The draw.io Insider’s Guide
Everything we know about draw.io in one document: what it costs, its grades, getting a refund, getting help and what else to look at. Read it here, or keep a copy.
draw.io
The Insider’s Guide
Free diagram editor that saves files to storage you choose
Every plan, grade, refund rule and rival among whiteboard and mind map tools, read from draw.io’s own pages.
Made by draw.io Ltd · checked Oct 5, 2026 · toolgpa.com
Contents
- 01WelcomeWhat it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
- 02Insider tipsWhat most people miss: ways to pay less, settings worth changing and the catches
- 03What it costsEvery plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
- 04What it doesIts main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
- 05Where it standsIts grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
- 06The alternativesThe tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
- 07Quick answersThe questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
- 08About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
ToolGPA put this guide together from draw.io’s own pages, its app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on draw.io’s page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Oct 5, 2026.
Part 01 · Overview
Welcome
What it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
3.2
GPA, above 28 of the 30 other whiteboard and mind map tools we grade
draw.io is a free diagram editor for flowcharts, UML, network diagrams, org charts and other technical drawings. It runs in the browser at app.diagrams.net, as an offline desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux, or self-hosted in a container, and it saves files to storage the user picks instead of the vendor's servers. The editor's source code is published under the Apache 2.0 license, and the company is paid through separately licensed apps for Confluence and Jira.
To get you started, here are 8 things to know about draw.io, taken from its own pages and our grades.
- 1
Best for free technical diagrams you store yourself
There's no hosted workspace, so sharing is only as easy as the place you saved the file.
- 2
It is free
draw.io has no paid plan at all. The online editor, the desktop apps and self-hosted deployment are free with no account and no paid tier. The apps for Confluence and Jira are licensed separately through the Atlassian Marketplace.
- 3
It runs on 4 platforms
Web, macOS, Windows and Linux.
- 4
Shape libraries for technical diagrams
Libraries and templates cover process flows, org charts, floor plans, network infrastructure, UML, entity relationship models, circuit and rack diagrams, and infographics.
- 5
Storage you choose
Diagrams are saved to Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, GitHub, GitLab, the browser or the local device. The online editor does not store diagram data on the vendor's servers.
- 6
Offline desktop app and self-hosting
A stand-alone desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux works with no internet connection, and the editor can be deployed in a self-hosted Docker container.
- 7
A 3.2 GPA, above 28 of 30
That is against the other whiteboard and mind map tools we grade, on value, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
- 8
Keep it
draw.io is free, so making your own would save you nothing.
draw.io at a glance
- Pricing
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- None stated
- Runs on
- Web, macOS, Windows, Linux
- Made by
- draw.io Ltd, since 2005
- Category
- Whiteboards & Mind Maps
- Our grade
- 3.2 GPA, very good
The report card
Best for free technical diagrams you store yourself
draw.io is a free diagram editor for the browser, Windows, macOS and Linux, with no account and no paid tier, and your files go to storage you pick. There's no hosted workspace, so sharing is only as easy as the place you saved the file. Live co-editing needs Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox or Confluence, there are no phone apps, and the Confluence and Jira apps are licensed separately.
| Subject | Grade | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | A | Free, in a category where the middle plan is $8.33 a month. The online editor, the desktop apps and a self-hosted container all cost nothing, and the editor has no paid tier at all. The only things sold are the separate Confluence and Jira apps. |
| Free plan and trial | A | The whole editor is free with no account and no sign-up, so there's no cap to reach and nothing held back for payers. That covers the browser version, the desktop apps on Windows, macOS and Linux, and a copy you host yourself. |
| Features | B | It covers the drawing job: shape libraries for flowcharts, UML, ER models, network, rack and circuit diagrams, org charts and floor plans, diagrams built from Mermaid, CSV or SQL, AI drafting and SVG, PNG or PDF export. Live co-editing is conditional, though, needing Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox or Confluence. |
| Ease of use | C | No rating on record. There's no sign-up, but you pick where files live before you share anything, and the shape libraries for UML, BPMN and network kit take time to learn rather than being obvious on day one. |
| Platforms and integrations | B | Browser plus Windows, macOS and Linux desktop apps, and it plugs into Confluence, Jira, Google Drive, Google Docs, OneDrive, SharePoint, GitHub and Notion. No native phone apps are listed: the docs suggest adding the web editor to your home screen. |
An A is worth 4 points, a B 3, a C 2, a D 1 and an F nothing. The GPA is the average of the five.
