Open-source Coggle alternatives

Drawnix is a free, open-source whiteboard that brings mind maps, flowcharts and freehand drawing together in a single workspace. Instead of switching between separate diagramming apps, you can sketch ideas, structure them into diagrams and annotate everything on one infinite canvas that you can zoom and scroll freely.

The editor supports inserting images, undo and redo, copy and paste, light and dark themes, and a layout that adapts to mobile devices. Mermaid syntax can be converted into flowcharts and Markdown text into mind maps, while work is saved automatically in the browser and can be exported as PNG images or as .drawnix JSON files for later reuse.

Drawnix is released under the MIT licence and is built on Plait, an open-source drawing framework from the PingCode team, using a plugin architecture that can work with different UI frameworks. The hosted app at drawnix.com is a minimal version, and the repository includes Docker instructions for people who prefer to run their own copy.

draw.io is a diagramming and whiteboarding application, with many configuration options, written in JavaScript and running entirely in the browser. It is co-owned and built by draw.io Ltd (formerly JGraph) and draw.io AG, and the same code powers the production deployment at app.diagrams.net.

The repository's source code uses the Apache License 2.0, while the icon sets, stencil libraries and diagram templates come with extra terms, including a restriction on using them in Atlassian products or marketplace plugins without written permission, although diagrams you create are unaffected and the project makes no copyright claim on them. The scope is diagramming and whiteboarding, not SVG editing, and this version does not offer real-time collaborative editing.

The team does not accept pull requests; development is done entirely by the core team. Because the editor is client-side, it can be embedded or hosted on your own infrastructure, and the hosted app is free to use in a browser. It suits anyone drawing flowcharts, architecture diagrams, network maps or UML.

Freeplane is a free and open-source application that supports thinking, sharing information and getting things done, at work, at school and at home. It provides tools for mind mapping, also called concept mapping or information mapping, and for navigating the information you have mapped. It is also used for knowledge management and light project management.

The README presents it as an alternative to commercial mind mapping software such as Xmind and MindMeister, aimed at more demanding users. Capabilities hinted at by the repository topics include Groovy scripting, Markdown and LaTeX support, an outliner view, presentation features and writing aids. It is built in Java on OSGi with a Swing interface, so it runs on any operating system with a current Java installation, and it can run from removable storage such as a USB drive.

Freeplane is licensed under GPL-2.0 and runs locally on your computer, so there is no server or hosted version. It suits students, researchers, writers and teams that want a capable offline mind mapping tool.