Founded and launched in 2009, Creately helps you collaborate visually with your team. It’s one of the most best diagramming tools around, with free and paid options.

Thanks to this flexibility, whether you specialize in information technology or work in human resources, you can draw your ideas and share them with anyone you want in real time. The platform allows users to add members and all edit the same diagram together, add comments anywhere on the visual diagram and easily start a thread to chat.

Creately makes it easy to produce your own diagram or choose from thousands of templates, giving teams access to flowcharts, mind maps, block diagrams, and many more graphs to keep your ideas organized.

To help you determine if Creately is the diagramming tool for your flowcharts, mind maps, and other projects, we’ve tried it out. See how it measures up to the competition on pricing, features, ease of use, and support options.

Creately: Plans and pricing

Pricing is divided into several different categories.

The personal plan costs $5 per month when billed annually, and includes unlimited private documents, unlimited folders, five collaborators, and access to high resolution exports. You can easily export any of your diagrams to share your ideas, but although this plan includes up to five collaborators, it’s intended for more personal use. 

The team plan costs $5 per user per month when billed annually, and includes everything in the personal plan. You also get unlimited collaborators, unlimited video and real-time calls, and team member management. 

With the Business plan, $89 per month covers unlimited users, with everything on the Team plan plus a number of additional features. Support for 50,000 items per canvas, unlimited folders, Microsoft Teams, Slack, and GitHub integration, and unlimited databases supporting 5000 items each are among the highlights here.

The enterprise plan has custom pricing. This plan includes everything in the teams plan plus a “dedicated customer success manager”, audit logs, single sign on, and access to regional data centers. 

Although Creately was previously available as a desktop app, it is now web only. This means that the Windows, macOS, and Linux versions are no longer available. 

Creately: Features

Creately gives users access to thousands of pre-designed diagrams, available to select and use in the app. You’ll find flowcharts, mind maps, wireframes, organizational graphs, marketing funnels, Venn diagrams, and more. All of the templates are color-coded with professional ready-to-use formatting, meaning it’s easy to search for a specific template in a particular occupation. 

Another unique aspect of Creately is the integration feature. You can easily connect Creately to your Google Drive or Workspace and manage documents, sharing permissions, and folders. Integrations with Microsoft 365 are also possible.  (The Business option features a two-way data sync with Excel and Google Sheets.) Furthermore, you can connect to Slack so your team is notified when there’s a diagram ready for their attention. 

For sharing and exporting, Creately supports the usual image formats and PDF. Each diagram has a unique URL which you can share directly with collaborators.

Creately: Ease of use

Creately’s interface is extremely organized, making it easy to navigate. You can search for pre-designed diagrams based on your field of work, or choose from over 50 shapes and many color options to draw your own design. 

The browser interface is a great improvement on the old desktop app. You can access Creately on any desktop browser. We tried it using a mobile browser, but ran into some problems with the login – your experience may differ. Cloud storage makes it easy to switch devices, however, and continue your Creately project on any suitable device. 

However, while the drag-and-drop approach works well, the interface isn’t idea with keyboard shortcuts. When designing a mind map, I found that the shortcuts didn’t respond immediately to the creation of sub-topics (a delay of several seconds). Naturally assuming the command hadn’t been received, I pressed the shortcut again, only to find five sub-topics a moment later. 

Creately has many themes and styles to choose from, so you can personalize your designs. You can also pick which area on a diagram you’d like to leave a comment or start a thread.  

Creately: Customer support

If you need help with Creately, a ? icon in the lower-right corner of the design window opens a small search box. You can input a search phrase or topic here, or simply click the link tot the Help Center.

On the Create Support page, you will find frequently read articles and a list of categories to browse. If this doesn’t reveal the solution to your problem, Creately has a a live chat support tool, accessed via an AI assistant that determine if your question can be solved using an existing document.

Creately: The competition

Top competitors to Creately include Lucidchart, Draw.io, Visio, and Cacoo. Creately and Lucidchart are very similar in features and roughly the same price, although Lucidchart is slightly more expensive. 

Both diagramming tools are rated highly by users. In terms of features, Creately probably edges it thanks to it being so easy to get started. Both tools are superior to Microsoft Visio. 

Creately: Final verdict

Overall, Creately is an excellent tool for anyone who wants to create a quick diagram and share with their team. You can write down your ideas, save important information, and ask for the opinions of your colleagues while keeping everything organized in one place. 

The ideas you can share on any of the paid plans are endless, and there’s a free option that allows you to test the templates. The integration feature connects Creately to Google Drive and Slack so you can have even more communication and sharing options with team members.  

Unfortunately, while support options have improved with the release of Creately’s browser app, it does tend to hang at times. That shouldn’t happen with browser apps in 2024.

We've featured the best mockup software.

In our search for the best stock trading platforms, we came across Stock Trainer, a free virtual stock trading app. In short, it can be used to practice trading and fine-tune your skill without risking real money. In the rest of our Stock Trainer review, we explore the finer details of this app, including its main features and useability.

• The best stock trading platforms

Stock Trainer: What does it offer?

Stock Trainer is an Android app offering virtual stock trading based on the real market. It supports 20 different stock exchanges across 13 countries, including the US and the UK. And, it can be used by people from 38 different countries. 

In general, Stock Trainer is aimed at beginners who want to learn how to trade profitably. It can also be used in conjunction with other research and charting tools to practice new strategies before implementing them on the real-money market. Unlike many practice trading apps, Stock Trader is extremely feature rich and includes many of the same tools as true trading platforms.

Stock Trainer: Opening an account

Stock Trainer is very easy to get started with because it’s a virtual trading platform that doesn’t require real-money deposits. Opening an account involves downloading the app, filling in a few personal details, and signing in. You can also create an account by linking one of your social media profiles. 

Once you’ve created a new Stock Trainer account, you will be credited with $20,000 of virtual money to trade with. Extra in-app money can be claimed by watching short advertising videos. 

Next, it’s time to get set up for trading. There are numerous research tools that you can use to find attractive stocks to trade. You can also search for different stocks directly, and any interesting options can be added to a watchlist.

