The tools in general
Are these tools really free ?
Yes. All seven tools work at no cost, with no cap on how many visuals you make and no trial period. The free version adds a small voilatools.com line at the bottom of exported images, and keeps up to 3 saved documents per tool. Everything else is open.
Do I need an account or an email address ?
No. There is no sign-up, no account, no email to hand over. Open the page, type, download. That is also why no tool can send you back a lost file: nothing is stored on our side.
Where does my data go ? Is this GDPR friendly ?
Your data goes nowhere. The text you type, the drawing and the exported file are all computed by your browser, on your device. Saved documents stay in that browser local storage. No content is ever sent to a server, which settles the question both for confidential company data and for personal data. The details are in the privacy policy.
Which export formats are available ?
PNG, JPG, SVG and PDF, on every tool. PNG supports a transparent background, handy when the visual sits on a colored slide. SVG is vector, so it stays sharp at any zoom and can be edited in a graphics editor. PDF comes out A4, in the same orientation as the visual, ready to attach to a report or to print.
Why is there a voilatools.com mark on my visuals ?
It is the trade-off for a free tool, and the only way this site gets known. The mark is deliberately discreet so it does not spoil a visual shown in a meeting. Removing it will be the first paid option, the day one exists.
Can I use these visuals in professional work ?
Yes, including for a client, a tender, a thesis or paid training. The visuals you produce belong to you. Only the site mark has to stay on exports from the free version.
Does it work on a phone or a tablet ?
Yes, with a Share button that drops the image straight into your messages. Typing a grid is still more comfortable with a keyboard: for a comparison table or a twenty-row RACI matrix, a computer is faster.
Does it work offline ?
Once the page has loaded, yes. All the work happens locally. You do need a connection to open the page the first time, or after clearing the browser cache.
Can I start from an Excel or Google Sheets table ?
Yes. Select your range in the spreadsheet, copy it, click the first cell of the grid and paste: the grid grows on its own to fit the block. It is the fastest route for the comparison table and the RACI matrix.
How do I put the visual into PowerPoint, Word, Confluence or Notion ?
The Copy button puts the image on the clipboard, so you only have to paste it into the slide or the page. Otherwise download the PNG and drag it in. For anything that will be printed or zoomed, prefer the SVG.
How is this different from Miro, Lucidchart, draw.io or Canva ?
Those are graphics editors: you place every shape and every line by hand, which gives total freedom and takes twenty minutes. Here you describe the content and the layout is computed for you. That is faster when the visual is a standard one (a schema, a matrix, a timeline), and less suitable when you want a free-form drawing.
Will I find my work again later ?
Yes. What you type is kept automatically in your browser, and the Save button lets you keep several versions and come back to them. Ctrl+Z undoes the last action. One warning: clearing browser data wipes those saved documents for good, so export anything that matters.
Can I change the font, the colors and the size ?
Yes, on every tool: five color sets, a choice of font, the text color and the size of the exported image. The fonts offered are the ones already installed on computers and phones, so the visual looks the same everywhere.
Is the site available in French ?
Yes, every tool has a French version. The FR button at the top right switches the page while keeping the same tool open.
Database schema, ER diagram and data model
How do I make a database schema online ?
Write your tables, their columns and the links between them, and the schema is drawn as you go. Tables are laid out in layers according to their dependencies, so you never move a box by hand. That is the database schema generator, free and with no sign-up.
What is an entity relationship diagram ?
It is a picture of an application data structure, drawn as entities (the tables) joined by relationships. It also goes by ER diagram, ERD, entity relationship model or data model. It exists so that a team can agree on the shape of the data before a single line of code is written.
What is the difference between conceptual, logical and physical models ?
Three levels of detail. The conceptual model lists the entities and how they relate, with no technical concern. The logical model turns that into tables, primary keys and foreign keys. The physical model adds column types and the quirks of the chosen engine. A schema of tables with its relationships sits at the logical level.
How do I model a many-to-many relationship ?
It cannot exist as such in a relational database: it needs a junction table carrying both foreign keys. A student takes several courses, a course holds several students, and the enrolment table is what makes the link real. The tool creates that table for you when you declare a many-to-many, and tells you what it just did.
What are primary keys and foreign keys for ?
A primary key identifies one row uniquely inside its table. A foreign key is a column pointing at the primary key of another table: it is what makes the relationship real, and what guarantees an order cannot be attached to a customer who does not exist.
