Lucidchart vs draw.io (diagrams.net)
draw.io is free and open source with no sign-up; Lucidchart costs money beyond 3 free documents but adds AI and data linking.
Pick Lucidchart if…
Pick Lucidchart if your team wants Lucid AI, data linking from Sheets or Excel, and hosted collaboration with integrations such as Jira and Confluence.
Pick draw.io (diagrams.net) if…
Pick draw.io if you want free diagrams with no account, control over where files are stored, or an open source tool you can run on your own desktop.
Price
- Freemium
- Free
- Open source
Starting price
Free plan
Open source
Works on
| Feature | Online diagramming tool with AI, data linking and real-time collaboration. | Free, open source diagramming tool that runs online or as a desktop app. |
|---|---|---|
| Price |
|
|
| Starting price | $9.00/month + tax | — |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | No | Yes |
| Works on | Web, iOS, Android | Web, Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Try Lucidchart (opens the Lucidchart website in a new tab) | Try draw.io (diagrams.net) (opens the draw.io (diagrams.net) website in a new tab) |
Lucidchart's Free plan includes 3 editable documents, 60 shapes per document and 100 basic templates, according to Lucid's trial page. The Individual plan is shown there at $9.00/month + tax, after a 7-day free trial. Lucid also lists a Team plan at $10 and an Enterprise plan you buy through sales.
Lucidchart's capabilities include Lucid AI that builds content from text prompts, data linking from Google Sheets, Excel or CSV, UML markup that generates sequence diagrams from text, and layers. It lists integrations with Google, Microsoft, Slack, Notion, Confluence and Jira.
draw.io's site says 'Free forever, No sign-up required, No lock-in.' Its source code is Apache 2.0, it has real-time collaboration with shared cursors, and it exports to SVG, PNG and PDF. You bring your own storage, such as Google Drive, OneDrive or GitHub, or save locally with the desktop app.
The desktop app runs on Windows, macOS and Linux and is licensed GPL-3.0. Lucidchart runs in the browser and has iOS and Android apps. If you need a free tool with no document cap, draw.io fits; if you want built-in AI and data linking, Lucidchart is where those are listed.
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Last updated 16 October 2026. How we make money