Forem: Alex Guerin

Convert your terraform files into AWS diagrams in 2 min

Alex Guerin — Mon, 18 Dec 2023 15:49:35 +0000

You’re likely familiar with tools like Mingrammer that can generate cloud diagrams from Python code. If not, check it out — it’s pretty cool. While other tools, such as mermaid, allow you to draw diagrams from text files, today I want to introduce you to something even cooler: generating infrastructure diagrams directly from your Terraform files.

It might seem as magical as AI, but it doesn’t rely on AI. This is made possible with Holori, a new tool focused on cloud infrastructure that takes your Terraform files as input (main.tf, output.tf, variables.tf, backend.tf — excluding the tfstate) and generates awesome infrastructure diagrams for AWS, GCP, and Azure.

Why is it useful to generate Terraform diagrams?

Generating Terraform diagrams with Holori serves various purposes:

-Visualizing your Terraform: Gain a clear visual representation of your infrastructure.

-Collaborating on your Terraform: Share and discuss infrastructure design with your team.

-Documenting your infrastructure: Automatically generate documentation for your infrastructure.

-Visualizing your current AWS infrastructure: Get an overview of your existing AWS setup.

-Tracking your Terraform changes (with CI/CD): Monitor changes made to your infrastructure with continuous integration and deployment.

-Continuous infrastructure visibility (with CI/CD): Ensure ongoing visibility into your infrastructure with automated diagram generation.

Generate easily clear and accurate AWS diagram from Terraform

How it works

1- Create an account on Holori : https://app.holori.com/

2- Click on create new project > Import from terraform

3- Upload your ZIP file : these ZIP files must be contain (main.tf, output.tf, variables.tf, backend.tf… not the tfsate)

4- Wait 2 min and get your infra diagram auto generated

5- Iterate on your diagrams and drill down on the terraform attributes

Connect Holori to your CI/CD for automated terraform diagram generation

By linking Holori to your Git hosting service, Terraform diagrams are automatically generated in the comments of your Pull Request. Holori monitors your repository for Terraform code changes, and when detected, a new Terraform diagram snapshot is posted in your CI/CD.

This ensures better visibility across the entire team, faster PR reviews, avoidance of costly mistakes, and evergreen documentation of your infrastructure. AND MOST OF ALL, IT’S COOL.

By opening the PR in Holori App, you can access the diagram, edit it, check the terraform attributes and export the PDF documentation.

Holori team is currently working on generating the diff diagram that highlights the future changes of the PR. The diff diagrams will be accessible in the CI/CD or in Holori App.

How it works

1- Create an account on Holori : https://app.holori.com/

2- Click on create new project > Generate Terraform diagrams in your CI/CD

3- Follow the Github app installation procedure

4- Select your organizations and repos that you want connect to Holori

Conclusion:

It’s not AI but it’s magic, generating diagrams from Terraform files is now made possible by Holori !

Holori aims to simplify the visualization, collaboration, and documentation processes associated with Cloud Infrastructure. The integration with CI/CD adds automation, ensuring that AWS diagrams are always up-to-date with the latest Terraform code changes.

The Holori App provides a user-friendly interface for managing and editing generated diagrams, making it a very valuable asset for teams working with Terraform in cloud environments.

You can try it now for free : app.holori.com/ — Holori offers 50 CI Runs/month for free

Generating Terraform graphs automatically in Pull Requests

Alex Guerin — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 14:41:46 +0000

In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, managing and provisioning infrastructure efficiently and accurately is a crucial aspect of any organization’s success. This is where Terraform comes into play. With its ability to define and provision infrastructure resources using declarative configuration files, Terraform simplifies the process of building and managing complex infrastructure environments.

But what if we could take advantage of Terraform to automatically generate infrastructure diagram? This would enable to visualize infrastructure, quickly track changes, generate up-to-date documentation and improve collaboration.

Introducing Holori - a new tool that lets you generate clear and accurate terraform graphs for AWS, Azure and GCP directly in your CI/CD.

