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yEd Graph Editor

Free desktop graph editor known for its automatic layout algorithms.

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About yEd Graph Editor

yEd is a free desktop diagram editor from yWorks, the German company that sells the yFiles graph visualisation library. It handles flowcharts, network diagrams, UML, BPMN, org charts and entity-relationship diagrams, but its standout feature is automatic layout: a large, messy graph can be rearranged into hierarchical, organic, orthogonal, circular or tree layouts with a click. You can also import data from Excel spreadsheets or XML and let yEd build and lay out the graph for you. It is written in Java and runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, and a browser version called yEd Live is available. yEd is closed source but costs nothing, including for commercial use. The interface is dated, there is no real-time collaboration or cloud storage, and its own GraphML format is less common than Visio or draw.io files, but for analysing and tidying large graphs it remains hard to match.

Best for: People who need to lay out large graphs or network diagrams automatically.

Pros and cons

What works

  • Excellent automatic layout algorithms
  • Builds diagrams from Excel or XML data
  • Free on Windows, macOS and Linux
  • Browser version available

Why people leave

  • Dated Java interface
  • No real-time collaboration
  • Closed source despite being free

Top yEd Graph Editor alternatives

See all 4
  1. 1draw.io logo
    draw.io

    Also free, open source and cross-platform, with a friendlier interface and cloud storage.

    66.5
  2. 2Gr
    Graphviz

    Automatic graph layout from text, scriptable for very large graphs.

    62.6
  3. 3D2 logo
    D2

    Text-defined diagrams with automatic layout, better suited to version control.

    59.6
  4. 4Lucidchart logo
    Lucidchart

    Collaborative browser editing if you need to work on diagrams with others.

    57.2

Why people left yEd Graph Editor

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yEd Graph Editor: common questions

Is yEd Graph Editor free?

Yes, yEd Graph Editor is free to use.

Is yEd Graph Editor open source?

No, yEd Graph Editor is not open source. Open-source alternatives include draw.io, Graphviz and D2.

What platforms does yEd Graph Editor run on?

yEd Graph Editor is available for Windows, macOS, Linux and Web.

What are the best alternatives to yEd Graph Editor?

The highest-ranked yEd Graph Editor alternatives right now are draw.io, Graphviz and D2. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.

See all 4 yEd Graph Editor alternatives