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Development
Utilities
Design
Diagram
UML
What are the best UML applications out there?
18
Options
Considered
113
User
Recs.
Jan 30, 2024
Last
Updated
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18
Options
Considered
Best UML applications out there
Price
Platforms
License
--
Draw.io
Free
Web, desktop
Apache v2 (Github repo too)
--
PlantUml
Free
Windows, Linux, Mac, Web, Chrome
-
--
Papyrus
Free
Windows, Linux, Mac
-
--
Umbrello
Free
Windows, Linux, Mac
-
--
Visual Paradigm
Free / paid
Windows Web Linux MacOSX
-
See Full List
--
Draw.io
My Rec
ommendation
for
Draw.io
My Recommendation for
Draw.io
All
11
Experiences
3
Pros
6
Cons
1
Specs
Top
Con
•••
Code generation, XMI support
Missing key features of a UML tool vs a drawing program.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Completely free
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EnchantingCardea's Experience
I was able to import the draw.io files into Gliffy in Confluence, and draw.io is much easier to use for the UML diagrams I needed to do than Gliffy.
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Web, desktop
License:
Apache v2 (Github repo too)
Top
Pro
•••
There is also a Desktop version
See More
MeticulousDeimos's Experience
very nice tool for uml
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Rich functionality for a web-based application
See More
RickZeeland's Experience
Free and open-source diagramming application that can be used online, on the desktop and even as an extension in Visual Studio Code.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Good list of different output formats
Draw.io supports export for PNG, GIF, JPEG, PDF, SVG, HTML, and XML.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Integrates with multiple cloud storage services
Draw.io offers saving files directly to services such as Google Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox along with saving to to computer.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Browser and touch device support
Draw.io works with every browser (even IE 6) without plugins.
See More
Hide
See All
Free
Recommend
38
6
--
PlantUml
My Rec
ommendation
for
PlantUml
My Recommendation for
PlantUml
All
8
Pros
5
Cons
2
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Easy create diagrams from text
See More
Top
Con
•••
Limited influence on layout of diagrams
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows, Linux, Mac, Web, Chrome
Technology:
Java
Top
Pro
•••
Plain text sources work well with version control
UML diagrams are described in plain text format that are small in size and work well with version control systems.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Syntax takes some getting used to
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Visual Studio extension
A Visual Studio extension is available in the Marketplace
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Free/libre/open source (GPL)
Source code can be browsed here.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Many, many integrations
For example from Emacs, Sublime Text and so on. You can learn about integrations here.
See More
Hide
See All
Free
Recommend
13
1
--
Papyrus
My Rec
ommendation
for
Papyrus
My Recommendation for
Papyrus
All
2
Pros
1
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Open source
It's licensed under EPL.
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows, Linux, Mac
Hide
Free
Recommend
15
--
Umbrello
My Rec
ommendation
for
Umbrello
My Recommendation for
Umbrello
All
5
Pros
3
Cons
1
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Added (limited) XMI model import
It now can import a few other tools (very limited, should support any valid XMI model, and it would be nice if it could unpack the awful M$ JET database format used by Enterprise Architect). But, it is a HUGE improvement over when it would just crash if you opened XMI from any other tool.
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Top
Con
•••
Crashes at awkward moments
Has had problems with stability off and on over the years. It doesn't seem to have much active development, as the UI hasn't changed much in the last decade and certainly could benefit from adopting some more of the UML2 standard than basic class diagrams. Not sure why it needs z-shell to install, but sucked in a ton of Z-shell specific packages.
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows, Linux, Mac
Technology:
C++, PHP
Top
Pro
•••
Free/libre/open source
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Code generation
Can generate code for ActionScript, Ada, C++, C#, D, IDL, Javaâ„¢, JavaScript, MySQL, Pascal, Perl, PHP, PostgreSQL, Python, Ruby, SQL, Tcl, Vala and XMLSchema.
See More
Hide
See All
Free
Recommend
4
--
Visual Paradigm
My Rec
ommendation
for
Visual Paradigm
My Recommendation for
Visual Paradigm
All
10
Experiences
1
Pros
7
Cons
1
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Actively developed.
Visual Paradigm is actively developed and releases regular updates.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Customer support is good, but on the exact opposite side of the world
The customer support, even on rather old Linux editions, is very good, but it might be from (very knowledgeable) someone working 12h off from your schedule which makes back-and-forth "Try setting A to B" "Nope, didn't work" "Try Setting A to C" "Nope, didn't work" rather drawn out.
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RickZeeland's Experience
The Community edition is free for non-commercial use.
