diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 658d17801..5efd97eda 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -325,6 +325,12 @@
             <version>${junit.version}</version>
             <scope>test</scope>
         </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.testcontainers</groupId>
+            <artifactId>junit-jupiter</artifactId>
+            <version>1.17.6</version>
+            <scope>test</scope>
+        </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.hamcrest</groupId>
             <artifactId>hamcrest</artifactId>
diff --git a/src/main/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/configuration/Configuration.java b/src/main/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/configuration/Configuration.java
index c2ad885a8..c8e80d3ba 100644
--- a/src/main/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/configuration/Configuration.java
+++ b/src/main/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/configuration/Configuration.java
@@ -31,7 +31,26 @@
 public interface Configuration {
 
     /**
-     * Tha name of the doclet to delegate main documentation to
+     * The base URL of the <a href="https://www.plantuml.com/plantuml">PlantUML server</a> to generate diagrams with.
+     * <p>
+     * Please note that it is not recommended to use the public, central PlantUML server at
+     * <a href="https://www.plantuml.com/plantuml">https://www.plantuml.com/plantuml</a>.
+     * Although not strictly forbidden by the author of PlantUML, using the central server to generate your
+     * javadoc diagrams is causing additional load on the central server and is a lot slower than running your own
+     * local server.
+     * <p>
+     * Using docker to run a local PlantUML server can be a simple as:
+     * <pre>{@code
+     * docker run -d -p 8080:8080 plantuml/plantuml-server:latest
+     * }</pre>
+     * After that, you can run the UMLDoclet with {@code plantumlServerUrl = "http://localhost:8080/"}
+     *
+     * @return The base URL of the PlantUML online server to use.
+     */
+    Optional<String> plantumlServerUrl();
+
+    /**
+     * The name of the doclet to delegate main documentation to
      * or {@link Optional#empty} if no delegation is wanted.
      *
      * @return The name of the doclet to delegate main documentation to
diff --git a/src/main/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/javadoc/DocletConfig.java b/src/main/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/javadoc/DocletConfig.java
index ca400fc8a..85983f3a3 100644
--- a/src/main/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/javadoc/DocletConfig.java
+++ b/src/main/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/javadoc/DocletConfig.java
@@ -52,6 +52,8 @@ public class DocletConfig implements Configuration {
     private final UMLOptions options;
     private volatile LocalizedReporter reporter;
 
+    String plantumlServerUrl = null;
+
     /**
      * The name of the delegate doclet to use for the main documentation task.
      * <p>
@@ -139,6 +141,11 @@ public Set<Doclet.Option> mergeOptionsWith(Set<? extends Doclet.Option> standard
         return options.mergeWith(standardOptions);
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public Optional<String> plantumlServerUrl() {
+        return Optional.ofNullable(plantumlServerUrl);
+    }
+
     @Override
     public Optional<String> delegateDocletName() {
         return Optional.ofNullable(delegateDoclet).filter(name -> !"false".equalsIgnoreCase(name));
diff --git a/src/main/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/javadoc/UMLOptions.java b/src/main/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/javadoc/UMLOptions.java
index 4c8ef7525..ed7da611d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/javadoc/UMLOptions.java
+++ b/src/main/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/javadoc/UMLOptions.java
@@ -80,6 +80,8 @@ private UMLOptions(DocletConfig config, Set<? extends Doclet.Option> standardOpt
         this.options.add(new Option("-d", 1, Kind.OTHER, args -> config.destDirName = args.get(0)));
 
         // Our own options
+        this.options.add(new Option("--plantuml-server-url -plantumlServerUrl", 1, Kind.STANDARD,
+                args -> config.plantumlServerUrl = args.get(0)));
         this.options.add(new Option("--delegate-doclet -delegateDoclet", 1, Kind.STANDARD,
                 args -> config.delegateDoclet = args.get(0)));
         this.options.add(new Option("--create-puml-files -createPumlFiles", 0, Kind.STANDARD, args -> config.renderPumlFile = true));
diff --git a/src/main/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/uml/Diagram.java b/src/main/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/uml/Diagram.java
index 6814a6375..517683e58 100644
--- a/src/main/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/uml/Diagram.java
+++ b/src/main/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/uml/Diagram.java
@@ -16,19 +16,18 @@
 package nl.talsmasoftware.umldoclet.uml;
 
