs Permr

Excalidraw provides hand-drawn style diagrams, not realistic lighting renderings.

Which to pick

What it is: Excalidraw:Excalidraw is an open-source virtual whiteboard for creating hand-drawn style diagrams.; Permr:Permr is a permanent-lighting design tool that lets contractors create realistic mockups in under two minutes.
Best for: Excalidraw:Hand-drawn style collaborative whiteboarding; Permr:Fast permanent-lighting mockups
Who it’s for: Excalidraw:Designers, developers, and teams needing quick sketching and collaborative diagrams.; Permr:Lighting contractors who need quick, affordable design proposals.
Pricing: Excalidraw:Free; Permr:Contact sales
Open source: Excalidraw:Yes, 133,502 GitHub stars; Permr:—
Works with: Excalidraw:—; Permr:iPhone, Android, iPad

Hand-drawn style canvas. Create diagrams that look hand-sketched with a simple drawing interface.
Live collaboration. Invite others to edit the same canvas in real time after signing up.
Export options. Save your work to a file to avoid loss from browser storage clearing.
Keyboard shortcuts. Quickly open files (Ctrl+O) and access help via the UI.
Canvas navigation. Move the canvas using scroll wheel, space-drag, or the hand tool.

Rapid mockup creation. Generate realistic lighting designs in under 2 minutes.
Cross-device access. Available on iPhone, Android, iPad and desktop browsers.
Easy to use. Designed for contractors with no specialized design training.
Affordability. Positioned as a low-cost solution for small businesses.
Client visualization. Shows homeowners exactly how the lighting will look before installation.

Is Excalidraw or Permr free?+

Excalidraw is free.

Is Excalidraw or Permr open source?+

Excalidraw is open source (excalidraw/excalidraw on GitHub, MIT license). DevHunt has no public source repository on record for Permr.

Excalidraw

Listed by DevHunt

Permr

0 upvotes · Launched on DevHunt on Jan 6, 2026

Based on each tool's website and DevHunt data. Details may change; check the official sites.