How do I read cardinality ?
One-to-one: one row on either side matches exactly one row on the other. One-to-many: a customer places several orders, an order belongs to a single customer, by far the most common case. Many-to-many: several on both sides, which forces a junction table. Crow foot notation draws the same idea with a fork at the many end.
Can it generate SQL, MySQL or PostgreSQL ?
No, the tool produces an image, not a creation script. It is there to explain and validate a structure with people who do not necessarily read SQL: a client, a project manager, a steering committee. Moving to code happens afterwards, in your usual environment.
Is there a free alternative to dbdiagram.io or Lucidchart ?
This one is, for the simple case: a readable schema to show, done in minutes, with no account and without your table names leaving the machine. For reverse engineering an existing database or generating scripts, you want a full modelling suite.
Flowchart, process diagram and process map
How do I make a flowchart online ?
Write your steps, one per line, marking the decisions and which step each answer leads to. The drawing updates as you type, arrows and loop-backs included. That is the flowchart generator.
What do the shapes mean ?
A convention every flowchart shares: the oval marks the start and the end, the rectangle an action or a task, the diamond a decision with at least two answers leaving it, and the arrow the order it all happens in. Sticking to those shapes saves you from having to explain the diagram before showing it.
How do I show a yes or no condition ?
Mark the step as a decision, then name the target step for each answer. A branch may go backwards, to a step already passed: that is a file sent back for correction, and the layout handles it without the drawing looping forever.
What is a swimlane and when is it worth it ?
A horizontal band per actor, showing who does each step on top of what happens. That is what makes a process map useful in a workshop: you see at a glance how many times the file changes hands, and the delay is almost always hiding right there.
Is this BPMN ?
No. BPMN is a rich standard, with events, gateways and sub-processes, built to be executed by a workflow engine. A plain flowchart reads without any training, which is exactly what you want in front of a business team or a client. For executable modelling you need a dedicated BPMN tool.
How do I map an existing process ?
Start with the trigger and the expected end, then fill the middle by asking each actor what they receive and what they hand on. Write down decisions as they are really made, not as the procedure says they are. A rough first draft shown on screen gets people talking far more than a questionnaire ever will.
Flowchart or org chart ?
Two different things, easily mixed up. An org chart shows a company hierarchy, who reports to whom. A flowchart shows a sequence of steps with its decisions. This tool draws the flowchart, not the hierarchy.
Comparison table and decision matrix
How do I make a comparison table online ?
Your options in columns, your criteria in rows, and in each cell a tick, a cross or free text (a price, a lead time). The visual is drawn as you type and downloads as a PNG. That is the comparison table generator, free and with no sign-up.
How do I choose my comparison criteria ?
Keep the ones that actually separate the options. A criterion every solution meets takes up a row and helps decide nothing. Five to eight well chosen criteria convince better than a thirty-row grid nobody reads to the end.
Can I highlight the option I recommend ?
Yes, one column can be emphasised. That is useful when the table backs a recommendation: the conclusion shows before anyone has read a single row.
Can cells hold anything other than yes and no ?
Yes. Any text shows as written, an amount, a lead time, a score. Only y, yes, n and no turn into icons.
How is this different from a decision matrix ?
A decision matrix weights the criteria and computes a score per option. A comparison table shows the facts and leaves the call to the reader. The second one is harder to argue with: nobody disputes a tick, while a weight of 0.3 on a criterion is always up for debate.
How many options and criteria ?
Up to 6 columns and 14 rows. Beyond that the table becomes unreadable on a screen: better to split it in two visuals, or to drop the options that are clearly out of the race first.
Project timeline, roadmap and milestones
How do I make a project timeline online ?
One line per date with its label, and the timeline is drawn, horizontal or vertical. That is the timeline generator. Dates can be exact days, months, quarters or simply numbered steps.
What is a backwards plan ?
A plan built in reverse: you start from the delivery date you have been given and work back, placing each step before the one it unlocks. It is what reveals that a June go-live means freezing the specification in February. A backwards plan reads better as a timeline than as a table.
Timeline or Gantt chart ?
A Gantt chart shows durations, dependencies and workload: it is a steering tool, and it needs real project management software. A timeline shows milestones and exists to communicate. For a steering committee slide or a progress update, the timeline wins: a Gantt chart on a projector is unreadable past ten rows.
