Microsoft Visio is diagramming software that lets users make flowcharts, floor plans, org charts, data flow diagrams, 3D maps, and more. Anyone can learn to use Visio because it has dozens of starter diagrams and pre-made templates. But because Visio is so expensive, many users switch to other diagramming software. The desktop version of Visio costs $15 a month for each user. Even if you have a subscription to Microsoft 365, you still have to pay extra for Visio. So Visio might only work for you for the price. Take MS Visio, which has a very steep learning curve. On a Windows PC, errors can happen when the auto-arrange feature is used on a diagram. But you can use other alternatives that are compatible with Windows OS instead of Visio. This post will show you 9+ of the best Visio alternatives for Windows.
9+ Best Visio Alternatives 2022 To Try
Visio Alternatives to try in 2022.
1. Diagrams.net
This diagramming software puts privacy and safety first. Its biggest advantage over Microsoft Visio is its free and open source. It is the most popular diagramming software that works in a browser. It is a lot like Visio in that you can use it online or by downloading the desktop app. Diagrams.net also has a desktop app for Mac and Linux. On Diagrams.net, you can find all of the professional features of Visio. This has many shapes and libraries of shapes, a scratchpad, different style options, and more. This is one of the best Visio alternatives.
Diagrams.net works well with Draw.io. With Draw.io, you can easily create flowcharts, network diagrams, UML, entity relations, and mockups, among other things. Diagram files from Visio, Lucidchart, and Gliffy can be brought in. After creating the diagram, you can export it as HTML, JPEG, PDF, SVG, PNG, or XML. You can save the diagram directly to cloud storage or put it in a URL. Diagrams.net is a great choice if you want a Visio alternative that lets you connect to many other platforms. In addition, Diagrams.net lets you connect to more third-party apps than Visio.
It works with Google Drive, Google Workspace, Office 365, OneDrive, SharePoint, Atlassian, Git, Dropbox, and Notion, to name a few. The platform is notably useful because it works with Confluence Cloud, Jira Cloud, and their data centers and servers. Diagrams.net is a free and open source Visio alternative. If you know how to code, it can do more for you. You can get to the base codes of the software and add to or improve its features. To make working relatively easy, Diagrams.net supports over 100 keyboard shortcuts.
2. Lucidchart
Lucidchart is one of the products in the Lucid suite, including Lucidscale and Lucidspark. It’s a smart diagramming app that, like Visio, encourages sharing and collaboration. Well, this Visio alternative combines diagramming and data visualization. It’s easy to use, and there are many templates you can use to create both simple and complicated diagrams. There are a lot of shapes you can drag and drop. Lucidchart makes your work easier by letting you work together easily away. You can edit and add to diagrams in real-time, just like in Visio. With Lucidchart, you can email and embed your diagrams without any problems.
If you already use that program, you can easily move your work from Visio to Lucidchart. Using the import feature, you can import VSD, VSDX, and VDX files. After you’ve changed the file, you can export it in any Visio format. The platform works with Google Drive, MS Office, and 365. Lucidchart is the only online Visio alternative for Windows. The web app lets you use all of its features. Unfortunately, there is no desktop app you can download; only apps for Android and iOS can be used with the software. Lucidchart features three different pricing plans for individuals, teams, and businesses. Among these price plans are the following:
Individual Plan – $9.95 per user per month ($7.95 per user per month with annual payment).
Team Plan – $33 per month ($27 per month with annual payment). This plan can be used by at least three users ($11 per user per month or $9 per user per month with annual payment).
Enterprise Plan – Custom pricing.
3. Gliffy
Gliffy is a famous diagramming software among software engineers. Engineers built the platform. You can create good technical drawings, floor plans, flowcharts, and other diagrams with it. Unlike Visio, Gliffy is mostly used by small and medium-sized businesses, not by individuals. Therefore, Gliffy is a Visio alternative you can use on the web instead of desktop software. Since businesses mostly use Gliffy, it has the same collaboration features as Visio. In addition, it has a lot of management tools that let you decide who can see, change, and comment on projects.
The platform has a drag-and-drop editor, which makes it easy to make diagrams. You don’t have to start from scratch because you can find professional templates. In addition, the revision history keeps track of what you do, so you can go back to an older diagram version if you want to. You can share your diagrams via URL, and like most Visio alternatives, Jira and Confluence are Gliffy’s main integrations. There are also G Suite, Teamwork, WordPress, Slack, and Trello integrations. This is one of the best Visio alternatives.
4. yEd Graph Editor
A free and open-source Visio alternative is the yEd Graph Editor. It can be used to make high-quality diagrams and is available as desktop software. There is a Windows app and apps for macOS and Linux/Unix. The yEd Graph Editor works with MS Office apps as Visio does. You can either start from scratch and create diagrams or import data from Excel. The software also works with XML, JPG, PNG, SVG, and Visio VSX files. With this Visio alternative, you can draw BPMN diagrams, flowcharts, semantics networks, social networks, and UML class diagrams. In addition, you can look at diagrams made by other yEd users in the yEd Gallery. The yEd Graph Editor makes it easy to make diagrams thanks to its easy-to-use interface. It has ready-to-use features, and the app helps auto-arrange things for better results as you draw.
