So when determining your price point, you need to provide a fairly substantial service on top of this to justify a monthly cost. Particularly when you're targeting developers and architects, who are more likely to use free open-source alternatives even if the UX is not as good.
there are many differences to the mermaid. i have mentioned them in the comments already / saving of the diagrams, unified syntax throughout various diagram types, diagram code autocomplete, templates, integrations with azure devops and confluence.
what other paid feature would you wish for?
Why I see animation as a vital feature:
- This would give clarity to both developers and product owners.
- When there is a new feature in the system, it will be easier to add change and export.
- Easily embed in README files.
- To my knowledge, this feature is not available in any diagram software.
(click the 'Start Walkthrough' button on the right)
Exporting it to a gif is an interesting idea. That could be a very big gif file though.
we are going to talk about it during our next planning.
However, it makes zero sense to me as a 13 euro/mo service. It is just a single-purpose tool which I need occasionally, so I might be inclined to pay something like $10 for it, once. But monthly payment? Maybe if you're systems analyst at IBM and creating UML diagrams is literally your job.
I would love a gitlab plugin which creates new layouts based on all module imports in a repository. to get an overview like a dependencies graph. For that I would pay instantly.
we are going to play with the pricing in the following weeks, and the most probably decrease the price.
my friends and I made Gleek.io - a diagram maker focused on speed - typing code is much faster than drag-and-drop - for developers, it is more natural to write than to draw - generate a diagram with connections
The features of Gleek.io include: - 16 different shapes to use - Various connections based on the diagram type - Diagrams saved locally in a browser as well as on Gleek.io servers - Dashboard with the overview of your diagrams with the option to search - Free Templates (type /) and Syntax help to make it easier to start - Rotation of the diagram, SVG download of a diagram, diagram link sharing, fit to screen layout
Create your first diagram in Gleek.io & write your feedback
Example to try: Type "Shape1-->Shape2" for your first diagram
typing should be faster and more natural for developers and software architects - so speed is a big advantage in comparison with drag-and-drop tools.
- This reminds me of plantuml and mermaid: how do you see yourself as different? Is it the reactive display of contents as you type?
- Naming-wise: I'm curious - are you aware that in some places "Gleek" means to spit by directly squeezing your salivary glands?
you are right. i am aware that name is somewhat controversial. in a way, you type quickly your diagram and gleek.io spits it out :-)
Maybe a job for ML
- (CHECK) Use the full set of Gleek diagramming features
- (CROSS) Limited to 5 diagram files
- (CROSS) Limited to 40 diagram object
- (CROSS) Diagrams are stored on Gleek servers
- (CROSS) Share links to diagrams using your favorite collaboration tool
- (CROSS) Priority support on Slack
There are checkmarks and crosses. The first item seems clear because it had a checkmark and is included in the free tier. But it seems to me that the next two items (limited to 5 diagram files and 40 diagram object) are also included, but they have a cross next to them. While the last two items also have a cross but are not included.
Lastly, I think there is a small typo and the "40 diagram object" should be "40 diagram objects."
Good luck!
[1] https://www.gleek.io/pricing.html
Edit: fixed formatting
Do you protect your clients in any way for the risk of loosing diagrams if your company goes down the drain?
gleek.io is partly based on mermaid, it has its own UI and extra features like saving diagrams on its servers, Git integration, link sharing, integration with Azure DevOps, integration with Confluence is on the way, etc.
i don't see the company going down the drain, it is only one of our projects and not so expensive to maintain. the diagrams are saved on the servers and you can export them in different formats.
gleek.io is unifying the syntax throughout different diagram types so that you don't have to learn the syntax from the beginning again.
This could solve my second problem, which is to take my drawings and convert them into something presentable and consumerable by other people. But this is not my ideal way to do it. Ideally, I could take a picture of the white board, and it would be auto generated.
Is the free tier limited to 4 diagrams? Is the free tier limited to 40 diagrams? Is the free tier permit the user to save the diagram on Gleek server? and so on...
to answer your questions: yes, the free tier is limited to 5 diagram files and 40 diagram objects.
the free tier has diagrams saved in the local IndexDB database of the browser. paid tier has them saved on the servers.
1. For some reason "Syntax Error" kept popping up. 2. The UI need some work...look at Lucid Chart 3. Having an API will so we can call from other apps 4. Just PNG is not enough, may be add SVG
I am happy to get on a 30 min zoom call and discuss all this as I tried to create some thing like this using DS3 last year. Feel free to ping me at @jayonsoftware
Jay
it would be helpful to know more details about 1. and 2., we already have SVG implemented - more export options are available for paid users
You could take inspiration from plantuml-editor (https://plantuml-editor.kkeisuke.com/#) and add a template/demo button that allows user to get a predefined diagram so they can experiment with it.
https://app.gleek.io/diagrams/basic https://app.gleek.io/diagrams/sequence https://app.gleek.io/diagrams/erdiagram https://app.gleek.io/diagrams/class
there is also syntax help link in the bottom-left corner
your feedback is great, we should make it more clear on how to start
What’s this, realtime live preview/hot reload of text to diagram called?
