People look for a Lucidchart alternative when a diagram tool turns into a suite with add-ons, or when its free account is too small to keep working in. Lucid sells Lucidchart inside a Lucid Suite with Lucidspark and three add-ons, and we could not read its paid prices. Leavers go to a free editor that stores files where they choose, to a flat per-user diagram tool, or to a platform already in their stack.
Sebastiaan SmitsFounderShort answer: The first three alternatives to Lucidchart in our diagramming software ranking are draw.io, SmartDraw and Cacoo. Places 1 to 3 go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category, wherever the category has them; the established names follow from place 4 in their ranked order. Choose draw.io if you want a free editor that keeps files in your own storage. All 11 alternatives below are ranked products from Best Diagramming Software in 2026, and each says where it differs from Lucidchart.
Vendors can pay for visibility on this site; it never changes what we say about a product. How that works.
The pricing page at lucid.app/pricing/lucidchart returned only its title to our fetch, so we cannot quote a paid price. The product page describes Lucidchart as part of the Lucid Suite, together with Lucidspark, and lists Cloud Accelerator, Process Accelerator and Enterprise Shield as add-ons. A buyer who needs cloud diagrams or process mapping should ask what each add-on adds to the quote.
Lucid community staff replies describe the free account as three editable documents (the three most recent) and 60 objects per document, with lines and text boxes counting as objects. The replies date from 2021 and 2023, so the current numbers may differ. A user who passes the cap is asked to upgrade before editing again, which pushes light users towards editors with no object cap.
A Lucid staff reply from December 2021 says a free account has every export option except Visio export. Teams that must hand diagrams to colleagues on Microsoft Visio therefore need a paid Lucid account for that route, or an editor that opens .vsdx files natively. That reply is old, so check the current plan table before relying on it.
| Alternative | Headquarters | Free option | Pricing | Key difference | Switch if | Our rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| draw.io | United Kingdom | Yes | Free web and desktop apps; Confluence and Jira apps licensed separately | Apache-licensed diagram editor that saves to storage you already own | you want a free editor that keeps files in your own storage | #1 |
| SmartDraw | United States | No free tier | Individual and per-user Team plans, published; Enterprise on request | Privately held Texas vendor with one per-user team plan | you want per-user pricing you can read and file storage in Microsoft or Google | #2 |
| Cacoo | Japan | Yes | Free plan; Pro and Team per user per month, published; Enterprise on request | Nulab diagram tool with unlimited free users and a per-user paid ladder | you want a diagram tool with a free plan for many viewers and a low paid price | #5 |
| Creately | Australia | Yes | Free plan; Pro and Business tiers; Enterprise on annual agreement | Diagram canvas now sold inside a multi-product governance suite | you want data-linked diagrams and are ready to ask for prices | #6 |
| Gliffy | United States | Yes | Free up to 10 users; per-user tiers published, bought via Atlassian | Perforce-owned diagram app that lives inside Atlassian Confluence | your diagrams live in Confluence pages | #8 |
| Microsoft Visio | United States | No free tier | Per user per month, published; Plan 2 adds desktop; one-month trial | Microsoft subscription with a browser plan and a Windows desktop plan | your organisation already licenses Microsoft 365 and wants Visio files natively | #12 |
| Miro | United States | Yes | Free plan; per member per month, published; Enterprise quoted | Whiteboard whose technical shape library only arrives on the Business plan | your diagrams are made in workshops and need sticky notes beside them | #11 |
| Whimsical | United States | Yes | Free plan; Pro and Business per editor per month, published | Boards, flowcharts and docs billed per editor, viewers unmetered | only a few people edit and many people just read | #7 |
| Excalidraw | Czechia | Yes | Free plan with one scene; Plus per user per month, published | Hand-drawn style canvas, open source, with one paid per-user tier | you sketch architecture and want a cheap, informal canvas | #4 |
| Mermaid | Not stated by the vendor | Yes | Free MIT-licensed library with no seats or plans | Text-to-diagram JavaScript library that renders inside docs and repositories | your diagrams belong in code repositories and docs, written by developers | #3 |
| EdrawMax | China | No free tier | Subscription or one-time perpetual licence, published | Wondershare diagram suite sold as subscription or one-time licence | you prefer a one-off licence and desktop software | #9 |
United Kingdom · Free web and desktop apps; Confluence and Jira apps licensed separately
Apache 2.0 licensed source, no sign-up needed and files saved to storage you choose, such as Google Drive, OneDrive, GitHub or a local disk. The homepage says there is no Enterprise tier for SSO. It imports Lucidchart files, but mainly by copy and paste, and it has no hosted Lucid-style data linking.