Who draw.io is for
- Fits if you want UML, ER or network diagrams without paying or signing up
- Makes sense if your data rules say files must stay in your own storage
Who it is not for
- Skip it if you want one hosted workspace for the team, as every diagram is just a file in your storage
- Watch out: live co-editing only works with files in Google Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox, or inside Confluence
- Not for you if you diagram on a phone, since no native mobile apps are listed
- Watch out: the Confluence and Jira apps are licensed separately through the Atlassian Marketplace, unlike the free editor
Good to know
Good for
- UML, ERD, network and flowchart diagrams at no cost
- Teams whose data rules require files to stay in their own storage
- Diagramming offline on Windows, macOS or Linux
- Documentation kept in Confluence, Google Drive or GitHub
Worth knowing
- There is no hosted workspace or account: every diagram is a file kept in the storage you pick, so sharing depends on that storage.
- Real-time co-editing needs the file to be in Google Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox, or the diagram to be in draw.io for Confluence.
- No native mobile apps are listed; the docs suggest adding the web editor to a phone's home screen instead.
- Using draw.io inside Confluence or Jira needs the vendor's Atlassian Marketplace apps, which are licensed separately from the free editor.
Part 02 · Tips
Insider tips
What most people miss: ways to pay less, settings worth changing and the catches
7
Things most people miss, each from its own help pages
The things about draw.io that are easy to miss until they cost you: ways to pay less, settings worth changing and the catches at renewal or when you leave. Each one is from draw.io’s own pages, linked beside it.
Read on Oct 17, 2026. Read from draw.io's docs (exporting, keyboard shortcuts, security and privacy, generating diagrams, Atlassian licensing) on 17 October 2026. Not tried out: these tips are what its own pages say.
- 1
Easy to miss
Save as an editable PNG and anyone can reopen the diagram
File, Save as, PNG, then pick Editable Bitmap Image, and the diagram travels inside the picture. Drag that PNG back onto the canvas to carry on editing. On File, Export As, tick "Include a copy of my diagram" instead. Some image-sharing sites strip the data, so keep the original.
drawio.com - 2
Shortcut
Alt+Shift+arrow clones a shape and connects it in one go
Select a shape, hold Alt+Shift (Option+Shift on a Mac) and tap an arrow key. draw.io makes a copy in that direction and joins the two with a connector. If a shape is already there, it just draws the connector to it. A flowchart or a tree comes together without touching the mouse.
drawio.com - 3
Shortcut
Alt+Ctrl+Shift+drag pushes shapes aside to make room
Its shortcuts page says Alt+Ctrl+Shift and drag inserts blank space and shifts the nearby shapes out of the way, while Ctrl+Shift and drag moves an area along with everything in it. Handy when a step has to squeeze into a finished diagram. The same page links a printable sheet of every shortcut.
drawio.com - 4
Privacy
Exporting to PDF is the one time your diagram reaches its servers
draw.io's security page says your diagram is never sent to its servers when you save. The exception is a PDF export, or some image exports in outdated browsers, and that copy is deleted once the file is delivered. The AI generator gets the prompt you type, not your diagram.
drawio.com - 5
Easy to miss
Anonymize a diagram before you post it anywhere for help
Extras, Anonymize Current Page scrambles the text and metadata on the page, so you can share the layout of a diagram without the real names and labels in it. The security docs list it among the editor's privacy tools. Run it on a copy if you want to keep the original.
