There are many mind mapping tools available online. Mind maps come in many shapes and forms. How can you decide which mind mapping software is best for your future? The answer to this question depends on the purpose of your mind map, your learning style, and how flexible you are to learn new technologies. These free mind map tools will help you organize your thoughts, improve productivity, and articulate both written and verbal communication. Have you ever heard about the mind mapping software? Today I want to review three free mind mapping tools. For sure, if necessary, it would be better to contact the professionals to build mind maps for you. But before doing that, I suggest checking out these simple mind mapping tools that are easy to use and offer quality results.
To make a mind map, you start by writing a central idea or theme in the middle of a blank sheet of paper. Then you draw lines branching out into new “nodes,” each with its own related idea or theme. From those nodes, you draw yet more lines branching deeper into the different concepts, and you keep going, branching out more and diving deeper, until you’re out of ideas—and the relationships between things appear.
Of course, mind mapping on a piece of paper has its downsides. You’re limited by the size of the sheet you start with, there’s no easy way to digitize it and make it searchable, you can’t undo any mistakes or easily make edits, and if you lose your mind map, you don’t have a backup. That’s why, if you do a lot of mind mapping, you should consider going digital and using an app.
We reviewed close to 40 different mind mapping tools, and after thoroughly testing them, here are the nine best. One of them is sure to be the right way to map your mind.
Compendium is a free and open source mind mapping software that CogNexus developed for making large scale mind map structures. This software supports both individual and group workspace. The latest version of Compendium is 1.7.1. Right from launching Compendium to completing a mind map, the user interface of this software is easy and interactive. It is available for free under GNU lesser general public license (LGPL).
Features:
- Create mind maps in collaboration with team members with the option to editing each other’s input
- Drag and drop documents and websites into a map
- Users can label the connections between concepts to illustrate links
- Display links between everyone’s ideas in group projects through dialogue maps
- Establish a link between idea and information
- Create different types of nodes (topic box) by dragging the icon from the toolbar
- Overlay a map on top of the image and add graphics and notes
- Scribble pad to scribble on the workspace
- Add comments, notes, annotations to the nodes
Freeplane is a free and open source mind mapping software application that creates and analyzes mind maps. Freeplane runs on any operating system having the current version of Java. Freeplane as an open source mind mapping software can be downloaded locally on your desktop computers, or if you don’t want to download it, then you can run it through a USB device. The main topic is called the root node, sub-topics are called the child nodes, and the broader topics are known as the free nodes.
Features:
- Ordering ideas into a hierarchy by connecting them with lines
- Classifying idea boxes with metadata (attributes)
- Grouping similar nodes with color containers
- Automatically styling nodes with color, bubble, etc.
- Structuring nodes in terms of the content type such as text, icon, formula, calculation etc
- Presentation area (core, details, attributes, notes, images, and tooltip)
- Option to fold branches, scrolling and navigating, filtering, and searching content
- Connecting nodes with dynamic links, free lines, and labels
- Password protecting the whole map with DES encryption
- Multi-language support with an inbuilt spell checker,
- Drag and drop functionality for icons, text, images, etc.
- Extensive support through Forum, tutorial, and documentation
Wisemapping is a free and open source mind mapping software that can be used by individuals, professionals, businesses, and educators to make embeddable mind maps. It can be installed on your local servers, and its license is completely free. It is a Java-based software that provides both private and public workspace. Users can have their own mind maps and the shared maps with teams separately. It supports Windows, Linux, Mac (Open source version) and can also be accessed online ( in its cloud version).
Features:
- Topic creator and editor
- Team collaboration on mind maps is allowed. Simultaneously you and your team can work on a single workspace.
- Export in PDF, SVG, and other image formats
- Drag and drop functionality for inserting images, icons, etc. to your map from the desktop
- Recover map history to see all previous changes
- Customize text size, formats and background style
- Add and expand branches radially in various formats
- Add color to the topic boxes
- Add borders and color borders
- Add icons, emojis to the map to make it more engaging
Semantik is a free and open source mind mapping software application designed to help individuals and teams create effective mind maps. It was first developed in 2005 and was named Kdissert. Later the name was changed to Semantik. This further assists in making reports and presentations. Semantik is free under the GPL V3 license. It is an ideal mind mapping software tool for businesses, teachers, students, creative users, and project managers.
Features:
- Create mind maps using linear views
- Simply and interactive UI
- Covert mind maps into documents and presentations
- Insert image, picture, table, and diagrams
- Create UML diagrams and flowcharts
- Supports HTML, LaTex, Openoffice document formats
- Export the document in PNG or PDF format
- Command-line tools for document export
- In Semantik mind maps can be edited in 2D format or flat tree format
- Add texts and attachments to the maps
6. EdrawMind
EdrawMind is a cross-platform mind mapping software. The user interface matches the familiar Office UI. The app lets you insert various mind map objects like relationship lines, callout, clipart, picture, link, attachment, note, tags, and more.
The left panel is your canvas. You’ll find options to adjust the content in the right sidebar, change the appearance of your diagrams, add a background, view, and export outlines. There’s a handy color strip below the canvas to set the line and fill color.
Unique Features
- Twelve different mind map layouts along with dozens of ready-made templates to infuse creativity.
- Automatically create slides by disassembling your mind map into separate branches. Add notes, background, design to the slides, and export them as PPT or PDF.
- Store files in Edraw cloud storage for access and collaboration in real-time. You can run group brainstorming sessions and collect ideas.
- Handy Gantt Chart mode to visualize and track progress on any project.
Download: EdrawMind (Free, Pro: $59/yr, Perpetual: $145)
Conclusion
Mind maps are a great way of not only creatively breaking down information, but also structuring it so it is easy to understand and digest. Here we will take a look at ten of the best free mind mapping software available to you today.