Stock Trainer: Account Types

Stock Trainer is a free virtual trading app, but there are two types of accounts available: Standard and Premium. Standard is completely free to sign up for and includes everything except automatic account backups and candlestick charts. Purchasing a premium account for $5 will unlock these and remove all ads.

Stock Trainer: Features

Stock Trainer is a feature-rich app that comes with a wide range of professional trading tools. It is, without a doubt, one of the best practice trading apps we’ve used, providing live data for 20 different stock markets across the world. This information can be used to make fast, realistic virtual trades. 

On top of this, Stock Trainer comes with great charts that provide an overview of a stock’s historical performance. Different time-scales can be specified, and all charts can be zoomed and scrolled. More advanced candlestick charts are also available with a premium account. 

Users will also be able to access a detailed stock news feed directly from the app. This curates relevant news from across the internet, although some articles are often irrelevant to the stock in question. A detailed business magazine is also available that includes great information about trading in general. 

We were also very impressed with the user interface. Different tabs enable you to view your portfolio and watchlist, find attractive stocks to invest in, and analyze your trade history, among other things. 

Making a trade is as simple as entering a price and a quantity. Numerous indicators are available to help you make informed decisions, including financial information, current bids, volume, and historical performance. A selection of recommended stocks to trade is also available for some markets, and we found that a great place to get started.

Stock Trainer: Support

Unfortunately, Stock Trainer provides very few support options for new users. A brief video guide is available on YouTube, which we’d recommend watching before you start trading. There is an empty help tab in the app, which simply states that more resources are coming soon.

Stock Trainer: Final verdict

Overall, Stock Trainer is a great app if you’re looking for a way to learn how to trade the stock market or practice new strategies. It’s certainly one of the best virtual trading platforms we’ve used, and its tools and features are comparable to those of many real-money trading apps. 

Stock Trainer is also completely free, with a premium add-on that makes it even more attractive. Despite only being available on Android, it’s one of the highest-rated trading apps across all platforms and has over a million downloads. 

Ultimately, Stock Trainer is a powerful app that could make a great addition to your stock trading toolkit. Its user interface is quite intuitive, and the sheer amount of information available is impressive. We’d highly recommend downloading Stock Trainer to see if it’s suited to your needs.

Stock Trainer: The competition

Stock Trainer is one of the best virtual trading apps we’ve used, but it’s certainly not the only one available. Many real-money trading platforms also offer virtual accounts so you can practice your strategies and keep learning. 

For example, MetaTrader 5 is a versatile platform that supports stock, forex, and futures trading. It’s available on desktop and mobile devices and supports both virtual and real-money trading. However, it is a little complex, and true beginners might struggle with its user interface.

• The best stock trading platforms

Searching high and low for the best forex trading app? MetaTrader 4 (MT4) could be the solution you’ve been waiting for. With thousands of add-on market indicators and trading robots to install, this platform is widely used by professional and amateur forex traders alike.

In this MetaTrader 4 review, we’ll explain why MT4 is a great way to trade on forex, futures, CFD, and plenty of other markets. While the MetaTrader 4 software can be used in demo mode for free, live accounts require you to go through a licensed third-party broker.

• The best stock trading platforms

MetaTrader 4: What does it offer?

First launched in 2005, MetaTrader 4 is one of the most popular trading apps around. Over the years, its following has grown thanks to superb levels of customization and automation. Newbie traders are sure to appreciate MT4’s fully-functional demo account, which enables you to develop your trading skill without any financial risk. Other beginner-friendly elements of this trading platform include a copy trading system and automated Expert Advisor apps.

Meanwhile, experienced traders will appreciate MT4’s capability for advanced analytics and charting. It’s even possible to design your own trading indicators using the proprietary MQL4 programming language.

MetaTrader 4: Opening an account

Most users chose to get started with MetaTrader 4 by creating a demo account. This is a good option because it enables you to test trading strategies using virtual funds and evaluate the MetaTrader ecosystem. To open a demo account, all you need to do is head over to the MetaTrader 4 website and download the software to your macOS, PC, Linux, iOS, or Android device. After installation, you’ll be automatically set up with a demo account.

Starting a live MT4 account is a more involved process. Unlike demo accounts, real MetaTrader accounts can only be created by a third-party brokerage business. 

The process for opening a real currency account varies depending on the firm you choose to partner with. Most companies require you to submit tax and identification information as part of the registration process. Once a brokerage has accepted your application, they’ll provide you with an account ID number, server, and a password which you can use to log in to MetaTrader.

MetaTrader 4: Account types

Demo accounts are the only kind of MetaTrader 4 account that you can open without signing up for a third-party brokerage firm. Because of this, the trading limits, accessible markets, and fees of your MetaTrader 4 account will all be dependent on the broker you decide to work with.

To give you an idea of how a live MT4 account might look, let’s consider a couple of examples. OctaFX is one of the best-established MT4-compatible partners. Its MT4 Micro account offers floating trades from 0.4 pips, no commission, and access to 28 currency pairs. Meanwhile, IG Group, the UK’s largest forex broker, has a MetaTrader 4 live account with minimum spreads of 0.6 plus support for 27 commodity markets.

MetaTrader 4: Features

Like many of the best forex trading apps, MetaTrader 4 allows you to perform trades through instant execution, by request, or according to market triggers. Beyond this, you’ll find plenty of niche and interesting features that help MT4 to stand out from the crowd.

Expert Advisors are one example of that. These are proprietary programs created in the MQL4 language that can help you to automate trading. Because Expert Advisors are designed by third parties, their quality and cost vary, but used correctly they can have a massive impact on your portfolio.

Another important aspect of the MT4 platform is its insane level of customizability. Thanks to an unlimited number of charts, you can create an interface that fits with your precise trading preferences. It’s even possible to set up custom audio alert trading signals to inform you when it's time to copy a deal.

Experienced traders are drawn to the MT4 platform by its advanced analytics toolset. When you initially install the program, you’ll be able to forecast price dynamics with 30 built-in indicators. After you’re set up, you can install almost 3,000 additional free and paid indicators.

MetaTrader 4: Support

MetaTrader 4 can be used in more than 30 unique languages, and technical support is similarly multilingual. On the MetaTrader website, you’ll find in-depth advice articles to help you address common issues and get familiar with the program. There’s even a totally separate support site for the MQL4 language. Unfortunately, direct phone or live chat assistance isn’t an option, but this will normally be provided by your broker.

