Introducing Nova Flow — a free flowchart and diagram editor
We just launched Nova Flow, a new web tool. Drop shapes onto the canvas and connect them with arrows to build flowcharts, diagrams, and UML class diagrams — right in your browser.
What it does
- Shapes and connectors: place rectangles, rounded boxes, diamonds, ellipses, and text, then link them with connectors. Lines snap to the edge of each shape and follow it automatically as you move things around
- Rich line and arrow styles: switch between straight and elbow routing, and solid, dashed, or dotted lines. Endpoints come in six styles — arrow, open arrow, hollow triangle, diamond, and more — so you can express UML inheritance, aggregation, and composition
- Grouping: select multiple shapes and group them to move and duplicate them as one unit. Stack a title with attribute and method boxes, group them, and you have a class-diagram box
- Fine-grained styling: set fill, border, and text colors with a color picker, and adjust corner radius, text outline, and text alignment
- Export and save: export your diagram as PNG or SVG, save a work-in-progress file (.novaflow), and your work is auto-saved in the browser
How to use it
- Pick a shape from the left toolbar and click the canvas to place it
- With the connector tool, click the shapes you want to link in turn to draw an arrow between them
- Double-click a shape to type text into it. Use the right-hand panel to change colors, line styles, and arrowheads
- When you're done, export to PNG or SVG from the menu
No sign-up, no installation — it works the moment you open it.
Privacy
Everything — creating and exporting diagrams — happens entirely in your browser (client-side). Nothing you draw is sent to a server. Your work is stored only in your own browser, so it's safe for internal architecture diagrams and personal notes alike.
Every feature is free.
When it comes in handy
- Quickly sketching a flowchart or architecture diagram to explain a design or spec
- Building shape-and-line diagrams like class diagrams or ER diagrams with nothing but a browser
- Exporting a diagram to PNG or SVG to drop into a document or slide deck
Novare Orbis offers other free, browser-based tools as well — see the full list.