draw.io is a great general-purpose diagramming tool. PfdLabs is built specifically for process engineers — with industrial symbols, smart routing and presentation-ready output — while still handling everyday flowcharts just as well.
| Feature | PfdLabs | draw.io |
|---|---|---|
| Industrial process symbols (3D, 2D, schematic) | ✓ 100+ symbols | ✗ Generic shapes only |
| Built-in flowsheet templates (Gold CIL, Cu flotation, SX-EW...) | ✓ 7 templates | ✗ None |
| General flowcharts & decision diagrams | ✓ Full support | ✓ Full support |
| Presentation-ready visual style out of the box | ✓ Polished by default | Requires manual styling |
| Smart port-based edge routing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Export PNG, SVG, PDF | ✓ | ✓ |
| Browser-based, no install | ✓ | ✓ |
| Price | Free start · €3/mo Pro | Free |
| Learning curve for engineering diagrams | Low — symbols ready to use | Medium — build symbols yourself |
PfdLabs started as a specialized tool, but the editor is a complete diagramming app. Whatever you need to draw, it handles it.
100+ industrial symbols across 3 visual styles — photorealistic 3D, detailed 2D technical, and clean schematic — for mineral processing and hydrometallurgy circuits.
Boxes, diamonds, pills and arrows with smart routing — perfect for approval workflows, troubleshooting guides, onboarding flows or any business process.
Export clean PNG or SVG diagrams to drop straight into a slide deck, report or client proposal — no extra styling needed to make it presentation-ready.
Architecture diagrams, system overviews and structural illustrations for documentation, wikis and engineering handbooks.
"I used to build flowsheets in draw.io by manually drawing every tank and pump as a rectangle. PfdLabs has the actual equipment ready to drag onto the canvas — it just looks like a real flowsheet immediately."
draw.io is an excellent, completely free tool with a huge template library covering almost every diagram type imaginable — network diagrams, UML, wireframes, org charts and more. If you need maximum flexibility across many unrelated diagram types and don't need industrial symbols, draw.io remains a strong choice. PfdLabs trades some of that breadth for depth in one direction: process engineering — while still covering general flowcharts well.
No more manually drawing crushers, thickeners or flotation cells from rectangles. Drag the real symbol and connect it.
Default colors, fonts and spacing are designed to look client-ready — no extra styling pass needed before a presentation.
Seven ready-made flowsheets and flowcharts — from Gold CIL circuits to approval workflows — to edit instead of starting blank.
No credit card required · 5 diagrams included · Full symbol library
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