Best Free Flowchart Makers 2026: 6 Options Compared
Best free Flowchart Makers compared: draw.io (diagrams.net), Whimsical, Lucidchart, Miro and 2 more, with free-plan limits, platforms and prices from official pages checked October 23, 2026.
•3 min read•Graphic Design & Diagramming
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| draw.io (diagrams.net) | Free (Free with no sign-up; open files from local storage or your own cloud account) | Web, Windows, macOS, Linux | Unlimited flowcharts without an account | Docs only |
| Whimsical | Free (Free plan: up to 50 board objects per month, 5MB per file, 1GB total storage); paid from $10 per editor/month (the page defaults to annual billing, which it says saves 17%) | Web, macOS, Windows | Small, tidy process maps | Docs only |
| Lucidchart | Free (3 editable Lucidchart documents, 75 shapes per document, 100 templates); paid from $9 per month, billed annually (Individual) | Web | Templated flowcharts for work | Docs only |
| Miro | Free (Free plan: 3 editable boards with unlimited team members); paid from $8 per per member/month, billed yearly (Starter) | Web | Workshops and brainstorming | Docs only |
| yEd Graph Editor | Free (Free including commercial use; may not be redistributed or used in automated processes) | Windows, macOS, Linux (Java) | Flow layouts from data | Docs only |
| Mermaid | Free (Open-source library plus free online Mermaid Live Editor) | Web, JavaScript library | Flowcharts in documentation | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- You need unlimited charts with no account (draw.io (diagrams.net) is the pick)
- You draw a small clean process (Whimsical is the pick)
- You need a team workshop board (Miro is the pick)
- You want charts as code (Mermaid is the pick)
- You generate layouts from a spreadsheet (yEd Graph Editor is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You need paid-tier features, uptime guarantees or support that these free plans leave out
A flowchart maker needs sensible connectors that stay attached when you move a box, a handful of standard shapes and a way to export. Beyond that, the options differ in how they treat limits. draw.io is free with no sign-up and handles flowcharts with its shape libraries; it saves files to storage you choose. Whimsical's free plan allows up to 50 board objects per month with 5 MB per file, which is enough for a small process but fills up fast. Lucidchart's free plan caps you at 3 editable documents and 75 shapes per document. Miro is a whiteboard with a free plan of 3 editable boards and unlimited team members, better for workshops than finished diagrams. yEd lays out flows automatically from imported data and is free for commercial use. Mermaid writes flowcharts from short text, which suits developers who want charts in a README. The trade-off is flexibility versus caps: a free local editor has no limits but little collaboration, while hosted products collaborate well and stop you at a document count. If you only need a one-page process map, any of them will work, so choose by how you will share it.
draw.io (diagrams.net)
Apache-2.0, free with no sign-up, on web and Windows, macOS and Linux desktop apps. No file caps; collaboration depends on the storage you choose.
Price: Free (Free with no sign-up; open files from local storage or your own cloud account) (draw.io (diagrams.net) pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Windows, macOS, Linux. Apache-2.0 (open source).
Project activity: 9k GitHub stars · latest release v32.6.1 (Oct 23, 2026) · last commit Oct 23, 2026
Best for: Unlimited flowcharts without an account.
Compare: draw.io (diagrams.net) alternatives
Whimsical
Free plan: up to 50 board objects per month, 5 MB per file, 1 GB total storage; paid editor from $10 a month. Clean, fast to draw, but the object cap bites.
Price: Free (Free plan: up to 50 board objects per month, 5MB per file, 1GB total storage); paid from $10 per editor/month (the page defaults to annual billing, which it says saves 17%) (Whimsical pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Platforms and license: Web, macOS, Windows. Proprietary.
Best for: Small, tidy process maps.
Compare: Whimsical alternatives
Lucidchart
Free plan: 3 editable documents, 75 shapes per document, 100 templates. Individual is $9 a month billed annually, per secondary listings.
Price: Free (3 editable Lucidchart documents, 75 shapes per document, 100 templates); paid from $9 per month, billed annually (Individual) (Lucidchart pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Templated flowcharts for work.
Compare: Lucidchart alternatives
Miro
Free plan: 3 editable boards with unlimited team members; Starter is $8 per member a month billed yearly. A whiteboard first.
Price: Free (Free plan: 3 editable boards with unlimited team members); paid from $8 per per member/month, billed yearly (Starter) (Miro pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary.
Best for: Workshops and brainstorming.
Compare: Miro alternatives
yEd Graph Editor
Free including commercial use on Windows, macOS and Linux (Java); it may not be redistributed or used in automated processes. Automatic layout of imported data.
Price: Free (Free including commercial use; may not be redistributed or used in automated processes) (yEd Graph Editor pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Windows, macOS, Linux (Java). Freeware (proprietary).
Best for: Flow layouts from data.
Worth knowing: Imports Excel and XML; exports PNG, JPG, SVG, PDF. Visio export is a separate paid yFiles add-on.
Mermaid
MIT open-source library with a free online Live Editor. Write flowcharts as text and keep them in version control.
Price: Free (Open-source library plus free online Mermaid Live Editor) (Mermaid pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, JavaScript library. MIT (open source).
Project activity: 90.9k GitHub stars · latest release @mermaid-js/tiny@12.2.0 (Oct 13, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Flowcharts in documentation.
Worth knowing: Generates diagrams from Markdown-like text. A paid platform exists at mermaid.ai; its price was not found.
Which one to pick
- You need unlimited charts with no account: draw.io (diagrams.net)
- You draw a small clean process: Whimsical
- You need a team workshop board: Miro
- You want charts as code: Mermaid
- You generate layouts from a spreadsheet: yEd Graph Editor
Limits of this review
Docs-only for draw.io (diagrams.net), Whimsical, Lucidchart, Miro, yEd Graph Editor, Mermaid: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you commit.
Related guides
More in Graphic Design & Diagramming
All Graphic Design & Diagramming alternatives →Sources
Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing, license and product pages checked between 2026-10-22 and 2026-10-23: draw.io (diagrams.net), Whimsical, Lucidchart, Miro, yEd Graph Editor, Mermaid. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.