Canvas and code together
Edit a diagram as code, or drag it on the canvas. Mermaid leaves layout to its engine, with no control over where boxes go.
The AI-native Mermaid alternative
Generate any diagram in seconds, from AI or your live systems, and bring your Mermaid diagrams with you.
Eraser vs Mermaid
How Eraser compares to Mermaid
Mermaid is the most widely used diagram-as-code syntax: free, open source and rendered natively on GitHub and Notion. Eraser keeps the code and adds what text alone can’t: frontier AI models that follow your team’s standards, diagrams drawn from your live cloud accounts, CMDB and code, and a canvas you can drag as well as type.
| Compare | Eraser | Mermaid  |
|---|---|---|
| AI diagramming | Supported: Yes Powered by frontier models: architecture, network, cloud, process and more | Partially supported: Paid add-on Not in open source Mermaid; Mermaid Chart sells AI credits |
| Edit with AI | Supported: Yes Describe the change; the diagram updates | Partially supported: Mermaid Chart only Select nodes and describe the change |
| AI follows your standards | Supported: Yes Presets of rules, templates, reference architectures and brand styles | Not supported: No |
| MCP server for AI agents | Supported: Yes AI assistants and coding agents, like Claude, Copilot and others, can create, read and update diagrams | Partially supported: Mermaid Chart Official hosted server; needs a Mermaid Chart account |
| Generate diagrams from live cloud environments |
| Not supported: No |
| Generate diagrams from CMDBs and EA tools |
| Not supported: No |
| Generate diagrams from codebases |
| Not supported: No Diagrams are written by hand or by an LLM |
| Expandable views | Supported: Yes Click into any box to open its own view, then move from a system overview down through layers of detail | Not supported: No Subgraphs group nodes but do not expand or collapse |
| Animations | Supported: Yes Animated flows show how a request or data moves step by step, so processes are easier to follow | Partially supported: Edges only Flowchart edges can animate; no step-by-step flows |
| Real-time collaboration | Supported: Yes On every plan, in the browser, with comments and unlimited free guests | Partially supported: Mermaid Chart only Open source Mermaid is a library; Mermaid Chart adds co-editing |
| Docs and diagrams in one file | Supported: Yes A note editor with embedded diagrams and wikilinks | Partially supported: In Markdown Renders in GitHub, GitLab, Notion and Obsidian; no editor of its own |
| Diagram as code | Supported: Yes Edit as text, or drag on the canvas | Supported: Yes The Mermaid syntax, across many diagram types |
| Deployment options |
| Supported: Yes MIT licensed; self-host anywhere |
The difference
Why teams choose Eraser over Mermaid
Diagrams of what actually exists
Connect AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, a CMDB, a codebase or any other data source and Eraser draws what is really running. Mermaid diagrams are written by hand or by an LLM.
AI that follows your standards
Frontier AI models draft diagrams in your team’s notation, using your rules and templates. Open source Mermaid has no AI.
Switching
Bring your Mermaid diagrams with you
Moving to Eraser does not mean redrawing your Mermaid diagrams by hand.
Download a Mermaid diagram as an image, or take a screenshot, drop it into AI chat, and Eraser redraws it as a native, editable diagram, here as an AWS architecture.
Frequently asked questions
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Can I bring my Mermaid code into Eraser?
Yes. Paste Mermaid code into Eraser’s AI chat and it becomes a native, editable Eraser diagram in a few seconds. From there you can edit it by prompt, as diagram as code, or on the canvas.
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Does Eraser support diagram as code?
Yes. Every Eraser diagram has a text form you can edit, diff and review, and you can drag on the canvas at any time. Git sync keeps diagrams in your GitHub repository.
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Can I control the layout in Eraser?
Yes. Describe the change and Eraser’s AI makes it. You can also edit the diagram as code, or drag shapes on the canvas and put them where you want them.
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Can Eraser generate diagrams with AI?
Yes. Eraser AI runs on frontier models. Describe a system, paste code or upload a file, and it drafts an architecture diagram, flowchart, ERD, sequence diagram, BPMN process or almost any other diagram, and you can keep editing it by prompt, as code or on the canvas.
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Can Eraser draw diagrams from my live infrastructure?
Yes. Connect AWS, Azure or Google Cloud, a CMDB such as ServiceNow, VMware, Cisco networks, a Git repository and other data sources, and Eraser draws architecture diagrams from what you actually run. Live data sources are available on paid plans.
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Does Eraser provide an MCP server?
Yes. The Eraser MCP server lets an agent create, search, read, update and export diagrams from clients like Claude, Cursor, VS Code and ChatGPT. It is free to use, subject to the AI credit limits of your plan. See the MCP client catalog for setup instructions.
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Can I trust my data with Eraser?
Eraser is committed to enterprise-grade security. We are SOC II type 2 certified and annually penetration tested. Security documentation is available on our trust portal, or reach out to hello@eraser.io. Additionally Eraser will never use user data for training models. Nor will our LLM API providers.
Diagram in seconds with Eraser
Paste your Mermaid code or generate your first diagram for free.