MetaTrader 4: Final verdict

If you’re after a forex trading app to help you to grow as a trader, look no further than MT4. This platform doesn’t just have the best analytical tools on the market, it also works with thousands of brokers and offers great tools for first-time traders, such as demo accounts and copy trading. The only downside of the program worth mentioning is that its execution speed isn’t as fast we’d like, making MT4 a poor choice for high-frequency traders.

MetaTrader 4: The competition

The closest competitor to MetaTrader 4 is the latest trading system released by MetaQuotes, MetaTrader 5. MT4 is tailored to forex traders while MetaTrader 5 was created with CFD, futures, and stock traders in mind. There are numerous other intricate differences between these platforms but, in general, if you aren’t focused on forex trading, MT5 will be a better option. 

Another good alternative to MetaTrader 4 is ZuluTrade. If you want an easy-to-use platform that makes it simple to find, copy, and place trades made by the world’s leading finance traders, ZuluTrade is well worth a look.

• The best stock trading platforms

If you need to create a flowchart, or develop a mind-map, you’re spoiled for choice. Free and paid applications are available to help you express concepts in a matter of minutes.

One of the most popular options for mind-mapping and flowchart illustration is EdrawMax from Wondershare. Offering templates and generative AI options, you can also manually create an illustration from scratch. Wondershare EdrawMax also handles  circuit diagrams, floor plans, network diagrams, and other process diagrams such as mind maps. However, if you have very specific requirements, you may be better off purchasing the software specific to your use case.

EdrawMax is browser-based, and also offers desktop applications for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

We evaluated EdrawMax, assessing it based on pricing, features, ease of use, support options, and how it measures against the competition.

EdrawMax: Plans and pricing

EdrawMax has three categories of pricing—Free, Basic, and Unlimited. Each of those has the option of Annual or Monthly billing. These cover the desktop option and the browser version.

With all options you get AI tokens, cloud storage, Visio/SVG/CAD import, and exports in PNG/JPG/PDF/Word/Excel/PPT/SVG/Visio formats. Some features are limited in the Free version, however. For example, Free subscribers get 500 AI tokens per month (about 5 diagrams) and 100MB of storage. 

For the desktop option, EdrawMax’s Basic plan is $5.90 a month with annual billing ($7.90 otherwise). With this, you get 10,000 AI tokens a month (enough for 100 AI-generated diagrams), access to all functions (browser only), unlimited shapes, themes, and pages, and Visio and CAD imports. Templates and symbols, exporting and printing with no watermark, and 1GB of cloud storage are also included.

The Unlimited plan has all of the above plus unlimited AI tokens and community templates. This is $8.25 a month on annual billing ($15.90 with a recurring monthly subscription). 

Both options have a 7-day trial and payment is by PayPal, credit card, Wepay, Alipay, linepay, and bank transfer.

Note that specific feature-by-feature differences between Free, Basic, and Unlimited are quite detailed. We found this lack of pricing simplicity frustrating and unnecessary. Additionally, the Free plan seemed geared towards forcing an upgrade early due to some unfair feature balancing.

EdrawMax: Features

EdrawMax is an all-in-one diagram-making tool that can be used for flowcharts, mind maps, fishbone, network and UML diagrams, floor plans, office layouts, Gantt charts, business cards and flyers, wireframes, infographics, and presentations.

There are thousands of templates to choose from, all designed by professionals. EdrawMax also boasts extensive file compatibility, which will allow you to import files from Visio or export your own drawings to Visio, Word, Powerpoint, HTML, PDF, and image formats like JPEG and PNG.

Each type of diagram has pre-existing libraries of industry-standard symbols. Although they strictly follow the standards, all the symbols are also easy to customize, allowing you to change color and line styles.

For those who work or learn more quickly by copying existing examples, each type of diagram comes with a large collection of real-world examples which you can use as your starting point, simply replacing the content with your own.

Selecting a template for the first time launches a brief 5-step tutorial. This highlights how the menus and toolbars can be used to create new diagrams and edit templates. Given the range and depth of the diagramming this software supports, this is useful to read through.

EdrawMax provides cloud storage for collaboration with third parties and across teams. Teams are supported in Premium only. Sharing can be sent to the Edraw community, while exported files can be shared however you want.

EdrawMax: Ease of use

You have two options to start using EdrawMax. We’d recommend checking out the browser version before you download and run the installer. Both versions give you a list of available template categories, ready for selection.

If you cannot find the right template, the search tool will deliver a collection based on specific keywords. For example, “network diagram” produces two results.

EdrawMax also includes generative AI tools. These cover many different purposes, such as flowchart and mindmap, drawing, tables, lists, and even timelines.

To test this, I selected the Timeline option, and entered the following prompt: “Please produce a timeline of engagements by the Durham Light Infantry in the Mediterranean Theater, 1942-1943.” The aim of this was to select something reasonably obscure, but the results were surprisingly accurate. 

After you’ve chosen a template, or created an AI project, you’ll see the workspace. Here, toolbars on top and to the left and right of the canvas enable everything from pen tools to formatting and shape insertion. 

People who are familiar with graphic design and desktop publishing apps will get the hang of EdrawMax relatively quickly. The interface is straightforward, and simple enough for anyone familiar with any illustration, mind mapping, or flowchart creation tool.

EdrawMax: Customer support

Over the past few years, Wondershare has developed a poor reputation, regularly accused of bundling unwanted software (crapware) with its desktop products. More recently, this practice appears to have been dialed back. 

The Help menu in the app (the “?” icon) has buttons for a “Started Guide” (which relaunches the 5-step tutorial) and a Hotkey Reference. You’ll also find a link to the Help Center, which provides a selection of basic tutorials for EdrawMax’s key features.

If you have a technical issue, you can visit the EdrawMax Support Center and open a chat window. This is initially an AI response, but you can switch to a live agent with ease. They’re slower to respond to questions than the automated option, but you’re likely to get a more tailored response.

Wondershare provides 24/7 support for EdrawMax via email, chat, and phone.

