What to draw MindMap? A detailed overview of the 6 most popular mindmap drawing programs

Structure of the review

1. Entry;
2. Comparison of the main 5 programs in popularity, price, compatibility, availability on different platforms;
3. Detailed description of the functionality and features of the 5 main programs.

Introduction

Mindmapping (drawing tree maps or mental maps) has firmly entered the lives of many people with the advent of the appropriate software. Using mindmap, technical tasks are done, analytical consultants make projects, designers come up with concepts, trainers make presentations, managers make plans, etc.

The purpose of this article is not mindmapping propaganda. The tree view has its advantages and its limitations. The discussion was already in the comments to the publication "+10 to the intellect" .
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This publication is for those who want to choose a handy tool and learn some new chips that they did not know about yet.

For me, mindmap is a separate chapter of my life, planning, structuring, generating ideas, analyzing, etc. When, sitting at any conference, I write everything down in the mindmap, then those sitting behind and seeing the process always shove me business cards with requests to send these files. And sitting only at the 1st conference, you can make 15-20 cards. Over the last 5 years I have done more than 1,000 mindmaps (1043 files with mmap resolution, xmind, imx, etc. I found on my disks and in the “clouds”) and all this was done in 5 different programs.

This program is dedicated to this review. Here is a list of them:

• XMind;
• MindJet Mindmanager;
• iMindMap;
• Mindmeister;
• Mind Node;
• FreeMind.

Popularity table

As we can see, the most popular program in the world is XMind, behind it in the vanguard of the oldest Freemind. In Russia, a country where there is still a lot of pirated software, the most popular (it’s also the most expensive) is Mindjet Mindmanager.

Price Comparison Table

MindJet is the most expensive, followed by iMindMap, then XMind and cloudy Mindmeister. Closes the MindNode list and opensource Freemind.

Platforms

What is there to pay attention to?

• For Linux, generally only Freemind and Xmind;
• MindNode only on MasOS and iOS;
• Mindmeister does not have desktop versions for any OS. It is "cloudy" and presented, including on phones and tablets.

And let's see file compatibility.

Import table, or what extensions the program can open:


On the horizontal axis - the program, on the vertical - the resolution and who is the author of the format.

* mindjet in android application can open * .mm files.
But it seems to me better to use Mindmeister for export / import.

Export table or which extensions the program can save (export):



Looking at these tables, it is safe to say that export / import is normally configured only in Mindmeister. It is compatible with the three most popular in the world, and in both directions. Well done. The rest are trying to “hook” on their software so that their files are opened only by them. Here, of course, is the leader of iMindMap - only he understands his files.

Now, when it is clear what and how much it costs, and what it works with, let's move on to a review of the programs themselves and their capabilities.

XMind

Popularity: high
Price: 0 - $ 99
Platforms: Windows, MacOS, Linux
Product site: www.xmind.net

The main feature: it has a supported free desktop version.
He also has only sheets (tabs) inside 1 file. Very comfortably.

The possibilities are generally average. XMind copes with the task of creating a mindmap, with a basic set of links, markers, tags, etc. In addition to the price and tabs - there is nothing that XMind would remember.

The Pro version has a presentation mode.

Freemind

Popularity: high
Price: 0
Platforms: Windows, MacOS, Linux
Product site: freemind.sourceforge.net

According to Google, is the second most popular. Personally, it seems to me that the design can be done better. But since FreeMind does not have paid versions, it would be unreasonable to expect a large staff of designers and developers.



Thank you JSas for the comment.
Quote:
As a very powerful feature present in FreeMind, I would point out export via XSLT transformation. With well-thought-out tags or icons, this is a very powerful tool, it turns out that I don’t know its analogue.
The end of the quote.

Mindjet Mindmanager

So we got to the mindmap tool, the most popular in Russia.



Popularity: above average, in Russia the leader in popularity
Price: from $ 400 (from $ 275 subscription per year)
Platforms: Windows, MacOS, iOS, Android
Product site: mindjet.com

Mindjet is undoubtedly the leader of the corporate market. And in general, it is not a tool for drawing a mindmap, but a tool for corporate management. Extensive database capabilities, writing macros, exporting to MS Project and many other functions.

For me personally, the most useful feature is the export of mindmap to MS Project. This allows literally 10-15 minutes to distribute the task tree in Mindjet, and then export it in a couple of clicks to Project. It is important that in Project the hierarchy of tasks is preserved and it takes 3-4 times less time to compile the project timing.

Also one of the interesting features of Mindjet is a completely different version under MacOS. After Mindjet for Windows, the version for MacOS looks very simple and unfinished.

Conclusion: a good player for the corporate market, rather a management tool, rather than a mindmap. Very expensive.

Mindmeister

In fourth place in the world in popularity is the young, but very brash Mindmeister.



Popularity: above average
Price: 0 - $ 72 - $ 120 per year
Platforms: Web, iOS, Android
Product site: www.mindmeister.com/?r=2029
(I allowed myself to insert an affiliate link)

Cloudy, in my opinion, ideally designed design, export and import, humane pricing policy - all this makes it one of the most promising players in the market. Mindmaps in the cloud is a smart idea. The opportunity to work together is also a very good idea. In addition, mindjet and imindmap have online mindmap editors, but they are so slow and miserable that we can assume that they are not.

Up to 3 mindmaps can be done in free mode. The export / import mode in the free mode does not work. Recently, the minimum period, how much you can pay - six months (instead of a month earlier).

Personally, at one time I switched to 100% on Mindmeister. But, alas, the desire to work offline returned me to traditional desktop solutions. Even in Moscow, at some conference with not very good internet, I want to record in mindmap. Mindmeister allows you to do this only by downloading it in advance and going offline in the browser.

iMindMap

Popularity: low
Price: from $ 245
Platforms: Windows, MacOS, iOS, Android
Product Website: thinkbuzan.com

The most stylish, designer, creative, creative, bright, unusual. All these epithets are exactly about iMindMap. 4 years ago iMindMap won me over with its bright design. It has a very functional presentation mode. The presentation itself is bright, dynamic, animated, which allows you to keep the audience in good shape almost all the time.

One of the most key features is the ability to write text along branches, with branches of any shape. If you need a more official style - you can not write along the branches, and do the same as in MindJet and Xmind.

Experimentally verified: iMind animated presentation holds listeners' attention much better than the same one as PPT or MindJet. Want bright emotions, unusual presentation - I recommend.

But here, of course, it is worth noting that a professional presentation is better to do in something like Prezi, but in terms of the speed of creating an animated presentation iMind ahead of the rest.

Mindindode

Popularity: low
Price: $ 19.99
Platforms: MacOS, iOS
Product Site: mindnode.com

I first learned about MindNode when I saw this picture:



The conciseness and simplicity pleased me, as well as surprised by the fact that I did not know the tool, where MindMap was made. Literally a month later, I moved to MacOs and discovered MindNode. Here, the same text is written without frames, along the branches, which is convenient and concise, and the form is not as distracting as in iMindMap.

I love this tool and on Mac now I mostly work in it. Nothing extra, simple and convenient. But in order to share the file, you have to do a double export (first in Freemind format, and then from it with the help of mindmeister in * .xmind or * .mmap).

I know what else to eat
Concept draw
Novaind
Mindmup.com
Coggle.it
Simplemind
and a couple dozen
But the review included the most popular, and as a result, the most interesting for users.

That's all.

The following will be an overview of tablet versions for generating ideas, drawing prototypes, etc.