Visualizing, tracking changes and documenting your infrastructure shouldn’t be a nightmare. At Holori, we have always had in mind to make the job of DevOps and Cloud Architects easier and that’s why we came up with automated Terraform graph generation directly in CI/CD.

In this article, we will see how you can use Holori to generate terraform graphs in minutes.

What are Terraform Graphs?

Terraform graphs provide a comprehensive view of the resources within an infrastructure environment are and how they are interconnected. A terraform graph can be created by tools that parse the Terraform configuration files and generate an infrastructure diagram from it.

As any cloud architecture diagram, it provides a visual overview of infrastructure. It uses icons to represent specific types of products, resources, and services.

In a nutshell, Terraform graphs enables quick resource discoverability to ensure that DevOps teams are aware of the resources in place and identify the ones that are misconfigured or should be removed.

Using Holori to generate Terraform Graphs in CI/CD

You are now probably wondering how hard it can be to set up such a system? Don’t worry, it’s as easy as 1, 2, 3 !

How it works :
1- Create Holori account — Preferably log in with your Github account

2- Install Holori Github App — Directly install it from Holori software

3- You are all set, from now on, Holori will monitor the pull requests and identify the ones containing Terraform files.

4- Once a pull request containing Terraform files is identified, Holori automatically create the corresponding cloud infrastructure diagram.

5- The picture generated is directly posted as a comment under your pull request making it easy to directly identify the impact it has on your infrastructure.

If you need to dig deeper into your infrastructure details, you can directly open the diagram in Holori App. There you will be able to get access to detailed information about each resource used, its size, configuration and even its cost estimation.

In addition to a picture, it is also possible to generate a PDF documentation. This pdf contains a picture of your infra, the list of all the different resources as well as their configuration.

The Holori terraform graph in the CI/CD Add-On eliminates the necessity for manual creation of infrastructure diagrams. Any modifications to the infrastructure are automatically instantly translated into a visual format and documented saving valuable engineering time every month. The visual representation is not only efficient but also simplifies communication across the entire team, making it much easier compared to navigating through complex explanations.

Wanna give it a try ? https://app.holori.com/
We offer 50 Runs/month for free

Generate terraform Graphs directly in Holori App

In case you don’t need to generate the terraform infrastructure diagram in your CI/CD, you can alternatively use Holori App.

1- Create an account on Holori App

2- New project > Import from terraform

3- Upload a ZIP that contains main.tf, output.tf … not the tf.state

3- Wait 1 to 5 min for the terraform graph to be generated

Using Holori App to generate terraform graph can be useful when you are working on your terraform code and want to visualize what you are doing. I personally think that it can also be useful for people learning terraform.

Another use case, could be for cloud consultants, that are working at their customer but don’t have access to the CI/CD.

Generating Terraform Graph with Holori App, is of course less automated than if plugged with the CI/CD and is more suitable for people with periodic needs.

Why any organization should adopt Terraform Graphs

Visualization of Infrastructure: A Terraform graph offers a visual representation of the infrastructure, enabling better understanding and easier communication of complex configurations. This visualization helps teams identify potential issues, such as circular dependencies or resource conflicts, which may not be immediately apparent in the code.
Documentation of infrastructure: By keeping track of each infra evolution, pull request after pull request, it becomes easier to capture the state of the infra at any given time. It can easily be shared with various stakeholders, from management to new hires in order to quickly understand the infrastructure as a whole.

Dependency Analysis: By examining the graph, DevOps and cloud architects can quickly identify the dependencies between resources. This knowledge is invaluable when planning changes or optimizations, as it allows teams to assess the impact of modifying or removing specific resources on the overall infrastructure.

Infrastructure Validation: Terraform graphs can assist in validating the correctness of infrastructure configurations. By inspecting the graph, it becomes easier to spot potential misconfigurations or inconsistencies before applying changes to the infrastructure, reducing the risk of introducing errors.