drawio.com - 6
Easy to miss
Start an AI prompt with the type of diagram you want
The Generate tool (the sparkle button, or Arrange, Insert, Generate) picks its generator from the start of your prompt, so open with "flowchart" or "sequence diagram". Some types, Gantt charts for one, come out as Mermaid code rather than shapes. It only sees the canvas if you share it with the + button.
drawio.com - 7
Leaving
Stop paying for the Confluence app and diagrams go view-only
If the draw.io app for Confluence or Jira Cloud lapses, diagrams stay attached to their pages and can still be viewed, just not edited. Uninstalling the app is worse, because the viewer stops working. Download an attachment and the free web or desktop editor can still edit it.
drawio.com
Part 03 · Pricing
What it costs
Every plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
Free
No paid plan at all
draw.io is free to use.
The online editor, the desktop apps and a self-hosted container all cost nothing, and the editor has no paid tier at all.
Free
$0
The full editor online at app.diagrams.net, as a desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux, or self-hosted in a container. No sign-up is needed.
The free plan
The online editor, the desktop apps and self-hosted deployment are free with no account and no paid tier. The apps for Confluence and Jira are licensed separately through the Atlassian Marketplace.
Read from drawio.com on Oct 5, 2026.
Ways to pay less
Nonprofit
Free Confluence and Jira Cloud license for charities
draw.io's licensing docs say charitable organizations and partners are eligible for a free license for its Confluence or Jira Cloud apps.
Stated on drawio.com
Part 04 · Features
What it does
Its main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
4
Places it runs: Web, macOS, Windows and Linux
Free diagram editor that saves files to storage you choose. Here is what it does, as its own site describes it, and what it covers: open source, self-hostable, works offline, AI features, real-time collaboration, templates, diagrams.
Live co-editing is conditional, though, needing Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox or Confluence.
- Shape libraries for technical diagrams
- Libraries and templates cover process flows, org charts, floor plans, network infrastructure, UML, entity relationship models, circuit and rack diagrams, and infographics.
- Storage you choose
- Diagrams are saved to Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, GitHub, GitLab, the browser or the local device. The online editor does not store diagram data on the vendor's servers.
- Offline desktop app and self-hosting
- A stand-alone desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux works with no internet connection, and the editor can be deployed in a self-hosted Docker container.
- Co-editing with shared cursors
- People editing the same diagram see each other's changes in real time when the file is stored in Google Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox, or in draw.io for Confluence.
- Diagrams generated from text
- The editor builds diagrams from Mermaid code, CSV spreadsheet data or SQL code, and an AI tool can generate a diagram from a written description.
- Import, export and embedding
- Files from other diagramming tools can be dropped in and edited, and diagrams export to SVG, PNG or PDF or embed as interactive viewers in docs, wikis and web pages.
Where it runs
- Web
- macOS
- Windows
- Linux
What it works with
- Confluence
- Jira
- Google Drive
- Google Docs
- OneDrive
- SharePoint
- GitHub
- Notion
Who makes draw.io
draw.io is a diagramming editor whose source code is Apache 2.0 licensed and free to use. Its own About page names two private companies behind it, draw.io Ltd in the UK and draw.io AG in Switzerland, and says the money comes from its paid Atlassian integrations.
- Founded
- 2005drawio.com
- Based
- Northampton, UK, with a second company in Zurich, Switzerlanddrawio.com
- Ownership
- Privately held. Privately held. Its About page says draw.io Ltd (UK) and draw.io AG (Switzerland) are private companies, that they are not VC-funded, and that they are not chasing growth at all costs.drawio.com
- Funding
- No outside funding has been announced, and its own About page says plainly that the company is not VC-funded. The same page says companies pay it through its Atlassian integrations.drawio.com
- Lately
- Connectors now route automatically, attach neatly and label easily · Oct 13, 2026
- draw.io for Confluence Data Center 11 · Oct 9, 2026
- Updated custom links now with an action animation editor · Sep 28, 2026
- draw.io Diagram Editor for SharePoint is in the Microsoft Marketplace · Sep 17, 2026
Read on Oct 18, 2026 from the company’s own pages and from news reports. What is not stated there is left out.
