Side by side
D2 vs Dia
Both stand on diagramming software. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Free plan APILinuxMac+3
D2 offers text-based diagram creation with broad export, layout and editor options at no cost. Its documented scale limitation matters for very large diagrams.
Visit D2 Free plan LinuxMacWindows
Pick Dia if you need a free desktop diagrammer covering UML, flowcharts, networks, and entity relationships. Look elsewhere if you need a different platform or file-import route than those provided.
Visit DiaThe facts
| D2 | Dia | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Not published | Not published |
| Runs on | API, Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Web, Windows | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| Lowest paid plan | Not published | Free or on request |
| Plans published | None | 1 |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | d2lang.com | dia-installer.de |
| On diagramming software | #15 of 44 | #11 of 44 |
D2: what it does well
- Free and open source
- Offline CLI workflow after installation
- Exports SVG, PNG, PDF, PPTX, GIF and ASCII
- Three layout engines
- VSCode, Vim and Obsidian integrations
What to know first
- Not designed for big data
- Maintainers do not test thousands-node diagrams
- CLI periodically checks GitHub for updates
- Development time is limited
Dia: what it does well
- Supports entity-relationship, UML, flowchart, and network diagrams
- Imports Dia XML and Visio XML files
- Exports EPS, SVG, XFIG, WMF, and PNG
- Free under the GNU General Public License, GPLv2
- Packages available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux
What to know first
- Desktop application rather than a browser-based tool
- Supported imports are limited to Dia XML and Visio XML
- Windows download is version 0.97.2