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Kroki vs Mermaid: catalog facts
Kroki	Mermaid
Free The public kroki.io service and interactive editor are free to use.	Free Free and open source under the MIT licence.
Web, Self-hosted	Web, Command line
One API for dozens of text-based diagram languages Live in-browser editor for trying each format	Diagrams are plain text, so they diff and review like code Rendered natively by GitHub, GitLab and most documentation generators
Aimed at developers and documentation tooling rather than freehand drawing Each diagram language has its own syntax to learn	Layout is automatic, so fine control over positioning is limited Complex diagrams become hard to read in source form
Web application, Self-hosted, Hosted service	Web application, Downloadable app
Closed source	Open source
License not stated	License: MIT
No account needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 2, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 22, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.