Introducing
The Slant team built an AI & it’s awesome
Find the best product instantly
Add to Chrome
Add to Edge
Add to Firefox
Add to Opera
Add to Brave
Add to Safari
Try it now
4.7 star rating
0
What is the best alternative to Xmind?
Ad
Ad
Freemind
All
13
Experiences
Pros
11
Cons
2
Top
Con
Unintuitive interface
The interface and shortcuts are unintuitive and difficult to customize.
See More
Top
Pro
Free and open source
See More
Top
Con
Boring visual appearance
See More
Top
Pro
Intuitive UI with drag and drop support
For the most part, navigating the editor is pretty intuitive - moving around is done by clicking and dragging the background, clicking on nodes will expand/collapse them, dragging and dropping in files will add them, etc. It also offers shortcuts for power users. For example, ctrl + up/down will rearrange ideas up/down, alt +up/down will zoom in/out, etc.
See More
Top
Pro
Lots of export options, including html with folding
Freemind offers many choices when exporting. It allows exporting the project as Java Applet, Flash file, Open Office Writer document, picture (png, jpg), PDF, SVG, multiple variants of (x)html, among other options.
See More
Top
Pro
Can copy entire hierarchy to/from Word with a simple copy/paste action
Freemind allows quickly copying over structure of the mindmap as a bulleted, tab-indented list starting at the node selected. It can also take a bulleted, tab-indented list and create a mindmap from it.
See More
Top
Pro
Fullscreen mode available with a patch
A user-contributed patch is available that adds fullscreen mode to FreeMind.
See More
Top
Pro
Good documentation
See More
Top
Pro
Cross-platform desktop and mobile
Works on Windows, OS X, Linux, iOS and Android.
See More
Top
Pro
Revision control
See More
Top
Pro
Supports media files, recognizes URLs and commands
Freemind accepts drag-and-drop for any kind of file, URL or command as part of the mindmap. Files it recognizes, like images, will be displayed. Other files will open in a separate, appropriate application. URLs, links to folders, and executable commands pasted in will be recognized and turned in to clickable links.
See More
Top
Pro
Supports node and map encryption
See More
Top
Pro
Multi-user support
See More
Hide
See All
Experiences
Free
280
33
Lucidchart
All
11
Experiences
Pros
7
Cons
3
Specs
Top
Con
Limited functionalities for customizing look & feel
See More
Top
Pro
Integrates with a variety of services
Lucidchart has Google Drive, Google Apps, JIRA, Confluence, Jive, and Box integration.
See More
Top
Con
Limitation for free users
Limit to 60 components per document and up to 3 documents.
See More
Top
Pro
Revision history
Keeps track of previous version of files and is capable of reverting any changes made.
See More
Top
Con
Only web version available
Desktop or other platforms are not supported.
See More
Top
Pro
Simple UI
See More
Top
Pro
Secure
See More
Top
Pro
Tutorials
A selection of tutorials are available.
See More
Top
Pro
No data ownership
Users keep all rights to documents created using Lucidchart services.
See More
Top
Pro
Can import and export Microsoft Visio documents
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Web
Hide
See All
Experiences
Free / paid
31
6
Coggle
All
11
Experiences
Pros
9
Cons
2
Top
Pro
Supports Markdown (their own variant)
Markdown is a plain text formatting syntax designed so that it can optionally be converted to HTML using a tool by the same name.
See More
Top
Con
Tree relations only; no non-parent links
Coggle's model allows a node to have multiple children, but only one parent, and no other connections of any sort.
See More
Top
Pro
Collaborative
Coggle allows inviting friends and colleagues to work collaboratively on notes and diagrams in real-time.
See More
Top
Con
Unconventional note taking style
Coggle is a mind mapping application, not a traditional text based note storage platform.
See More
Top
Pro
Pretty diagrams
No effort to create beautiful diagrams.
See More
Top
Pro
Supports LaTeX
LaTeX is a document preparation system and document markup language. It is the de facto standard for the communication and publication of scientific documents.