 import net.sourceforge.plantuml.FileFormat;
-import net.sourceforge.plantuml.FileFormatOption;
-import net.sourceforge.plantuml.SourceStringReader;
 import nl.talsmasoftware.umldoclet.configuration.Configuration;
 import nl.talsmasoftware.umldoclet.configuration.ImageConfig;
 import nl.talsmasoftware.umldoclet.logging.Message;
 import nl.talsmasoftware.umldoclet.rendering.indent.IndentingPrintWriter;
 import nl.talsmasoftware.umldoclet.rendering.writers.StringBufferingWriter;
+import nl.talsmasoftware.umldoclet.uml.plantuml.PlantumlGenerator;
 
 import java.io.File;
-import java.io.FileOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.OutputStream;
 import java.io.OutputStreamWriter;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Objects;
 import java.util.stream.Stream;
@@ -40,16 +39,19 @@
 import static nl.talsmasoftware.umldoclet.util.FileUtils.withoutExtension;
 
 /**
- * Abstract class corresponding to a single UML diagram.
+ * Abstract UML Diagram class.
  */
 public abstract class Diagram extends UMLNode {
+
     private final Configuration config;
+    private final PlantumlGenerator plantumlGenerator;
     private final FileFormat[] formats;
     private File diagramBaseFile;
 
     protected Diagram(Configuration config) {
         super(null);
         this.config = requireNonNull(config, "Configuration is <null>");
+        this.plantumlGenerator = PlantumlGenerator.getPlantumlGenerator(config);
         this.formats = config.images().formats().stream()
                 .map(this::toFileFormat).filter(Objects::nonNull)
                 .toArray(FileFormat[]::new);
@@ -90,7 +92,7 @@ public Configuration getConfiguration() {
      * Determine the physical file location for the plantuml output.
      *
      * <p>This will even be called if {@code -createPumlFiles} is not enabled,
-     * to determine the {@linkplain #getDiagramBaseFile()}.
+     * to determine the {@code diagram base file}.
      *
      * @return The physical file for the plantuml output.
      */
@@ -167,15 +169,15 @@ private String writePlantumlSourceToFile() throws IOException {
     private StringBufferingWriter createBufferingPlantumlFileWriter(File pumlFile) throws IOException {
         return new StringBufferingWriter(
                 new OutputStreamWriter(
-                        new FileOutputStream(pumlFile), config.umlCharset()));
+                        Files.newOutputStream(pumlFile.toPath()), config.umlCharset()));
     }
 
