Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

asciiflow VS UMLGraph

Compare asciiflow VS UMLGraph and see what are their differences

asciiflow logo asciiflow

Infinite ASCII diagrams, save to Google Drive, resize, freeform draw, and export straight to text/html.

UMLGraph logo UMLGraph

UMLGraph is a professional automated drawing tool that allows the designers the declarative specification and drawing of UML class and sequence diagram.
  • asciiflow Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-04-28
  • UMLGraph Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-25

asciiflow features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    AsciiFlow provides a user-friendly interface that allows users to quickly create ASCII diagrams without needing extensive technical knowledge.
  • Browser-Based
    Being an online tool, AsciiFlow requires no installation and can be accessed from any device with an internet connection.
  • Free
    AsciiFlow is available for free, making it accessible to users who need a quick and easy ASCII diagramming tool without incurring additional costs.
  • Collaboration
    Users can easily share diagrams with others, which facilitates collaboration and feedback.
  • Simple Export Options
    Diagrams created in AsciiFlow can be easily exported to plain text, which can be included in code comments, documentation, or emails.

Possible disadvantages of asciiflow

  • Limited Features
    AsciiFlow offers basic diagramming features, which may not be sufficient for users requiring advanced functionalities such as complex node management or extensive customization.
  • Dependency on Internet Connection
    Since AsciiFlow is a web-based tool, it requires an internet connection to use, which can be a limitation in offline environments.
  • Performance Issues
    Large or complex diagrams may lead to performance issues, including lag or slower response times, especially on lower-end devices.
  • No Version Control
    AsciiFlow lacks built-in version control capabilities, making it difficult to track changes or revert to previous versions of diagrams.
  • Limited Integration
    The tool has limited integration with other software and platforms, which may be a drawback for users who need seamless workflows with other applications.

UMLGraph features and specs

  • Automated Diagrams
    UMLGraph allows for the automatic generation of UML diagrams directly from Java source code, which can save a significant amount of time and reduce the likelihood of errors introduced by manual diagram creation.
  • Integration with Javadoc
    UMLGraph integrates seamlessly with Javadoc, enabling the generation of both class documentation and UML diagrams in a unified process.
  • Text-Based Configuration
    Diagrams are configured using textual annotations in the source code, which makes version control easier and allows developers to maintain diagrams alongside the source code.
  • Extensible and Customizable
    The tool is highly customizable, allowing users to define the appearance and layout of UML diagrams to meet specific project needs.
  • Open Source
    Being an open-source tool, UMLGraph is freely available for use and modification, promoting community involvement and continual improvement.

Possible disadvantages of UMLGraph

  • Learning Curve
    There is a learning curve associated with mastering the use of UMLGraph and its annotations, which may create an initial barrier to entry for new users.
  • Java-Centric
    UMLGraph is designed specifically for Java, which limits its utility for projects that are developed in other programming languages.
  • Limited Dynamic Diagram Support
    The tool primarily focuses on static diagrams and may have limited functionality for generating dynamic diagrams such as sequence or activity diagrams.
  • Dependence on Graphviz
    UMLGraph relies on Graphviz for rendering diagrams, which introduces an additional dependency that must be installed and maintained.
  • Manual Configuration for Complex Diagrams
    For complex diagrams, significant manual configuration may be required, which can negate some of the time-saving benefits.

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to asciiflow and UMLGraph)
Diagrams
47 47%
53% 53
Flowcharts
49 49%
51% 51
Office & Productivity
100 100%
0% 0
Development
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, asciiflow seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 32 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

asciiflow mentions (32)

  • Building and deploying a custom site using GitHub Actions and GitHub Pages
    I've used GitHub Pages for a long time to serve sites for free, notably https://asciiflow.com, however I have recently moved it and other sites to CloudFlare Pages - it's also got a very generous free tier and many other useful features that GH pages lacks. Setup is simple - https://github.com/lewish/asciiflow/blob/main/.github%2Fworkflows%2Fdeploy.yaml GitHub Actions is just great, and I think people overlook... - Source: Hacker News / about 2 months ago
  • ASCII Silhouettify
    I'll still use https://asciiflow.com/# over figma. - Source: Hacker News / 11 months ago
  • Monodraw
    Https://asciiflow.com/#/ works pretty well. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Monodraw
    I maintain a list [1] of main web based text to diagram tools including ascii drawing tools like these. Web alternatives for this are probably https://fsymbols.com/draw/ or https://textik.com/ or https://asciiflow.com/#/ or https://web.archive.org/web/20210503172024/https://fatiherikli.github.io/archetype/ or https://app.monosketch.io [1]: https://xosh.org/text-to-diagram/. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Monodraw
    Yeah, I'm known as the ASCII diagram guy at work because I use ASCIIFlow a lot. Still not sure if people think I'm a joke. https://asciiflow.com/#/. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
View more

UMLGraph mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of UMLGraph yet. Tracking of UMLGraph recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing asciiflow and UMLGraph, you can also consider the following products

Charaster - Open-source ASCII art editor for browser-based, raster-style editing

draw.io - Online diagramming application

Monodraw - Monodraw allows you to easily create text-based art (like diagrams, layouts, flow charts) and...

Dia - Dia is a GTK+ based diagram creation program for GNU/Linux, MacOS X, Unix, and Windows, and is released under the GPL license.

Lekh Diagram - Lekh Diagram empowers you to express your idea on iPad and iPhone simply by sketching shapes with...

yEd - yEd is a free desktop application to quickly create, import, edit, and automatically arrange diagrams. It runs on Windows, Mac OS X, and Unix/Linux.