Free Tools Similar in Functionality to MS VISIO

Question

Are there any free tools or software packages offering features like MS Visio?

I am looking for something that can create a database, most UML thread diagrams and applications.

Answer 1

Look DIA

Answer 2

Gliffy looks pretty good and cheap with the free option: http://www.gliffy.com

Answer 3

There are many interesting programs here: http://www.osalt.com/visio

Answer 4

Checkout FreelyDraw . It is a professional, easy-to-use charting tool, small compared to visio, but still full-featured, worth a try. And now it supports Windows and MacOS.

Answer 5

Argo UML is not visio, but can be used to create UML drawings.

Answer 6

Open office draw has boxes with sticky connectors, which I find at that time, I want just a simple diagram with a little formalism. Argo UML is a little more formally correct, but you will not always find formalism.

Answer 7

For different purposes, different programs.

Application streams are better generated than drawn ones. Graphviz dot is great for this. Then you can enter something like:

digraph{ step1 -> step2; step2 -> step3; step2 -> step4 [label="optional"]; } 

A simple language for oriented graphs. It is well documented and has cross-platform implementations. It is also suitable for generating class diagrams, but you probably do not want its DSL directly for it (just write a small program to create it)

For databases, I used Fabforce DbDesigner. There is also a version with SQL Server support.

http://www.fabforce.net/dbdesigner4/

Answer 8

StarUML looks good, except that it does not have database chart functions.

Answer 9

Dia works great for me, both for simple drawing and for UML. I know that this is not ideal, but he really can cope with this task. For mindmaps (and heck they are useful), I use freemind .

Don't let ugly sites fool you, they are both great software products.

Answer 10

ARIS Express is a free alternative to Visio.

Answer 11

Cacoo is very nice. It is a flash web application and really looks a lot like the friendlier Visio. About 20 sets of forms are available, from electronic circuits to office layouts to UML. And even the iPhone and Android UI are being formed. And it's free.

Answer 12

You can also try my.origramy - a free online service for building diagrams, charts, etc. It is based on the Flash / viewer editor.

Answer 13

It depends on what you mean by functionality. In my opinion, Visio is less of a picture than a tool for data processing and visualization. Under the surface, all elements are made of specialized calculation sheets, which allows you to process the appearance and behavior of the figures. There are simple drawing tools, but not one of them has such complex calculation capabilities.

Answer 14

Check out LucidChart . It is very fast and easy to use. They have a limited free account and their paid accounts are reasonable.