7.9k stars · Apache-2.0 · v31.4.5 (2026-09-08), read from /releases/latest; the date showed no year and falls in the past, so 2026 · Track this in Scout
The diagram editor behind diagrams.net, which runs entirely in the browser and can be self-hosted.
▶Repo detailsthe review · specs · pros & cons · install
What it is
A client-side diagram editor written in JavaScript. Client-side means the drawing happens in your browser and the server only sends the page, so a self-hosted copy never sees your content. It has shape libraries for flowcharts, network diagrams, org charts, database schemas and cloud architecture, and it saves to a .drawio file, to SVG, or to a PNG image that carries the editable diagram inside it.What it is good for. Any solo builder who needs a picture for documentation, a pitch or a video. The problem it removes is the licence and the account: the free website is genuinely free, and when a diagram is sensitive you run the same program yourself. For the YouTube channel it is the fastest way to make an architecture diagram that does not look like a whiteboard photograph. Mermaid (Edition 12 #10) stays the better choice for a diagram that must live inside your documents as text.
- Very large shape libraries, which is what actually makes a diagram quick to draw.
- The PNG it exports carries the source inside it, so a picture you find in an old folder is still editable.
- Apache-2.0 for the whole editor, with no paid features held back.
- The desktop application lives in a second repository,
jgraph/drawio-desktop, so the releases you want may not be the ones on this page. - The user interface is dense. Everything is there, which also means everything is on screen.
- Working on one diagram with another person at the same time is not built in; that depends on where the file is stored.
mermaid-js/mermaidDraws the diagram from a few lines of text instead of by hand, which is better inside documents and worse when the layout matters.
Track this in Scout- plantuml/plantuml
Also builds diagrams from text, with a long history and strong support for formal software diagrams, and it needs Java to run.
Track this in Scout - tldraw/tldraw
An infinite canvas you put inside your own application, so it is a building block for developers rather than a program you open; production use needs a paid licence key.
Track this in Scout
# Use it with nothing installed: # https://app.diagrams.net # Desktop application, from the separate repository: # https://github.com/jgraph/drawio-desktop/releases/latest # Your own copy on your own server: sudo docker run -d --name drawio -p 8080:8080 -p 8443:8443 jgraph/drawio # Then open http://<your-server-address>:8080