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows Web Linux MacOSX
Top
Pro
•••
Lot's of choice
Lot's of choice in diagram types.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Does database design too
You can generate SQL DDL from ERD and class diagrams. It really is the nicest UML tool, even if priced a bit dear. But considering the time it saves compared to IBM's excellent RSA, worth it.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Free and lower cost versions meet a lot of users needs
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Comprehensive application
Supports XMI and round trip code and data structure (i.e. XML) engineering.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Wide (really!) diagram library from SysML, BPMN to CJM
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Online version
There is also an online version.
See More
Hide
See All
Free / paid
Recommend
6
1
--
UMLet
My Rec
ommendation
for
UMLet
My Recommendation for
UMLet
All
5
Pros
3
Cons
1
Specs
Top
Con
•••
No-frills diagramming
Um, some frills are nice, and some are sort of critical for a project's success. It is worth checking out the capability comparison on Wikipedia for the different tools. In particular, code generation, database reverse engineering, XMI model manipulation using scripting, support for OCL or ADL, support for interaction, sequence, activity, etc. diagrams.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Has VS Code extension
(Official, not third-party.) Currently, in beta.
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows Linux Mac Web
Top
Pro
•••
No-frills diagramming
Great for simple diagrams. Saves in diff-able XML format.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Open Source
GNU general public license.
See More
Hide
See All
Free
Recommend
4
--
Violet UML Editor
My Rec
ommendation
for
Violet UML Editor
My Recommendation for
Violet UML Editor
All
5
Experiences
1
Pros
2
Cons
1
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Simple
See More
Top
Con
•••
Limited
Limited functionality, if more functionality is needed the TopCoder editor might be a better choice.
See More
RickZeeland's Experience
Maybe not the best, but surely one of the easiest UML editors. Cross platform Java application,
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows, Linux, Mac
Top
Pro
•••
Cross platform
See More
Hide
See All
Free
Recommend
5
--
Creately
My Rec
ommendation
for
Creately
My Recommendation for
Creately
All
7
Pros
5
Cons
1
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Visio Import
See More
Top
Con
•••
Watermark on export for free users
If you are a free user, exporting a document will create a watermark.
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows, Mac, Linux, Web
Exports:
JPEG, PNG, PDF, SVG
Real-time collaboration:
Yes
Imports:
JPEG, PNG, SVG, VISIO
Top
Pro
•••
Real time collaboration
You can invite anyone by their email addresses to collaborate with your diagram. You can see others' changes to the diagram real time with the Creately Online and Desktop app.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Works across all operating system (Windows/MacOS/Linux)
Does not require flash.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Easy and simple to use
Consist with an example diagram which we can use to draw the diagram. Most required diagrams are available.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Professionally designed templates
The templates are well thought-out and actually helps you get started. Not like many other sites where the details are already filled in.
See More
Hide
See All
Free / paid
Recommend
1
--
yEd Graph Editor
My Rec
ommendation
for
yEd Graph Editor
My Recommendation for
yEd Graph Editor
All
1
Specs
Specs
Platforms:
Windows, Linux, Mac
Hide
Free
Recommend
1
--
MagicDraw
My Rec
ommendation
for
MagicDraw
My Recommendation for
MagicDraw
All
3
Experiences
1
Pros
1
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Extensive
Lot's of diagrams and options.
See More
RickZeeland's Experience
MagicDraw provides round-trip support for Java, C++, C#, CL and CORBA , as well as database schema modeling, DDL generation and reverse engineering facilities.