Performance Optimization: By visualizing the resource dependencies, teams can evaluate alternative configurations and identify opportunities for optimization, ultimately improving the efficiency and scalability of the infrastructure. Moreover, it helps to quickly identify risky situations. For example all resources located in a single datacenter that would be a single point of failure in case of an outage.

What’s next for Holori?

Terraform graphs serve as a powerful tool for infrastructure engineers and DevOps teams, enabling them to gain a deeper understanding of the resources and their dependencies within their infrastructure. This is key to document the infra, reduce errors, and improve overall efficiency.

With Holori Terraform Graph generation, you don’t need to choose anymore between having poor documentation or wasting worthy DevOps time, you can have it all.

In addition to visualizing your pull requests as an infrastructure diagram we will also soon be able to highlight its evolution. This is key to track modifications directly in your CI/CD. Infrastructure changes will be highlighted with a color code directly in the Terraform graph:

Green: new resource created
Yellow: terraform attribute was modified (size, configuration…)
Red: the element was deleted

Wanna try Holori for free, sign up here : https://app.holori.com/
We offer 50 Runs/month !

Draw.io vs Holori — Which one is the best for cloud diagrams ?

Alex Guerin — Fri, 06 Oct 2023 10:07:08 +0000

When AWS created the cloud computing market in 2007, cloud infrastructure was simple, there was only few services available. But over the years, more and more services were introduced by AWS, the amount of cloud providers exploded and cloud infrastructure became much more complicated. Diagramming tools have emerged as powerful allies in conveying complex ideas, processes, and concepts through visuals. Two notable contenders in this arena are Draw.io and Holori.

In this article, we will compare Draw.io to Holori, these two architecture diagramming tools to help you make an informed choice.

Draw.io: The generalist Veteran Player

Draw.io, now known as diagrams.net, is a widely recognized and established diagramming tool. It boasts a range of features and functionalities that have made it a popular choice among professionals and casual users alike.

Pros of Draw.io

Easy login: No credentials or account required to log in to draw.io
Versatility: Draw.io supports various diagram types, from flowcharts and organizational charts to technical diagrams and network diagrams.
Customization: Users can tailor their diagrams with a wide range of shapes, styles, and themes, giving them creative freedom in diagram design.
Offline Access: Draw.io offers both online and offline versions, ensuring accessibility even when an internet connection is unavailable.
Collaboration: Real-time collaboration is one of Draw.io’s strong suits. Multiple users can work on the same diagram simultaneously, making it ideal for team projects and remote work.
Price: Draw.io is very cheap, it’s free for personal use and paying options are for teams, confluence integration or on-premise hosting.

Cons of Draw.io

Lack of cloud provider icons: Large cloud providers are well covered on Draw.io but if you work with alternatives ones (Digital Ocean, Linode, Oracle…), good luck to find the icons library. Another frustration point is the fact that you need to look in Draw.io library, they are not preloaded.
Not specific to cloud architecture diagrams:
There is no intelligence linked to making a cloud diagram. For example you can’t specify attributes/metadata to your elements, you can’t specify geographical zones or instance size/type, no cloud cost estimation….
Manual diagramming tool / time intensive :
A friend of me recently told me she did an all nighter to create cloud documentation on draw.io. Indeed, to design your infra, you need to drag & drop elements onto the grid, there is no possibility to import from cloud provider console or from terraform to automatically generate the infrastructure diagram.
Few cloud infra template :
To help you design infrastructure faster, templates can speed up your work. Unfortunately Draw.io’s template catalogue for cloud architecture is not very furnished.
UI is aging

Holori: The Newcomer made for cloud infrastructure

Holori is a relatively new player in the diagramming tool market, aiming to provide a fresh approach to visual communication.

