Best Diagram Software in 2026

In short: EdrawMax is ranked #1 of 37 as of 4 October 2026, ahead of draw.io and Creately. The best-ranked option with a free plan is draw.io. The lowest first paid tier on this page is Visual Paradigm at $4/mo.

Diagram software turns processes, systems, and ideas into visuals you can create and revise. Compare on diagram types and import and export formats, then check desktop app availability, maximum editors, real-time collaboration, and version history. Free-plan access and paid starting prices add useful cost context. EdrawMax, draw.io, and Creately are among the options to weigh, alongside ProcessOn and Cacoo. If diagrams are shared work, editor limits and collaboration features may matter; for individual projects, the formats and diagram types you need may be the more relevant points.

37 diagram software ranked on what their makers publish — plans and prices, free tiers, platforms and the facts on their own pages.

37ranked
12free plans on this page
$4/molowest paid tier
4 Oct 2026last checked
Input list Diagram Software 25 channels on this page · 143 of 200 spec lines stated by the makers
Ch Tool Free planPaid fromDiagram typesReal-time collaborationExport formatsImport formatsDesktop appVersion history Spec sheet Score
01 EdrawMax Free planYesPaid fromnot statedDiagram typesnot statedReal-time collaborationnot statedExport formatsnot statedImport formatsnot statedDesktop appnot statedVersion historynot stated 1/8spec lines stated 8.0
02 draw.io Free planYesPaid fromnot statedDiagram typesflow charts, mind maps, org charts, Venn diagrams, infographics, network diagrams, architecture diagrams, floor plans, electrical diagrams, rack diagrams, UML diagrams, BPMN diagrams, Kanban boards, ER diagrams, Mermaid diagrams, Gitflow diagrams, C4 models, threat modelsReal-time collaborationYesExport formatsPNG, SVG, JPEG, animated GIF, PDF, HTML, URL, XML, JSONImport formatsdraw.io, XML, Gliffy, VSDX, Lucidchart, PNG, SVG, JPEGDesktop appYesVersion historyYes 7/8spec lines stated 7.7
03 Creately Free planYesPaid fromnot statedDiagram typesnot statedReal-time collaborationnot statedExport formatsnot statedImport formatsnot statedDesktop appnot statedVersion historynot stated 1/8spec lines stated 7.6
04 Microsoft Visio Free planNoPaid from5/user/moDiagram typesbasic, block, business matrix, Venn, cycle, pyramid, flowchart, process, cross-functional, SDL, UML, ERD, network, Azure, AWS, BPMN, floor plan, HVAC, plant layout, timeline, Gantt, PERT, ITIL, Pivot, Six Sigma, value-stream map, organization chartReal-time collaborationYesExport formatsPDF, PNG, JPG, SVG, EMF, GIF, TIF, BMP, WMFImport formatsDWG, DXF, EMZ, EMF, GIF, JPG, PNG, SVG, SVGZ, TIF, TIFF, BMP, DIB, WMFDesktop appYesVersion historyYes 8/8spec lines stated 7.6
05 ProcessOn Free planYesPaid fromnot statedDiagram typesmind maps, flowcharts, swimlane diagrams, Gantt charts, UML diagrams, architecture diagrams, ER diagrams, network topology diagrams, organizational charts, Venn diagrams, BPMN diagrams, circuit diagrams, floor plans, timelines, fishbone diagrams, tree diagrams, matrix diagrams, data visualization chartsReal-time collaborationYesExport formatsPNG, PDF, PPT, SVG, Excel, Word, JPG, POS, XMind, FreeMind, VisioImport formatsVisio, XMind, Markdown, Mermaid, Excel, POSDesktop appNoVersion historyYes 7/8spec lines stated 7.5
06 Cacoo Free planYesPaid from6/user/moDiagram typesflowcharts, wireframes, mind maps, process diagrams, BPMN diagrams, network diagrams, UML diagrams, organizational charts, timelines, charts, wireframesReal-time collaborationYesExport formatsPNG, SVG, PDF, PS, PPTImport formatsMicrosoft Visio, CSVDesktop appnot statedVersion historyYes 7/8spec lines stated 7.4
07 Lucidchart Free planYesPaid fromnot statedDiagram typesflowcharts, org charts, entity relationship diagrams, sequence diagrams, mind maps, UML/class diagrams, process diagramsReal-time collaborationYesExport formatsPDF, PNG, JPEG, SVG, VSDX, VDX, JSON, CSV, BPMNImport formatsVSDX, VSD, VDX, JPEG, PNG, .drawio, XML, BPMN, XPDL, OmniGraffle flat filesDesktop appNoVersion historyYes 7/8spec lines stated 7.4
