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Genogram Builder vs draw.io

Genogram Builder vs draw.io compares a dedicated genogram editor with a general-purpose diagram tool. Draw.io, also called diagrams.net, lets you arrange shapes and connectors and choose where to save the file. Genogram Builder uses family notation and can draft a chart from written notes.

Last checked on 20 October 20266 minute read

At a glance

Genogram Builderdraw.io
PriceFree plan. Pro is $12 a month or $99 a year.Free, with no paid plan and no account.
LimitsTwo genograms of up to 50 people on the free plan.None stated.
Genogram notationMcGoldrick, Gerson and Petry, with a key on every chart.General shape libraries. No genogram library is mentioned.
Drafting from notesFive drafts a month on the free plan, reviewed before they are added.A diagram from a text description when AI generation is enabled.
ExportsPNG, PDF and JSON on Free, SVG on Pro.PNG, SVG, JPEG, GIF, PDF, HTML, URL and XML.
Where work livesIn the browser, then in your account.Your browser, your device, Google Drive, OneDrive, GitHub or GitLab.

draw.io draws a genogram from general shapes and connectors

The draw.io editor is a general one, and its documentation describes drawing as placing, connecting and styling shapes on a canvas with a grid. Shapes come from shape libraries that you enable as you need them, a scratchpad holds the shapes you use most so that you can add another copy with one click, and connectors attach to shapes at fixed or floating points. The format panel lets you make a connector solid or dashed and choose the arrows at either end. A therapist drawing a three-generation chart would make one square and one circle, keep both in the scratchpad, copy them for each person, draw the union and parent lines between them, and write a legend in a corner. Its documentation does not mention a genogram template.

In Genogram Builder the same chart can be drawn by hand with the Person and Connect tools, or it can be written. A few sentences of notes name the people, their dates and how they are related, and the assistant proposes a draft in which every person and every line is listed with the sentence that supports it. Each item can be kept, edited or removed before anything reaches the chart. The chart is arranged by generation as it grows, children hang from the union of their parents, and no line crosses a name.

Your notes

Ellie Hawkins, born 2009, is the client, a sixth form student with generalised anxiety disorder. Her brother Jack, born 2006, is an apprentice plumber and is close to Ellie. Her parents, Paul Hawkins, born 1971, and Helen Hawkins, born 1974, married in 2003 and are distant from each other.

Found in the notes

  • Ellie Hawkins, 2009
  • Jack Hawkins, 2006
  • Paul Hawkins, 1971
  • Helen Hawkins, 1974
  • Paul and Helen, married 2003
  • Jack and Ellie, close
  • Paul and Helen, distant

On the chart

771944–2021Walter HawkinsHeart diseaseRetired postman791947–Joan HawkinsDepressionRetired schoolsecretary801946–Raymond FletcherRetired electrician771949–Pauline FletcherRetired pharmacyassistant571969–Carol HawkinsDistrict nurse531973–Neil HawkinsCar mechanic541972–Dawn ReillyUnknown551971–Paul HawkinsAlcohol misuseTrain driver521974–Helen HawkinsPrimary schoolteacher202006–Jack HawkinsApprenticeplumber172009–Ellie HawkinsGeneralised anxiety disorderSixth form student
The example family on the home page, from the notes to the chart drawn beneath them. The full draft lists eleven people, four marriages, twelve parent lines and five emotional lines.

Emotional lines are a notation here and a line style in draw.io

In draw.io the quality of a relationship is a connector that you style yourself. The format panel offers solid and dashed lines, line jumps and arrowheads, and with those a careful author can reproduce most of the emotional lines of the standard notation, provided the legend explains them. Nothing on the site describes a set of genogram lines or a medical notation, so the chart is only as clear as the legend its author writes.