Pros of Holori:

Specialized Cloud Diagrams:
Holori focuses exclusively on cloud architecture, making it a top choice for professionals working on AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Oracle Cloud, Digital Ocean, Linode… All the architecture icons are preloaded in the app.
Automated diagram generation: One of Holori standout features is its ability to automatically discover and visualize your cloud infrastructure, saving time and effort in diagram creation. Users can connect their AWS account and import their real-world cloud setups to automatically generate diagrams, ensuring accuracy and efficiency in depicting.
Diagram from Code: Importing your Terraform files into Holori, you can automatically generate your Terraform diagram. Linking Holori to your CI/CD, Holori is generating a new infrastructure diagram in the comment of your Pull Request. Holori is now working on generating a diff diagram that highlight the future changes of your Pull requests.
Cost Estimation: An innovative feature of Holori is its ability to estimate costs associated with the depicted cloud architecture. This can be invaluable for planning and budgeting cloud projects. This cost estimation works with all the cloud provider and is powered by Holori cloud calculator comparing more than 200 000 cloud offers.
Metadata for cloud infra: Each elements in Holori diagram has metadata or Terraform attributes where you can give specifications such as the location or instance type. When your designing phase is over, you can export either a PDF documenting your design filled with those attributes or a terraform json file.
Strong versioning system: With Holori you can go back in time and see what has been modified, deleted or added and compare it to the current version with a color code that highlight the changes.

Cons of Holori:

Solely focused on cloud infra: Holori’s specialization in cloud architecture may limit its utility for those who require diagrams for a wider range of scenarios beyond cloud infrastructure.
Learning Curve: The tool’s cloud-centric approach, while beneficial for cloud professionals, may result in a learning curve for those unfamiliar with cloud terminology and concepts.
Pricing: Holori’s pricing structure, while competitive, may be less budget-friendly for smaller teams or individuals compared to more general diagramming tools. There is of course a free forever version with limited quotas, next plan starts at 49$ a month.
Some features are still in development
No offline: Currently, Holori offers only a cloud hosted version due to the need of collecting prices from cloud providers and interacting with cloud providers APIs or Terraform to generate diagrams.

Conclusion: Draw.io vs Holori, who wins?

The choice between Draw.io and Holori ultimately depends on your specific needs and preferences.

Draw.io: If you require a versatile and user-friendly tool for a wide range of diagram types and casually design cloud architecture, Draw.io is an excellent choice. Not to mention it's free for personal use.

Start designing on draw.io : https://drawio-app.com/

Holori: On the other hand, if your primary focus is on cloud architecture, that you are cloud architect, DevOps or IT specialist and that you work very regularly on cloud architecture, Holori’s auto-generated diagram feature, terraform import capability, cost estimation and cloud-specific visualizations make it a compelling option that saves you a bunch of time. Of course consider your budget when making your decision.

Generate diagrams automatically here :
https://app.holori.com/

The surprising truth about Cloud Egress Costs

Alex Guerin — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 14:13:07 +0000

Few months ago, we made a Linkedin post that became viral. We decided to update it as well as give a bit more context on the egress costs.

The cloud market is globally evolving positively for the users, more products, more features, attractive offers, new data centers. However, one topic remains surprisingly negative: the egress costs.

The bigger the provider is, the more expensive the egress fees are, in an attempt to retain customers and prevent them from going to competitors.

To keep it simple, data you send to the cloud is mostly free (ingress). Cloud providers are happy, you use their services more, all is good. If you decide to get your data back things start to be complicated. For each Gb of data that leaves their data centers a small fee will apply.

One could think that the small providers being smaller, they must share the network costs with the customer.

We did the math for you and the result is surprising.

The bigger the provider, the higher the egress fees. Challengers have low to non-existent egress fees.

Let’s take a simple example. You are a SaaS software editor, your infra is fully hosted on the cloud, you have many users creating accounts, using your software, generating lots of data… Your business is going well, that’s great for you.

On the downside, if a user requests to download its data locally or if you want to move to another provider, there will be a price for it.

