Dev tools · alternatives · 2026
24 alternatives to Direct manipulation flowchart editor without the mouse
Hey HN, I made this because I wanted a fast editing experience when making flowcharts. Other tools (bottom)require clicking and dragging (or editing code). Knotend is keyboard centric and is supposed to feel more like editing a doc than dragging around boxes and arrows. I've tested in on safari and chrome desktop. Its difficult to use on mobile but you can view existing charts. I'd appreciate your feedback on how you use it, the design, any bugs etc. Thank you. Prior art - https://mermaid-js.github.io/ - Confluence (Atlassian) - draw.io - excalidraw EDIT: fixed the bug on…
Knotend is a keyboard-driven flowchart editor designed for fast creation without mouse interaction. Unlike traditional tools that require dragging or code editing, it offers a document-like editing experience. The tool… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Direct manipulation flowchart editor without the mouse launched in 2021; newer entries below may have overtaken it.
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Hey all, I made knotend [0] because I wanted a flowchart editor that was keyboard-driven and super fast. I was tired of dragging boxes around on a canvas. You may have seen knotend around here before when I wrote an initial blog post [1] about why I wanted a new kind of flowchart editor. Thank you to everyone who has given me feedback here on HN! Since that blog post I’ve been working hard to get to a v1 which I’m showing now. You can use the free version without having to sign up for an account. I would love your feedback! What makes knotend different is two main things: 1) The nodes are…
2023 · knotend.com · its alternatives →
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2016 · code2flow.com · its alternatives →
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node-based editor for exploring, analyzing and transforming data without code
2021 · datablocks.pro · its alternatives →
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In the past I've used declarative diagram generation tools like Mermaid.js a lot for quickly drawing up things but for presentations or deliverables I find that I have to then move the generated diagrams over to a tool like Lucidchart which allows full control of the organization and customization. Therefore I am now working on this to combine the benefits of both into just one tool which can do both functions. The project is certainly in the early stages but if you find yourself making architecture diagrams I'd love to hear your thoughts on the idea or even a Github issue for a feature…
Oct 2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
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Flowbite WYSIWYG▲349Open-source text editor with Tailwind CSS
2024 · flowbite.com · its alternatives →
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Inspired by the design and UI/UX of apps like Notion, and utility of open-source apps like StackEdit, I decided to create a minimalistic, local-only WYSIWYG Markdown editor. Some features worth highlighting: - Monaco editor and Prettier integration for code snippets - Tables (apparently the holy grail of WYSIWYG editing) - Embeds (for CodePen, CodeSandbox and YouTube, most useful for HTML or JSON exports) - Accepts Markdown paste-in, and "exports"/generates HTML, Markdown and JSON outputs - Collaboration (with real-time awareness and initial commenting system, available only when…
2023 · editor.vrite.io · its alternatives →
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Mark▲358Create flowcharts & diagrams in seconds powered by AI
2017 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →
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The simplest tool to create flowcharts
2021 · zenflowchart.com · its alternatives →
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Ferrite: Fast Markdown/Text/Code editor in Rust with native Mermaid diagrams Built a Markdown editor using Rust + egui. v0.2.1 just dropped with major Mermaid improvements: → Native Mermaid diagrams - Flowcharts, sequence, state, ER, git graphs - pure Rust, no JS → Split view - Raw + rendered side-by-side with sync scrolling → Syntax highlighting - 40+ languages with large file optimization → JSON/YAML/TOML tree viewer - Structured editing with expand/collapse → Git integration - File tree shows modified/staged/untracked status Also: minimap, zen mode,…
Jan 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
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This is a recent addition to Vexlio which I think the HN crowd may find interesting or useful. TL;DR: easy creation of interactive diagrams, meaning diagrams that have mouse click/hover hooks that you can use to display pop-up content. The end result can be shared with a no-sign-in-required web link. My thought is that this is useful for system docs, onboarding or user guides, presentations, etc. Anything where there is a high-level view that should remain uncluttered + important metadata or details that still need to be available somewhere. You can try it out without signing up for…
2017 · vexlio.com · its alternatives →
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Hi all! TikZ is a widely-used LaTeX package for drawing figures in papers. It uses commands like \draw[->] (0,0) -- (1,2); to draw lines, shapes, text, etc. Academics usually code up their figures by hand, so there is lots of twiddling around with the coordinates and recompiling until things look nice. I guess it’s a bit like SVG, but it’s more code than markup, for example it has loops with \foreach. I built an open-source WYSIWYG TikZ editor (available for web and desktop) that allows you to edit your TikZ source code visually by dragging and resizing elements. It simultaneously shows the…
Jun 2026 · tikz.dev · its alternatives →
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Mermaid Flow▲32Mermaid Flow is a Visual Mermaid live editor that aims to simplify creating Mermaid JS Diagrams online. Currently Mermaid Flow supports Flowchart diagrams, giving you the ability to Drag and Drop nodes, edges and labels to create your Flowchart diagrams visually. This mermaid live editor is useful f
2023 · mermaidflow.app · its alternatives →
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Flowkit 3.0▲296User flows right inside your favorite design tool
2019 · useflowkit.com · its alternatives →
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Create flowcharts from Notion databases
2023 · notion.vip · its alternatives →
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Simple beautiful collaborative flowcharts, from Coggle.
2018 · coggle.it · its alternatives →
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Lottie Editor▲303The easiest way to edit Lottie animations
2023 · lottiefiles.com · its alternatives →
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Flowkit▲296Sketch library for user flows/content maps/annotations
2017 · useflowkit.com · its alternatives →
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2025 · docs.mermaidchart.com · its alternatives →
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Hello HN, It has been a while since I contributed to the web, so I decided to get back in shape and publish "something". This app is a POC of "what if diagrams were more dynamic". I'm a software engineer by trade, and with conventional tools, I often times struggle to explain flows of data in complex software systems. I got inspired by video games like The Incredible Machine and Factorio, as in some ways, software systems tend to become Rube Goldberg-esque machines ;) As a side quest, I also wanted to craft diagrams faster than text-based tools (ex: mermaid), as I am always forgetting their…
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
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