See More
Top
Pro
Allows easy color-coding of paths
See More
Top
Pro
Versioning support
Enter history mode to view all changes to a diagram over time, and make a copy from that point.
See More
Top
Pro
Optional Chrome store App
See More
Top
Pro
Free
See More
Top
Pro
Lots of export options
Exports to PDF, image, plaintext and .mm files.
See More
Hide
See All
Experiences
$0-$8/M
61
27
ThinkComposer
All
4
Experiences
Pros
3
Specs
Top
Pro
Multilevel
Diagrams can be multilevel, this means that they can have nested diagrams within them.
See More
Top
Pro
Open source
Licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License v3.
See More
Top
Pro
Tables
Tables can be populated from CSV files.
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows
Technology:
C#
Hide
Free
5
0
iMindMap
All
4
Experiences
Pros
2
Cons
1
Specs
Top
Pro
Doesn't overwhelm with options by default
The application only surfaces the essential features by default and gives access to advanced features only when needed. For example, a you can perform 4 actions with a branch by default - add a new subtopic, add a new box topic, add a new relationship and adjust the branch's position.
See More
Top
Con
No American English language option
The software is only available in UK English.
See More
Top
Pro
Allows auto-creating presentations from mind-maps
It's possible to have the application automatically create slides along with transitions for presentation purposes. It's then possible to adjust the outcome.
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows, Mac, Android, Web
Hide
Paid
23
2
MindManager
All
3
Experiences
Pros
2
Cons
1
Top
Pro
Integrates with a good variety of tools
MindManager integrates with MS Office applications (Excel, Outlook, Word, SharePoint), Box.net and many other tools.
See More
Top
Con
Odd UI interaction conventions
Some conventions used to interact with the software are either questionable or simply going against what's commonly accepted. For example, right-click + drag will move around, holding down the right-click will open up the context-menu and left-click in an open space will start a new unconnected node. What this results in is constant accidental opening of context-menu then accidental creation of a new node trying to get out of the context-menu.
See More
Top
Pro
Real-time Gantt charts
Data can be represented as a map and as an outline simultaneously.
See More
Hide
Get it
here
31
4
Zenkit
All
4
Experiences
Pros
3
Specs
Top
Pro
Powerful and simple to use tool with a clean design
Easy to use and easily understandable for everyone.
See More
Top
Pro
Many important data views
Data views include Mind-Map, Kanban-Board, Spreadsheet, List, and Calendar. Views can be switched easily.
See More
Top
Pro
Native apps
Native apps for iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and Linux.
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iPhone
Languages:
English, German, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Chinese (traditional), Korean, Russian
API:
Yes
Collaborative:
Yes
See All Specs
Hide
Free / paid
120
13
MindMup
All
9
Experiences
Pros
6
Cons
2
Specs
Top
Pro
Frictionless interface
MindMup allows focusing on thoughts and productively capture them without getting in the way.
See More
Top
Con
Note capacity is limited
MindMup is good for mapping out thoughts that could be summarized in bullet points, but longer notes aren't as practical for this service.
See More
Top
Pro
Browser-based
Don't need to install anything, just open the website and you are set.
See More
Top
Con
Unconventional note taking style
It's a mind mapping application, not a traditional text based note storage platform.
See More
Top
Pro
Just works
See More
Top
Pro
Compatible with Google Drive and Github
See More
Top
Pro
Easy sharing & presenting
After taking notes, it only takes seconds to share and/or prepare them for presentations.
See More
Top
Pro
Free and open source
MindMup is free with source code available on GitHub.
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Web
Hide
See All
Experiences
FREE
71
9
Scapple
All
3
Experiences
Pros
2
Cons
1
Top
Pro
Customizable
You can customize your styles, background and font as you wish.
See More
Top
Con
It looks abandoned
Despite being a great software as it is, theres no update for more than a year : either to fix minor bugs, or implement new functions.
See More
Top
Pro
Flexible
It gives you the freedom to use visual thinking without the hierarchical rigidity of a mind map.
