DGM
DGM is a free web app for sketchnoting and diagramming, aimed at developers, designers and product teams. It blends freehand sketches with formal UML, ERD and wireframe notations, real-time collaboration and AI code generation. Currently in beta.
What is DGM?
DGM is a browser-based sketchnoting and diagramming editor published by MKLabs Co., Ltd., a South Korean company based in Seoul that also makes StarUML. Its open beta was announced on 6 December 2023, and the product is still in beta today. Its author sets out an explicit thesis. Whiteboarding tools such as Excalidraw, tldraw and Miro are good at loose thinking; diagramming tools such as draw.io, Lucidchart and Gliffy are good at formal notation; DGM claims a third model, sketchnoting, and aims to cover all three in one app. In practice that means an infinite canvas where you scribble a rough idea by hand, then reach into pre-built UML, ERD, flowchart and UI wireframe libraries without changing tools. The shapes are more than pictures. DGM calls them smart shapes: they carry constraints, properties and scripts, and the scripting language has its own reference documentation. Community libraries can be imported and shared, although that feature is flagged Experimental. The AI assistant, also flagged Experimental, runs on OpenAI's GPT-4 Vision. It reads a diagram and generates code from it, turns a wireframe into a web app, and derives a database schema from an ERD. The rest is deliberately low friction. DGM is local-first: you can open and save files on your own machine without an account, free forever. An account adds cloud storage and real-time collaboration through a shared link, but the free plan caps that at three documents and seven days of revision history - the documentation says thirty days, and the two figures do not agree. The app installs as a PWA for offline use, exports to PNG and SVG, publishes diagrams to the web with an embed, and runs multi-page documents as a slideshow. Hand-drawn styles, handwriting fonts and colours that follow the light or dark theme give the output its look. What DGM is not: there is no native mobile or desktop app, no service API and no third-party integrations, and it draws diagrams rather than plotting datasets. Pricing is a single free plan; a paid tier is announced as coming soon but does not exist yet.
What it does
- Draw freehand sketches and diagrams on an infinite canvas
- Build formal notations - UML, ERD, flowcharts and UI wireframes - from pre-built libraries
- Generate code from a diagram, or a web app from a wireframe, with GPT-4 Vision
- Derive a database schema from an ERD
- Collaborate in real time through a shared web link
- Export to PNG and SVG, publish a diagram to the web and embed it in another site
- Roll back to an earlier version, and present a multi-page document as a slideshow
When to use DGM / When not to
A quick filter to help you decide if DGM is the right fit.
When to use DGM
- Software engineers and architects who need UML class diagrams or ERDs quickly, from pre-built shape libraries
- UI/UX designers roughing out wireframes before moving to a high-fidelity design tool
- Product managers and business analysts mapping flowcharts, user journeys and idea sketches
- Technical writers and documentation teams producing diagrams to publish or embed in their pages
- Teachers, students and visual note-takers who want a capable free canvas with nothing to install and no account
When not to use DGM
- Anyone who needs a native mobile or desktop application: DGM is a web app and a PWA, with no iOS or Android listing
- Stylus and tablet-first users: the editor is explicitly built around keyboard and mouse, not pen input
- Teams wanting to wire diagramming into their toolchain: there is no service API and no published third-party integration
- Teams that need a real cloud library: the free plan caps at three cloud documents and seven days of revision history
- Procurement-driven or regulated organisations: no security certification, no DPA and no subprocessor list are published, and the product is still in beta
How to use DGM
A typical end-to-end flow, from setup to results.