08 Bizagi Modeler Free planYesPaid fromnot statedDiagram typesBPMN process diagrams; value chain diagramsReal-time collaborationYesExport formatsImage; Visio; XPDL; XML; BPMN; Word; PDF; Web; SharePoint; WikiImport formatsVisio; XPDL; Bizagi; XML; BPMNDesktop appYesVersion historyYes 7/8spec lines stated 7.0
09 Visual Paradigm Free planYesPaid from4/user/moDiagram typesUML, SysML, flowchart, organization chart, ER, BPMN, data-flow, EPC, mind map, C4, Gantt, wireframe, cloud architectureReal-time collaborationYesExport formatsJPG, PNG, SVG, TIFF, EMF, PDF, XML, Excel, XMI, UML2Import formatsXML, Excel, XMI, UML2, Visio drawing, Visio stencil, Rational Rose, Rational DNX, Rational System Architect, Rational Rhapsody, NetBeans UMLDesktop appYesVersion historyYes 8/8spec lines stated 7.0
10 Astah Professional Free planNoPaid from11.99/user/moDiagram typesClass, object, communication, timing, component, deployment, composite structure, use case, sequence, activity, statemachine, package, requirement, mind map, ER, flowchart, CRUD, data flow, traceability map, Eriksson-Penker processReal-time collaborationNoExport formatsJPEG, PNG, EMF, SVG, RTF, HTML, CSV, XML, CMOFImport formatsExcel, XMLDesktop appYesVersion historyNo 8/8spec lines stated 6.9
11 Buddi Free planYesPaid fromnot statedDiagram typesclass, sequence, state, object, use caseReal-time collaborationnot statedExport formatsPNG, JPEGImport formatsnot statedDesktop appYesVersion historynot stated 4/8spec lines stated 6.9
12 Eraser Free planYesPaid from15/user/moDiagram typesFlow charts, entity-relationship diagrams, cloud architecture diagrams, sequence diagrams, BPMN diagramsReal-time collaborationYesExport formatsPNG, SVG, PDF, PowerPoint, Google Slides, BPMN, Visio, draw.io, MarkdownImport formatsPNG, JPEG, WebP, PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Draw.io, VisioDesktop appnot statedVersion historyYes 7/8spec lines stated 6.8
13 IcePanel Free planYesPaid fromnot statedDiagram typesContext diagrams, app diagrams, component diagramsReal-time collaborationYesExport formatsPNG, PDF, JSON, CSV, HTML, LLMs.txt, PlantUML, MermaidImport formatsJSON, YAMLDesktop appnot statedVersion historyYes 6/8spec lines stated 6.6
14 SmartDraw Free planNoPaid fromnot statedDiagram typesfloor plans, site plans, building layouts, evacuation plans, accident reconstructions, crime scenes, circuit diagrams, wiring diagrams, electrical plans, planograms, flowcharts, organizational charts, network diagrams, UML diagrams, ERDs, data flow diagrams, timelines, mind maps, Gantt charts, cause-and-effect diagramsReal-time collaborationYesExport formatsJPEG, PNG, SVG, PDF, VisioImport formatsPDF, VSD, VSDX, Visio stencils, Lucidchart files, JPEG, PNG, SVGDesktop appYesVersion historyYes 7/8spec lines stated 6.6
15 PlantUML Free planYesPaid fromnot statedDiagram typesSequence, use-case, class, object, activity, component, deployment, state, timing, regex, network, wireframe, Archimate, Gantt, mind map, WBS, EBNF, JSON, YAMLReal-time collaborationnot statedExport formatsPNG, SVG, EPS, PDF, VDX, XMI, SCXML, HTML, ATXT, UTXT, LaTeX, Braille PNGImport formatsnot statedDesktop appYesVersion historyYes 5/8spec lines stated 6.4
16 Sparx Enterprise Architect Free planYesPaid fromnot statedDiagram typesUML Use Case, Activity, State, Interaction Overview, Sequence, Communication, Package, Class, Object, Composite, Component, Deployment; BPMN; SysMLReal-time collaborationYesExport formatsXMI, PDF, HTML, RTF, XSD, DDLImport formatsXMI, JAR, .NET assemblies, XML Schema, WSDLDesktop appYesVersion historyYes 7/8spec lines stated 6.4
17 yEd Graph Editor Free planYesPaid fromnot statedDiagram typesBPMN diagrams, semantic networks, family trees, flowcharts, social networks, UML class diagrams, entity relationship diagrams, swimlane diagramsReal-time collaborationnot statedExport formatsPDF, SVG, EMF, JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG, HTML, EPS, SVGZImport formatsGraphML, GraphMLZ, YGF, GML, XGML, XLS, XLSX, TGF, GEDCOM, XML/XSLDesktop appYesVersion historyYes 6/8spec lines stated 6.4