     private void renderDiagramFile(String plantumlSource, FileFormat format) throws IOException {
         final File diagramFile = getDiagramFile(format);
         config.logger().info(Message.INFO_GENERATING_FILE, diagramFile);
         ensureParentDir(diagramFile);
-        try (OutputStream out = new FileOutputStream(diagramFile)) {
-            new SourceStringReader(plantumlSource).outputImage(out, new FileFormatOption(format));
+        try (OutputStream out = Files.newOutputStream(diagramFile.toPath())) {
+            plantumlGenerator.generatePlantumlDiagramFromSource(plantumlSource, format, out);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/uml/plantuml/BuiltinPlantumlGenerator.java b/src/main/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/uml/plantuml/BuiltinPlantumlGenerator.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3c251e2bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/uml/plantuml/BuiltinPlantumlGenerator.java
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2016-2022 Talsma ICT
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *        http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package nl.talsmasoftware.umldoclet.uml.plantuml;
+
+import net.sourceforge.plantuml.FileFormat;
+import net.sourceforge.plantuml.FileFormatOption;
+import net.sourceforge.plantuml.SourceStringReader;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.OutputStream;
+
+public final class BuiltinPlantumlGenerator implements PlantumlGenerator {
+    @Override
+    public void generatePlantumlDiagramFromSource(String plantumlSource, FileFormat format, OutputStream out) throws IOException {
+        new SourceStringReader(plantumlSource).outputImage(out, new FileFormatOption(format));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/uml/plantuml/PlantumlGenerator.java b/src/main/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/uml/plantuml/PlantumlGenerator.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ae82784de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/uml/plantuml/PlantumlGenerator.java
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2016-2022 Talsma ICT
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *        http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package nl.talsmasoftware.umldoclet.uml.plantuml;
+
+import net.sourceforge.plantuml.FileFormat;
+import nl.talsmasoftware.umldoclet.configuration.Configuration;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.OutputStream;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
+
+public interface PlantumlGenerator {
+    Pattern HTTP_URLS = Pattern.compile("^https?://");
+
+    static PlantumlGenerator getPlantumlGenerator(Configuration configuration) {
+        return configuration.plantumlServerUrl()
+                .filter(url -> HTTP_URLS.matcher(url).find())
+                .map(url -> (PlantumlGenerator) new RemotePlantumlGenerator(url))
+                .orElseGet(BuiltinPlantumlGenerator::new);
+    }
+
+    void generatePlantumlDiagramFromSource(String plantumlSource, FileFormat format, OutputStream out) throws IOException;
+
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/uml/plantuml/RemotePlantumlGenerator.java b/src/main/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/uml/plantuml/RemotePlantumlGenerator.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..491c1825c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/uml/plantuml/RemotePlantumlGenerator.java
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2016-2022 Talsma ICT
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *        http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package nl.talsmasoftware.umldoclet.uml.plantuml;
+
+import net.sourceforge.plantuml.FileFormat;
+import net.sourceforge.plantuml.code.ArobaseStringCompressor;
+import net.sourceforge.plantuml.code.AsciiEncoder;
+import net.sourceforge.plantuml.code.CompressionZlib;
+import net.sourceforge.plantuml.code.Transcoder;
+import net.sourceforge.plantuml.code.TranscoderImpl;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.io.OutputStream;
+import java.net.URL;
+import java.util.Objects;
+
+import static java.util.Objects.requireNonNull;
+
+public class RemotePlantumlGenerator implements PlantumlGenerator {
+    private static final String DEFAULT_PLANTUML_BASE_URL = "https://www.plantuml.com/plantuml/";
+    private static final Transcoder TRANSCODER =
+            TranscoderImpl.utf8(new AsciiEncoder(), new ArobaseStringCompressor(), new CompressionZlib());
+
+    private final String baseUrl;
+
+    public RemotePlantumlGenerator(final String baseUrl) {
+        String url = Objects.toString(baseUrl, DEFAULT_PLANTUML_BASE_URL);
+        if (!url.endsWith("/")) url += "/";
+        this.baseUrl = url;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void generatePlantumlDiagramFromSource(String plantumlSource, FileFormat format, OutputStream out) {
+        final String encodedDiagram = encodeDiagram(plantumlSource);
+        final String diagramUrl = baseUrl + format.name().toLowerCase() + '/' + encodedDiagram;
+        try (InputStream in = new URL(diagramUrl).openConnection().getInputStream()) {
+            final byte[] buf = new byte[4096];
+            for (int read = in.read(buf); read >= 0; read = in.read(buf)) {
+                out.write(buf, 0, read);
+            }
+        } catch (IOException | RuntimeException e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    private String encodeDiagram(final String diagramSource) {
+        try {
+            // TODO internalize transcoder to be able to remove PlantUML dependency altogether.
+            return TRANSCODER.encode(requireNonNull(diagramSource, "UML diagram source was <null>."));
+        } catch (IOException ioe) {
+            throw new IllegalStateException("Error encoding diagram: " + ioe.getMessage(), ioe);
+        }
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/src/main/resources/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/UMLDoclet.properties b/src/main/resources/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/UMLDoclet.properties
index 70377b444..5312763b5 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/UMLDoclet.properties
+++ b/src/main/resources/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/UMLDoclet.properties
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ error.unanticipated.error.generating.diagrams=Unanticipated error generating dia
 error.unanticipated.error.postprocessing.html=Unanticipated error post-processing HTML: {0}
 
 # Usage
+doclet.usage.plantuml-server-url.description=Base URL for the PlantUML server\nExamples: http://localhost:8080/, https://www.plantuml.com/plantuml/
+doclet.usage.plantuml-server-url.parameters=<url>
 doclet.usage.delegate-doclet.description=The delegate doclet providing the main documentation\nDefaults to 'jdk.javadoc.doclet.StandardDoclet'\nSpecify 'false' to disable delegation
 doclet.usage.delegate-doclet.parameters=<doclet classname>
 doclet.usage.create-puml-files.description=Create PlantUML '.puml' files
diff --git a/src/test/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/uml/DependencyDiagramTest.java b/src/test/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/uml/DependencyDiagramTest.java
index 7673b0879..70a32d599 100644
--- a/src/test/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/uml/DependencyDiagramTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/uml/DependencyDiagramTest.java
@@ -30,8 +30,17 @@
 import static java.util.Collections.singleton;
 import static org.hamcrest.MatcherAssert.assertThat;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.contains;
-import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.*;
-import static org.mockito.Mockito.*;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.containsString;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.equalTo;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.hasSize;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.hasToString;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.is;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.atLeast;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.atLeastOnce;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.verifyNoMoreInteractions;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
 
