Blueprintr vs Gliffy
Gliffy lives inside Confluence pages. Blueprintr publishes a page of its own and embeds it into Confluence, SharePoint or anywhere else. The comparison is about what a shape can hold and where the diagram can be read.
Also searched as Gliffy vs Blueprintr, Gliffy alternative, and Gliffy vs Blueprintr pricing.
The short version
Choose Blueprintr if
You want the documentation behind each shape, a page readers can reach outside Confluence, version diffs, and a scan of AWS or Azure you can run again to see what changed.
Choose Gliffy if
Everything your team reads is a Confluence page, the diagram should be edited in place there, and Atlassian Marketplace billing is the path of least resistance.
Use both when
Gliffy stays for the quick diagrams inside Confluence pages. Architecture documentation lives in Blueprintr and is embedded back into Confluence on Enterprise.
How Gliffy works
Gliffy for Confluence adds a diagram editor to Confluence Cloud and Data Center pages, with shape libraries for AWS, Azure and GCP, Mermaid code inside the editor, and an AI feature that drafts Mermaid you convert to shapes. Real-time collaboration and Slack unfurls are on Cloud; embed links and version pinning are on Data Center. Diagram text is searchable in Confluence.
Blueprintr is diagram-first documentation. You draw the system in Vellum, write the detail into the shapes as strata, and publish one live URL. On Team, Continuum Cloud draws AWS and Azure from a read-only scan, and on AWS it also shows Terraform drift on the canvas. On Enterprise, Continuum Link attaches timestamped snapshots from monitoring and ITSM tools to the shapes, and Continuum Local sweeps your on-premise network from inside it so Blueprintr can draw it.
Side by side
Read from Gliffy’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 | Gliffy | Blueprintr |
|---|---|---|
| Diagrams and the detail behind them | ||
| Documentation behind every shapeCan a shape hold real content: markdown, tables, code, files? | Partly: Popup notes of up to 250 characters on basic and flowchart shapes, and links to a URL, another diagram or a Confluence page. | 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? | Yes: A drag-and-drop editor with AWS, Azure and GCP shape libraries, inside Confluence. | 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? | Partly: A Mermaid editor inside the app, on Cloud. Converted Mermaid becomes shapes and can no longer be edited as code. | 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. Confluence is the document. | 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? | No: Not documented. | 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? | Partly: Create with AI drafts Mermaid you convert to shapes, on Cloud only. | 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? | No: Shape libraries only. No live account import. | 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? | Partly: CSV data linking on shapes. No on-call, incident or monitoring connectors. | 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: A version on every save with restore. Pinning a previous version is Data Center only. No diff view. | 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? | No: No API or MCP server is documented. | 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? | Yes: Real-time collaboration on Confluence Cloud with cursors, follow mode and object locks. | Yes: Multi-cursor editing on Vellum diagrams.Premium and up |
| Live embedsCan the live diagram sit inside Confluence, SharePoint, a README or your site? | Partly: Diagrams live in Confluence pages and update wherever the page is copied. External embed links are Data Center only. Slack unfurls a snapshot. | 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? | Yes: Gliffy formats, Visio VSDX and VDX, draw.io files, and Lucidchart JSON on Data Center. | 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: PNG, JPG, SVG and the Gliffy format. No PDF export is listed. | 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? | No: None documented. | 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: Identity belongs to Atlassian. Gliffy documents no SSO or SCIM of its own. | Yes: SAML and OIDC single sign-on, SCIM provisioning and IP allow-listing.Enterprise |
| Free planWhat do you get without paying? | Partly: Free for up to ten Confluence Cloud users with no time limit. | Yes: Unlimited public and private blueprints, Vellum and draw.io, icon packs, embeds and a portfolio page.Free |
Where Blueprintr differs
Documentation behind the shape
A Gliffy shape carries a popup note of up to 250 characters and a link. A Blueprintr stratum carries markdown, tables, code, files and tabs, and can hold another diagram.