EdrawMax: The competition

EdrawMax has many competitors, including Microsoft Visio, Lucidchart, SmartDraw, Cacoo, and Creately. Like these tools, EdrawMax has an online version, and like Visio, also has a desktop app.

The AI tool gives EdrawMax a fair advantage over some of these tools. It is fair to say, however, that Microsoft Visio and Lucidchart have a more mature reputation.

In terms of features, EdrawMax has an advantage over most of the tools. The confusing pricing is a disadvantage, however. 

EdrawMax: Final verdict

EdrawMax is a powerful, fully-featured drawing app that has all the features, templates, and guides for you to accomplish any task in mind.

You may find the user interface to be a little untidy, however, and the browser version tends to hang at times. The AI feature is good, and the drawing tool and large collection of shapes helps you to complete most tasks efficiently.

However, due to the tool offering more than just mind mapping and flowcharts, EdrawMax can be considered overkill. Tools with a narrower focus are available. As well as being preferable, they also have simpler pricing.

We list the best graphic design software.

MyDraw is a diagramming and vector graphics tool developed by Nevron Software. You can use this package to create organizational maps and professional flowcharts either by downloading to your desktop or using the web app.

Nevron Software was founded in 1998, and specializes in charting, diagramming, and data visualization solutions. Its cross-platform framework for .NET applications has simplified cross-platform software development. MyDraw is available for Windows and macOS, and both the desktop apps and the web app are identical.

But MyDraw isn’t the slickest-looking piece of software package, although its features make it an ideal choice for communicating complicated concepts and plans visually. 

We’ve spent some time using MyDraw, and have compared it with competing apps, looking at price, features, ease of use, and support options.

MyDraw: Plans and pricing

The three versions of MyDraw are referred to as MyDraw for Windows, MyDraw for Mac, and MyDraw for Web.

A MyDraw license costs $36 for 12 months and gives you 3 simultaneous sessions. You can also pay $18 for a 3 month subscription.

MyDraw offers a free 30-day trial to allow you to test out the platform before signing up, but any images you create during this period are watermarked. 

If you have a large enterprise and want to purchase a MyDraw license for multiple employees, you can access volume discounts for up to 40% off the cost of an individual license. Similar discounts are available for government, educational, or non-profit organizations. There’s also a recommendation program through which you can get a free MyDraw license by telling 5 friends about the software. 

Meanwhile, discounts are available if you are thinking of transferring away from a competing product.

MyDraw: Features

MyDraw is mostly aimed at users with little or no previous experience of using a graphic diagramming toolkit before. It doesn’t take long to produce your desired visual output thanks to a large range of shapes, and a suite of advanced vector operations that let you combine objects and change their geometry.

If you need to create a complex diagram in a hurry, MyDraw has a selection of ready-to-go tree and graph layouts. Through these, you can find a way to arrange your data that highlights the flow of a process and ensures displayed information is as readable as possible. MyDraw comes with customizable automatic layouts, so you're certain to find one that suits your unique needs.

Ideally, professional diagrams should be easy to interpret at a glance but also contain plenty of information for anyone who needs it. With MyDraw, you can achieve this by hiding additional information in your images with linear, data matrix, and QR barcodes.

Barcodes can be placed anywhere you like in a MyDraw diagram, but they work best next to relevant parts of your image so that readers can learn more about a particular element if they want to. Diagram barcodes are a great way to add in product codes, tracking information or links to other relevant documents.

If you want to design complex, custom vector shapes to add to your projects, MyDraw includes useful drawing tools. You can use a library of premade shapes and draw freehand curves, circular arcs, or bezier curves. The geometry of any shape can be modified by dragging control points at its edges.

But that’s not all. To get the effect you’re looking for, you can subtract one shape or combine objects to create a new, composite object. In order to keep the design process simple, MyDraw provides drawing aids like guidelines, rulers, and scales.

MyDraw: Ease of use

The MyDraw interface is complex but will be immediately familiar to anyone who has used an application in the Microsoft Office suite. Nevron intentionally matched the look of MyDraw to Microsoft Office programs to create a shallow learning curve for first-time users. 

Overall, the interface isn’t particularly exciting to look at, but it does a good job of making objects that you need to access frequently easy to get too. It doesn’t take long to figure out how to resize shapes, create new ones, or even modify the entire layout of a project that you’re working on. 

The interface doesn’t change much between Windows and Mac versions of the software, as both are equal in terms of functionality. If you want to change things up, a small selection of different MyDraw skins is available. 

However, we found some difficulty using the MyDraw for Web version. It seems that only the Chrome (and Chromium-based) browser is supported. 

MyDraw: Customer support

Although Nevron Software has done everything it can to make things easy for new users to get to grips with MyDraw, you may want a little extra help with more advanced functions. For this, you can check out MyDraw’s selection of video tutorials. If you need additional help with the software or your MyDraw license, phone support is available on weekdays.  

MyDraw: The competition

There are plenty of other great professional diagramming tools out there, but MyDraw keeps pace with the best of them thanks to its large range of design functions and the ability to import data directly from Excel files. It’s also significantly more affordable than some competitors. 

However, considering that it is competing against some notable free tools (such as draw.io), MyDraw doesn’t really do anything outstanding. I was left with a lasting impression of software resembling a cut-down Microsoft Visio.

MyDraw: Final verdict

If you’re looking for a piece of diagramming software to use in your organization or professional environment, MyDraw is worth considering primarily for its low price. 

It stands out thanks to its large range of drawing features, and for adding a web app, but suffers from its similarity to Microsoft Office. Design tools have moved on from Microsoft’s dated ribbon, and consequently MyDraw is closer to Visio than Lucidchart or Creately. 

You can make mind maps, flowcharts, wireframes, even genealogy charts, but MyDraw seems like software from a different generation.

Also check out our complete list of the best mind map software

The draw.io platform is a free-to-use online diagram app and editor. With this software package, you can create high-quality designs, custom flowcharts, complex network diagrams, and Unified Modeling Language (UML) system layouts.

Produced by Jgraph Ltd, draw.io (also known as Diagrams.net) was first released under an Apache license in 2017. It has a repository on GitHub, although only the core is open source, and external contributions are limited.

