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Mermaid Chart vs SciFig

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. Mermaid Chart starts at $80, SciFig at $14. Both have a free tier.

Mermaid ChartTurns text, code, or prompts into flowcharts, sequence diagrams, and Gantt charts, from the Mermaid.js team.SciFigTurns a plain-language description into a publication-ready scientific diagram in a chosen journal style.

Side by side

FactMermaid ChartSciFig
CategoryDiagramming & WhiteboardsDiagramming & Whiteboards
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemium
Starts at$80 year$14 month
Public APINoNo
PlatformsWeb, Vscode ExtWeb
CompanyMermaid Chart—
Launched2022—
Last verifiedSep 1, 2026Sep 1, 2026

What our research says

Mermaid Chart

Being built by the Mermaid.js maintainers themselves is the real edge here: diagrams-as-code that developers already write in markdown get a proper collaborative editor and AI-assisted generation on top, instead of a third party reverse-engineering the syntax. The free tier's five-diagram cap is tight, and the vendor's recent rebrand from mermaidchart.com to mermaid.ai makes some third-party pricing pages describing it look slightly out of date.

Pros

  • built and maintained by the original Mermaid.js open-source team
  • generates diagrams from plain text or AI prompts, or direct syntax editing
  • real-time multi-user collaboration
  • integrations with VS Code, Confluence, and similar developer tools

Cons

  • free plan is capped at five diagrams
  • recent domain move from mermaidchart.com to mermaid.ai has left some third-party listings referencing the old pricing page
  • per-user annual billing can add up for larger teams versus flat team pricing

SciFig

Handy for researchers who need a clean mechanism or pathway diagram fast and would otherwise fight with a general vector editor. The credit system rewards light, occasional use; anyone producing figures constantly for a lab will burn through the free tier quickly and need to budget for a subscription.

Pros

  • Six input modes and six publication styles to match journal conventions
  • Every element stays editable after generation, not a flat image
  • Exports to PPTX, layered SVG, and 8K PNG/JPG

Cons

  • Credit-based pricing makes heavy use expensive to predict
  • Company behind the product is not disclosed on the site
  • Best experience requires a desktop browser, not mobile

Which one fits

Choose Mermaid Chart if you need

  • developers already writing Mermaid syntax who want a hosted editor
  • teams wanting diagrams generated from text or code with light AI assistance

Choose SciFig if you need

  • Researchers who need a journal-style diagram without illustration skills
  • Turning a described process into an editable figure for a slide deck or paper

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