Read anywhere, not only in Confluence
A blueprint publishes to its own page and embeds in Confluence, SharePoint, a README or a website. Gliffy Cloud has no embed links outside Confluence.
A scan that draws for you
Continuum Cloud draws AWS and Azure from a read-only scan on Team, and shows drift from Terraform state on AWS. Gliffy offers AWS, Azure and GCP shapes; you draw.
History with diffs
Gliffy keeps a version on every save and restores it. Every blueprint publish is a snapshot, with diffs against any earlier version and restore on Team.
Where Gliffy is the better choice
Confluence-centred teams who want diagrams edited inside the page, searchable by Confluence, and priced through the Atlassian Marketplace.
- Edited inside the Confluence page, with the diagram's text searchable by Confluence.
- Free for up to ten Confluence users, and Marketplace billing on the Atlassian invoice.
- Real-time collaboration on Cloud, with cursors, follow mode and object locks.
- Imports Visio, draw.io and Lucidchart files, and a Mermaid editor inside the app.
Pricing
Gliffy
Free for up to ten Confluence users, then $3.80 a user a month for 11 to 100 users, billed annually through the Atlassian Marketplace.
- Gliffy for Confluence Cloud, up to 10 users
- $0No time limit.
- Gliffy for Confluence Cloud, 11 to 100 users
- $3.80 / user / month, billed annuallyThe per-user rate falls with volume; larger tiers are on the Marketplace listing.
- Data Center
- Perpetual licence with 12 months of maintenancePriced by user tier on the Marketplace.
Read on 7 September 2026 from Gliffy’s pricing page. Prices change; check there before you decide.
Blueprintr
Free forever for unlimited blueprints. Premium is $10 a month, Team is $29 a seat a month, Enterprise is quoted.
- Personal
- $0, foreverUnlimited public and private blueprints, Vellum and draw.io, icon packs, embeds.
- Premium
- $10 / month, or $100 / yearLive collaboration, Podium, a subdomain, footer-free embeds, analytics, the import wizard.
- Team
- $29 / seat / month, or $290 / seat / yearContinuum Cloud, Terraform drift, version history, approvals, foliums, password-protected blueprints.
- Enterprise
- Quoted, per seat, from 10 seatsContinuum Link, Continuum Local network drawing, SSO and SCIM, IP allow-listing, custom contracts.
USD, before tax. The pricing page shows your local currency and every capability by tier.
Moving work from Gliffy
Export each Gliffy diagram as SVG or PNG, or as a draw.io file where the option exists, since draw.io runs inside Blueprintr as an engine and opens them as editable tabs. Redraw the architecture diagrams in Vellum with the vendor icon packs, and put the popup notes into strata where they have room to grow. On Enterprise, embed the finished blueprint into the Confluence page the Gliffy diagram used to sit on.
Frequently asked
Can Blueprintr sit inside a Confluence page like Gliffy?
As a live embed, yes. The blueprint is published on its own page and embedded into Confluence on the Enterprise plan; readers open strata inside the embed. Editing happens in Blueprintr rather than in the Confluence page.
Can Blueprintr open Gliffy files?
Not the Gliffy format. Export SVG or PNG, or a draw.io file where available, which opens as an editable draw.io tab.
Which is cheaper for a Confluence team?
Gliffy is free for up to ten Confluence users and cheap per user after. Blueprintr's free plan holds unlimited blueprints; Confluence embeds are on the Enterprise plan.
Does either keep the diagram true to the cloud?
Blueprintr does, on Team: Continuum Cloud draws AWS and Azure from a read-only scan, and shows drift from Terraform state on AWS. Gliffy ships the shapes.
Draw the first diagram. The document follows.
Gliffy is a trademark of Perforce Software Inc. Blueprintr is not affiliated with Perforce Software Inc. and is not endorsed by it. Facts about Gliffy were read from its published pages on 7 September 2026. If something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.