How do I mark the important milestones ?
Each point can take its own color and a stronger label. Keep that emphasis for three or four moments: if everything is important, nothing is.
Can I make a historical timeline for a class ?
Yes, nothing here is specific to business. A historical timeline, or a chronology of events for a presentation or a dissertation, is built the same way and exports to PDF for printing.
RACI matrix
What does RACI stand for ?
Four roles, one per letter. R for Responsible, the person doing the work. A for Accountable, the person who signs off and answers for the result. C for Consulted, whose opinion is sought before deciding. I for Informed, told once it is done.
What is the difference between Responsible and Accountable ?
The R does it, the A owns it. That is the most useful distinction in the method, and the one most often skipped: until somebody is named accountable, a task can be finished without anyone having said it was acceptable.
How many A per task ?
Exactly one, always. Two accountable people on the same row is a decision that was never made, and it will resurface at the worst possible moment. The RACI matrix tool flags rows with no A and rows with several.
RACI, RASCI, RACI-VS: which variant ?
RASCI adds an S for Support, the people helping the responsible one without owning the task. RACI-VS adds Verifier and Signatory, useful in heavily regulated settings. On most projects the original four letters are enough, and every extra letter is one more chance to avoid deciding.
How do I build a RACI matrix ?
Tasks in rows, actors in columns, one letter in each cell that needs one. An empty cell is a valid answer: not everyone has a role in everything, and a fully filled matrix is usually one that was never discussed.
When is a RACI matrix actually worth the effort ?
At the start of a project involving several teams, when a supplier joins, or after an incident where nobody knew who was meant to decide. On a three-person project where people talk daily, it costs more than it returns.
Priority matrix, impact effort and Eisenhower
How do I make a priority matrix ?
Each item gets two scores from 1 to 10, one per axis, and lands in the scatter plot. Points can be dragged with a mouse or a finger during the workshop. That is the priority matrix, and both axes can be renamed.
Impact effort matrix or Eisenhower matrix ?
Two different grids, often confused. Impact against effort arbitrates a portfolio of topics: what returns the most for the least work. Eisenhower crosses urgent with important and organises your time. The tool does both: a preset flips all the labels at once.
What is a quick win ?
High impact, low effort: the quadrant to take first. Opposite it, high impact and high effort gives the real projects, the ones to plan. Low impact and low effort is filler. Low impact and high effort is dropped, and that is usually the hardest quadrant to defend in front of whoever proposed the idea.
MoSCoW, ICE, RICE: how do they compare ?
MoSCoW sorts into four buckets (Must, Should, Could, Won't) and frames a delivery scope. ICE and RICE compute a score from impact, confidence, reach and effort. The impact effort matrix is the most visual of the three, so the most effective in a workshop: you drag a point in front of everyone and the disagreement shows immediately.
How do I run a prioritisation workshop ?
Have everyone score on their own first, then show the scatter plot and discuss only the points where the scores diverge. Those are the only ones worth the time: on the rest, the room already agrees without knowing it.
Meeting minutes and action items
How do I write meeting minutes ?
Take your raw notes, split what is a decision, an action and plain information, then attach every action to a person with a due date. The meeting minutes tool does that formatting and gives back a clean visual, ready to attach to the follow-up email.
Minutes, notes, decision log: what is the difference ?
A decision log keeps only what was settled and what remains to do, and it is the format people actually read. Minutes add the discussion and the arguments exchanged. A formal record is signed and serves as evidence, at a shareholders meeting for instance.
What should good minutes contain ?
The date, who attended, the decisions taken, the actions with an owner and a date, and the points left open. The rest is comfort. Minutes that fit on one screen get read, four pages get filed unopened.
How do I track the action items ?
An action with no name and no date is not an action, it is an intention. Go through the list again at the start of the next meeting, item by item: that small ritual makes far more difference than the format of the document.
Is there a meeting minutes template ?
The tool opens on a filled example that works as a template: replace the content with yours and the structure stays. You can save your own version in the browser and reopen it for every meeting.
A question that is not here ?
It belongs here. Feedback goes straight into deciding which tool gets built next and which page gets more content. Write on the contact page, the answer comes quickly.
And if you are after a specific tool, they are all listed on the home page: database schema, timeline and roadmap, comparison table, flowchart, RACI matrix, priority matrix and meeting minutes.