While it's true you can make a mind map in them, you could theoretically also use PowerPoint, Photoshop, or MS Paint. A lot of drawing, diagramming, and charting apps are marketed as mind mapping apps-but they aren't. While every one of the mind mapping tools on this list has its own unique benefits, they all meet at least the following criteria: Yes, it has some downsides, but for a mind mapping app to really be better, it has to bring quite a lot to the table. Mind mapping with a sheet of paper and a pen is an incredibly intuitive and natural way to work. For more details on our process, read the full rundown of how we select apps to feature on the Zapier blog. We're never paid for placement in our articles from any app or for links to any site-we value the trust readers put in us to offer authentic evaluations of the categories and apps we review. We spend dozens of hours researching and testing apps, using each app as it's intended to be used and evaluating it against the criteria we set for the category. What makes for great mind mapping software?Īll of our best apps roundups are written by humans who've spent much of their careers using, testing, and writing about software. SimpleMind for not having to subscribe to anything Stormboard for in-person mind mapping sessionsĪyoa for a modern approach to mind mapping Scapple for fluid, non-traditional mind mapping MindMeister for collaborating on a mind map with a team One of them is sure to be the right way to map your mind. We reviewed close to 40 different mind mapping tools, and after thoroughly testing them, here are the nine best.

That's why, if you do a lot of mind mapping, you should consider going digital and using an app. 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. Of course, mind mapping on a piece of paper has its downsides. 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. Then you draw lines branching out into new 'nodes,' each with its own related idea or theme. To make a mind map, you start by writing a central idea or theme in the middle of a blank sheet of paper.

Mind mapping app for mac