Software

Five free apps for creating diagrams in your browser

By // April 1, 2014, 2:13 PM PST

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  • Five free apps for creating diagrams in your browser

    Creating great-looking, eye-catching diagrams is a fairly simple task these days, thanks to all the software available on the market. However, most of these packages carry a price tag.

    Luckily, several free diagramming apps are available, and you don't even need to download anything. Here are five free, web-based tools you can use to create different types of diagrams.

    Note: This gallery is also available as an article.

    Image: iStockphoto.com/marekuliasz

  • ASCII Flow

    Depending on your situation, ASCII Flow may not be the choice for you, but it does fit a nice niche market. Instead of the fancy, graphical displays of most diagramming tools, ASCII Flow uses ASCII characters to draw the elements of the flowchart.

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  • ASCII Flow

    ASCII Flow offers only a few object shapes; it’s limited to boxes, plain lines, and arrow lines.

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  • Creately

    Creately is a more traditional diagramming tool that includes a variety of shapes and lines for free. It also includes templates for Gantt charts, electronic logic gates, and networking hardware.

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  • Creately

    Creately requires a free registration to activate the save feature, as well as one import and export. Paid plans are also available with more features.

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  • Draw.IO

    Draw.IO is another traditional diagramming app that contains many common sets of shapes. It can save to Google Drive, Dropbox, or a local device.

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  • Draw.IO

    Draw.IO also contains various specialty shapes for mocking up mobile device interfaces, laying out Cisco or other network hardware designs, and doing electronic schematics.

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  • Gliffy

    Like the previous two, Gliffy is another broad-featured diagramming app. In addition to offering the common sets, Gliffy allows you to create your own shape libraries by signing up for a free account. It includes shapes for doing room/house layouts, as well.

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  • Gliffy

     Gliffy’s standout feature is its offline option. Once you register, you can install the Google Chrome extension, which allows you to work wherever you are.

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  • yUML

    Our final product is yUML. As the name suggests, it is simply a UML diagramming tool; there are no bells, whistles, or extra features. Simply type in your UML markup and press Draw Diagram to get a quick flowchart or use case diagram.

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  • yUML

    yUML's customization options allow you to change the direction of the diagram — left-to-right, top-to-bottom, or right-to-left — and the size, from tiny to huge.

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Five free apps for creating diagrams in your browser

Creating great-looking, eye-catching diagrams is a fairly simple task these days, thanks to all the software available on the market. However, most of these packages carry a price tag.

Luckily, several free diagramming apps are available, and you don't even need to download anything. Here are five free, web-based tools you can use to create different types of diagrams.

Note: This gallery is also available as an article.

Image: iStockphoto.com/marekuliasz

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