Software Alternatives & Reviews

PlantUML VS Pencil Project

Compare PlantUML VS Pencil Project and see what are their differences

PlantUML logo PlantUML

PlantUML is an open-source tool that uses simple textual descriptions to draw UML diagrams.

Pencil Project logo Pencil Project

Single-user mockup / wireframing / diagramming tool
  • PlantUML Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-22
  • Pencil Project Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-09-30

PlantUML videos

PlantUML - beautiful quick diagrams to explain your models

More videos:

  • Review - Folge16 - PlantUML und IntelliJ
  • Tutorial - PlantUML Gizmo Tutorial: Google Docs Add-on
  • Review - Mermaid vs PlantUML vs HackerDraw: Which One Is Best For You?
  • Review - Using PlantUML For Diagrams In A GitLab Wiki

Pencil Project videos

Pencil Project | Free UI Mockup Design Software

More videos:

  • Demo - Wireframing with Pencil Project Demo

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to PlantUML and Pencil Project)
Diagrams
85 85%
15% 15
Flowcharts
83 83%
17% 17
Flow Charts And Diagrams
100 100%
0% 0
Prototyping
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare PlantUML and Pencil Project

PlantUML Reviews

Top 7 diagrams as code tools for software architecture
PlantUML is a tool that allows you to write diagrams such as sequence, object, component, usecase, class diagrams and more.
5 great diagramming tools for enterprise and software architects
PlantUML is an open source tool and syntax that allows you to make sequence, use case, class, object, and other diagrams from code. It also supports non-UML diagrams like JSON and YAML. In addition, it enjoys support from ArchiMate, ERD, Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN), and other common notation styles. Its simple, plain-text definitions make creating, sharing, and...
Source: www.redhat.com
Software Diagrams - Plant UML vs Mermaid
For C4 Models, Mermaid support is still experimental. This shows as you have little control over the way the diagram is rendered, and some parts are unreadable (i.e., arrows over nodes). PlantUML works as you would expect and has support for more advanced setup like sprites. Not even close on this one. Winner: PlantUML
9 Best UML Software For Mac & PC
PlantUML is another free open source sequence diagram software that uses text input to build UML charts. PlantUML requires using a specific PlantUML Language to construct sequence charts but once learned it’s very flexible.
Source: machow2.com
40 Open Source, Free and Top Unified Modeling Language (UML) Tools
PlantUML is a component that allows users to quickly write sequence diagrams, usecase diagrams, class diagrams, activity diagrams, component diagrams, state diagrams, deployment diagrams, object diagrams and wireframe graphical interfaces. Diagrams are defined using a simple and intuitive language. Images can be generated in PNG, SVG or LaTeX format and it is also possible...

Pencil Project Reviews

10 Best Visio Alternatives for Cost Effective Diagramming [2022]
Pencil Project is one of the best Visio alternatives which is open-source GUI prototyping software suitable for developers to create mockups, flow charts, floor designs, etc. It has a rich set of shapes and designed collections that make it easier to draw.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Pencil Project should be more popular than PlantUML. It has been mentiond 11 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.

PlantUML mentions (5)

  • PlantUMLApp 3.0 - Let's play with AI Multi-Modality
    New version 3.0 of my PlantUML App for iPad is out with exciting update! 🤩 The new multi-modality feature now lets you transform hand-drawn diagrams into PlantUML scripts with just a pencil ✍🏻 or your fingers 👆. Take a look 👀 to this short on YouTube and download it from App Store to support me 👍🏻. - Source: dev.to / 15 days ago
  • What is your favorite tool for designing complex architecture, and why is it MS Paint?
    Someone at work showed me https://plantuml.com/ recently. If you want your diagrams as code . Version controlled etc.. I highly recommend it. Source: 5 months ago
  • Discovering the Power of PlantUML: Visualizing YAML, JSON, and More!
    Open-source tool that uses simple textual descriptions to draw beautiful UML diagrams. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • Pikchr: A PIC-like markup language for diagrams in technical documentation
    Seems like a considerable upgrade from PlanUML (https://plantuml.com/ - which is amazing, but sometimes you just can't seem to be able to align the stuff the way you want too). - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
  • Entity Relationship Diagrams
    Plantuml is amongst the best there is. kroki.io has a sandbox for it Mermaid.js can do it in notion, it works as well as any other mermaid. Dbvisualizer is fantastic if you have an existing schema in a db instance. you may need the trial license to render the diagrams. Source: 10 months ago

Pencil Project mentions (11)

  • Uizard: Figma alternative with low learning curve
    I am a software developer, so doing UX is never my strength. From time to time though, I would resort to using the open source tool Pencil (https://pencil.evolus.vn/) to get a low fidelity mock-up. Lately I've been encountering bugs where images would come out broken when I re-open my wireframe in Pencil. Frustrated of the issue on Pencil, I tried out uizard yesterday, and have been really happy with it. It's... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Quick UI-design tool for mockups?
    Thanks for your replies. I checked some of them out, but I found one on my own that fits me perfectly: Pencil. Source: about 1 year ago
  • Best practice to draw/describe UIs in plain text?
    I wouldn't use text to illustrate a GUI. We use Pencil with the crayon-styled stencils to make quick mockups. The crayon styling makes it clear that they're just mockups so people don't poke at the style aspects of the design. We've gotten great feedback from our clients that these are effective illustrations too. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Simple tool for network documentation?
    I use MS Visio at work and Pencil (free) at home. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • A blog web design with Inkscape, what do you think about it?
    Thank you ! Of the ones I have tested, the only one that really works is Pencil, unfortunately, it lacks a lot of functionalities, and it is still far from being as practical as Figma, adobe xd etc. I think Inkscape is much more practical and powerful, but maybe it's just because I'm used to it :). Source: over 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing PlantUML and Pencil Project, you can also consider the following products

draw.io - Online diagramming application

LucidChart - LucidChart is the missing link in online productivity suites. LucidChart allows users to create, collaborate on, and publish attractive flowcharts and other diagrams from a web browser.

SuperNotecard - Introducing SuperNotecard. SuperNotecard is an online writing tool that features virtual notecards to help arrange facts or scenes, track details, organize paragraphs, and clarify your composition process.

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.

Linked Ideas - A macOS/iOS apps to treat ideas as links of concepts.

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