While writing a report recently, I needed to be able to illustrate some concepts in order to make them more understandable for the reader. In order to do that, I decided to look for a flowchart software that could help me achieve this. At the time of writing, the main functionalities that I was looking for were the availability to use network cliparts, the price (free was better in this case since it was for a punctual use) and finally the design of the application. The following review is just the tip of the iceberg of what is available out there. It is by no mean an exhaustive review and probably only focuses on what my needs were at the time of writing.
Diagram.ly
I’ll start with my favorite one of the moment: Diagram.ly. It offers great graphics, easy to use interface, nice keyboard shortcut and plenty of export options. It is free and there is no need to create an account to use the service.
Give it a try and see how it works out for you!
Dia
While I have been using Dia in the past, it now feels a bit outdated. The network icons for instance could use some new design.
Dia comes with a lot of options and possible diagrams so for more information, have a look at the official page, or better yet, try it out for yourself - it’s free.
yEd Graph Editor
Based on Java, the yEd Graph Editor is therefore available on Windows, MacOS and Linux. It is free and offers some colorful and quite nice looking components.
It comes by default with less options than Dia (no electrical diagrams for instance) and focuses more on business oriented diagrams.
Diagramo
Diagramo is a simple pure HTML 5 diagram editor. It is still quite new and seem to be under active development. At this stage, there are not many options available and the icons looks a bit cartoon-ish. I haven’t been able to export my work (export is only available in the commercial version).
The free version can be downloaded and installed on your own server which is a great alternative if you want an online application while ensuring that you keep full control on the data being created on the service.
Lucidchart
Lucidchart is another web application allowing flowchart and other type of diagrams to be created online. It comes with a certain number of examples. A free account is available with some restriction in terms of size of diagrams that can be created.
I found it was lacking of cliparts in my particular case but as far as network diagram is concerned, it comes with an extensive library of Cisco network objects. In addition, it integrates some Google search functionality in order to look for particular visual elements that you would like to integrate.
I haven’t been able to export since I didn’t sign up for any account but considering that it is a commercial software it would be surprising if nothing was available.
Gliffy
Gliffy is a flash application also coming with quite a few examples by default. Starting with a template is really easy and trying out the application didn’t require any login either.
As with Lucidchart, exporting the results required creating an account so the above is just a screenshot from within the application.
Creately
Creately is another flash application coming with a nice wizard to help you get started quickly.
Exporting the graph required to create an account so as with the previous two applications, the illustration above is just a screenshot from the application.
Lovely Charts
Lovelycharts is a quite complete solution offering desktop, web and iPad applications. The desktop version runs on Adobe AIR which makes it Windows, Mac and Linux compatible.
I haven’t tried it out as registration is required for the web application but signing up is free.
Pencil Project
The Pencil Project from Evolus is really just focusing on mockups. There is indeed no flowchart nor process diagrams options (many of the software below, on top of the usual flowcharts allow to create mockups).
The software is build as a Firefox plugin but a standalone version is available as well.
Last Word
There are plenty of other solutions available. I cannot stress enough that the best solution will greatly depends on your requirements: some solutions above are more oriented towards collaboration, others are focusing on the number of diagrams available, etc…
If you would like to see even more applications you can have a look at the AlternativeTo website.
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