Microsoft has made its Visio Online diagram viewer publicly available, for free, to Office 365 commercial customers.

Dia is a free structured drawing program that looks and acts a lot like Visio, but it's smaller, simpler, and snappier. For a free alternative, Dia is surprisingly complete.

For most business users, the free version of Visio that’s included in Microsoft 365 is a step beyond what you can do in Office already, but it doesn’t include these powerful integrations.

Gliffy is a free diagramming tool that works entirely in your browser. Like other online applications, it has inherent advantages over traditional software. Collaboration is easier, for one.

Visio Online permits the adding and sharing of diagrams, but it currently doesn't let users edit diagrams. Instead, users need "Visio 2013 or Visio 2016 desktop applications," according to the FAQ.

eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More. The wait’s finally over. Visio Online, the browser ...

Check out VisioCafe, home to hundreds of Visio shapes and stencils that are free for the download. The site carries "official" corporate collections for companies including Blade, HP, and IBM ...