Switch from Lucidchart if you want a free editor that keeps files in your own storage.
United States · Individual and per-user Team plans, published; Enterprise on request
Flat per-user licences: Team shows USD 6.95 per user per month billed annually (introductory price, 3 users minimum) and Individual USD 7.95, with SSO on the quoted Enterprise tier. It saves to OneDrive, SharePoint or Google Drive and says it converts Lucidchart files. That claim comes from SmartDraw's own pages.
Switch from Lucidchart if you want per-user pricing you can read and file storage in Microsoft or Google.
Japan · Free plan; Pro and Team per user per month, published; Enterprise on request
A Nulab product, headquartered in Fukuoka, with a Free plan of unlimited users but 6 sheets and PNG export only. Pro lists USD 6 per user per month billed monthly, and SAML SSO, SCIM and audit logs arrive on the quoted Enterprise plan. It adds a built-in video call and a Kanban tool.
Switch from Lucidchart if you want a diagram tool with a free plan for many viewers and a low paid price.
Australia · Free plan; Pro and Business tiers; Enterprise on annual agreement
Free allows up to 40 shapes per diagram; Pro lifts that and adds one data source refreshed daily; Business adds unlimited sources, roles and an audit log. We could not read dollar prices on the plans page. The company now sells the canvas next to separate Atlas, Process, Blueprint and Compass products.
Switch from Lucidchart if you want data-linked diagrams and are ready to ask for prices.
United States · Free up to 10 users; per-user tiers published, bought via Atlassian
Sold as a Confluence app through the Atlassian Marketplace and owned by Perforce Software Inc. Free up to 10 users, then USD 3.80 per user per month for 11 to 100 users, billed annually. It imports Visio and draw.io files. The pricing page lists no standalone product.
Switch from Lucidchart if your diagrams live in Confluence pages.
United States · Per user per month, published; Plan 2 adds desktop; one-month trial
Visio Plan 1 lists USD 5 per user per month for the web app only; Plan 2 lists USD 15 and adds the desktop app. Both offer a one-month trial that needs a card. Visio in Microsoft 365 commercial plans gives viewing and basic editing. Heavy Lucid users get a different interface and sharing model.
Switch from Lucidchart if your organisation already licenses Microsoft 365 and wants Visio files natively.
Microsoft Visio, #12 of 12 in our diagramming software ranking →
United States · Free plan; per member per month, published; Enterprise quoted
A whiteboard first. Free gives 3 editable boards; Starter lists USD 8 per member per month billed yearly; Business lists USD 20 and adds 4,700+ shapes for UML, AWS and BPMN, plus SSO. It suits workshops better than detailed standalone technical drawings and prices every member.
Switch from Lucidchart if your diagrams are made in workshops and need sticky notes beside them.
United States · Free plan; Pro and Business per editor per month, published
Free allows 50 board objects per month and adds a watermark to exports; Pro lists USD 10 per editor per month and Business USD 20 with SAML SSO. Viewers and guests are unlimited and unbilled. It focuses on flowcharts, mind maps and wireframes, with few technical shape libraries to match Lucid's.
Switch from Lucidchart if only a few people edit and many people just read.
