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DGM vs Lucidchart

Two fact sheets from our own research, side by side — pricing, platforms, API access and status re-checked by us rather than quoted from the vendors. Lucidchart publishes a starting price ($7.95); DGM does not. Both have a free tier. Only Lucidchart ships a public API.

DGMBrowser-based diagramming tool with smart shapes, real-time collaboration, and AI code generation from sketches.LucidchartBrowser diagramming for flowcharts, org charts and architecture, with data-linked shapes and AI generation.

Side by side

FactDGMLucidchart
CategoryDiagramming & WhiteboardsDiagramming & Whiteboards
Pricing modelFreeFreemium
Starts at—$7.95 seat_month
Public APINoYes
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android, API
CompanyMKLabsLucid Software Inc.
Launched2023—
Last verifiedSep 1, 2026Sep 6, 2026

What our research says

DGM

DGM is worth a look for anyone who wants a free diagramming canvas with real-time collaboration and doesn't mind that cloud storage is capped until a paid plan ships. The Vision AI code-generation feature is the differentiator versus older diagram tools, though it is unproven at scale since the product is still in beta.

Pros

  • Free forever for local files with export to images
  • Real-time multiplayer editing
  • Vision AI turns sketches into starter code
  • Built by the team behind an established UML tool

Cons

  • Cloud storage is capped at 3 documents until a paid plan launches
  • No pricing published yet for the announced paid tier
  • Still labeled beta

Lucidchart

The default choice for team diagramming: data-linked shapes and layers handle diagrams that outgrow a whiteboard tool, and the integration list means the diagram ends up where the work already happens. Per-seat pricing with a three-user minimum on Team makes it expensive for small groups, and Lucid keeps moving the product's URLs around.

Pros

  • Data-linked shapes with conditional formatting
  • Layers for managing dense diagrams
  • Lucid AI generates and summarises diagrams from prompts
  • Over 100 integrations including Jira, Confluence, Slack and AWS

Cons

  • Free tier caps editable documents to a handful
  • Team plan carries a three-seat minimum
  • Per-seat pricing, and published figures differ across Lucid's own pages

Which one fits

Choose DGM if you need

  • Developers who want to turn UML sketches into code stubs
  • Teams that need a free real-time diagramming canvas
  • Users who prefer local-first files over forced cloud storage

Choose Lucidchart if you need

  • Engineering and ops teams documenting systems
  • Org charts driven from an HR spreadsheet
  • Companies already on Jira, Confluence or Teams

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