- Open the app straight from dgm.sh - there is nothing to install
- Work locally right away if you prefer: open and save files on your own machine, with no account and no time limit
- Create an account (full name and email, or social login) only when you want cloud storage and collaboration
- Sketch freehand, or drop in shapes from the UML, ERD, flowchart and UI wireframe libraries
- Tune the smart shapes through their constraints, properties and scripts
- Apply the hand-drawn style and let colours follow the light or dark theme
- Ask the AI assistant to generate code from your diagram, or a database schema from your ERD
- Share the web link to work with your team in real time
- Export to PNG or SVG, or publish the diagram to the web and embed it in another site
- Restore an earlier version from the revision history, and install the PWA if you need offline access
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Free forever for local use, with no account required
- Covers loose sketching and formal notation (UML, ERD, wireframes) in a single tool, which few products do
- Local-first and installable as a PWA: it works offline and the files stay on your machine
- Nothing to install, and collaboration is just a shared link
- Smart shapes are scriptable, with a documented language for deep customisation
- Native web publishing and embedding, alongside PNG and SVG export
- Published by a team with a track record in the field: MKLabs also makes StarUML and dates its copyright from 2014
Cons
- Still in beta, and the announced paid plan does not exist yet - the pricing page says only "Paid plan coming soon."
- The cloud side of the free plan is thin: three documents and seven days of revision history
- Two headline features are flagged Experimental - the AI assistant and shared community libraries
- The contribution licence granted to the publisher is extremely broad (unlimited, perpetual, transferable, with rights to sell, resell and sub-license, and a waiver of moral rights), and the terms disclaim any liability for loss or corruption of your data
- Governance gaps for professional use: no published security certification, no subprocessor list, no DPA on offer and no GDPR Article 27 representative, despite a privacy notice that explicitly addresses EEA and UK residents
- No native mobile or desktop app, no service API and no published third-party integration
- Documentation is inconsistent and ageing: the site advertises 7 days of revision history where the docs say 30, the legal documents have not moved since 22 November 2023, and the cookie policy is still an unfilled template ("[YourWebsite.com]", "[Contact Information]"); support runs through one email address and Discord, with no help centre
Pricing & Plans
DGM offers a permanent free plan, advertised at $0 per month and described as free forever for local use. No paid tier is available at the time of review: the pricing page states only "Paid plan coming soon.", without a name, a price or a scope. There is therefore no paid entry point and no starting price to report.
- free forever for local use
- export to images
- access to public libraries
- publish images to the Web
- 7 days of revision history
- 3 documents in cloud
- no name
- no price and no contents published at the time of review
Data, GDPR & hosting
A consolidated view of how DGM handles your data.
GDPR overview
GDPR is addressed explicitly, if unevenly. The privacy notice, dated 22 November 2023, carries a section for EEA, UK and Swiss residents. It names the legal bases relied on under the GDPR and UK GDPR - consent, performance of a contract, legitimate interests and legal obligations - and lists the rights of access and copy, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability and objection, plus withdrawal of consent at any time and the right to complain to a local supervisory authority (EDPB and Swiss EDOEB links are given). International transfers are said to rely on the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses. The gaps are just as concrete: no Article 27 EU representative is designated, no data protection officer is named, there is no EU address, no trust or security page and no list of subprocessors. The single point of contact is contact@dgm.sh.
Who owns the data?
The terms are clear that the work is yours: MKLabs asserts no ownership over your contributions, and you retain full ownership of them and of any intellectual property rights attached. The counterpart is a very broad licence you grant the publisher over whatever you contribute - unrestricted, unlimited, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free and worldwide - covering hosting, copying, disclosing, selling and reselling, publishing, broadcasting, archiving, reformatting, translating and distributing it, and allowing sub-licences to third parties. You are also asked to waive your moral rights. A separate USER DATA clause states that MKLabs accepts no liability for any loss or corruption of your data. Personal data collected is limited to full name and email address; payment details are held by FastSpring.
Reuse rights
Your own creations are yours to reuse. Because the terms confirm that you keep full ownership of your contributions, you can export, share, publish or reuse your diagrams without asking MKLabs for permission, and the product is built for exactly that: PNG and SVG export, web publishing, and an embed that drops a diagram into another site. The site's own material is a different matter. DGM's Content and Marks are provided "AS IS" for your information and personal use only, and copying, reproducing, aggregating, republishing, uploading or publicly displaying them requires prior written permission. One caveat on your side too: the terms warn that anything posted in a public area can be seen by everyone and may remain public in perpetuity, so treat a published diagram as permanent.