Part 05 · Standing
Where it stands
Its grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
28/30
Other whiteboard and mind map tools it is graded above
draw.io's GPA of 3.2 is higher than 28 of the 30 other whiteboard and mind map tools we grade, and level with 1.
It stands best on free plan and trial (A, above 27 of 30) and worst on ease of use (C, above 0).
draw.io has no paid plan.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. Nothing scores higher for less, though at least one tool matches that score at a lower price.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 31 whiteboard and mind map tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. draw.io’s own letter is outlined.
- AValue for moneyAbove 23 of 30
- AFree plan and trialAbove 27 of 30
- BFeaturesAbove 15 of 30
- CEase of useAbove 0 of 30
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 5 of 30
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 28 whiteboard and mind map tools. Further left costs less; higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. draw.io is the marked dot.
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
Keep it, or make your own?
Whether this is something you could build for yourself with an AI app builder, and what you would give up.
Keep it
draw.io is free, so making your own would save you nothing.
And it is not the kind of software a weekend replaces. It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 3.2 is higher than 28 of the 30 other whiteboard and mind map tools we grade.
What you could make
- Templates: an app builder makes this well.
What you could not
- A diagram editor.
- Apps for macOS, Windows and Linux that stay in step with each other.
- Several people working in it at the same moment.
- It plugs into other products, Confluence, Jira and Google Drive among them.
- AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. draw.io’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
Part 06 · Alternatives
The alternatives
The tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
Lucidchart, Microsoft Visio, Excalidraw, Mermaid and Creately
The 5 tools draw.io is most often weighed against, with where each one differs from it.
- 2.6GPA
Lucidchart
Free plan · from $9/mo
Browser-based diagramming for flowcharts, org charts and systems.
- Only draw.io lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps.
- Only Lucidchart lists iOS and Android apps.
- draw.io is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- 2.4GPA
Microsoft Visio
Free trial · from $5.00/mo
Diagramming software for flowcharts, org charts and floor plans.
- draw.io has a free plan. Microsoft Visio does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only draw.io lists macOS and Linux apps.
- draw.io is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- 2.6GPA
Excalidraw
Free plan · from $6/mo
Open-source whiteboard for hand-drawn style sketches and diagrams.
- Only draw.io lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps.
- Excalidraw is end-to-end encrypted, according to its own site.
- draw.io also covers templates.
- 2.4GPA
Mermaid
Free plan · from $10/mo
Text-based diagramming platform with AI and a visual editor.
- Only draw.io lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps.
- draw.io is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- draw.io also covers templates.
- 2.6GPA
Creately
Free plan · from $4/mo
Visual workspace for diagrams, whiteboards and planning.
- Only draw.io lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps.
- draw.io is open source, according to its own site.
- Creately also covers whiteboard and mind mapping.
Part 07 · Questions
Quick answers
The questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
14
Questions, each answered in a line or two
The short version of everything above, for when you only need the answer. Each one is told in full in its part of the guide.
Is draw.io free?
Yes. draw.io is free to use. The online editor, the desktop apps and self-hosted deployment are free with no account and no paid tier.
How much does draw.io cost?
draw.io lists one plan. Free: $0.
What platforms does draw.io work on?
draw.io is available on Web, macOS, Windows and Linux.
Does draw.io offer any discounts?
draw.io publicly lists the following: Free Confluence and Jira Cloud license for charities.
Does draw.io have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 5, 2026. draw.io is listed for Web, macOS, Windows and Linux.
Does draw.io have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 5, 2026. draw.io is listed for Web, macOS, Windows and Linux.
Is draw.io open source?
Yes. draw.io is open source, according to its own site. It can also be run on a server of your own.
Does draw.io work offline?
Yes, according to its own site. What works without a connection differs by plan and platform, so check the vendor's page for the detail.
What does draw.io integrate with?
draw.io's listing names Confluence, Jira, Google Drive, Google Docs, OneDrive, SharePoint, GitHub and Notion.