Holori calculated what it would cost you to take 50TB of data out of your cloud provider from a European or US based datacenter to the internet:

For this calculation we took a simple use case of transferring 50TB of data out of the providers. We based our assumptions on the providers’ public prices.

Of course, prices can differ slightly if you consider specific data plans and one to one pricing agreements. However, the assumptions give a good overview of the trends. As you can see, the gap between the hyperscalers (AWS, GCP, Azure) and the others is impressive. It can go from several thousands of dollars to none.

Why do large providers have such high egress costs

Numerous studies have shown that companies often start using the cloud with one of the three leaders (AWS, GCP or Azure). They will then get used to it, increase their usage and only start to look at potential costs optimization once their cloud usage becomes significant.

This is where cloud providers understood that they should find a way to prevent the customers from running away.

From “friendly to scary”, this is how we could summarize customer journey from onboarding to egress fees:

1- Attract customers with good offerings, free tier and vouchers

2- Provide onboarding with cloud architects

3- Let the customers scale up

4- The cloud bill explodes, customers try to optimize it but they struggle

5- Customers find cheaper alternatives elsewhere

6- Too bad, egress fees lock them in 🙈

These elements also highlight how strategic the choice of your cloud providers is early in your cloud journey, not only technically for CTO and DevOps, but also for project managers, CEO & CFO.

At Holori we are of course pledging for more openness. The only thing that should be used to prevent customers from going to the competition are competitive prices, good performance and innovative services.

Egress costs is by nature forced to go down

Of course every Gb of data transferred out of a datacenter represents a small cost for the provider, but the margin hyperscalers are applying is really outrageous. In the long run, with more data being generated and transiting every day, it seems impossible that hyperscalers keep this level of egress fees rate. Especially that transit prices keep decreasing over the years at approximately 30%/year, customers should see it as well in their cloud bills !

The solution to not be surprised by cloud costs anymore

You must be aware that network costs are the hidden part of the iceberg. When considering an IT project, do not only look at the compute and storages prices but also take into account the overall cost such as network, serverless, databases services.

Holori has developed a cloud project calculator, a free tool to design your cloud infrastructure and estimate its costs before provisioning the resources. It’s very useful for Cloud Architects, Finops and Project managers to define budgets before launching new projects. The tool is compatible with AWS, Azure, GCP, Alibaba, Scaleway, Linode and OVH.

You can also import your existing cloud infrastructure from your cloud provider’s account. This way you are able to visualize your current infrastructure and perform adjustments or plan for future iteration. The cloud project calculator can help you benchmark your current infrastructure cost to what it would cost on other cloud providers. If you are satisfied with the recommendations, Holori can provision the infra for you through Terraform or direct provisioning.

Wanna give it a try? https://app.holori.com/register

One last hint, we estimated that up to 70% savings can be made by choosing the right provider upfront! Worth challenging them…

Top 9 Architecture diagram software for cloud infrastructure

Alex Guerin — Fri, 22 Sep 2023 13:08:22 +0000

Diagramming tools for cloud infrastructure have been around for quite some time. They simplify the comprehension and visualization of the intricate subject of cloud architecture. You're likely acquainted with tools like Draw.io, Visio, and Lucidchart, which have been in existence for over a decade.

In the interim, the cloud market has undergone significant transformations, with the emergence of numerous new cloud service providers like OVH, Digital Ocean, Linode, Scaleway, OCI, along with the introduction of fresh APIs for querying cloud consoles, price data, and the standardization of Infrastructure as Code (IaC). Additionally, cloud providers have expanded their geographical reach by opening more regions.

These developments have created opportunities for advanced diagramming software that serves broader purposes beyond producing static representations of cloud infrastructures.

Modern diagramming tools should mimic the dynamism of cloud infrastructures. They should possess the capability to interact with cloud platforms, enabling the import and export of cloud resources. Additionally, they should offer cost estimates for cloud deployments, support multi-cloud environments, abstract the intricacies associated with various cloud providers, and be compatible with Infrastructure as Code (IaC).

