Your SankeyMATIC text, upgraded
SankeyMATIC is a great way to make a quick static Sankey. OpenSankey reads the exact same
source [value] target syntax, colors, node settings and layout included, and
gives you an interactive diagram you can keep editing.
| SankeyMATIC | OpenSankey | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free (open source), no watermark |
| Input | Text: source [value] target | Same text syntax, plus Excel, CSV, drag-and-drop editing |
| Output | Static PNG / SVG | Interactive diagram + PNG / SVG export |
| Edit after creation | Re-generate from text | Direct manipulation: drag nodes, style flows, undo |
| Hierarchy & drill-down | None | Aggregate / expand node groups (Plus) |
| Years & scenarios | One diagram per version | Data tags: one diagram, many datasets (Plus) |
| Embed on your site | Static image | Hosted interactive viewer, iframe embed (Plus) |
What SankeyMATIC gets right
Nothing beats it for a first diagram. You type Wages [1500] Budget and you
have a Sankey: no account, no file, no menus. That text format is a genuinely good idea:
diffable, reviewable, pasteable into an issue. Steve Bogart has kept it free and open
(ISC) for a decade, and it is the reason most people draw their first Sankey at all.
We took the lesson seriously enough to port his layout engine, phantom nodes and all, so that a diagram imported from SankeyMATIC still looks like the one you left behind. Keep using it for quick sketches. Your text opens here when the study grows.
How the import works
Open the editor, switch the spreadsheet panel to text mode, and paste. We parse the full
SankeyMATIC dialect: flows, :Node #color lines, comments, and the settings
block. You can keep working in text or switch to the visual editor at any point; both
stay in sync.
Every SankeyMATIC sample, already in the editor
The six diagrams shipped with SankeyMATIC, parsed by our own port of its layout engine. Click one and it opens in the editor, no account needed.