We’ve evaluated draw.io, comparing it with other software packages to cover the full pros and cons of using it based on pricing, features, usage, and support. As you’ll find out, although draw.io is slightly let down by a lackluster selection of default design templates, it’s still an excellent option for creating professional visual aids on a tight budget.

draw.io: Plans and pricing

The fantastic thing about draw.io is that, in most use cases, it is completely free to use. All you need to do to start using this software is head over to the draw.io website, choose where to store your creations (locally, Google Drive, GitHub, GitLab, or Microsoft OneDrive), and start designing. 

You should also ensure that JavaScript is enabled in your browser’s security settings.

There are numerous different ways to access the free draw.io package. For example, if you want to sync draw.io data to your Google Drive cloud storage, you can access the platform through a Google Apps domain as well as via the main draw.io website. There are also unpaid versions of draw.io that integrate with Dropbox and Google Chrome.

However, if you are already running a Confluence or Jira server in an enterprise context, then you may wish to purchase a premium draw.io integration license to give your users access to the software. These paid versions of draw.io don’t come with any additional collaboration or design features but do allow you to take complete control over your team’s data.

Unfortunately, while draw.io is presented in various ways to suit different team types and business scales, pricing is somewhat complicated.

Confluence and Jira draw.io integrations are sold for Atlassian hosting products and are priced identically, with costs varying depending on the number of users you want support for. 

A cloud integration for 20 users is $34/month, scaling up to $920/month for 2,000 users. Meanwhile, Atlassian data center product integrations are priced from $6,250/year for 500 users to $13,000/year for 2,000 users.

Note that standalone cloud support is also available. This is ideal if you want to use draw.io in a Confluence or Jira environment but don’t care about having complete control over your data storage. This arrangement is free for up to 10 users, then increases based on the size of the team – from $1.70/month per user for a team of 11 to $0.07/month per user for a team of 50,000.

Although we’ve reviewed the popular draw.io web application, accessed through the browser, a downloadable desktop version is also available. This can be found in the draw.io GitHub, for Windows, macOS, and Linux. 

draw.io: Features

draw.io offers a beginner-friendly vector graphics processing environment. The big advantage of vector graphics over traditional image processing is that you won’t lose any quality if you re-open and edit a vector file. If you’ve ever tried to re-size a heavily compressed JPG file, you’ll know exactly how what a difference using vector graphics can make.

Vector graphics are useful in all sorts of different professional settings, from creating building blueprints to designing project workflows to share with your team. The draw.io package comes with dozens of different pre-made templates that you can pick from when working on a new design. Not having to start your projects from scratch will make your design process more efficient.

However, there are some notable absences in draw.io’s layout catalog. Where you find the software wanting in this regard, third-party templates can be used. These can be found online and simply added to your draw.io project.

As long as you connect draw.io to your Google account, you’ll get access to all the same collaborative tools you can use when editing any other document in Google Drive. In other words, you can share the file with colleagues so that you can both work on the same copy of the file. But, even better, this collaboration can occur simultaneously. When you and another user are both working on the same project, you’ll see their cursor and edits live.

With draw.io, you can drag-and-drop image files directly into your projects from your computer. Supported file types include standard ones like SVG, JPEG, and PNG but draw.io also works with VSDX, Lucidchart, and Gliffy diagram objects. You can export your projects in various formats including SVG, XML, HTML, PDF. You can also create files as XML, HTML, PNG, and SVG.

draw.io: Ease of use

The draw.io interface is nicely laid out with helpful shortcuts that will help you quickly locate popular shapes, functions, and settings. By default, on the left-hand side of the draw.io edit screen, you’ll see a panel of useful shapes. One nice feature that speeds up the editing process is that when you put your cursor over a shape (but don’t click it), a larger version will appear on your screen, letting you decide whether the shape is suitable for your project.

Over on the right-hand side of the screen, you’ll see a panel populated by contextual menus. At first, in this space, you’ll see generic options such as changing your diagram size or adding a grid. However, when you select an object, the content changes. For example, if some text is highlighted, you’ll see font options, and selecting a shape causes a menu with color options to appear. 

Right-clicking also reveals a traditional context menu of similar options.

Some elements of the draw.io design experience aren’t as well thought out, though. A good illustration of this is that when you initially decide to connect two objects with an arrow, everything is relatively straightforward. 

draw.io: Customer support

To help with getting started, a “Quick Start” video can be viewed via the draw.io Help menu. This provides some useful pointers, but if you’ve used this type of software before, it should be straightforward.

Because draw.io is freeware, technical support is fairly limited. When starting out with the program, you can learn about its features by checking out a directory of support articles. However, should you need a more specific question answered, the only place to turn is draw.io’s user forum, hosted on Google Groups.

Note that for integrations with Atlassian products, dedicated support is available.

draw.io: The competition

There’s no question that draw.io lacks some important features that are available with alternative diagramming software packages. SmartDraw, for example, has a larger range of pre-made layouts and adapts its shape and tool menus based on the type of diagram you’re working on. The difference, of course, is that SmartDraw costs $297 for a license, whereas draw.io is completely free.

Overall, draw.io stacks up favorably among some strong competitors.

draw.io: Final verdict

Although draw.io isn’t the perfect diagramming tool, it’s the best you’re likely to get without having to sign up for a subscription platform or purchase a software license.

However, draw.io has an issue with branding. Multiple URLs and hosting options mean that there is some confusion over pricing and support. For software that is known to be free, this could be off-putting.

Thankfully, collaborating with this toolkit is straightforward thanks to native Google Apps integration and even users who have never worked with a vector graphics editor before will find its intuitive interface layout easy to get to grips with.

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Cacoo by Nulab is an online tool designed for businesses that need to create a variety of diagrams such as flowcharts, wireframes, mind maps, and sitemaps. It is aimed at teams made up of engineers, developers, marketers, designers, and product and project managers.

Whether your team members are working together in the same room or are distributed virtually around the world, they’ll be able to work on the same document at the same time, all while tracking changes and adding and replying to comments.

First released in 2009, Cacoo has a good reputation, but is it still deserved?

Cacoo: Plans and pricing

Cacoo has both paid and free plans. The free plan is limited to two users and six sheets, has no revision history, and provides only email support.

