head to head · open source
diagram-design vs faction
diagram-design has 64,318 GitHub stars, 4,247 forks, 42 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. faction has 604 stars, 66 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. diagram-design leads on adoption by 10,549% (64,318 vs 604 stars). diagram-design is written in HTML under MIT; faction is written in Java under GPL-2.0. diagram-design has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, faction 11%. 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 | faction | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 64K | ★ 604 |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | HTML | Java |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-10-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.2K | ⑂ 66 |
| 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 faction if
- You want the faction feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and faction 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 faction
OWASP FACTION PenTesting Report Generation and Collaboration Framework OWASP Faction 2.0 Has been released! 🎉 Faction 2.0 is a major update and will begin replacing this version. You can run it here OWASP Faction 1.X Info Faction is now an OWASP Project! You can find more information here Sponsors Premium Sponsors otto js PCI and Client Side Security Secninjaz Technologies LLP Become a Sponsor ❤️ If you like the project and would like to see it advance then consider being a sponsor. All sponsors get access to the Faction discord server and will have bug reports prioritized. Just click the sponsor links at the…
read the full faction overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is diagram-design or faction more popular?
diagram-design has 64,318 GitHub stars and faction has 604. diagram-design has the larger community by that measure.
Are diagram-design and faction free?
Both are open source. diagram-design is licensed under MIT and faction under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between diagram-design and faction?
diagram-design is written in HTML and faction in Java. 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 faction?
Choose diagram-design if you want the larger community (64,318 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose faction if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.