See More
Hide
14.99
47
8
MindMeister
All
13
Experiences
Pros
7
Cons
6
Top
Pro
Web and mobile versions available
In addition to web software, MindMeister is available on iOS and Android mobile platforms as well.
See More
Top
Con
No good offline mode
You can only work completely offline when using an iOS or Android device. For your browser there's only a clumsy 'offline mode' available. If you didn't hit the switch before you have the need for working offline (for instance: in a meeting, at a customer's location, in a plane, etc.) than your out of luck... no tool for note taking. Especially with all those HTML5-capable browsers and the Chrome App store (including Desktop apps), this limits the usage of this commercial product.
See More
Top
Pro
Notes can be shared and collaborated on in real-time
MindMeister allows sharing maps with an unlimited number of collaborators so it's possible to take notes and brainstorm together. Mind maps can be shared by inviting people either directly via email or by sending them a link to the map. Even people without a MindMeister account can access the maps and even edit them.
See More
Top
Con
Expensive compared to the competition
A basic monthly subscription ($92 USD) gives you no more than XMind FREE except PDF exporting. XMind paid with PDF export is $79. $20 less for lifetime use of an app with more features as of writing.
See More
Top
Pro
Comments and votes
Users can create polls and have collaborators vote individual topics up or down, or comment on them.
See More
Top
Con
Free option limited to 3 mind maps
A free XMind app/online account or MindMup account both provide unlimited mind maps.
See More
Top
Pro
Various layouts
User can switch between classical mind map layout, a layout where all topics are aligned on the left or the right, and org chart layout.
See More
Top
Con
MindMeister has very poor Evernote integration
Evernote is the number one 'store-everything-archive' when it comes to unstructured data or information. MindMeister markets there Evernote integration as a very cool feature. But this integration is very basic and buggy: only the last 50 (?) notes from Evernote's default notebook are shown in the list, and it takes about 30 seconds to one full minute to generate that list. After that it takes about the same amount of time to add a copy of the selected note as an attachment to a topic. MindMeister support is well aware of this poor implementation, but doesn't put any effort in fixing it.
See More
Top
Pro
Clear overview without losing any details
The mind mapping format provides with a clear overview of connections, hierarchies and relationships of notes. At the same time, it's possible to add more detailed notes, links, pictures and even whole files to the keywords, so that no important information gets lost.
See More
Top
Con
Very basic
See More
Top
Pro
One node can have marks, emoticons and comments
See More
Top
Con
The interface has only very basic features
For example, it lacks the possibility to define a long text under the node title showing it in a permanent way. The software is 1000 less powerful than Microsoft Visio. Meanwhile it should just be more specific.
See More
Top
Pro
Adding a Table or Matrix
Xmind is one of the few mind maps that allows you to add a table or matrix to your mind map. Very useful when you have content that works better in a table.
See More
Hide
See All
Experiences
$6 - $15 / mo
107
22
Creately
All
12
Experiences
Pros
8
Cons
3
Specs
Top
Pro
Professionally designed templates
The templates are well thought-out and actually helps you get started. Not like many other sites where the details are already filled in.
See More
Top
Con
Watermark on export for free users
If you are a free user, exporting a document will create a watermark.
See More
Top
Pro
Easy and simple to use
Consist with an example diagram which we can use to draw the diagram. Most required diagrams are available.
See More
Top
Con
Web version requires Flash
Flash is known to have security flaws and use high resources.
See More
Top
Pro
Works across all operating system (Windows/MacOS/Linux)
Does not require flash.
See More
Top
Con
Dekstop version is commercial
If you want to use dekstop version, you need to pay $75.00/ user.
See More
Top
Pro
Intuitive UI
Easy to use drag and drop interface and a contextual toolbar that shows you all the important actions when you select an object. The automatic creation and connecting of next object alone saves tons of time.
See More
Top
Pro
Real time collaboration
You can invite anyone by their email addresses to collaborate with your diagram. You can see others' changes to the diagram real time with the Creately Online and Desktop app.
See More
Top
Pro
Visio Import
See More
Top
Pro
iSO and Android apps to view diagrams
You can't edit diagram using the apps but provides a nice clean interface to view, share and comment on them.