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows, Linux, Mac
Hide
See All
Paid
Recommend
2
--
StarUML
My Rec
ommendation
for
StarUML
My Recommendation for
StarUML
All
3
Pros
2
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Dark theme
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows, Linux, Mac
Top
Pro
•••
Java and C++ coding generator
See More
Hide
See All
Paid
Recommend
4
--
Graphviz
My Rec
ommendation
for
Graphviz
My Recommendation for
Graphviz
All
4
Pros
2
Cons
1
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Infinitely flexible
The nice thing about figuring out how to use Graphviz to do anything is that you have a huge amount of control over generating potentially massive diagrams/graphs which can be processed by a wide range of tools. (NOTE: I said "FIGURING OUT HOW TO.." -- not sure why it is even listed h.ere since there isn't any way to generate a diagram except by using the DOT language, which means you need to write a data base query or a transformation that can import class specifications, XSD, etc. There are several options for creating a diagram using graph modeling tools, and then applying the graphic UML2 convention, e.g. Gephi, Rocs, Hypercube. Just don't expect to right click on a canvas and select "create Class specification", LOL. )
See More
Top
Con
•••
Is infinitely flexible
You can make a huge range of well laid out (automatically, but there are ways to force this) graph diagrams, and one of those uses could be to apply the UML2 graphic conventions and create a picture of a UML model (but NOT a UML model--not that most of the tools on this list have the faintest notion of what a UML model is--they just are for drawing pictures. For which I am astounded that Dia isn't on here since it even has a default UML tool set and does a very nice job, esp. considering it isn't even a Qt based application! (Hardcore KDE/LXQt/UKUI user, I am)). You have to write the model using the DOT language, which is pretty simple text based language to learn the basics. It is very rich, and it can be a challenge to not get lost in the complexity. There are libraries to generate DOT models from XML Schema (and there used to be a nice Eclipse based XML Schema tool for OpenHealth Tools, but that seems to have been lost to the sands of time), database schema, etc. It isn't that hard to create a SQL query to dump results of a query as DOT (sort of like we used to do for XML and JSON before MySQL/PostgreSQL had native functions). So you can define your classes, attributes, and associations in a table format (in a spreadsheet or text editor and then import it), which is great for really complex interaction diagrams, or other applications. But, if you just want a great program to draw a picture, use Dia, DrawIO, even that awful LucidChart site/iPad app), Karbon, LibreOffice Draw, Microsoft Paint/Word/Excel, or do what I do and just take a photo of a dry-erase board--much faster than even using Notability on an iPad and they work exactly as well as other drawing programs. If you need to do real-world UML2 modeling then you need to look to an Ellipse Modeling Framework based tool like the tabular class editor, or IBM's excellent RSA or Papyrus, use VisualParadigm (which I happen to think is very pretty, for a Java application, and very robust--you get what you pay for, which is to say, quite a bit) which has plug-ins for Eclipse, Netbeans, and other IDEs, or (another open source option missing from here) Netbeans has a very nice UML modeling framework. It looks like stock Java, but still works really well as a modeling tool. It is really important for users to figure out if they just need pictures, need the ability to generate diagrams from data (in which case GraphViz and yEd really come to the front), or need to be able to create a real UML model (typically w/ XMI import/expert, code generation, generation of diagrams from code, and usually other similar capabilities like RDB (SQL DDL) design, ontology editing, XML/JSON Schema design) like Eclipse-based tools, Magic, Umbrello, VisualParadigm, etc. can do
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Web, Windows, Linux, Mac
Top
Pro
•••
Open source
See More
Hide
See All
Free
Recommend
1
--
GenMyModel
My Rec
ommendation
for
GenMyModel
My Recommendation for
GenMyModel
Hide
Free / paid
Recommend
1
--
Modelio
My Rec
ommendation
for
Modelio
My Recommendation for
Modelio
All
3
Pros
2
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Open source
Modelio has both GPL and commercial licenses.
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows Linux Mac
Technology:
Java
Top
Pro
•••
C# module
There is also a commercial C# Designer module.
See More
Hide
See All
Free / paid
Recommend
2
--
Software Ideas Modeler
My Rec
ommendation
for
Software Ideas Modeler
My Recommendation for
Software Ideas Modeler
All
2
Pros
1
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Easy to use
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows, Linux
Hide
$68-345
Recommend
1
--
TopCoder UML Tool
My Rec
ommendation
for
TopCoder UML Tool
My Recommendation for
TopCoder UML Tool
All
3
Pros
2
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Open Source
The Java source code is available on GitHub.
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows, Linux, Mac
Top
Pro
•••
Code generation
Can do some Java and C# code generation.
See More
Hide
See All
Free
Recommend
2
3
--
UML Designer
My Rec
ommendation
for
UML Designer
My Recommendation for
UML Designer
All
4
Pros
2
Cons
1
Specs
Top
Con
•••
Java focus
Mainly aimed at Java developers.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Open source
It's licensed under EPL.
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows Linux
Top
Pro
•••
Java code generation
UML Designer is compatible with the free UML to Java code generator for Eclipse.
See More
Hide
See All
Free
Recommend
1
--
crystal-facet-uml
My Rec
ommendation
for
crystal-facet-uml
My Recommendation for
crystal-facet-uml
All
3
Experiences
1
Pros
2
Top
Pro
•••
crystal-facet-uml has good diff/merge ability and can be stored to git
See More
ElatedAnubis's Experience
After an initial learning curve, you can very quickly draw diagrams and export these.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
The tool keeps a consistent model
See More
Hide
See All
0
Recommend
1
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