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Should I use Mermaid | Diagramming and charting tool?

Create diagrams and visualizations using text and code. - mermaid.js.org

Worth it. Buy if you're a developer or docs team that wants diagrams as versioned text — it's free, open source, and embedded everywhere. Skip if you need polished drag-and-drop visuals or vendor support.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 17 public sources; rating signal limited to the Google Workspace listing (111 reviews). Mermaid Chart paid-tier prices were not found in reviewed sources.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityNo support evidence in reviewed sources.
  • Security posture

Pricing

Free

Open source / free editor

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes

Best for

  • Developer docs and READMEs
  • Markdown-native teams
  • Architecture and sequence diagrams
  • Git-versioned diagram workflows

Not for

  • Non-technical teams wanting pure drag-and-drop
  • Polished sales or marketing visuals
  • Apps rendering untrusted diagram input unpatched
  • Teams needing vendor support SLAs

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

13 CVEs on record; 2025 XSS flaws need prompt patching, especially with untrusted input

medium

Free core, but AI and editor features push users toward paid Mermaid Chart

medium

Mermaid Chart pricing not published in reviewed sources — check before committing

medium

No visible security page; rely on GitHub advisories for updates

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Diagrams render from plain text; version them in git
  • Free and open source
  • 19 diagram types, from flowcharts to Gantt
  • Integrations everywhere: WebStorm, Confluence, Grafana, Streamlit, Google Workspace
  • Editor adds AI, drag-and-drop, and voice input

Cons

  • You must learn text syntax; no drag-and-drop in the core
  • Recurring XSS CVEs, including 2025 sequence-label bugs
  • Advanced hosted features sit in separate paid Mermaid Chart product
  • No security page found on official site

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/20/2026 - 17 sources - 13 CVEs; recent 2025 XSS issues are medium severity — patch promptly if you embed Mermaid.

official x5review x4security x5news x3
  • CVE-2025-54881 — XSS in sequence diagram labels, Improper sanitization of sequence diagram labels leads to XSS; rated 5.4 MEDIUM.
  • CVE-2025-54880 — cross-site scripting, XSS vulnerability in Mermaid, rated 5.1.
  • CVE-2022-31108, 2022 CVE affecting Mermaid, tracked on NVD.
  • No dedicated security page, Official site's security page returned no content in review.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • Free

    Starting price

  • 17

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Free core, open source, permissive ecosystem.
  • Ease of use: 3/5. Simple for coders; syntax curve for others.
  • Feature depth: 4/5. 19 diagram types, AI, voice, drag-and-drop editor.
  • Support quality. No support evidence in reviewed sources.
  • Security posture: 2/5. 13 CVEs; 2025 XSS flaws, medium severity.
  • 4.4/5 Google Workspace rating 111 reviews
  • Yes Free tier 'Start free' full editor
  • 8M+ Users reported in 2023
  • 13 CVEs on record per OpenCVE tracker

Pricing

Open source / free editor

Free

  • Render diagrams from text
  • AI, code, drag-and-drop, voice editor

Security

13 CVEs; recent 2025 XSS issues are medium severity — patch promptly if you embed Mermaid.

  • CVE-2025-54881 — XSS in sequence diagram labelsImproper sanitization of sequence diagram labels leads to XSS; rated 5.4 MEDIUM.
  • CVE-2025-54880 — cross-site scriptingXSS vulnerability in Mermaid, rated 5.1.⁷
  • CVE-2022-311082022 CVE affecting Mermaid, tracked on NVD.⁸
  • No dedicated security pageOfficial site's security page returned no content in review.10

What users say

Users value Mermaid as a lightweight, text-driven way to keep diagrams current, especially in docs and design reviews.

“This is where Mermaid comes in”
Blog: Stanley Lim
“Mermaid - a Javascript based diagramming and charting tool”
Reddit, r/ProductManagement
“And you can do all this easily with the diagramming and charting tool Mermaid.js”
InfluxData blog

Alternatives

Compare Mermaid | Diagramming and charting tool with each alternative.

Companies that use it

  • Microsoft16
  • JetBrains11
  • Grafana12
  • Streamlit17
Full analysis

Based on 17 public sources; rating signal limited to the Google Workspace listing (111 reviews). Mermaid Chart paid-tier prices were not found in reviewed sources.

Free, open-source diagrams-as-code. Great for devs and docs; wrong for non-technical drag-and-drop users. Patch often — 13 CVEs.

Methodology

Based on 17 public sources; rating signal limited to the Google Workspace listing (111 reviews). Mermaid Chart paid-tier prices were not found in reviewed sources.

Sources

  1. Mermaid official sitemermaid.js.org
    official
  2. mermaid-js/mermaid on GitHubgithub.com
    official
  3. Google Workspace Marketplace listing (4.4/5, 111 reviews)workspace.google.com
    review
  4. TechCrunch on Mermaid Charttechcrunch.com
    news
  5. Pulse2 — Mermaid Chart profile, 8M userspulse2.com
    news
  6. SentinelOne — CVE-2025-54881sentinelone.com
    security
  7. VulDB — CVE-2025-54880vuldb.com
    security
  8. NVD search — Mermaid CVEsnvd.nist.gov
    security
  9. OpenCVE — 13 Mermaid CVEsopencve.alliance.unm.edu
    security
  10. Mermaid security pagemermaid.js.org
    security
  11. JetBrains WebStorm Mermaid.js supportblog.jetbrains.com
    news
  12. Grafana Mermaid plugin docsgrafana.com
    official
  13. Stanley Lim — Why I choose Mermaidblog.stanleylim.me
    review
  14. Reddit r/ProductManagement threadreddit.com
    review
  15. Mermaid cheatsheet — 19 diagram typesmermandraw.com
    review
  16. Microsoft engineering playbookmicrosoft.github.io
    official
  17. Streamlit docs — st.mermaid_chartdocs.streamlit.io
    official

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