Gramit vs FigJam
FigJam is where a Figma team brainstorms, and it is pleasant at exactly that. It becomes the wrong tool at the point where the sticky notes are supposed to become an architecture: nothing in a FigJam board knows that one box is the inside of another.
Side by side
Rows are ordered by where the two tools differ most, and the rows FigJam wins are in here too.
| Feature | Gramit | FigJam |
|---|---|---|
| Nested diagrams | Any node opens into its own board | One flat board |
| Account required | No | Yes |
| Diagram as code | Gramit YAML, in and out | No |
| AI can generate a board | Yes, from the public language spec | Not from an open text format |
| Code blocks inside the diagram | Syntax highlighted | Text only |
| Control over shapes | Size, stroke, fill, style and opacity are all yours | Shapes auto size, with a limited palette |
| Very large boards | Each level is its own canvas | Large boards are reported to lag |
| Cost | Free | Free tier, then paid per seat |
| Real time collaboration | Not yet | Yes |
| Lives beside your design files | No | Yes |
GramitWhy people move over
Engineering diagrams outgrow a jam board
A brainstorm ends and something has to be documented. That artefact needs levels, and it needs to survive being read six months later by someone who was not in the room.
Anyone can open it
No seat, no invitation, no account. A published Gramit board is a URL that works for whoever you send it to.
It can be generated, not only drawn
Boards are also YAML, so an assistant can produce one from a description and you can regenerate it when the system changes.
Questions people ask
- Can I import a FigJam board?
- No. There is no FigJam importer, so a board has to be rebuilt in Gramit.
- Does Gramit replace Figma?
- No, and it does not try to. Figma is a design tool. Gramit is for diagrams of systems and processes, which is a different job.
- Is Gramit really free?
- Yes. You can open the editor and build a board without paying and without creating an account. Boards live in your browser until you decide to save them to an account.
- Do I need an account?
- No. An account only buys you sync across devices, publishing to the public gallery, and boards that follow you to another browser. Everything else works signed out.
- What happens to my boards if I never sign up?
- They stay in your browser, in local storage and IndexedDB, and they keep working offline. Clearing your browser data clears them too, so export anything you cannot lose.
The quickest way to compare is to draw something
The editor opens on an empty board with nothing in the way. Or start from a board somebody already published.