The paid plans are named Pro, Team, and Enterprise. Pro and Team have the same pricing: $6 per user per month. If you pay annually instead of monthly, the price comes down to $5/month, and there is a 14-day free trial.

The Pro plan is limited to just one user, which is less than the free plan, but it offers unlimited sheets and revision history. However, with the Team plan, you can have up to 1,000 users as well as features unavailable on the Pro plan: shared folders, user permissions, 1-on-1 online training, and priority email support.

The Enterprise plan works a bit differently in that you download software to install on your own server. Pricing goes from $1,500/year for 10 users up to $7,500/year for 50 users. This plan is more configurable and is aimed at organizations that want greater control over their data, settings, and permissions. It also comes with a 30-day free trial. 

Note that this is a web app, accessed through your web browser, with projects stored in the cloud. You can run Cacoo on any computer running a suitable browser, such as Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome. 

Cacoo: Features

Because Cacoo is cloud based, it means your team members can collaborate on documents together in real time, regardless of their location.

You can start a diagram from scratch using the editor or choose from a large library of pre-existing templates. Diagram templates include flowcharts, mind maps, and wireframes. Then there are templates for customer journeys, office layouts, org and PERT charts, timelines, AWS, Azure, Fishbone, GCP, Network, SWOT, UML, Venn, and WBS. 

Templates are populated with all of the assets you need to get started. Shapes are in place, ready to be repositioned and given new labels. Projects can include multiple sheets, and each can hold a different type of diagram.

When creating diagrams, you can either input data directly into Cacoo or import data from a spreadsheet to create dynamic charts. Each diagram’s revision history will show when it was last edited so changes over time can be compared.

Diagrams can be displayed as slides in presentation mode, with audience members able to leave comments on diagrams for the presenter to review later. The presenter can resolve comments while attending to each piece of feedback. Diagrams, or even entire folders, can also be shared with people outside your organization, with the option of using view-only links. Export options include SVG, PDF, PowerPoint, and Postscript, and diagrams can be embedded into web pages and wikis.

If you’re coming from other diagramming solutions, Cacoo has a healthy range of integrations including Google Drive, Google Docs, Atlassian Confluence, AWS architecture diagrams, Adobe Creative Cloud, Dropbox, Box, and Microsoft Visio.

And when changes are made, team members working on the same diagram can be notified via Slack or Nulab’s own business chat app, Typetalk.

Cacoo: Ease of use

After signing up for an account, your dashboard will display all your recent diagrams. From the left column, you can create new diagrams either by starting from scratch or by choosing a template, of which there are 156. 

The editor will be familiar to anyone who has used a graphics or desktop publishing application before, with a toolbar on the left for inserting shapes, text, lines, tables, or charts. You can draw with the Pencil tool or import files from your computer or Dropbox, Box, Adobe Creative Cloud, Visio, or AWS Architecture.

Clicking on elements in the diagram will present another menu for each one. You can then change the element’s fill, line style, shadow, text style, and stacking order.

Elements can be grouped and ungrouped, and clicked and dragged around the editor window. As an element is dragged, any lines that have been drawn connecting it to other elements will automatically reposition themselves.

Cacoo: Customer support

Cacoo has plenty of options for support. If you want to talk to its team, you can send an email message via the contact page or ask a question via live chat. 

However, if you prefer to search out answers yourself, the Support Center has a range of articles covering popular topics. In the Resources section, there are also guides to creating certain types of diagrams and video tutorials. 

Cacoo: The competition

Cacoo has many competitors including Microsoft Visio, Lucidchart, and SmartDraw. 

Pricing-wise, Cacoo is closest to SmartDraw, which charges $5.95/month for multiple users, although SmartDraw’s single-user price is a bit more at $9.95/month. Lucidchart’s basic plan is also $5.95/month, but Lucidchart’s prices increase as you move up through the plans.

Cacoo’s interface may not be as intuitive and user-friendly as that of LucidChart, but it has more features and integrations with external services than Microsoft Visio. And unlike Microsoft’s enterprise-and-organization-only diagramming tool, Cacoo is open for anyone to use. 

Cacoo: Final verdict

Cacoo may not offer as many templates as some competing tools but it is incredibly easy to use. Its team collaboration tools, large range of integrations with other cloud services, and competitive pricing make it one of the best services available for creating charts and diagrams.  

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FreeMind is a mind mapping tool  that allows you to create images that capture ideas visually. Whether you are planning a project, writing an article or a book, or simply working through a concept visually, FreeMind can help you create diagrams that can be easily manipulated. 

Unlike a simple document or spreadsheet, you aren’t confined to linear structures such as paragraphs, or spreadsheet cells. Instead, your ideas can be expanded on with few constraints.

FreeMind is a cross-platform tool that runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS machines with the Java Runtime Environment installed, which means that it is accessible to most users. It is an open source project, so anyone is welcome to contribute to the software.

FreeMind: Plans and pricing

FreeMind is an open source project and therefore free to use. It can be downloaded and installed by anyone running a Windows, Linux, or macOS machine, though the product does require the Java Runtime Environment (JRE). JRE is a product offered by Oracle, and you can get it free of charge from the company's website.

You can download FreeMind via its SourceForge repository. The installation wizard will walk you through the whole process, but unfortunately, if you run into issues or get stuck, you’re on your own—FreeMind, which is available free of charge, doesn’t guarantee you access to customer support agents. 

We tested it on Windows and Linux (Ubuntu 24.04). Running on Ubuntu, some conflicts with Java lead to a bit of a time sink, but the Windows version ran straightaway. There is also the option to install FreeMind with Java RE bundled alongside, this saves messing about with multiple downloads.

FreeMind: Features

The purpose of FreeMind is to enable non-linear approaches to brainstorming and mindmapping, and most of the product’s noteworthy features support these tasks.

FreeMind’s mindmaps are created using notes that are joined by branches. You can choose to have your nodes and branches shifted around automatically, but you can also rearrange items manually if desired. FreeMind also allows you to make batch edits by copying and pasting groups of items (without loss of formatting).

Other design features include folding branches, icons on individual nodes, and clouds around branches. And if you want to refer to outside files, you can add HTML links, as well as links to files living on your local machine.

FreeMind allows you to export your work into HTML, XHTML, PDF, and OpenDocument formats. However, if you prefer to create an image file, FreeMind also supports PNG, JPEG, and SVD.