Data retention & training
Hosting summary
MKLabs states that its servers are located in the United States, and the terms repeat that the Site is hosted in the United States. The privacy notice adds that information may also be transferred to, stored and processed in South Korea and other countries; the publisher itself is established in Seoul and the terms are governed by the law of the Republic of Korea. Accessing the service from the EU or Asia is treated as express consent to that transfer and to processing in the United States. For transfers, MKLabs says it relies on the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses. Payment data is held by FastSpring, its third-party payment provider. What is not offered: no choice of hosting region, no data residency option, no named subprocessors and no security or trust page. Note also that the domain resolves to a Cloudflare anycast address, which identifies a CDN node rather than the real hosting location - the United States figure comes from the legal documents, not from the network.
Things to keep in mind
Risks and trade-offs to weigh before adopting DGM.
- The contribution licence you grant is unlimited, perpetual and transferable, and covers selling, reselling and sub-licensing your content, with a waiver of moral rights. Read it before putting confidential work on the canvas.
- The terms disclaim all liability for loss or corruption of your data, and allow the publisher to terminate or delete an account at its discretion, without notice. Keep your own backups of anything that matters.
- Using the AI assistant sends the content of your diagram to a third party, OpenAI's GPT-4 Vision. Weigh how sensitive that content is before asking for code.
- A diagram published to the web becomes public, and the terms warn that content posted in a public area may stay public in perpetuity - including after you have moved on from the project.
- No subprocessor list, no DPA and no published certification means a professional buyer cannot run normal due diligence. The privacy notice is generic too, with clauses about offer walls, advertising networks, retargeting and order fulfilment that have nothing to do with a diagram editor, and the cookie policy is an unfilled template.
- Beta status and an announced paid plan mean pricing and scope can still change; with only three cloud documents, work also scatters easily between local files and the cloud, and the current version becomes hard to identify.
- The publisher is very small, with a single identified founder, which is a genuine continuity risk for working documents you expect to keep for years.
Setup & Integrations
Technical difficulty
Very easy. DGM opens straight in the browser at dgm.sh, with nothing to install, no server to configure and no API key to supply. You can work on local files without even creating an account; an account (full name and email, or social login) is only needed for cloud storage and collaboration. Installing the app as a Progressive Web App for offline use is optional and takes one click. The only real learning curve is the scripting language behind smart shapes, which has its own parenthesised syntax and a separate reference in the documentation.
Deployment
Supported languages
Behind DGM
Resources
All the official URLs gathered for verification and reference.
Alternatives
Tools that compete with or complement DGM.
Frequently asked questions
What is DGM?
Is DGM free to use?
What does the free plan include?
Do I need to install anything, and can I work offline?
What does the AI assistant do?
Can I collaborate with my team in real time?
How can I export or share a diagram?
Is there a mobile app or a public API?
Who publishes DGM, and where is my data hosted and for how long?
Do I own the diagrams I create?
Should you pick DGM?
DGM is one of those rare products with an explicit thesis behind it. Its author argues that sketchnoting is a third model alongside whiteboarding and diagramming, and the app is built to hold all three at once: scribble a rough idea, then pull a formal UML or ERD library onto the same canvas without switching tools. The publisher is credible on this ground - MKLabs also makes StarUML and dates its copyright from 2014 - and the free, account-free local mode makes trying it genuinely costless. Maturity is the caveat. DGM has been in beta since December 2023, monetisation is still closed ("Paid plan coming soon."), and two of its most interesting features - the GPT-4 Vision assistant and shared community libraries - are flagged Experimental. The cloud side of the free plan is thin at three documents, and the site and the documentation cannot agree on whether revision history lasts 7 days or 30. Data governance deserves a careful read rather than alarm. You keep ownership of your diagrams, but the licence you grant MKLabs is unusually broad, the terms disclaim liability for lost data, no DPA or subprocessor list is published, there is no Article 27 EU representative, and the cookie policy is still an unfilled template. The legal documents have not been revisited since November 2023. Who is it for? Technical and product profiles who need quick UML, ERD or wireframe work, plus teachers, students and visual thinkers who want a capable free canvas with nothing to install. Who should wait? Anyone who needs a mobile app, an API, contractual guarantees or a procurement-grade compliance file. Try it for what it already does well, and keep your own copies of anything you cannot afford to lose.
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