Who makes draw.io?
draw.io is made by a company of the same name. Privately held.
What are the alternatives to draw.io?
The closest alternatives to draw.io in our directory are Lucidchart, Microsoft Visio, Excalidraw, Mermaid and Creately.
How does draw.io compare with other whiteboard and mind map tools?
draw.io's GPA of 3.2 is higher than 28 of the 30 other whiteboard and mind map tools we grade, and level with 1.
Is draw.io good value for money?
ToolGPA grades draw.io A for value for money. draw.io has no paid plan.
Could I make my own version of draw.io?
draw.io is free, so making your own would save you nothing. And it is not the kind of software a weekend replaces.
Where this guide comes from
The prices, plans, platforms and features were read from draw.io’s own pages on Oct 5, 2026, and the grades were given on Oct 10, 2026. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from draw.io's own pages on 5 October 2026. Also tested with a demo account on 2026-08-23.
Every tool we list gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. How each is decided is at toolgpa.com/grades. This guide is ToolGPA’s own work; it is not made, paid for or approved by draw.io Ltd. Prices change, so check drawio.com before you buy.
- drawio.com/docs/about/
- drawio.com
- drawio.com/docs/features/
- drawio.com/docs/integrations/
- drawio.com/docs/getting-started/
- drawio.com/docs/integrations/atlassian/
- drawio.com/docs/integrations/atlassian/licensing/
- marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1210933/draw-io-diagrams-uml-bpmn-aws-erd-flowcharts?hosting=cloud&tab=pricing
Part 08 · About
About ToolGPA
Who made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
3,189
Tools graded, in 94 categories
ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.
Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.
3,189
tools graded
94
categories
426
price changes on record
579
apps priced in 12 countries
What else is on toolgpa.com
- draw.io, kept up to dateEverything in this guide, with prices and grades as they are todaytoolgpa.com/tools/draw-io
- How grades are givenThe rules behind every letter and every GPAtoolgpa.com/grades
- Value chartsWhat each tool costs against what it scores, for every categorytoolgpa.com/charts
- CompareAny two tools side by side, plan by plantoolgpa.com/compare
- Price changesEvery price rise and cut on record, each with its sourcetoolgpa.com/price-changes
- Prices by countryWhat apps cost on the App Store in 12 countriestoolgpa.com/prices-by-country
- Pay lessEvery public discount: yearly billing, students, nonprofitstoolgpa.com/save
- Keep or makeWhich tools are worth paying for, and which you could build yourselftoolgpa.com/keep-or-make
Scan for the live page
Prices and grades as they are today
Quoting this guide?
Please name ToolGPA and link to the live page, so readers can check the figures for themselves:
ToolGPA, "draw.io: The Insider's Guide", checked Oct 5, 2026. https://toolgpa.com/tools/draw-io
Know someone choosing between whiteboard and mind map tools?
Send them this guide: toolgpa.com/tools/draw-io/guide
ToolGPA elsewhere: youtube.com/@toolgpa
See our other guides
The best-graded whiteboard and mind map tools after draw.io, each with an Insider's Guide of its own.
- Whiteboards & Mind Maps Insider's GuideEvery one of the 31 whiteboard and mind map tools we grade, compared
- Microsoft Whiteboard Insider's GuideFree collaborative canvas built into Microsoft 365 and Teams3.4 GPA
- tldraw Insider's GuideFree online whiteboard with a local desktop app3.2 GPA
- FigJam Insider's GuideOnline whiteboard from Figma for brainstorms, diagrams and meetings3.0 GPA
Choosing software? Every tool graded, every price dated.
Compare tools at toolgpa.com ›Everything in this guide is ToolGPA’s own summary of what draw.io’s pages, its app-store listings and public reviews said on the dates shown. Grades are our judgement under the rules at toolgpa.com/grades. Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. draw.io is a trademark of its owner, and this guide is not made, paid for or approved by draw.io Ltd. Prices and plans change: check drawio.com before you buy.