Excalidraw

Hand-drawn style diagrams and sketches. Free, simple, collaborative.

When to Use

Quick diagrams, brainstorming, system architecture, process flows. The sketchy aesthetic makes things feel approachable rather than final—good for early-stage thinking.

vs Other Tools

Simpler than Figma and FigJam for quick diagrams. Different purpose than Canva—Excalidraw is for thinking, Canva is for polished output.

Text to Diagram

Excalidraw has a built-in "Text to Diagram" feature that converts Mermaid syntax into visual flowcharts. Combine it with voice dictation and AI to skip the manual dragging entirely—see Text to Diagram: Voice to Visual in Seconds for the full workflow.

Collaboration

Real-time collaboration built in. Share a link, sketch together. Good for remote whiteboarding sessions.