Monosketch
Ranked 4 of 14 diagram tools by recommenders
Free, open-source tool for drawing diagrams as plain text, valued for being simple, easy to use and useful for prototyping. Critics say it still lacks some features and polish.
18 people recommended Monosketch in Hacker News comments, 5 had mixed feelings and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026.
17 of the 18 people who recommend it commented in one thread, “Monosketch”.
Summary written by Claude from 19 comments.
27 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 18
- mixed feelings
- 5
- warn against or regret it
- 4
The record
Recommended in 2 of 12 months
In 2 different threads.
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 18 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 4.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 12 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
- Recommended in 2 threadsNeeds 5 or more, not met.
- 17 of its 18 recommenders came from one threadNeeds half or less, not met.
The same rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. Mixed feelings count toward neither side. How the badge works
What people say about it
Reasons grouped from a sample of 18 of the 27 opinions about it, picked in proportion to how many people recommend it, have mixed feelings and criticize it. Each mark is one comment in the sample. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Simple and easy to use
“It's easy to use and the diagrams export well.”
Comment from 13 Feb 2026 in “Monosketch” “Simple and self-explanatory.”
Comment from 13 Feb 2026 in “Monosketch” Preferred over draw.io and Excalidraw
“This is really cool. Better than draw.io and excalidraw”
Comment from 13 Feb 2026 in “Monosketch” “This one is probably the best I've seen so far.”
Comment from 13 Feb 2026 in “Monosketch” Useful for prototyping and projects
“it's been useful for me in early stages of UI prototyping”
Comment from 13 Feb 2026 in “Monosketch” “Already see a use for this in one of my projects.”
Comment from 13 Feb 2026 in “Monosketch” Diagrams live as plain text
“The best part is that we can add diagrams directly inside the source code.”
Comment from 13 Feb 2026 in “Monosketch”
Other diagram tools people recommend
The four most recommended other diagram tools, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Mixed | Criticize | Approval | Months | Had for | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mermaid | 72 | 16 | 42 | 63% | 12 | — | — |
| Excalidraw | 41 | 7 | 8 | 84% | 11 | — | Approved |
| SQL to ER diagram tool | 23 | 4 | 1 | 96% | 2 | — | — |
| MonosketchThis page | 18 | 5 | 4 | 82% | 2 | — | — |
| D2 diagram language | 15 | 5 | 6 | 71% | 6 | — | Approved |
What people said
18 of the 27 opinions about it, picked in proportion to the three counts, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“It makes me instantly assume the software is low-quality.”
“I kept feeling like it wasn't ready yet, with critical features still missing and UI/UX I'm not satisfied with.”
“Oh look, another tool to draw ASCII boxes.”
“This new kid on the block looks like a solid replacement, though!”
“Already see a use for this in one of my projects.”
“The best part is that we can add diagrams directly inside the source code.”
“Just my kinda thing--great stuff!”
“This one is probably the best I've seen so far.”
“Monosketch looks awesome. Cool being open source as well.”
“Not to take anything away from Monosketch, which is cool.”
“one of my best app purchases of all time”
“It's easy to use and the diagrams export well.”
“Add a 'paste text to clipboard'-button top center.”
“I just tried all the examples on the home page, it works perfectly.”
“it's been useful for me in early stages of UI prototyping”
“Simple and self-explanatory.”
“I really like that the lines stick to the boxes but it's a bit hard to make them stick.”
“This is really cool. Better than draw.io and excalidraw”
Counts come from 1,791,911 Hacker News comments labeled by Claude, November 2025 to October 2026, with data through October 31, 2026. Counts updated 2 Nov 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.