Free Visual Paradigm AlternativesTop Diagram Editors & UML Modeling Tools like Visual Paradigm

The best free alternative to Visual Paradigm is draw.io, which is also Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Visual Paradigm and loads of them is free so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting free alternatives to Visual Paradigm are Excalidraw, yEd Graph Editor, Dia and Lucidchart.

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Visual Paradigm alternatives page was last updated

Alternatives list

  1. Lucidchart icon
    Sponsored

    Lucidchart is a cloud-based platform that promotes teamwork through diagramming, collaboration, and data visualization. It serves millions worldwide, offering flowcharts, UML, real-time collaboration, Visio support, and browser access. Designed for innovation and understanding, it integrates easily into workflows.

    79 Lucidchart alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Software as a Service (SaaS)
  2. draw.io icon
     1027 likes

    Feature-rich diagram editor offering privacy-focused, ad-free experience with real-time collaboration, offline usage, dark mode, and cloud storage support. No registration required and compatible with various diagram formats, it excels in simplicity by not tracking user data.

    143 draw.io alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Chrome OS
    • Notion
    • Self-Hosted
    • Nextcloud
    • Microsoft SharePoint
    • Flathub
    • Microsoft OneDrive
    • PortableApps.com
    • Google Drive
    • Google Docs
    • Microsoft Teams
    • Google Slides
    • Flatpak
    • Google Sheets
     
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  3. Excalidraw icon
     111 likes

    Excalidraw is an open-source whiteboard tool that lets you easily sketch diagrams that have a hand-drawn feel to them. Available directly online as a web app and also through CodeSandbox to easily see how the code works, and the app is available for self-hosting.

    95 Excalidraw alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    • Cloudron
     
  4. yEd Graph Editor icon
     444 likes

    yEd is a powerful diagram editor that can be used to quickly create diagrams manually or import external data for analysis and auto-magically arrange even large data sets by just pressing a button. You can use yEd to quickly create flow charts, BPMN and UML diagrams...

    119 yEd Graph Editor alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • BSD
     
  5. Dia icon
     453 likes

    Open-source diagram editor supporting Linux, Windows, Unix, and Mac OS X, with features for constructing entity relationship, UML, flowchart, and network diagrams, customizable with XML-defined shapes, extensibility, and a GTK+-based graphical user interface.

    93 Dia alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • PortableApps.com
    • FreeBSD
    • Xfce
    • DragonFly BSD
    • NetBSD
    • OpenBSD
     
  6. Lucidchart icon
     538 likes

    Lucidchart is a cloud-based platform that promotes teamwork through diagramming, collaboration, and data visualization. It serves millions worldwide, offering flowcharts, UML, real-time collaboration, Visio support, and browser access. Designed for innovation and understanding, it integrates easily into workflows.

    79 Lucidchart alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Software as a Service (SaaS)
     
  7. PlantUML icon
     120 likes

    PlantUML is an open-source tool that uses simple textual descriptions to draw UML diagrams. The generator can be run anywhere within JVM and integrated with various application such as wiki, text editor, IDE, programming language, documentation generator, and others.

    118 PlantUML alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • Chrome OS
     
  8. Mermaid icon
     33 likes

    Ever wanted to simplify documentation and avoid heavy tools like Visio when explaining your code? This is why mermaid was born, a simple markdown-like script language for generating flowcharts, Gantt charts and sequence diagrams from text via JavaScript.

    28 Mermaid alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • JavaScript
    • Node.JS
    • Self-Hosted
    • Cloudron
     
  9. Efficient web-based tool for constructing high-quality commutative diagrams. Offers LaTeX export with embedded links, intuitive interface supporting both mouse and keyboard inputs, and features like multiple selections, macro support, and smart label alignment.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
     
  10. Google Drawings icon
     79 likes

    Google Drawings, part of Google Drive, allows users to collaborate creating, sharing, and editing images or drawings. It can be used for creating charts, diagrams, designs, flow-charts, etc.

    73 Google Drawings alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Chrome OS
    • Google Chrome
     
  11. Gaphor icon
     8 likes

    Gaphor is a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) UML and SysML modeling environment easy to use that will help you create your applications.

    15 Gaphor alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  12. QuikFlow icon
     4 likes

    Create flowcharts (and mind maps) without worrying about layout with QuikFlow. With our innovative interactive layout algorithms, you can work as if you were using a mind mapping application while creating flowcharts. Define your structure and the app handles the layout!

    65 QuikFlow alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
     
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