Archdocs vs IcePanel
Archdocs and IcePanel both model shared architecture objects. Here is where they differ, with IcePanel facts linked to its own docs and checked on 2026-10-23.
IcePanel and Archdocs start from the same complaint: the same service drawn in five diagrams turns into five things to update. Both fix it by making the service an object that diagrams refer to. They differ in what sits around that object.
How each one models your system
IcePanel is built on the C4 model. You build a model of systems, apps and components, and context, app and component diagrams are views of that model. Rename an object and every view that shows it picks up the change.
Archdocs doesn't make you pick a notation first. A diagram is a canvas, and any box on it can be a reference to an object in your catalog: a service, a database, a queue, an external system. The object carries its own documents, and its Used in tab lists every document that references it. You can draw C4 if you want to, but the same document can also hold an ERD, a REST or gRPC endpoint card, or a sequence diagram as native elements rather than boxes with text in them.
Every Archdocs diagram also has a YAML source. You can edit it on the canvas or as YAML, keep the YAML in Git for review, or let an agent write it through our MCP server.
Side by side
| Workflow | Archdocs | IcePanel |
|---|---|---|
| Shared objects | Catalog objects referenced from any diagram, each with its own documents | Reusable C4 model objects and connections |
| Impact | Dependency graph across objects, plus the list of documents that use each one | Dependencies view of incoming and outgoing connections |
| Beyond C4 | Native ERDs, REST and gRPC endpoints, and sequence diagrams on the same canvas | C4 levels: context, app, component |
| Text source | YAML for every diagram, editable next to the canvas | Not stated in the pages we checked |
| Agent access | MCP reads documents and creates or edits them as YAML | MCP on paid plans: reads the model, writes objects and connections, does not create diagrams |
Archdocs also imports AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and Kubernetes resources into the catalog. That feature is in beta.
When to choose IcePanel
If your team already thinks in C4 and wants the tool to enforce it, choose IcePanel. Its model has drafts for future-state designs, so you can sketch a migration without touching the current picture. We don't have an equivalent: in Archdocs you'd keep the proposal in a separate document. IcePanel also has unlimited free viewers on every plan, which helps if most of your readers never edit.
Both tools have decision records, though IcePanel's Free plan limits them to three per landscape.
Pricing, checked on 2026-10-23
IcePanel's published pricing lists Free at $0 for one editor and up to 100 model objects. Growth is $40 per editor per month and Scale is $80 per editor per month, both billed annually, with Scale starting at 20 editors. Enterprise is custom from 50 editors.
Archdocs Free is $0 for up to three people and ten documents. Team is $12 per seat per month, or $10 billed annually. Business is $45 per seat per month, or $35 billed annually, with a five-seat minimum. The pricing page has the full limits. IcePanel charges only for editors. In Archdocs every member of your organization takes a seat, including people who only read, although anyone can view a document through a share link without an account. Count who needs to sign in before you compare the two numbers.
Sources
- IcePanel modellingchecked on
- IcePanel dependencies viewchecked on
- IcePanel MCP serverchecked on
- IcePanel pricingchecked on