8 Cloudcraft alternatives for architecture documentation

The shortlist

1. Blueprintr

   Diagram-first documentation

   A blueprint is a document that opens on a diagram. Every shape carries its own detail, and the blueprint publishes to one live URL. On Team, Continuum Cloud draws AWS and Azure from a read-only role. On Enterprise, Continuum Link attaches dated snapshots from monitoring and ITSM tools, and Continuum Local sweeps your on-premise network from inside it so Blueprintr can draw it.

   • A scan becomes a document. Continuum Cloud scans a scope you choose and lands a Vellum canvas with a stratum on every resource. You annotate it, add the owner and the runbook, and publish. The scan is the start of the document rather than the whole of it.
   • Terraform on the same canvas. Point an AWS connection at your remote state and drift between what you declared and what is running shows on the diagram. Cloudcraft removed its Terraform export and does not read state.
   • Scoped, not the whole estate. Scope a scan by account, region, VPC, subnet or resource group. A diagram shows one system, and the rest of the account stays out of the picture.
   • Embeds that work for public readers. A blueprint embeds in Confluence, SharePoint or a README as a live frame, and readers open strata inside it. Cloudcraft's Confluence embeds are only visible to signed-in Confluence users.

   Free forever for unlimited blueprints. Premium is $10 a month, Team is $29 a seat a month, Enterprise is quoted.

   Create for freeFull comparison with Cloudcraft

2. Hava

   Cloud diagram automation

   Hava generates versioned infrastructure and security diagrams from read-only connections to AWS, Azure, GCP and Kubernetes, synced daily.

   Best for: Operations and security teams who want an always-current inventory of every environment, with a diff between any two syncs and alerts when something changes.

   No free plan. Professional is $59 a month for three sources, Teams $249 a month for ten. Enterprise is quoted.

   Blueprintr vs HavaHava’s site

3. Lucidscale

   Cloud diagram automation

   Lucidscale was Lucid's cloud-visualisation product; its features now live in the Cloud Accelerator, an Enterprise add-on that imports AWS, Azure and Google Cloud into Lucidchart.

   Best for: Lucid Enterprise customers who want AWS, Azure and Google Cloud drawn on the Lucidchart canvas they already use, refreshed on a schedule.

   No public price. The Cloud Accelerator is an add-on for Lucid Enterprise accounts, licensed account-wide and quoted by sales.

   Blueprintr vs LucidscaleLucidscale’s site

4. Eraser

   Diagrams and docs together

   Eraser is an AI-first diagramming tool for engineers: diagrams written as code or drawn on a canvas, with a markdown document beside them in the same file.

   Best for: Teams who want diagrams generated from Terraform, CloudFormation or a codebase, kept in a GitHub repository as text, and updated by a bot on pull requests.

   Free for three files, then $15 or $45 a member a month billed annually. Enterprise is quoted.

   Blueprintr vs EraserEraser’s site

5. Whimsical

   Diagrams and docs together

   Whimsical is a whiteboard for product teams with flowcharts, wireframes and mind maps on Boards, a Docs editor beside them, multiplayer editing and an AI agent.

   Best for: Product teams who want quick flowcharts and wireframes next to lightweight docs, with an AI agent that drafts both.

   Free for 50 objects a month, then $10 an editor a month for Pro and $20 for Business, billed annually. AI is bought in credit packs.

   Blueprintr vs WhimsicalWhimsical’s site

6. IcePanel

   Architecture modelling

   IcePanel is a C4-model architecture tool where every diagram is a view of one shared model, with flows, drafts, versions and decision records.

   Best for: Teams committed to the C4 model who want one governed model, future-state drafts merged like branches, and decision records attached to the objects they concern.

   Free up to 100 model objects, then $40 or $80 an editor a month billed annually. Viewers are free. Enterprise is quoted.

   Blueprintr vs IcePanelIcePanel’s site

7. Structurizr

   Architecture modelling

   Structurizr is the original C4 model tool: a text DSL that describes one model and renders many diagrams from it, now shipped as one binary with a licensed server edition.

   Best for: Teams who want their architecture model in version control as a DSL, rendered in CI, and are comfortable running the server themselves.

   The local tooling is free and open source. The server is licensed per installation by user count, from 300 pounds a month for up to 20 users, billed annually.

   Blueprintr vs StructurizrStructurizr’s site

8. Ilograph

   Architecture modelling

   Ilograph builds interactive, zoomable architecture diagrams from a YAML model, with multiple perspectives and step-through sequences, in the browser or a desktop app.

   Best for: Engineers who want a text-defined model rendered as an interactive diagram readers can zoom into, and a desktop app that works air-gapped.

   Free for unlimited diagrams. Pro is $18 a month, Team $25 an editor a month, billed annually. The desktop app is $11.99 a month.

   Blueprintr vs IlographIlograph’s site