# Diagrams & diagrams as code

> Flowcharts, UML, ER and timing diagrams. 25 tools, ranked by GitHub stars.

Tools for flowcharts, sequence and UML diagrams, entity-relationship diagrams and other structured drawings, many of them generated from plain text so diagrams can be versioned with code.

| # | Tool | GitHub stars | Commits (12 mo) | License | Description |
|---:|---|---:|---:|---|---|
| 1 | [Mermaid](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/mermaid/) | 90,531 | 2,472 | MIT | Generate diagrams and flowcharts from markdown-like text definitions, with a live editor. |
| 2 | [Diagrams](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/diagrams/) | 42,673 | 48 | MIT | Diagram as code in Python for prototyping cloud system architectures. |
| 3 | [xyflow](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/xyflow/) | 38,582 | 510 | MIT | React Flow and Svelte Flow: libraries for building node-based editors, flow charts and interactive diagrams. |
| 4 | [D2](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/d2/) | 25,564 | 324 | MPL-2.0 | Declarative diagram scripting language that turns text into diagrams. |
| 5 | [PlotNeuralNet](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/plotneuralnet/) | 25,009 | 0 | MIT | LaTeX code for drawing neural network architecture diagrams. |
| 6 | [ChartDB](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/chartdb/) | 22,987 | 116 | AGPL-3.0 | An Open-source tool to visualize database schemas and generate ER diagrams from a single query. |
| 7 | [PlantUML](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/plantuml/) | 13,352 | 846 | LGPL-3.0 | Generates UML, Gantt, mind map and other diagrams from plain text. |
| 8 | [Markmap](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/markmap/) | 13,147 | 4 | MIT | Builds interactive mind maps from Markdown. |
| 9 | [flowchart.js](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/flowchart-js/) | 8,700 | 1 | MIT | Draws SVG flowcharts from a textual description. |
| 10 | [draw.io](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/draw-io/) | 8,555 | 65 | Apache-2.0 | Client-side JavaScript editor for flowcharts, network, UML and other diagrams. |
| 11 | [Penrose](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/penrose/) | 7,985 | 48 | MIT | Creates diagrams from mathematical notation in plain text, from Carnegie Mellon University. |
| 12 | [Vue Flow](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/vue-flow/) | 6,888 | 22 | MIT | Flowchart and node-based graph component for Vue 3. |
| 13 | [X6](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/x6/) | 6,716 | 116 | MIT | Diagramming library for DAGs, ER diagrams, flowcharts and other graph editors, maintained by Alibaba. |
| 14 | [LikeC4](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/likec4/) | 5,809 | 1,831 | MIT | Architecture-as-code language and tools that generate live, interactive diagrams. |
| 15 | [JointJS](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/jointjs/) | 5,393 | 151 | MPL-2.0 | SVG-based JavaScript diagramming library for interactive diagrams and graph editors. |
| 16 | [go-diagrams](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/go-diagrams/) | 5,235 | 0 | MIT | Diagram-as-code library for system architecture diagrams in Go, rendered with Graphviz. |
| 17 | [Kroki](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/kroki/) | 4,358 | 204 | MIT | Unified API that renders diagrams from many text formats, including PlantUML, Mermaid, Graphviz and D2. |
| 18 | [WaveDrom](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/wavedrom/) | 3,501 | 12 | MIT | Draws timing diagrams and waveforms from simple textual descriptions. |
| 19 | [Cola.js](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/cola-js/) | 2,098 | 3 | MIT | A tool to create diagrams using constraint-based optimization techniques. Works with d3 and svg.js. |
| 20 | [diagram.js](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/diagram-js/) | 1,926 | 268 | MIT | Javascript diagram library serving as the basis for camunda's online BPMN modeler. |
| 21 | [DiagrammeR](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/diagrammer/) | 1,745 | 22 | MIT | Graph and network diagrams in R, rendered with Graphviz and mermaid. |
| 22 | [Graphviz](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/graphviz/) | 1,473 | – | EPL-2.0 | Open source graph visualization command line tool and library. From input text to SVG,PDF,interactive web graph browser. |
| 23 | [Vizdom](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/vizdom/) | 193 | 0 | Apache-2.0 | A declarative graph layout and rendering engine for Javascript/Typescript powered by Rust/WebAssembly. |
| 24 | [sankeydiagram.net](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/sankeydiagram-net/) | 123 | 2 | MIT + Commons Clause | Web app for creating and sharing Sankey diagrams of flows and budgets without code. |
| 25 | [ERD Lab](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/erd-lab/) | – | – | – | Free cloud based entity relationship diagram (ERD) tool made for developers. |

Source: https://awesomedataviz.com/topics/diagrams/ · Data updated 2026-10-04 · Content: CC BY 4.0, Awesome Dataviz (https://awesomedataviz.com).