Stop guessing which one. Put them side by side.

The grid says what these tools are. This says what builders did about it — one decision per person, changeable whenever you change your mind.

# Tool comparison — Excalidraw vs Fontshare vs Google Fonts

Source: Kbaise, a directory of tools that work with Lovable projects.
Pick one and tell me why before writing any integration code.

## Excalidraw (excalidraw)
- URL: https://excalidraw.com
- Category: Design tools, color & type
- Cost: mixed — Free and MIT-licensed · Excalidraw+ $6/user/mo billed yearly ($7 monthly)
- What it is: Open-source virtual whiteboard with a deliberately hand-drawn look. The free web app gives the full editor, one infinite scene, unlimited live collaborators, end-to-end encrypted sessions and local-first autosave, plus PNG and SVG export. It also ships as an embeddable React component.
- Why builders pick it: The lowest-friction way to sketch an architecture diagram or user flow and drop it into a README. The sketchy aesthetic signals draft, so nobody mistakes a five-minute box diagram for a finished spec.
- Trap: Free scenes live in browser storage, not an account — clearing site data or switching machines loses them unless you export the .excalidraw file or pay for Excalidraw+.
- Wiring: npm i @excalidraw/excalidraw
- Full dossier: /api/public/tools/excalidraw

## Fontshare (fontshare)
- URL: https://www.fontshare.com
- Category: Design tools, color & type
- Cost: free — Free
- What it is: Free font service from the Indian Type Foundry offering a small, tightly curated set of contemporary families — Satoshi, General Sans, Clash Display, Cabinet Grotesk and similar — many with variable versions. Serve from their CDN or download the files and self-host.
- Why builders pick it: The quickest way to stop looking like every other Google Fonts site. A handful of these faces read as expensive typography while costing nothing, which is exactly the trade a solo builder wants.
- Trap: The ITF licence covers personal and commercial use and embedding in sites and apps, but you may not resell or redistribute the font files themselves. Check the terms per family — some are free cuts of larger paid families.
- Full dossier: /api/public/tools/fontshare

## Google Fonts (google-fonts)
- URL: https://fonts.google.com
- Category: Design tools, color & type
- Cost: free — Free
- What it is: Library of open-source typefaces, almost all under the SIL Open Font License 1.1 with a handful under Apache 2.0. Serve them from Google's CDN, self-host the files, or bundle them into a native app. Includes variable fonts and the Material Symbols icon set.
- Why builders pick it: Zero-cost, zero-friction type that is legally safe in commercial products, including ones you sell. Self-hosting a subset via Fontsource or next/font also kills a render-blocking third-party request.
- Trap: Serving from Google's CDN sends visitor IP addresses to Google, which a German court ruled a GDPR violation — self-host the files if you have EU traffic. The OFL also bars selling the font files on their own and reserves certain names for modified versions.
- Wiring: npm i @fontsource/inter, or import from next/font/google
- Full dossier: /api/public/tools/google-fonts

## Quick read

- Free with no card: Fontshare, Google Fonts.

## Rules
1. Prefer the free tier when no budget was stated, and say what the ceiling is.
2. Read the full dossier before integrating.
3. Fetch /api/public/models before writing any AI model ID.

Agents can fetch the same thing: GET /api/public/compare?slugs=excalidraw,fontshare,google-fonts