681958–Ruth421984–Leah

Close

681958–Ruth421984–Leah

Fused

681958–Ruth421984–Leah

Distant

681958–Ruth421984–Leah

Hostile

681958–Ruth421984–Leah

Cutoff

Five of the emotional lines that Genogram Builder draws, taken from its notation reference. Each is drawn by the editor itself.

draw.io is free and keeps files where you choose

Using draw.io costs nothing. Its home page says it is free forever with no sign-up required and no lock-in, that there are no paywalls, and that the source code is licensed under Apache 2.0. The online editor at app.diagrams.net runs in the browser and on mobile and touchscreen devices, and the desktop app is a stand-alone offline application for Windows, macOS and Linux. The editor provides the diagramming, and you choose where to store the diagram data, which can be your browser, your local device, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, GitHub or GitLab, or Confluence and Jira through the Atlassian Marketplace. Files are written in its own XML format with the .drawio extension by default, and the home page says that files created in 2005 load in the app today.

A draw.io chart moves across as an image or a description

A draw.io diagram exports as PNG, SVG, JPEG, animated GIF, PDF, HTML, a URL or XML, and the diagram data can be embedded in a PNG or SVG so that the file reopens in draw.io. None of these is a family file, and Genogram Builder does not read draw.io files, so a genogram drawn in draw.io does not open here as people and unions. The honest path is to keep the exported image for the record and to write the family down in a few sentences, which the assistant turns into a draft that you check against the picture. The draw.io editor can generate a diagram from Mermaid code, and Genogram Builder reads Mermaid flowcharts, but draw.io does not state that it writes Mermaid, so that road runs only one way.

Feature by feature

Each row states what the two products offer in their own terms. Checked on 20 October 2026 on drawio.com and on this site.

FeatureGenogram Builderdraw.io
Where it runs and what it costs
Desktop appNot included. None, by design.Included. A stand-alone offline application for Windows, macOS and Linux.
PriceIncluded. Free, or Pro at $12 a month or $99 a year.Included. Free forever, with no sign-up, no paid plan and Apache 2.0 source code.
Drawing the family
Drafting from notesIncluded. Five drafts a month on the free plan, each reviewed before it is added.In part. A diagram from a text description when AI generation is enabled. Genogram notation is not stated.
Standard notationIncluded. McGoldrick, Gerson and Petry, 59 symbols and connections, with a key on every chart.Not stated. General shape libraries and custom libraries. A genogram library is not mentioned.
Files
ReadsIncluded. GEDCOM, GenoPro, Gramps, Mermaid and spreadsheets.In part. Its own .drawio files, other diagram formats, and Mermaid, CSV and SQL for generating a diagram. No family file format.
ExportsIncluded. PNG and PDF on the free plan, SVG on Pro and Max, JSON for everyone.Included. PNG, SVG, JPEG, animated GIF, PDF, HTML, a URL and XML.
Works offlineIn part. The chart stays in the browser between visits, and saving needs a connection.Included. Files in the browser or on the device need no connection, and the desktop app is built for it.
Where work is keptIncluded. In the browser until saved, then in your account from any computer.Included. Your browser, your device, Google Drive, OneDrive, GitHub, GitLab, Confluence or Jira.
IncludedOn a paid planIn partNot includedNot stated

Sources: drawio.com, the draw.io features page, the draw.io storage documentation, the draw.io export documentation, Genogram Builder plans.

Before you decide

Whether draw.io costs anything

No. Its home page says it is free forever, with no sign-up required, no paywalls and no enterprise tier, and that its source code is licensed under Apache 2.0. Genogram Builder also has a free plan, but its Pro and Max plans are paid, so on price alone draw.io is the cheaper tool.

Drawing a genogram offline

The draw.io desktop app is built to work fully offline, and files kept in the browser or on the device need no connection. Genogram Builder keeps a chart in the browser between visits and drafts and saves over a connection, so a chart can be viewed without one, but it is not an offline tool in the way draw.io is.

Keeping both

Many people will. A genogram drawn here exports as PNG, PDF or SVG and can be kept in the same drive or folder as your draw.io diagrams, and a family first sketched in draw.io can be described in a few sentences and drafted here when the chart needs the full notation and a key.

Draw a genogram in the browser now, or describe a family and watch the draft arrive. No account is needed to begin.

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