 public class DependencyDiagramTest {
     private ImageConfig mockImages;
@@ -54,6 +63,7 @@ public void prepareMocksDiagramAndExclusions() {
     public void verifyMocks() {
         verify(mockConfig, atLeastOnce()).images();
         verify(mockImages, atLeastOnce()).formats();
+        verify(mockConfig, atLeast(0)).plantumlServerUrl();
         verify(mockConfig, atLeast(0)).excludedPackageDependencies();
         verify(mockConfig, atLeast(0)).indentation();
         verifyNoMoreInteractions(mockConfig, mockImages);
diff --git a/src/test/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/uml/DiagramTest.java b/src/test/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/uml/DiagramTest.java
index 8e11b618f..94643b1b9 100644
--- a/src/test/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/uml/DiagramTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/uml/DiagramTest.java
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ public void setUp() {
 
     @AfterEach
     public void tearDown() {
+        verify(config, atLeast(0)).plantumlServerUrl();
         verify(config, atLeast(0)).images();
         verify(config, atLeast(0)).destinationDirectory();
         verify(config, atLeast(0)).logger();
diff --git a/src/test/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/uml/NamespaceTest.java b/src/test/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/uml/NamespaceTest.java
index b00c11e3b..28035d9d5 100644
--- a/src/test/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/uml/NamespaceTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/uml/NamespaceTest.java
@@ -52,10 +52,12 @@ public void verifyMocks() {
     public void testEquals() {
         PackageDiagram packageUml = new PackageDiagram(config, "a.b.c", randomString());
         Namespace namespace = new Namespace(packageUml, "a.b.c", randomString());
+
         assertThat(namespace.equals(namespace), is(true));
         assertThat(namespace, is(equalTo(new Namespace(null, "a.b.c", randomString()))));
         assertThat(namespace, is(equalTo(new Namespace(packageUml, "a.b.c", randomString()))));
         assertThat(namespace, is(not(equalTo(new Namespace(packageUml, "A.B.C", randomString())))));
+        verify(config, atLeastOnce()).plantumlServerUrl();
     }
 
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/uml/plantuml/RemotePlantumlGeneratorTest.java b/src/test/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/uml/plantuml/RemotePlantumlGeneratorTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3529aa3e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/nl/talsmasoftware/umldoclet/uml/plantuml/RemotePlantumlGeneratorTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2016-2022 Talsma ICT
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *        http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package nl.talsmasoftware.umldoclet.uml.plantuml;
+
+import net.sourceforge.plantuml.FileFormat;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.testcontainers.containers.GenericContainer;
+import org.testcontainers.junit.jupiter.Container;
+import org.testcontainers.junit.jupiter.Testcontainers;
+import org.testcontainers.utility.DockerImageName;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.FileOutputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.OutputStream;
+
+import static org.hamcrest.MatcherAssert.assertThat;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.is;
+
+@Testcontainers
+class RemotePlantumlGeneratorTest {
+    static final String testUml = "@startuml\r\nBob -> Alice : hello\r\n@enduml";
+
+    @Container
+    GenericContainer plantumlServer = new GenericContainer(DockerImageName.parse("plantuml/plantuml-server"))
+            .withExposedPorts(8080);
+
+    PlantumlGenerator subject;
+
+    @BeforeEach
+    void setUp() {
+        subject = new RemotePlantumlGenerator(String.format("http://%s:%s/",
+                plantumlServer.getHost(), plantumlServer.getMappedPort(8080)));
+//        subject = new RemotePlantumlGenerator("https://www.plantuml.com/plantuml/");
+//        subject = new RemotePlantumlGenerator("http://localhost:8080/");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void simpleDiagramCanBeGenerated() throws IOException {
+        // prepare
+        final File testDiagram = new File("target/test-classes/"
+                + getClass().getPackageName().replace('.', '/')
+                + "/testUml.svg");
+        testDiagram.delete();
+
+        // execute
+        try (OutputStream out = new FileOutputStream(testDiagram)) {
+            subject.generatePlantumlDiagramFromSource(testUml, FileFormat.SVG, out);
+        }
+
+        // verify
+        assertThat(testDiagram.isFile(), is(true));
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/src/test/resources/logback.xml b/src/test/resources/logback-test.xml
similarity index 96%
rename from src/test/resources/logback.xml
rename to src/test/resources/logback-test.xml
index 5c2c51bd4..5131db2ad 100644
--- a/src/test/resources/logback.xml
+++ b/src/test/resources/logback-test.xml
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <configuration>
 
-    <jmxConfigurator/>
     <contextListener class="ch.qos.logback.classic.jul.LevelChangePropagator">
         <resetJUL>true</resetJUL>
     </contextListener>