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When comparing MindMeister vs Turtl, the Slant community recommends Turtl for most people. In the question“What is the best cross-platform note-taking app?” Turtl is ranked 6th while MindMeister is ranked 33rd. The most important reason people chose Turtl is:
Turtl has applications for all the major operating systems, as well as Android. In addition, there are extensions available for Firefox and Chrome that cooperate with the downloadable applications.
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Web and mobile versions available
In addition to web software, MindMeister is available on iOS and Android mobile platforms as well.
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.
Pro Comments and votes
Users can create polls and have collaborators vote individual topics up or down, or comment on them.
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.
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.
Pro One node can have marks, emoticons and comments
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.
Pro Multiple Platforms (Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, Firefox, Chrome)
Turtl has applications for all the major operating systems, as well as Android. In addition, there are extensions available for Firefox and Chrome that cooperate with the downloadable applications.
Pro Open source
The app is licensed under GPLv3 making it open source. This means that anyone can use the code and contribute. This also makes it easy to use on one's own server or for company solutions.
Pro Good security
After assigning a password to your account in Turtl, a key is created to encrypt the entire account. No data is stored on their servers meaning they have no access to unencrypted content. This is a huge leg up when comparing to other Evernote alternatives.
Cons
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.
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.
Con Free option limited to 3 mind maps
A free XMind app/online account or MindMup account both provide unlimited mind maps.
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.
Con Very basic
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.
Con No iOS app
While many other operating systems have a client, iOS does not have one yet (though it is planned).
Con No image embedding
Instead of image embeddings, there's a sort of poor man's substitute: image + description. If you add an image, you can create a description of any size and with all the formatting features. It can be used instead of image embedding but much more limited: only one image and only at the very top.
Con Internet dependent
Requires Internet connection to initiate offline mode, loses access to notes without Internet or server.