18 Grapholite Free plannot statedPaid fromnot statedDiagram typesflowcharts, organizational charts, mind maps, swimlanes, SWOT diagrams, BPMN diagrams, UML diagrams, floor plans, brainstorming diagrams, website wireframes, workflow diagrams, TQM diagrams, Venn diagrams, network layouts, planograms, office plans, home plansReal-time collaborationnot statedExport formatsPNG, JPEG, PDF, SVG, VDXImport formatsnot statedDesktop appYesVersion historynot stated 3/8spec lines stated 6.3
19 Structurizr Free planYesPaid fromnot statedDiagram typessystem landscape, system context, container, component, code, dynamic, deployment, custom, filtered, imageReal-time collaborationnot statedExport formatsPlantUML, C4-PlantUML, Mermaid, WebSequenceDiagrams, static HTML, PNG, SVG, JSON, themeImport formatsStructurizr DSL, Structurizr JSONDesktop appnot statedVersion historyYes 5/8spec lines stated 6.3
20 ConceptDraw MINDMAP Free planNoPaid fromnot statedDiagram typesflowcharts, block diagrams, process diagrams, UML diagrams, organizational charts, network diagrams, rack diagrams, cloud service architecture diagrams, technical schematics, building plans, floor plans, dashboards, infographics, presentationsReal-time collaborationnot statedExport formatsPNG, JPG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, EPS, Adobe PDF, HTML, SVG, PowerPoint, VDX, VSDXImport formatsPNG, JPG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, PowerPoint, VDX, VSDX, VSD, VSS, VSSXDesktop appYesVersion historynot stated 5/8spec lines stated 6.2
21 Eclipse Papyrus Free planYesPaid fromnot statedDiagram typesClass, Object, Package, Composite Structure, Component, Deployment, Profile, Use Case, Activity, State Machine, Communication, Sequence, Timing, Interaction Overview, Block Definition, Internal Block, Requirement, ParametricReal-time collaborationYesExport formatsnot statedImport formatsnot statedDesktop appYesVersion historynot stated 4/8spec lines stated 6.2
22 StarUML Free planNoPaid fromnot statedDiagram typesUML 2, entity-relationship, data flow, flowchart, mindmap, C4, SysML, BPMN, UI wireframe, AWS architecture, GCP architecture, Azure architectureReal-time collaborationYesExport formatsPNG, JPEG, SVG, PDF, HTMLImport formatsStarUML V1 .uml, StarUML fragments, XMIDesktop appYesVersion historynot stated 6/8spec lines stated 6.2
23 Archi Free planYesPaid fromnot statedDiagram typesArchiMate Views, Sketch Views, Canvas ViewsReal-time collaborationnot statedExport formatsBMP, JPG, PNG, PDF, SVG, CSV, Open Exchange XML, HTMLImport formatsCSV, Open Exchange XMLDesktop appYesVersion historyYes 6/8spec lines stated 6.1
24 Dia Free planYesPaid fromnot statedDiagram typesEntity-relationship diagrams; UML diagrams; flowcharts; network diagramsReal-time collaborationnot statedExport formatsEPS; SVG; XFIG; WMF; PNGImport formatsDia XML (.dia); Visio XML (.vdx)Desktop appYesVersion historynot stated 5/8spec lines stated 6.1
25 OmniGraffle Free planNoPaid fromnot statedDiagram typesfamily trees, flow charts, org charts, layouts, directed graphs, nondirected graphsReal-time collaborationnot statedExport formatsPNG, JPG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, PDF, EPS, PSD, SVG, OmniOutliner, Visio XMLImport formatsPNG, JPEG, GIF, SVG, PDF, OmniOutliner, Visio VDX, Visio VSDX, Visio VST, Visio VTX, Visio VSS, Visio VSXDesktop appYesVersion historyYes 6/8spec lines stated 6.1

Is your tool on this list?

Numbered spots on this list can be sponsored. They are labelled, and the editorial order and scores never change for payment.

Questions about this list

Which diagram software is ranked first on Specifiction?

EdrawMax is ranked #1 of 37 with a score of 8.0. draw.io is second and Creately third.

How many of these have a free plan?

12 of the 25 on this page publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.

Which is the cheapest paid option?

On this page, Visual Paradigm has the lowest first paid tier we found: $4/mo.

How is this list ranked?

Ranked on what each maker publishes, the fullest spec sheet first: how deeply the product is documented, the platforms it runs on, a free tier or trial to test it, and its standing. Paid placements never change a rank.

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