The software stores its maps in XML format, so if you decide to move to another product, you may be able to export the maps it creates and then import them into the tool of your choice (assuming it supports XML imports).

FreeMind: Ease of use

One of the first things you will likely notice is that FreeMind appears a bit dated. Its user interface (UI) screams early 2000s, and we found it somewhat difficult to find the features we needed in the various menus. 

However, once we figured out where different features lived, we felt that it was definitely usable for mind mapping, especially since the product is free.

FreeMind supports a number of features that make it easier to use in spite of its UI, including keyboard shortcuts and its preservation of formatting when you copy and paste content.

It’s worth learning keyboard shortcuts with mind mapping tools, as you will quickly find that you need them. Switching between keyboard and mouse is time-consuming and potentially disrupts a good flow of ideas. Hitting Insert for a new node and Enter for a new sibling node keeps things simple.

However, some features remained a bit clunky, even with the keyboard shortcuts committed to memory. Moving nodes, for example, relies on a tiny ellipse slightly to the right of each label. If you don’t find this, you don’t get the chance to drag the node.

FreeMind: Customer support

FreeMind’s documentation is itself a FreeMind mindmap, which you can use to familiarize yourself with the product. This can be accessed via the Help menu.

If you want to use the documentation outside the software, you can export it and view it using a browser with Adobe Flash installed and enabled.

A keyboard shortcut cheat sheet is also available, which again can be launched from within the Help menu. This is also in PDF format.

As a free product, FreeMind does not come with guaranteed support. Nevertheless, you can post your questions to the project’s forums and hope to get answers from the FreeMind community.

FreeMind: The competition

FreeMind is not the only mind mapping tool on the market. Some competing tools are free, others are paid. 

MindMeister is good alternative, a cloud-based mind mapping software that features a modern, easy to use UI. Although MindMeister offers a free plan, you will need to purchase a subscription if you want to access all of its features. The subscription will also get you access to the MindMeister customer service team if you have any questions or concerns. In terms of usability, MindMeister has the upper hand over Freemind.

Finally, Draw.io is a free, web-based general diagramming app with mind mapping as an option. You have the option of saving your work locally onto your machine, Google Drive, or Microsoft OneDrive. Again, this is more intuitive to use than FreeMind.

FreeMind: Final verdict

FreeMind is open source, cross-platform mind mapping software that allows you to brainstorm in a nonlinear fashion. It doesn’t have the most aesthetically appealing interface, and the way its menus are set up can be confusing to many. 

Worse, however, is that it is clearly several generations behind most competing apps. FreeMind looks like it might have been bundled with Windows 2000, and it lacks the slick presentation and ease of use of contemporary mind mapping tools. Recent updates to the software have been sparse, with the most recent we could find dated 2019, a full 5 years ago. 

However, as it is free and can fulfill the basics of mind mapping, FreeMind is worth a try.

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Grabbing ideas and presenting them in a tangible form requires fast action. Mind maps are a great bridge between inspiration and illustration – the sheer volume of mind map software available on desktop PCs alone is testament to that.

Among the more interesting apps for mind mapping is Xmind. This is an open source project with a paid option for organizations and cross-platform support for popular desktop and mobile operating systems. Because it is open source, Xmind Ltd. the company behind Xmind, has made the code base is publicly available on GitHub, where anyone can go and raise issues or suggest code changes (in the form of pull requests) to the software.

Xmind launched in 2006 and since then has been used by over 100 million global users. We’ve spent some time using this tool, assessing it based on pricing, features, ease of use, the customer support provision, and how it compares with competing tools.

Xmind: Plans and pricing

Xmind comes in free and Pro flavors, with the free option offering limited functionality beyond the basic mind map creation environment.

You can buy an annual subscription for $59.99 a year, which works out at $4.99 a month. This has a 7-day money back guarantee. Alternatively, you can use the quarterly payment option of $19.99 every 3 months. Note that this does not come with a money-back offer, however.

Alternative packages are available, however – if you work in academia, it is $34.99 a year, while government departments, NGOs, and NPOs can get Xmind for $41.99 a year. Different pricing is available on request for enterprise and volume licensing.

The best way to use Xmind is to start off with the free version, but in this version, select features are inactive and any images or PDFs you export will display Xmind watermarks.

Xmind: Features

The software is available for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and iPad OS, and Android.

Xmind is geared toward the creation of non-linear documents, but if you need something with a more linear format, the application allows you to convert easily between outlines and mind maps.

What you get for free is pretty good: unlimited topics and maps, support for logic charts, brace maps, fishbones, timelines, and other map types, and a file cache. You also get to access the template library. Basic topic elements (notes, labels, stickers, summaries) are included, along with the outline feature, rich text styles, and smart color themes. You can also export your mind map to PNG and PDF. 

So while Xmind’s free version includes just basic tools, Xmind Pro includes more professional-grade features and functionality like the ability to create Gantt Charts and slide-based presentations, access to more export options, and increased control over the aesthetics of your files.

Xmind Pro users also enjoy the same abilities to create mind maps. However, instead of being able to manage tasks and goals with Outliner, Pro users can create business charts and Gantt Views, get support for brainstorming, switch into presentation mode, and export to a greater number of file types. Xmind Pro users get priority support, too.

Zen Mode is worth mentioning. It features a cleaner, more modern UI/UX. It makes the app’s main pane full screen, reducing menu options to shadows in the top-right corner. It is a really interesting way to mind map, and is completely distraction free.

(Xmind also offers Xmind AI, a web-based tool available with free and paid tiers, with Copilot enhancement. However, in our opinion it isn’t yet developed enough for a full review, and testing demonstrates that it is some way from being an adequate replacement for Xmind.)

Xmind: Ease of use

Upon loading up Xmind you need to create an account or sign in using an existing Apple or Google. After a couple of clicks, you’ll see the option to create a new mind map from scratch, or select one from the template library. These are fully-populated mind maps (and other diagram types) that you can edit, but as they feature useful information, they’re also worth spending some time viewing.

Running the software for the first time initiates a series of basic guides to help you build your first mind map. It’s a simple approach that relies on Tab, Enter, and Space keys, so that your hand never needs to leave the keyboard.

