8 Ilograph alternatives for architecture documentation
Ilograph's interactive diagrams are the closest thing to layered documentation among diagram-as-code tools. If you are leaving it, the questions are whether you still want to write YAML, what should sit behind a shape, and how the diagram is kept true.
Also searched as alternatives to Ilograph, Ilograph competitors, and Ilograph replacement.
What to look for when leaving Ilograph
How much structure you want
A model enforces one notation and rewards the teams who keep it. A canvas lets each diagram take the shape its subject needs.
Where readers arrive
Most readers want the overview, then one box. Check that the detail opens from the diagram rather than from a separate page.
Connecting the model to reality
A model describes intent. Look for a way to check it against the running estate, or it becomes a second thing to keep in sync.
The shortlist
Blueprintr
Diagram-first documentationA 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.
- Draw, with icons. Ilograph lays out the YAML for you. Vellum lets you draw the diagram in the shape that explains it, with AWS, Azure, GCP and Kubernetes icon packs and your own SVGs.
- More than markdown behind the shape. An Ilograph resource carries a markdown description. A Blueprintr stratum carries markdown, tables, code, files, links and tabs, and can hold a second diagram.
- Connected to what is running. Continuum Cloud scans AWS and Azure read-only on Team, and shows drift from Terraform state on AWS. Ilograph's AWS importer takes a CSV you paste from Resource Explorer.
- Real-time, and published. Vellum has multi-cursor editing on Premium. A blueprint publishes to a page with tabs and embeds anywhere as a live frame. Ilograph resolves edits git-style and exports HTML.
Free forever for unlimited blueprints. Premium is $10 a month, Team is $29 a seat a month, Enterprise is quoted.
IcePanel
Architecture modellingIcePanel 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.
Structurizr
Architecture modellingStructurizr 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.
Eraser
Diagrams and docs togetherEraser 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.
Whimsical
Diagrams and docs togetherWhimsical 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.
Cloudcraft
Cloud diagram automationCloudcraft draws AWS and Azure architecture diagrams from a live account scan, in 2D or isometric 3D, with a cost estimate attached.
Best for: Teams who want an auto-generated inventory diagram of an AWS or Azure account with a running cost estimate, especially if they already use Datadog.
Free for manual diagrams. Pro is $40.83 a user a month billed annually, Enterprise $100 a user a month billed annually.
Hava
Cloud diagram automationHava 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.
Lucidscale
Cloud diagram automationLucidscale 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.
How Blueprintr compares with Ilograph
Read from Ilograph’s own pages on 7 September 2026 and from Blueprintr’s pricing table. The plan label is the Blueprintr tier the capability lands on.
| Capability | Ilograph | Blueprintr |
|---|---|---|
| Diagrams and the detail behind them | ||
| Documentation behind every shapeCan a shape hold real content: markdown, tables, code, files? | Partly: Each resource carries a markdown description with headers, lists, links and code. Tables, images and files are not mentioned. | Yes: A stratum on any shape: markdown, tables, code, files, links, tabs, even another diagram.Free |
| Hand-drawn diagrams with vendor iconsCan you draw freely, with real AWS, Azure, GCP and Kubernetes icons? | No: Layout is automatic from the YAML. Built-in icons, custom icons on Pro. | Yes: Vellum, with vendor icon packs and your own SVGs. draw.io and Excalidraw are engines too.Free |
| Diagrams from textCan a diagram be written as code and kept in version control? | Yes: Diagrams are defined in YAML with autocomplete and imports. | Partly: Mermaid tabs render from text and sit beside drawn tabs. Vellum diagrams are drawn, not coded.Free |
| A documentation siteLong-form docs with a nav tree, search and your own domain? | No: Not offered. | Yes: Folium: nested pages, search, your subdomain or custom domain, with live blueprints in the pages.Team and up |
| Present from the diagramCan the diagram itself be the slide deck? | Partly: Walkthroughs and sequences step a reader through the diagram. | Yes: Podium frames regions of a live canvas as slides and presents them in the browser.Premium and up |
| AI draftingCan AI draw a first draft, or convert a document you already wrote? | No: None offered. | Yes: Draft from a description or a document, and explain a shape. Every change is proposed, then confirmed by you.Free allowance, credits on paid plans |
