# 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. ## Key facts | Fact | Value | |---|---| | Question | What is the best open source alternative to Microsoft Visio? | | Picks | 7 | | Top pick | draw.io (8,585 stars) | | Data as of | Oct 7, 2026 | | Canonical URL | https://appsgit.com/best/diagram-and-flowchart-tools | 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. ## Diagrams and flowcharts - [draw.io](https://appsgit.com/apps/draw-io) (8,585 stars, Apache-2.0, JavaScript, Docker): 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. - [Excalidraw](https://appsgit.com/apps/excalidraw) (133,574 stars, MIT, TypeScript, Docker): 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. - [tldraw](https://appsgit.com/apps/tldraw) (50,773 stars, tldraw license, source-available, TypeScript): 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. ## Whiteboards - [WBO](https://appsgit.com/apps/wbo) (2,659 stars, AGPL-3.0, JavaScript, Docker): 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. ## Mind maps - [TeamMapper](https://appsgit.com/apps/teammapper) (502 stars, MIT, TypeScript, Docker): TeamMapper has 502 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 197 commits in the last year; it replaces Lucidchart. ## Database diagrams - [ChartDB](https://appsgit.com/apps/chartdb) (22,989 stars, AGPL-3.0, TypeScript, Docker): 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. - [Azimutt](https://appsgit.com/apps/azimutt) (2,190 stars, MIT, Elm, Docker): Azimutt has 2,190 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 6 commits in the last year. ## How this list was made - Apps were picked by hand from the appsgit catalog for each job, then checked against the snapshot: unknown or archived projects and projects with no commit in two years are dropped automatically. - Inside each section the curated order is kept, most broadly useful first; an app appears only once on the page. - Stars, license, Docker and activity facts come from the GitHub API as of October 2026. - Source-available apps are labelled; they are not open source, so read their licenses before commercial use. ## FAQ ### 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. ## Related questions - [What is the best open source alternative to Excel and Access?](https://appsgit.com/best/spreadsheet-and-database-apps) - [What is the best open source OCR software?](https://appsgit.com/best/ocr-tools) - [What is the best open source software?](https://appsgit.com/best/open-source-software) - [What are the most popular self-hosted apps on GitHub?](https://appsgit.com/best/most-starred-self-hosted-apps) - [Which open source self-hosted projects are growing the fastest?](https://appsgit.com/best/fastest-growing-open-source-projects) - [What are the best new self-hosted apps?](https://appsgit.com/best/newest-self-hosted-apps) - [What are the best self-hosted apps?](https://appsgit.com/best/self-hosted-apps) - [What are the best open source AI tools you can self-host?](https://appsgit.com/best/open-source-ai-tools) ## See also - [All utilities apps](https://appsgit.com/categories/utilities) - [All note-taking & editors apps](https://appsgit.com/categories/note-taking) - [All team chat apps](https://appsgit.com/categories/team-chat) - [All wikis & knowledge bases apps](https://appsgit.com/categories/wikis-knowledge) - [Open-source alternatives to Figma](https://appsgit.com/alternatives/figma) - [Open-source alternatives to Canva](https://appsgit.com/alternatives/canva) - [Open-source alternatives to Lucidchart](https://appsgit.com/alternatives/lucidchart) - [Open-source alternatives to Microsoft Visio](https://appsgit.com/alternatives/microsoft-visio) --- Canonical page: https://appsgit.com/best/diagram-and-flowchart-tools Source: appsgit (https://appsgit.com), the app store for github. Data from the GitHub API, refreshed nightly. Machine access: JSON API https://appsgit.com/api/v1/apps (OpenAPI: https://appsgit.com/openapi.json), MCP server https://mcp.appsgit.com/mcp, full index https://appsgit.com/llms-full.txt.