See More
Top
Pro
SVG import and export
Creately supports SVG (Scalar Vector Graphics) import and export to make your diagrams more attractive. It allows you to re-size your diagram as much as you want without getting it messed up.
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows, Mac, Linux, Web
Exports:
JPEG, PNG, PDF, SVG
Real-time collaboration:
Yes
Imports:
JPEG, PNG, SVG, VISIO
Hide
See All
Experiences
Free / paid
9
3
PlantUml
All
9
Experiences
Pros
5
Cons
3
Specs
Top
Pro
Many, many integrations
For example from Emacs, Sublime Text and so on. You can learn about integrations here.
See More
Top
Con
The "plantUML-language" is a bit strange and hard to grasp for new people
See More
Top
Pro
Easy create diagrams from text
There is even a Visual Basic Macro to draw UML diagrams in Word.
See More
Top
Con
Slow development due to it being mostly a one-man project
There’s been no recent contribution to the source forge project but from the administrator arnaud_roques. Future contribution might be difficult due to lacking code documentation.
See More
Top
Pro
Free/libre/open source (GPL)
Source code can be browsed here.
See More
Top
Con
Not maintained
See More
Top
Pro
Has online editors
Such as.
See More
Top
Pro
sphinx-contrib extension for embedding into docs
sphinx-contrib extension on PyPi Allows you to keep your UML definitions under VCS and include them inside generated documentation with ease.
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows, Linux, Mac, Web, Chrome
Technology:
Java
Hide
See All
Experiences
Free
38
2
The Brain
All
5
Experiences
Pros
2
Cons
2
Specs
Top
Pro
Cloud syncing
With an account for syncing on their servers, you can run the brain on multiple computers.
See More
Top
Con
Expensive
There is either a $15 a month subscription fee or a license that ranges from $219 to $299. There is a 30 day free trial for those who would like to test it before subscribing or purchasing, but overall to use this app it can be pricey.
See More
Top
Pro
Good support
Worthwhile support is offered, especially for those that pay for a subscription.
See More
Top
Con
High learning curve
There is a little bit of a learning curve with all software, and this is no exception.
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows, Mac, Android
Hide
Get it
here
18
1
CmapTools
All
4
Experiences
Pros
2
Cons
1
Specs
Top
Con
HiRes bug
Being a Java Swing application, High Resolution monitors are not handled well under Windows 10. This is a documented Java bug.
See More
Top
Pro
Web version
Web-based, online version of CmapTools available. It is also possible to install your own CmapServer.
See More
Top
Pro
iPad app
An iPad app is available.
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows, Linux, Mac
Technology:
Java
Hide
Free
4
0
yEd
All
6
Experiences
Pros
3
Cons
2
Specs
Top
Pro
Automatic Layout
With automatic layout you get great looking diagrams with very little effort. yEd has the most versatile and most complete collection of automatic layout algorithms.
See More
Top
Con
Clumsy UI
See More
Top
Pro
Completely free
See More
Top
Con
Not free-as-in-freedom
Not released under an open-source license.
See More
Top
Pro
Multi-platform
Runs on Windows, Linux and Mac OSX. There also is a Web application.
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Web, Windows, Linux, Mac
Exports:
SVG, PNG, GIF, EPS, PDF, SWF, EMF, JPG, BMP, HTML image maps, EPS
Imports:
GraphML, GML, XML, XLS, GEDCOM
Hide
Free
11
1
Microsoft Visio
All
8
Experiences
Pros
4
Cons
4
Top
Con
Proprietary
See More
Top
Pro
Complete set of tools
Visio has the most thorough set of standard support and tool-set.
See More
Top
Con
Very clumsy for state diagrams, limited features
See More
Top
Pro
De facto standard
Microsoft Visio is the de facto industry standard diagram creation software.
See More
Top
Con
Pretty expensive
See More
Top
Pro
Looks good
See More
Top
Con
Imperfect integration with Office
Since Visio was acquired, not originally developed by Microsoft, integration is not as seamless as the core Office Suite is known for. Diagrams can get corrupted while importing from Visio to Word or Powerpoint.