| Keeping the diagram true | ||
| Draw AWS or Azure from a live accountWill it diagram what is actually running, read-only? | Partly: An AWS importer that reads a CSV pasted from AWS Resource Explorer. No live connection or refresh. | Yes: Continuum Cloud takes a read-only role or a Reader app registration and scans the accounts or subscriptions and regions you choose, narrowed to a VPC, subnet or resource group.Team and up |
| Terraform drift on the diagramDoes it compare what you declared with what is running? | No: Not offered. | Yes: Point an AWS connection at your Terraform remote state. Drift from the declared infrastructure shows on the diagram.Team and up |
| Operational data on shapesCan a shape show the on-call, the open incidents or the uptime from the tools that report them? | No: Not offered. | Yes: Continuum Link attaches 39 connectors (PagerDuty, Datadog, ServiceNow, CloudWatch and more) as tabs on a stratum, each a timestamped snapshot an editor refreshes. On-premise systems such as SolarWinds, Zabbix and NetBox answer through Continuum Local, an agent inside your network that also sweeps it for Blueprintr to draw.Enterprise |
| Version history and diffsCan you see what changed since the last review, and restore? | Partly: Diagram history, 14 days free and unlimited on Pro. Diffs are not documented. | Yes: Every publish is a snapshot. History diffs against any earlier version and restores it.Team and up |
| AI agents and an APICan Claude Code, Cursor or a script read and write your documentation? | Partly: A team workspace API on Team+ that reads and updates diagrams but cannot create them. | Yes: A personal MCP server and a REST API, with scoped keys you mint yourself. |
| Sharing, teams and platform | ||
| Real-time collaborationCan two people draw on one canvas at once? | Partly: Editing conflicts resolve git-style rather than in real time. Admins can lock diagrams. | Yes: Multi-cursor editing on Vellum diagrams.Premium and up |
| Live embedsCan the live diagram sit inside Confluence, SharePoint, a README or your site? | Yes: Private links, password-protected links on Team, a Confluence Cloud app and self-contained HTML. | Yes: An iframe or oEmbed embed of the live blueprint. Readers open strata inside it. Footer-free on Premium.Free |
| Bringing existing work inWhich files and sources come across? | Partly: Ilograph YAML and the AWS CSV importer. | Yes: draw.io files, PDF, DOCX, PPTX, Markdown and images through the import wizard. Confluence, Notion and SharePoint through a grant.Premium and up |
| Getting work outWhich formats can you leave with? | Partly: Self-contained HTML only. PNG, SVG and PDF are not mentioned. | Yes: PNG, SVG, PDF and GIF from Vellum. Whole blueprints as Markdown and YAML. A folium as a static site.Free |
| Desktop appIs there a native app, and does it work offline? | Yes: Ilograph Desktop for macOS, Windows and Linux, fully offline, with a CLI export. | Yes: Blueprintr Vellum for macOS, Windows and Linux, plus Vellum Core: local files, no account, no network.Free |
| SSO and SCIMCan your identity provider own sign-in and provisioning? | Partly: SSO on the Team+ plan. SCIM is not mentioned. | Yes: SAML and OIDC single sign-on, SCIM provisioning and IP allow-listing.Enterprise |
| Free planWhat do you get without paying? | Yes: Unlimited public and private diagrams, built-in icons, 14 days of history. | Yes: Unlimited public and private blueprints, Vellum and draw.io, icon packs, embeds and a portfolio page.Free |
Moving work from Ilograph
Ilograph exports HTML rather than images, so capture each perspective as a screenshot and bring it into a blueprint through the import wizard. The markdown descriptions paste into strata one resource at a time. Redraw the diagram in Vellum, with a parent's stratum opening onto the diagram of its children, which gives the same zoom.
Frequently asked
Why leave Ilograph?
Usually the YAML, HTML as the only export, and the wish to draw with vendor icons and keep tables, code and files behind a shape.
Which alternative is closest to Ilograph?
IcePanel or Structurizr for a model rendered into views. Blueprintr for a drawn document with a diagram behind a shape.
Can I keep the diagrams?
As self-contained HTML, which any web server can host. Screenshots are the route into the other tools.
Draw the first diagram. The document follows.
Ilograph is a trademark of Ilograph LLC. Every other product named here is a trademark of its owner, and Blueprintr is affiliated with none of them. Facts were read from each vendor’s published pages on 7 September 2026. If something is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.