draw.io
Structured diagrams that live as files in your own repository.
94
sovereigntydraw.io is the precise, structured counterpart to Excalidraw's sketchiness: network topologies, UML, flowcharts, org charts, with extensive shape libraries and stencils for AWS, Azure and GCP. Apache-2.0, runs entirely in the browser or as a desktop application, and stores diagrams as files you keep — in Git, in Drive, wherever. That last point matters more than it sounds: a diagram in your repository is reviewed alongside the code it describes, and a diagram in a SaaS canvas is not.
OPEN SOURCEApache-2.0SELF-HOSTLOCAL-FIRST
LicenseApache-2.0
PricingFree and open source. Confluence and Jira plugins are paid.
Open sourceYes
Self-hostableYes
Local-first dataYes
What it does well
- +Extensive shape libraries including AWS, Azure and GCP stencils
- +Diagrams are files you own — version them in Git
- +Apache-2.0, self-hostable, and works fully offline
- +Best of these for precise structured diagrams
Where it falls short
- −Real-time collaboration is weaker than Miro or Excalidraw
- −Interface is dense and dated
- −No workshop or facilitation features
- −Wrong tool for loose collaborative sketching
draw.io as an alternative to
Where draw.io shows up in our comparisons, and how it ranked.
draw.io head-to-head
Straight comparisons against the tools people weigh it against.