See More
Top
Pro
Easy usage
See More
Hide
See All
Experiences
Paid
13
2
Mindjet MindManager
All
12
Experiences
Pros
7
Cons
5
Top
Pro
MS Outlook strong integration
See More
Top
Con
Mac version has severely limited functionality
See More
Top
Pro
Excellent team collaboration support
See More
Top
Con
Lacks elegant ability to be able to connect ideas in the reverse order or different direction
This isn't uncommon, but there are mind mapping software that will let you connect a number of ideas that branched off from one idea, back to one idea again. Usually the branching analogy of the details getting more as you go further away from the main branch works, but occasionally it is nice to map multiple ideas back to a single idea or loop back to a previous idea. This can be done with connections, but if you want to see something that gives true freedom, look at the examples of the application Coggle.
See More
Top
Pro
Cross-platform desktop and mobile, and web versions available
Works on Windows, OS X, iOS, Android and Web.
See More
Top
Con
Very expensive compared to all other alternatives
Not really viable for personal mind mapping, as the high cost clearly targets the business market.
See More
Top
Pro
Business oriented
Business oriented, mind maps look professional.
See More
Top
Con
No free/personal version
It is has so many great features, but this comes with the pricetag of the only version of this software. A lighter version, with many advanced business features removed would be ideal for a free/freemium version
See More
Top
Pro
Integrates with multiple web services
See More
Top
Con
Odd UI interaction conventions
Some conventions used to interact with the software are either questionable or simply going against what's commonly accepted. For example, right-click + drag will move around, holding down the right-click will open up the context-menu and left-click in an open space will start a new unconnected node. What this results in is constant accidental opening of context-menu then accidental creation of a new node trying to get out of the context-menu.
See More
Top
Pro
Real-time Gantt charts
See More
Top
Pro
MS Projects and Sharepoint integration
See More
Hide
See All
Experiences
$ 204.01 after 30 days
53
8
Diagrams.net
All
11
Experiences
Pros
8
Cons
2
Specs
Top
Pro
Rich functionality for a web-based application
See More
Top
Con
Import from Visio .vsd is useless
Even simple diagrams get all scattered.
See More
Top
Pro
Integrates with multiple cloud storage services
Draw.io offers saving files directly to services such as Google Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox along with saving to to computer.
See More
Top
Con
Behaves strangely for certain diagram types
For example the snapping function for arrows doesn't work properly for the sequence diagram template.
See More
Top
Pro
Real-time collaboration
See More
Top
Pro
Great flexibility customizing text labels
See More
Top
Pro
Completely free
See More
Top
Pro
There is also a Desktop version
See More
Top
Pro
Good list of different output formats
Draw.io supports export for PNG, GIF, JPEG, PDF, SVG, HTML, and XML.
See More
Top
Pro
Internet Explorer 6-8 and touch device support
Draw.io works with every browser (even IE 6) without plugins.
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Web, desktop
License:
Apache v2 (Github repo too)
Hide
See All
Experiences
Free
123
16
Continuity
All
4
Experiences
Pros
2
Cons
1
Specs
Top
Pro
Free
Free for personal and commercial use.
See More
Top
Con
Mono needed
Needs Mono .NET with GTK# to be installed.
See More
Top
Pro
Extensible
Extensible with scripts and images.
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows Linux Mac
Hide
Free
1
0
Diagramo
All
5
Experiences
Pros
2
Cons
2
Specs
Top
Pro
Free
Free and open source.
See More
Top
Con
Save not working
Online saving does not seem to work, tested with Chrome browser.
See More
Top
Pro
Export to PNG, JPG, GIF or SVG
See More
Top
Con
Website is not secure
No https website.
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Web
Technology:
Javascript, PHP
Hide
Free
1
0
Built By the Slant team
Find the best product instantly.
4.7 star rating
Add to Chrome
Add to Edge
Add to Firefox
Add to Opera
Add to Brave
Add to Safari
Try it now - it's free
{}
undefined
url next
price drop