With this vision in mind, my two co-founders and I have developed Holori, a cutting-edge diagramming tool. In this article, we will evaluate various diagramming tools while maintaining an objective perspective. You'll notice that we provide praise for competing tools where it's due.

1. Holori

Holori's diagramming software empowers users to create impressive multi-cloud diagrams, currently compatible with AWS, Azure, GCP, Alibaba, OVH, Digital Ocean, Linode and Scaleway. The tool's core mission is to facilitate effective planning and cost estimation of cloud infrastructure prior to deployment. Holori offers recommendations on optimizing architectural designs to proactively reduce cloud expenses. It also provides comparisons of equivalent architectures across different cloud providers.

Moreover, Holori can seamlessly import existing infrastructure directly from cloud provider consoles, allowing users to visualize their infrastructure and identify anomalies or unused resources.

Next month, Holori will release a major update, import Terraform files to generate infrastructure diagrams seamlessly. Coupling this capability and your CI/CD, Holori will generate terraform diagrams for every Pull Requests so that you can visualize the modifications of your infrastructure but also document it effortlessly !

Pros:
Detailed cost estimation for individual resources and overall architecture
Cloud cost comparison across providers
Terraform export
Compatibility with numerous cloud providers

Cons:
Limite to creating cloud diagrams, no other diagram types
Some features are still in development

Price
Holori offers a free forever plan with certain usage limitations, with the next plan starting at $49/month per user.

You can sign up here

2. Diagrams.net (Draw.io)

One of the most well-known flowchart tools, formerly known as Draw.io, this is an online flowcharting tool rooted in an open-source project. While it can be effectively utilized to create cloud architecture diagrams, its functionality extends beyond this, supporting the creation of various diagram types such as relationship diagrams, system component diagrams, network diagrams, and more. It offers versatility but may not be the optimal choice for comprehensive cloud architecture diagramming.

Pros:
No requirement for user registration
Suitable for generating a variety of diagram types
Compatible with numerous storage platforms

Cons:
User interface lacks user-friendliness
Ultimately, Draw.io produces static images
Absence of cloud cost estimation, cloud resource import, or visualization features

Pricing structure
A free personal use license is available, with pricing starting at $15/month for 20 users with Confluence integration.

3. Mingrammer

Mingrammer is an intriguing tool for individuals who prefer coding diagrams rather than creating them through graphical interfaces. It operates using Python code and offers a relatively quick setup process. It is compatible with AWS, Azure, GCP, Alibaba, and Oracle. Notably, the project is open source and has garnered significant attention on GitHub with over 31K stars.

4. Hava.io

Hava helps you generate diagrams of your existing infrastructure and network topology. The tool is compatible with AWS, Azure and GCP. Users can view security groups, route tables, resource information, subnets… With its auto sync feature, the tool is able to update the infrastructure on a daily basis reflecting the changes that may have been performed

Pros:
Cloud specific tool.
Importing existing AWS, GCP & Azure infrastructure is nice.

Cons:
For a complete experience, Hava.io is not sufficient. You need to use other tools to edit diagrams.
Interface is not easy to use
No possibility to deploy infrastructure

Price:
Hava come with a 2 weeks free trial version. After this, user is downgraded to a free version that is limited to one data source. Then the upper plan is 59$/month for 5 data sources.

5. Lucidchart & Lucidscale

For those accustomed to using Draw.io extensively, transitioning to Lucidchart may feel seamless due to the striking similarities in their user interface and user experience.

Lucidchart, nonetheless, stands as another robust flowcharting software. It enjoys widespread use for activities like mind mapping and non-technical architectural design. As an alternative, it can be employed for creating cloud infrastructure diagrams, but it lacks advanced intelligent features.

Lucidscale is a recent addition to Lucid's product lineup. It caters to cloud architects, IT managers, and DevOps professionals, providing them with tools to visualize their existing AWS, Azure, and GCP infrastructures.

