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Comparison · Collab

Excalidraw vs Skedda

A side-by-side editorial comparison of Excalidraw and Skedda — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

Excalidraw vs Skedda: at a glance

FeatureExcalidrawSkedda
SectorCollabCollab
Velocity score0.06.3
Sparks · 30d00
Top themeswhiteboard, embeddable-library, esm-migration, canvas-apiworkplace-management, occupancy-analytics, visitor-management, api
Last editorial update3mo ago13d ago
WebsiteVisit →—

What is Excalidraw?

Excalidraw's package went ESM-only in 0.18 — a big release, then 16 months of silence on this feed.

This feed tracks the embeddable @excalidraw/excalidraw package rather than the hosted app, so every entry is a library release aimed at developers integrating the canvas. Version 0.18.0 in March 2025 was the large one: command palette, multiplayer undo and redo, flowcharts, elbow arrows, scene search, image cropping, element linking, CJK fonts, and a move from UMD to ES modules that broke existing consumers. Earlier releases are smaller, mostly programmatic API surface and rendering fixes. Nothing has been captured since.

Read the full Excalidraw trajectory →

What is Skedda?

Skedda Companion can now be pushed to every laptop through MDM for full presence data.

Skedda's last quarter has been about making the data it collects visible and usable: Occupancy Insights, multi-venue comparison, richer visit exports, a read-only API beta and a redesigned Visits page. Skedda Companion 1.2 now installs through Intune, Jamf, Kandji or any MDM and enrols users automatically, so check-ins can be verified from laptop presence without QR codes or hardware.

Read the full Skedda trajectory →

Excalidraw vs Skedda: editorial side-by-side

Excalidraw logo0.0

Excalidraw's package went ESM-only in 0.18 — a big release, then 16 months of silence on this feed.

◆ Current state

This feed tracks the embeddable @excalidraw/excalidraw package rather than the hosted app, so every entry is a library release aimed at developers integrating the canvas. Version 0.18.0 in March 2025 was the large one: command palette, multiplayer undo and redo, flowcharts, elbow arrows, scene search, image cropping, element linking, CJK fonts, and a move from UMD to ES modules that broke existing consumers. Earlier releases are smaller, mostly programmatic API surface and rendering fixes. Nothing has been captured since.

◆ Where it's heading

The package's direction has been to expose more of the editor to host applications — API subscribers, programmatic element creation, viewport control, sidebar tabs — so Excalidraw can be embedded as a component rather than only used as a site. The ESM transition fits that: tree-shakable output matters to the teams shipping it inside their own products. With no releases captured in over a year, this source no longer says anything about current activity, which more likely reflects the crawl target than the project.

◆ Prediction

Insufficient data for a forward call from this feed: the last captured release predates the window by more than a year, so any prediction would be about the package's dormancy rather than Excalidraw's actual roadmap.

S
Skedda
COLLAB
6.3

Skedda Companion can now be pushed to every laptop through MDM for full presence data.

◆ Current state

Skedda's last quarter has been about making the data it collects visible and usable: Occupancy Insights, multi-venue comparison, richer visit exports, a read-only API beta and a redesigned Visits page. Skedda Companion 1.2 now installs through Intune, Jamf, Kandji or any MDM and enrols users automatically, so check-ins can be verified from laptop presence without QR codes or hardware.

◆ Where it's heading

Skedda is shifting from a booking front end to a source of workplace attendance data. Companion's MDM rollout aims at complete presence coverage, which makes the occupancy analytics and API more valuable as more laptops report in.

◆ Prediction

Expect occupancy and presence data to reach the API, since Skedda said more API capabilities are planned and Companion now feeds richer attendance data.

Alternatives to Excalidraw and Skedda

Other Collab products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Excalidraw or Skedda.

See all Excalidraw alternatives → · See all Skedda alternatives →

Recent activity from Excalidraw and Skedda

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 14d agoSkeddaSkedda Companion updated to v1.2: auto-enroll users
  2. 28d agoSkeddaSee visitor status and custom fields at a glance
  3. 1mo agoSkeddaBuild with the Skedda API ⚡
  4. 1mo agoSkeddaSpace type and Capacity filters
  5. 2mo agoSkeddaOccupancy Insights
  6. 3mo agoSkeddaImproved visit exports, now with custom field data
  7. 1y agoExcalidrawExcalidraw 0.18 drops UMD for ESM and adds flowcharts ⚡
  8. 1y agoExcalidrawDuplicate capture of the 0.18.0 release
  9. 2y agoExcalidrawPatch release fixes UMD build and arrow label bounds
  10. 2y agoExcalidrawDuplicate capture of the 0.17.3 patch
  11. 2y agoExcalidrawRelease 0.17 expands the programmatic canvas API
  12. 2y agoExcalidrawDuplicate capture of the 0.17 release

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Excalidraw and Skedda?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Skedda is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is Excalidraw better than Skedda?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Skedda is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Collab products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to Excalidraw?

Top Excalidraw alternatives in Collab are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Excalidraw alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/excalidraw for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to Skedda?

Top Skedda alternatives in Collab are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Skedda alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/skedda for the full list with editorial commentary on each.