Most of the functionality you need from Xmind can be accessed using the toolbar at the top of the page. This is also where you can activate Zen Mode.

Xmind: Customer support

To help you use the software, the Xmind website provides a user guide and video tutorials. These aim to get you started as quickly as possible and demonstrate advanced use of the software. 

Xmind offers you several ways to get in touch regarding your questions and concerns. The Help Center features a knowledge base, as well as forums for you to ask your questions and a page for you to provide suggestions for improvements. There’s also the Xmind blog, which is a good source for announcements, news, and special offers. 

If you want to talk to someone on the Xmind team, you can send them an email or reach out via Discord.

Xmind: The competition

Xmind isn’t the only tool on the market supporting idea generation. Two key competitors are Ayoa and MindMeister.

Ayoa has great collaboration tools, something that Xmind does not, but aside from that difference they’re both pretty similar. Each tool is easy to use and provides a focused work space for ideation and mapping.

Meanwhile, MindMeister is a web-based mind mapping tool that features robust collaboration features and allows you to export your files in a number of formats. It has a modern, easy-to-use interface and offers a free plan that allows you to get a feel for the product. However, to access all of the features, you will need to upgrade to a paid subscription.

Xmind: Final verdict

Xmind is a mind mapping/brainstorming tool that offers its users a lot of features and functionality. While there is a divide between its free and Pro packages, there is enough in the free option to entice you into the upgrade should you need more functionality. The paid version is affordable enough, although the bulk pricing may put you off.

In a market populated by mind mapping tools of varying quality, Xmind stands out as one of the best around. It is simply a pleasure to use, encouraging frictionless “mindflow” from head to screen. 

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Alert1 is a company that provides medical alert systems for seniors who want to live independently and safely. Alert1 has three plans to choose from, depending on your needs and preferences. Each plan includes a wearable device with an emergency button and a 24/7 monitoring service that can contact your family, friends, or emergency responders in case of an emergency. Alert1 was founded in 1988 and is based in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. It has two UL-listed and Five Diamond-certified call centers that offer customer service in 190 different languages.

Alert1: Medical alert systems

Both the in-home landline and cellular systems utilize the same medical alert system. When selecting the cellular option, an adapter is included to connect to a cellular network instead of relying on a landline. While most services have a pre-configured cellular system, this particular system requires manual assembly. The adapter itself is not compact, potentially posing a challenge in limited counter spaces.

The in-home system's pendant range, averaging 100 feet, surpasses the industry average. It outperforms MyTrex and MobileHelp systems, which typically cover around 77 and 88 feet, respectively. Although rated for 1,000 feet, the 100-foot range is ideal for homes or apartments. Venturing beyond this distance increases the risk of failed emergency communication or false alerts.

During fall detection tests, the Alert1 pendant stood out as the service's highlight. It accurately detected falls without being overly sensitive and generating excessive false alerts. However, it's important to note that false alerts can still occur, as even dropping the pendant from a mere 12 inches triggered a fall detection, indicating that help calls may be initiated more easily than anticipated.

The mobile GPS device, specifically the Kelsi mobile PERS device, demonstrated significantly improved fall detection capabilities. While the audio quality of the Kelsi is inferior to that of other mobile devices, it surpasses that of the in-home base station, which lacks both clarity and volume.

We were genuinely surprised by the cellular adapter that came with the in-home cellular system. Given the absence of any images on the company's website, we were completely unprepared for its substantial size. Resembling a Wi-Fi modem, it occupies a significant amount of space. In contrast, most in-home cellular systems simply require flipping a switch to establish a connection to the cellular signal. 

Alert1: Emergency response center

In terms of emergency call response speed, Alert1 exhibited the weakest performance. During the initial three-week daily testing phase, it recorded an average of 67 seconds per call, positioning it as one of the slowest services in the test. Surprisingly, in the subsequent three-week daily testing phase, while most other services showed improvements, Alert1's performance regressed, resulting in an average of almost 120 seconds per call. To put this into perspective, GreatCall, a competing service, achieved average response times of 20 seconds and 15 seconds in the respective testing phases. In emergency situations, these time differences can be profoundly significant. Even in non-emergency scenarios, the disparities are noticeable. 

Furthermore, the call quality was less than satisfactory. Although most operators were professional, there were instances where they abruptly ended the call without checking on our well-being. Additionally, our identity was never verified. It was also noticeable that some operators sounded unenthusiastic and fatigued. In multiple calls, we experienced disruptive and loud beeping noises due to operators pressing buttons on their end. These factors collectively failed to provide any comfort or reduce the anxiety typically associated with reaching out to an emergency call center.  

Alert1: Accessories

On a positive note, Alert1 does offer more accessories to help with aging in place than other services. While they have the standard accessories, like lockbox and fall detection pendants, they also have medication reminders, fall protection kits, and more. 

Alert1: Pricing

Alert1's medical alert systems start at $19.95 per month, depending on the features and functions you choose. Here's a breakdown of their most popular plans:

In-Home Classic Medical Alert: This plan starts at $19.95 per month and includes a help button, 24/7 monitoring, and fall detection.

On-The-Go: This plan starts at $39.95 per month and includes a mobile help button with GPS, 24/7 monitoring, and fall detection. 

Ultimate: This plan starts at $44.95 per month and includes all the features of the Homeland Classic and On-The-Go plans, plus medication reminders and voice activated help.

Alert1 also offers a variety of other features and add-ons, such as fall detection for $10 per month, a lockbox for $5 per month, and additional help buttons for $5 per month each. If this all sounds confusing, no worries as you can get a free quote on Alert1's website or by calling them at 1-888-782-5378.

Finally, some additional things to keep in mind when considering Alert1 include that there is no activation fee or long-term contract required, you can cancel your service at any time, and there is a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Alert1: Final verdict

Alert1 offers medical alert systems for seniors who want to live independently. They have various plans and devices to suit different needs, including in-home, mobile, and fall detection options. Their prices range start at $19.95 per month, with additional features and add-ons available. While they offer more accessories than other services and have no activation fee or contract, their emergency response center was slow and call quality was not the best. Their Kelsi mobile GPS device with fall detection was their best product. 

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