However, once the infrastructure is imported, users need to switch to Lucidchart to edit the diagrams, which can be somewhat cumbersome.

Pros:
A robust tool for creating a wide range of diagrams
Compatibility with various applications and services
Seamless infrastructure import from AWS, GCP, and Azure
Ideal for collaborative team efforts

Cons:
Cloud diagram templates are only available in the premium version of Lucidchart
Lack of cloud cost estimation features
Inability to deploy or manage infrastructure directly from the tool

Pricing
Lucidscale offers a 14-day trial period, after which the individual license is priced at $1,899 per year. Lucidchart provides a Free Forever version with certain usage restrictions.

6. Cloudcraft

Cloudcraft specializes as an AWS-specific cloud diagramming tool, allowing users to model their AWS environments. Recently acquired by Datadog, they also now support Azure? It permits the creation of new projects from scratch or the importation of existing AWS & Azure infrastructure.

Cloudcraft offers additional features such as online diagram sharing and editing, cost estimation, and real-time monitoring with Cloudwatch integration. Overall, it proves to be a valuable tool, especially when working exclusively with AWS & Azure.

Pros:
Impressive 3D visualization
User-friendly interface
Capability to import and visualize AWS & Azure infrastructure

Cons:
Limited compatibility, primarily focused on AWS (recently added support for Azure)
Cloud cost estimation for AWS may be inaccurate
Not working with Terraform

Pricing
Cloudcraft provides a free forever version with restricted grid space. The next plan is priced at $99 per month.

7. Visio

Visio is a versatile tool capable of creating a wide range of diagrams, including flowcharts, pie charts, network diagrams, and more. It serves as a comprehensive solution for graphical and representational diagramming, making it a popular choice among enterprises across various industries. However, if you are specifically a cloud architect seeking to create cloud diagrams exclusively, Visio may not be the most suitable option due to the extensive setup requirements before it becomes fully operational.

Pros:
A comprehensive tool for creating diverse graphical and representational diagrams
Available on both desktop and web browsers

Cons:
Subpar user interface and user experience (UI/UX)
Requires separate purchase as it is not included in Microsoft Office suites
Lacks specialized cloud-related features such as cost estimation, cloud resource import, or infrastructure deployment

8. Cloudockit

Cloudockit specializes as a cloud-specific diagramming tool, similar to Hava.io. It does not offer the capability to create or edit diagrams directly but allows users to import their architectural data from AWS, GCP, or Azure. To edit the imported diagrams, users must utilize Visio, which integrates well with Cloudockit. An advantageous aspect of Cloudockit is its documentation generation functionality, enabling users to utilize predefined templates or create custom documentation.

Pros:
Streamlined importation of infrastructure data from Azure, GCP, and AWS
Documentation generation features

Cons:
Subpar user experience, leading to confusion during usage
Lack of unified user experience between the import and editing processes
Absence of cost estimation

Pricing
Individual license starts at 1500$/year.

9. Cloudmaker

Cloudmaker is a cloud-specific architecture diagramming tool with an impressive user interface and user experience, standing out among many other software options. However, it is limited to compatibility with Azure only. What distinguishes Cloudmaker is its unique capability to provision Azure resources directly from the diagramming tool.

Pros:

Exceptionally pleasing UI/UX
Infrastructure deployment directly from diagrams

Cons:
Exclusive focus on Azure compatibility
Lack of cost estimation features
Inability to import existing infrastructure

Pricing:
Cloudmaker offers a free trial version, followed by a $90 per user per month pricing model.

Which Architecture diagram software Should You choose?

If your primary goal is to create cloud architecture diagrams, Draw.io remains a viable option due to its cost-free availability.

However, if you seek more advanced features such as visualizing existing infrastructure, estimating infrastructure costs, or importing/visualizing Terraform files, Holori offers a comprehensive solution.

You can sign up and start using Holori for free https://app.holori.com/.