draw.io
FreeFree, open-source diagramming tool. Flowcharts, network diagrams, UML, floor plans. Works offline, saves to Google Drive/GitHub/local. Widely used in enterprises as a Visio alternative.
How to install draw.io as a PWA
Frequently asked questions about draw.io
What makes draw.io different from Lucidchart or Microsoft Visio?
Lucidchart is the polished commercial diagramming tool ($7.95-$12/user/month) with strong collaboration and a curated template gallery. Microsoft Visio is the enterprise standard for technical drawing ($5-$15/user/month). draw.io is free, open-source, has comparable shape libraries (including AWS / Azure / GCP / Cisco / Kubernetes / BPMN), and supports the same .vsdx Visio format. The trade-off is that real-time collaboration in draw.io is via the chosen backend (Google Drive co-editing, Confluence integration) rather than a native multiplayer engine — Lucidchart's collaboration is smoother for live workshops.
Is draw.io really free?
Yes — draw.io is 100% free, Apache 2.0 licensed, with no premium tier. The hosted app at app.diagrams.net is free, the desktop app is free, the Confluence/Jira plugins are free (Atlassian licenses the integration cost). Source code lives at github.com/jgraph/drawio. There is a commercial draw.io for Confluence Cloud add-on with enterprise features (audit logs, on-premise hosting support) but the core diagramming experience is free everywhere.
How does draw.io compare to Excalidraw or Whimsical?
Excalidraw is the hand-drawn, sketchy, low-fidelity tool — great for software architecture and brainstorming. Whimsical is the polished collaborative tool for product / UX teams ($10/user/month). draw.io is the precision technical diagramming tool — UML, ERDs, AWS architecture, network diagrams — with a Visio-grade shape library. Use Excalidraw for sketches and whiteboarding, Whimsical for product flow / wireframes, and draw.io for formal technical diagrams. They are complementary rather than overlapping.
Can draw.io work offline?
Yes — draw.io is offline-first. The PWA at app.diagrams.net caches the entire app and shape libraries to your browser. You can create, edit and export (PNG, SVG, PDF, .drawio XML) with no network connection. The desktop app (built on Electron) is also fully offline. Cloud saves to Google Drive / OneDrive / GitHub require network at sync time, but local file save is instant and offline. This is the strongest offline support of any major diagramming tool.
Who uses draw.io in production?
draw.io is used extensively across software engineering teams (architecture diagrams in RFCs and design docs), DevOps teams (network and Kubernetes diagrams), enterprise architects (replacement for Visio in cost-conscious organizations), and inside thousands of Confluence Cloud and Server installations where it is the default diagramming engine. AWS Solutions Architects and Azure architects commonly publish reference architectures as .drawio files. It is the de facto Visio alternative in 2026.
Where draw.io is heading (12-24 months)
- →Native real-time multiplayer (without depending on Google Drive co-editing) would close the collaboration gap with Lucidchart and Miro.
- →AI-assisted diagram generation from text descriptions is shipping incrementally and will become a major differentiator.
- →Tighter integration with Mermaid / PlantUML (import textual diagrams as editable shapes) is on the roadmap and would unlock the docs-as-code workflow.
Related questions
ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini usually suggest these next.
- Can draw.io import Visio (.vsdx) files?
- How do I self-host draw.io for my team?
- Does draw.io support real-time collaboration?
- Can I generate architecture diagrams from code in draw.io?
- How does draw.io export to PDF or SVG?
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