head to head · open source
diagram-design vs jxls
diagram-design has 64,318 GitHub stars, 4,247 forks, 42 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. jxls has 533 stars, 104 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. diagram-design leads on adoption by 11,967% (64,318 vs 533 stars). diagram-design is written in HTML under MIT; jxls is written in Java under Apache-2.0. diagram-design has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, jxls 20%. 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 | jxls | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 64K | ★ 533 |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | HTML | Java |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-09-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.2K | ⑂ 104 |
| 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 jxls if
- You want the jxls feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and jxls 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 jxls
Jxls Overview Jxls is a small and simple to use Java library for Excel report generation using Excel template files. Jxls abstracts Excel generation from underlying Java to Excel low level processing library. Jxls uses a special markup in Excel templates to define output formatting and data layout. How to use Maven Gradle See Getting started guide. Contributing See Contributing guide.
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Frequently asked questions
Is diagram-design or jxls more popular?
diagram-design has 64,318 GitHub stars and jxls has 533. diagram-design has the larger community by that measure.
Are diagram-design and jxls free?
Both are open source. diagram-design is licensed under MIT and jxls under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between diagram-design and jxls?
diagram-design is written in HTML and jxls 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 jxls?
Choose diagram-design if you want the larger community (64,318 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose jxls if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.