Czechia · Free plan with one scene; Plus per user per month, published
An open-source whiteboard with a hand-drawn look. The Free plan has one scene, unlimited collaborators and PNG, SVG and file export; Plus lists USD 6 per user per month with a 14-day trial, unlimited scenes and PDF and PPTX export. It sketches ideas; it is not a precise diagram editor.
Switch from Lucidchart if you sketch architecture and want a cheap, informal canvas.
Not stated by the vendor · Free MIT-licensed library with no seats or plans
A MIT-licensed JavaScript library where diagrams are written as text and rendered inside documentation and repositories. There are no seats or plans. Nobody drags shapes around, so non-technical colleagues who built Lucid diagrams by hand will not move over easily.
Switch from Lucidchart if your diagrams belong in code repositories and docs, written by developers.
China · Subscription or one-time perpetual licence, published
Wondershare desktop-first suite. The plans page shows semi-annual and annual subscriptions plus a one-time perpetual plan at USD 198 (listed down from 245). Paid plans import Visio files without limit; the free version allows five trial imports. It is licence software on your machine, not a browser-first team tool.
Switch from Lucidchart if you prefer a one-off licence and desktop software.
Lucidchart is still the right choice when your team already works in the Lucid Suite and uses Lucidchart's data linking, which connects Google Sheets, Excel or CSV files to build visualisations automatically. It also fits when you want one vendor for diagrams and whiteboards (Lucidspark) and integrations: Lucid lists more than 100. If your colleagues are happy in it, the cost of retraining and rebuilding diagrams may exceed any licence saving. Ask Lucid for a written quote that names every add-on first.
draw.io documents a route for Lucidchart diagrams: select everything in the Lucid editor, copy it and paste it into a blank draw.io diagram. For many files draw.io describes a Chrome extension for Lucidchart EDU that writes .drawio files to a ZIP. SmartDraw says it converts Lucidchart files in bulk. Test one complex diagram in each candidate before you cancel.
Per Lucid staff in 2021, a free account exports in every format except Visio. If you plan to let a paid plan lapse, export your documents while it is active, and keep a PDF or image copy of each. Note that draw.io, Gliffy and EdrawMax all list Visio import, so a Visio export is a useful middle format.
Yes, several. draw.io is free, Apache 2.0 licensed source code, with no sign-up. Mermaid is a free MIT library for text diagrams.
Cacoo, Creately, Whimsical, Miro and Excalidraw have free plans with limits: Cacoo 6 sheets, Creately 40 shapes per diagram, Whimsical 50 board objects a month, Miro 3 editable boards, Excalidraw 1 scene.
draw.io documents copy and paste from the Lucid editor, and its import list names Lucidchart diagram files. SmartDraw says it converts Lucidchart files. We did not test either route, and complex diagrams may lose styling, so test before you commit.
Visio lists USD 5 (Plan 1) and USD 15 (Plan 2) per user per month. SmartDraw lists an introductory USD 6.95 for Team. Cacoo lists USD 6 for Pro.
Gliffy lists USD 3.80 per user for 11 to 100 users, but only as a Confluence app. These are list prices on the vendors' pages on 23 October 2026.
Gliffy is built for Confluence and draw.io lists Confluence and Jira integrations on its homepage. Gliffy is free up to 10 users and USD 3.80 per user per month for 11 to 100 users, billed annually through Atlassian.
EdrawMax lists a perpetual plan at USD 198 as a one-time payment, covering EdrawMax V16 on desktop and three years of mobile and online access. The other tools here are subscriptions, free libraries or free editors.
Lucid's pricing page returned only a title to our fetch, so we do not quote a number we could not read. Ask Lucid for a quote that lists seats, add-ons and renewal terms in writing.
Founder of The Knowledge Engineers and of 2 Steps Ahead, an AI search visibility agency. Editorially responsible for every page on this site; research and drafting are AI-assisted.
Written, edited and fact-checked by Sebastiaan Smits. Last reviewed 23 October 2026. How we review.
