ExcaliClaw vs Helicon: Features, Pricing & Which Is Better (2026)

A side-by-side comparison of ExcaliClaw and Helicon — features, pricing, and ideal use cases — to help you decide which AI tool fits your workflow.

ExcaliClaw

Freemium

Browser-based collaborative workspace for hand-drawn diagrams with MCP tools so AI agents like Claude and Cursor can draw with you.

Persistent Storage: Every drawing is saved automatically.
Collections and Search: Organize drawings into folders and search across all of them instantly.
Real-Time Collaboration: Share a link and draw together with live cursors.
MCP Tools for AI Agents: Let Claude, Cursor, VS Code and other agents draw and edit diagrams with you.
Flexible Sharing: Share drawings by public link or by username.
Import and Export: Export everything to JSON and import drawings from other tools such as Miro.

AI-Assisted Diagramming: Ask an agent in Claude or Cursor to sketch an architecture diagram.
Team Whiteboarding: Brainstorm with teammates in real time on a shared canvas.
Engineering Documentation: Keep flowcharts and ER diagrams organized in searchable collections.
Diagram Migration: Import existing drawings from Miro or JSON exports.
Client Sharing: Send a public link to a diagram for review.

Free

A free, open-source desktop and web app for Meta's Muse Code CLI that puts sessions, diffs, approvals and cost in one window.

Project and Thread Sidebar: Threads are grouped by folder, worktrees included, and any session can be resumed in one click.
Inline Diffs: Every edit lands in the thread as a diff right where it happened, with no scrollback digging.
Approvals Surfaced Live: Every approval request appears the moment it arrives; none are batched or bypassed.
Cost at API Rates: Shows what each thread would cost at published per-token rates by day, model and thread, as a meter on your subscription.
Command Palette and Keyboard Navigation: Command palette, slash commands such as /plan and /review, and a model picker for keyboard-first use.
Desktop and Web Shells: The same React UI ships as a Tauri desktop app with auto-update and as a web app pointed at a remote daemon.
Local-First Architecture: A local daemon and SQLite store keep state on your machine, with auth through your own muse login.

Multi-Repo Agent Management: Monitor sessions across several repositories from one sidebar.
Code Review of Agent Edits: Inspect inline diffs and approve or reject shell commands before they run.
Windows Muse Code Usage: Run Muse Code natively on Windows without WSL through a GUI.
Cost Awareness: See what threads would cost at API rates to understand plan usage.
Remote Agent Access: Point the web app at a remote daemon to drive sessions from a browser.