head to head · open source
diagram-design vs ara
diagram-design has 64,318 GitHub stars, 4,247 forks, 42 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. ara has 2,024 stars, 181 forks, 133 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. diagram-design leads on adoption by 3,078% (64,318 vs 2,024 stars). diagram-design is written in HTML under MIT; ara is written in Python under GPL-3.0. diagram-design has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, ara 9%. diagram-design was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| diagram-design | ara | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 64K | ★ 2.0K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | HTML | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-07-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.2K | ⑂ 181 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick diagram-design if
- You weight community size — 64K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches HTML
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick ara if
- You want the ara feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and ara fits your workflow better
About diagram-design
Diagram Design Editorial diagrams your designer won't hate. New in 2.0 — the Loop: flywheels with a shared memory hub. The dashed lines are the write backs. New in 2.3: semantic system patterns and optional accessible motion, while static output stays the default. New in 2.5.10: ten more layout grammars — Sankey, fishbone, Wardley map, kanban, user journey, deployment, dependency graph, UML class, story map, and database schema. 39 editorial diagram types for Claude Code, Codex, Factory Droid, Pi, and Agent Skills compatible hosts. Self contained HTML + SVG. No shadows. No Mermaid slop. Semantic patterns…
read the full diagram-design overview →
About ara
ARA Records Ansible ARA Records Ansible and makes it easier to understand and troubleshoot. It is another recursive acronym with a focus on simplicity. About ara ara provides Ansible reporting by recording ansible and ansible playbook commands regardless of how and where they run: from most Linux distributions and even on Mac OS (as long as python = 3.10 is available) from tools that run Ansible like ansible (pull test runner navigator), AWX & Automation Controller (Tower), Molecule and Semaphore from a terminal, a script or by hand from a laptop, desktop, server, virtual machine, container or execution…
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Frequently asked questions
Is diagram-design or ara more popular?
diagram-design has 64,318 GitHub stars and ara has 2,024. diagram-design has the larger community by that measure.
Are diagram-design and ara free?
Both are open source. diagram-design is licensed under MIT and ara under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between diagram-design and ara?
diagram-design is written in HTML and ara in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, diagram-design or ara?
Choose diagram-design if you want the larger community (64,318 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose ara if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.