Best Open Source Alternatives to SmartDraw

Compare the best free and open-source alternatives to SmartDraw — self-hosted and desktop replacements you fully control, ranked by GitHub stars, license and platform support.

Curated by open-source.store · Updated November 2026 · 5 alternatives

SmartDraw

Proprietary SaaS

PricingPaid

Platformsweb, desktop, windows, macos

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SmartDraw alternatives compared

Open-source alternatives to SmartDraw, compared by stars, license and platform
Tool		License	Platforms	Self-hosted
Diagrams as Code	42,777	MIT	LinuxmacOSWindows	No	Nov 2026	Visit
PlantUML	13,394	LGPL-3.0	LinuxmacOSWindowsDocker	Yes	Nov 2026	Visit
BPMN.io	9,718	MIT	Web	No	Oct 2026	Visit
Draw.io	9,138	Apache-2.0	LinuxmacOSWindowsDocker	Yes	Oct 2026	Visit
Dia Diagram Editor	0	GPL-2.0	LinuxmacOSWindows	No	—	Visit

Top open-source SmartDraw alternatives

Diagrams as Code42,777MIT

Diagrams as Code replaces manual Lucidchart drafting with Python scripts that render version-controlled cloud architecture diagrams directly in git repos.

LinuxmacOSWindows

vs SmartDraw: a free, open-source option you fully control, licensed MIT.

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PlantUML13,394LGPL-3.0

PlantUML replaces visual tools like Lucidchart with diagrams as code, compiling version-controlled technical schematics inside developer pipelines.

LinuxmacOSWindowsDockerWeb

vs SmartDraw: a free, open-source option you fully control, licensed LGPL-3.0.

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BPMN.io9,718MIT

BPMN.io provides an embeddable JavaScript toolkit to view and edit executable BPMN 2.0 process workflows in web apps, replacing proprietary diagram tools.

Web

vs SmartDraw: a free, open-source option you fully control, licensed MIT.

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Draw.io9,138Apache-2.0

Draw.io is an open-source diagramming tool that replaces Lucidchart and Visio with a free, client-side editor that saves directly to your own storage.

LinuxmacOSWindowsDockerWeb

vs SmartDraw: a free, open-source option you fully control, licensed Apache-2.0.

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Dia Diagram Editor0GPL-2.0

Dia Diagram Editor is an open-source desktop alternative to Microsoft Visio that builds flowcharts and network diagrams locally without cloud tracking.

LinuxmacOSWindows

vs SmartDraw: a free, open-source option you fully control, licensed GPL-2.0.

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Best Open Source Alternatives to SmartDraw

SmartDraw

SmartDraw alternatives compared

Top open-source SmartDraw alternatives

The modern standard for Protobuf workflows

Mentoring for backend developers. Consulting for startups.