[category: diagrams][verified alternatives][no votes, no pay-to-list]
Free and open source alternatives for Diagrams
11 free or open source projects taken from the pages of 11 paid apps in this category. For each one: how many it replaces, how much subscription it cancels, what it costs to run.
- free alternatives
- 11
- $/month replaceable
- 21
- already self-hosted
- 5
- apps covered
- 11
11 alternatives
No alternative matches these filters. Try dropping the set or the category.
The value is the sum of the prices of the apps that project replaces — including outside this category, because a good alternative rarely serves only one.
61 $ /mese
AFFiNE free ★ 71,3k active [1-click] web · self-hosted · macOS · Windows · Linux · iOS · Android
Polished documents, links and canvases, with local workspaces and usable exports.
the 14 apps it replaces · 61 $/month
Three ways out of the subscription: 1. you keep paying (61 $/month) 2. you install this one, free 3. you vibecode it — the prompt is on each of the pages below
source code · verificata il 2026-08-06
31 $ /mese
CryptPad open source ★ 7,8k active [hosted] web · self-hosted
Encrypted collaborative documents, whiteboards, diagrams, slides, and Kanban boards; less polished than Lucidchart, considerably less interested in your data.
the 6 apps it replaces · 31 $/month
Three ways out of the subscription: 1. you keep paying (31 $/month) 2. you install this one, free 3. you vibecode it — the prompt is on each of the pages below
source code · verificata il 2026-08-06
31 $ /mese
Excalidraw open source ★ 129,1k active [hosted] web · self-hosted
Faster and friendlier for collaborative sketches and system diagrams; deliberately worse at formal templates and precision drafting.
the 5 apps it replaces · 31 $/month
Three ways out of the subscription: 1. you keep paying (31 $/month) 2. you install this one, free 3. you vibecode it — the prompt is on each of the pages below
source code · verificata il 2026-08-06
9 $ /mese
diagrams.net open source ★ 62,5k active [hosted] web · self-hosted · macOS · Windows · Linux
The obvious answer because it is the right one: broad diagramming, local ownership, imports, templates, and real-time collaboration through Google Drive or OneDrive.
the 3 apps it replaces · 9 $/month
Three ways out of the subscription: 1. you keep paying (9 $/month) 2. you install this one, free 3. you vibecode it — the prompt is on each of the pages below
source code · verificata il 2026-08-06
— price not verified
Freeplane open source ★ 4,3k active [1-click] macOS · Windows · Linux
Deep local mind mapping, outlining, attributes, filters, and scripting; powerful in the way software with several decades of menus tends to be.
the 3 apps it replaces
Three ways out of the subscription: 1. you keep paying 2. you install this one, free 3. you vibecode it — the prompt is on each of the pages below
source code · verificata il 2026-08-06
— price not verified
yEd free [1-click] web · macOS · Windows · Linux
Excellent automatic layout and plenty of business and technical diagrams; less template theatre, more getting boxes aligned.
the 3 apps it replaces
Three ways out of the subscription: 1. you keep paying 2. you install this one, free 3. you vibecode it — the prompt is on each of the pages below
verificata il 2026-08-06
— price not verified
HedgeDoc open source ★ 7,4k active [docker] web · self-hosted
Collaborative Markdown documents with Mermaid diagrams, revisions, and reveal.js presentations; no free-form whiteboard, but the engineering-doc job is real.
the 2 apps it replaces
Three ways out of the subscription: 1. you keep paying 2. you install this one, free 3. you vibecode it — the prompt is on each of the pages below
source code · verificata il 2026-08-06
— price not verified
WiseMapping free [hosted] web
A genuinely free hosted collaborative mind mapper with unlimited maps and useful imports and exports; tasks and presentation tricks are absent.
the 2 apps it replaces
Three ways out of the subscription: 1. you keep paying 2. you install this one, free 3. you vibecode it — the prompt is on each of the pages below
verificata il 2026-08-06
— price not verified
Mermaid Live Editor open source ★ 6,7k active [hosted] web · self-hosted
Type Mermaid, see the diagram immediately, and export it; narrower than Gleek, but finished, free, and pleasantly uncomplicated.
the 1 app it replaces
Three ways out of the subscription: 1. you keep paying 2. you install this one, free 3. you vibecode it — the prompt is on each of the pages below
source code · verificata il 2026-08-06
— price not verified
PlantUML Server open source ★ 2,2k active [hosted] web · self-hosted
A usable browser editor for architecture, sequence, process, and data-model diagrams written as text; the syntax is less forgiving than Gleek's.
the 1 app it replaces
Three ways out of the subscription: 1. you keep paying 2. you install this one, free 3. you vibecode it — the prompt is on each of the pages below
source code · verificata il 2026-08-06
— price not verified
TeamMapper open source ★ 479 active [docker] web · self-hosted
Small, focused collaborative mind maps with a straightforward Docker install; public hosted maps expire, so permanence means self-hosting.
the 1 app it replaces
Three ways out of the subscription: 1. you keep paying 2. you install this one, free 3. you vibecode it — the prompt is on each of the pages below
source code · verificata il 2026-08-06
Checked by hand: no votes, no buyable positions. Prices in dollars.