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Best open source diagram and flowchart tools (Visio alternatives)

For diagrams and flowcharts, the best self-hosted picks are draw.io for flowcharts and diagrams, WBO for whiteboards and TeamMapper for mind maps. Each pick was chosen by hand for its job from apps whose own description or topics match it, and is shown with GitHub data from October 2026.

Self-hosted diagram, whiteboard and mind map tools. draw.io describes itself as diagram software for flowcharts, process diagrams, org charts, UML, ER and network diagrams, the closest match to Visio; the rest are whiteboards, a mind map tool and database diagram editors.

Updated · data from GitHub, refreshed nightly

Top picks

  1. Rank 1:

    draw.io

    jgraph/drawio

    Diagram software for making flowcharts, process diagrams, org charts, UML, ER and network diagrams.

    Note-taking & EditorsJavaScriptDocker

    draw.io has 8,585 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 65 commits in the last year; it replaces Figma and Canva.

  2. Rank 2:

    Excalidraw

    excalidraw/excalidraw

    Virtual hand-drawn style whiteboard for diagrams and sketches.

    UtilitiesTypeScriptDocker

    Excalidraw has 133,574 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 272 commits in the last year; it replaces Figma and Lucidchart.

  3. Rank 3:

    tldraw

    tldraw/tldraw

    Infinite canvas whiteboard and SDK for drawing and diagramming.

    Source-availableUtilitiesTypeScript

    tldraw has 50,773 GitHub stars, is source-available under the tldraw license (not an open-source license) and had 1,958 commits in the last year; it replaces Figma and Lucidchart.

1 of 4 · 3 picks

Diagrams and flowcharts

  1. 1

    draw.io

    Diagram software for making flowcharts, process diagrams, org charts, UML, ER and network diagrams.

    draw.io has 8,585 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 65 commits in the last year; it replaces Figma and Canva.

  2. 2

    Excalidraw

    Virtual hand-drawn style whiteboard for diagrams and sketches.

    Excalidraw has 133,574 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 272 commits in the last year; it replaces Figma and Lucidchart.

  3. 3

    tldraw

    Infinite canvas whiteboard and SDK for drawing and diagramming.

    tldraw has 50,773 GitHub stars, is source-available under the tldraw license (not an open-source license) and had 1,958 commits in the last year; it replaces Figma and Lucidchart.

2 of 4 · 1 pick

Whiteboards

  1. 1

    WBO

    Web Whiteboard to collaborate in real-time on schemas, drawings, and notes.

    WBO has 2,659 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,044 commits in the last year; it replaces Microsoft Visio.

3 of 4 · 1 pick

Mind maps

  1. 1

    TeamMapper

    Host and create your own mindmaps. Share your mindmap sessions with your team and collaborate live on mindmaps.

    TeamMapper has 502 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 197 commits in the last year; it replaces Lucidchart.

4 of 4 · 2 picks

Database diagrams

  1. 1

    ChartDB

    Database diagrams editor that allows you to visualize and design your DB with a single query.

    ChartDB has 22,989 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 98 commits in the last year; it replaces Microsoft Visio.

  2. 2

    Azimutt

    Visual database exploration made for real world databases (big and messy). Explore your database schema as well as data, document them, extend them and even get analysis and guidelines.

    Azimutt has 2,190 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 6 commits in the last year.

FAQ

Questions and answers

Still curious? Email info@appsgit.com.

What is the best open source alternative to Microsoft Visio?

For diagrams and flowcharts, the best self-hosted picks are draw.io for flowcharts and diagrams, WBO for whiteboards and TeamMapper for mind maps. Each pick was chosen by hand for its job from apps whose own description or topics match it, and is shown with GitHub data from October 2026.

Is there a free Visio alternative?

draw.io is the closest match: diagram software for flowcharts, process diagrams, org charts, UML, ER and network diagrams that you can self-host. Excalidraw is a hand-drawn style whiteboard for diagrams and sketches.

Is there an open source XMind alternative?

TeamMapper lets you host and create your own mind maps and collaborate on them live.

Is draw.io free?

Yes. draw.io is open-source software released under the Apache-2.0 license, so you can self-host it at no cost. You only pay for the server it runs on, and some projects also offer an optional paid cloud plan.

Can I run this stack with Docker?

6 of the 7 apps here publish Docker images, including draw.io, Excalidraw and WBO, so most of the stack can run side by side with Docker Compose on one server. Size the server for the heaviest app and add off-site backups.

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