You can use a tree layout, an orthogonal layout, an organic layout, a circular layout, or a radial layout. The yED Graph Editor works with the clipboard, has dockable panels, and has shortcuts for the keyboard. Your diagram will be saved on the platform in GraphML format, and you can export it to other file formats. Formats like PDF, SWF, BMP, SVG, EMF, EPS, HTML, JPG, GIF, and PNG are included. Visio users are advised to use the yEd Graph Editor. It’s not the best choice for a team or collaboration because it doesn’t have any features to work together. But since yEd Graph Editor is free to use, individual users can save money on Visio subscriptions. This is one of the best Visio alternatives.
5. EdrawMax
EdrawMax is a diagramming software that is a lot like Microsoft Visio in many ways. You can use EdrawMax online or install the desktop app on your Windows PC. The software can also be used with Mac and Linux. Software engineers like to use EdrawMax for creating UX/UI. However, you can do much more, like planning floor plans, electrical engineering, planning systems, making org charts, drawing P&IDs, and planning projects. Like Visio, EdrawMax has tools for working together, a diagram editor that you can drag and drop, flowcharts, mind maps, and templates that you can use immediately.
EdrawMax has more templates than Visio because users constantly add diagrams to the library. EdrawMax makes it easy to share what you’ve made after you’ve made it. You can share your diagram directly on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and WhatsApp. Some of the biggest companies that use this Visio alternative are Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Puma, Sony, and Nike. It is a premium diagramming software like Visio with Individual, Teams, and Education Plans. The good thing about EdrawMax is that you can purchase the software and keep it forever. Among the plans are the following:
Individual Plans
Annual Plan – $99 per year.
Semi-Annual Plan – $69 per six months.
Lifetime Plan – $245 one-time payment.
Teams & Business Plans
Annual Plan – $119 per year.
Perpetual Plan – $199 one-time payment.
Enterprise Plan – Custom pricing.
Education Plans
Annual Plan – $85 per year.
Semi-Annual Plan – $62 per six months.
Two-Year Plan – $139 one-time payment.
6. LibreOffice Draw
LibreOffice is an office suite like MS Office, but it is completely free and open source. One of the seven programs in the LibreOffice suite is called Draw. You can create sketches that are both simple and complicated with LibreOffice Draw. The software has powerful features for diagramming and flowcharting, such as smart connectors, glue points, and the ability to create network diagrams. LibreOffice Draw can do more than make diagrams and flowcharts. It can also be used to change images. Microsoft Visio is a little better than LibreOffice Draw at creating flowcharts and diagrams, but both are just as reliable. There are some things you can’t do with Visio that you can do with LibreOffice Draw.
Visio documents in VSD and VSDX formats can be opened in LibreOffice Draw. Most of Visio’s advanced macros will run and stay in place with this software. But once you’ve made something in LibreOffice Draw, you can’t export it as a Visio file. You can save ODF, ODG, OTG, and FODG formats with LibreOffice Draw. To open your LibreOffice Draw work in other diagramming software, you need to export it in a format that all diagramming programs can read, like SVG. It is a free MS Visio alternative. Visio and LibreOffice Draw can be installed as desktop apps on your Windows PC. LibreOffice Draw works on Mac and Linux, but Visio only works on Mac. But you can’t use LibreOffice Draw through a browser online.
7. SmartDraw
It is described as an easy-to-use and powerful diagram software. SmartDraw is a premium Visio alternative that’s affordable for individuals and teams. It is notably popular for making floor plans and organizational charts. Hundreds of templates are in the SmartDraw library, so you don’t always have to create from scratch. In addition, the software has powerful automatic formatting that features perfect layouts. This diagram software can make diagrams based on charts, graphs, blocks, activities, components, classes, sequences, and UML, among other things. Diagrams come in more than 70 different styles.
Visio diagrams and stencils in the VSD and VSDX file formats can be imported. Even though SmartDraw is proprietary software, you can build your functions with the Extensions and a VisualScript SDK. SmartDraw is a great Visio alternative for integrating with third-party apps. The software works well with Microsoft Office, Google Workspace, Jira, and Atlassian’s Confluence. You can share your work on OneDrive, Google Drive, and Dropbox. Like Visio, It is available as both a web app and a desktop app. You can also install SmartDraw on Windows and use it there. SmartDraw features pricing plans for individuals, teams, and sites:
Individual Plan – $9.95 per month (billed annually).
Teams Plan – $5.95 per month (billed annually).
Site Plan – $2995 per year.
For the site plan, you can get a custom quote from SmartDraw.
8. ProcessOn
ProcessOn is a piece of software for communicating visually that came out in 2012. Unlike Visio, which is web-based and has a desktop app, it is the software you use on the web. The best thing about ProcessOn is that you can use it for free. ProcessOn can do all of the basic things that Visio can do. This includes making flow charts and mind maps, importing and exporting, using themes already made, and working together. There are a lot of cool features of the software. It has different shapes that can be used to make BPMN, UML, network topologies, and simple wireframes. You can bring diagrams from Visio into ProcessOn, make changes to them, and then export them as an image or PDF.
This Visio alternative lets you chat and collaborate in real-time to work together. You can put together several shapes to make one object. With the Magic Wand, you can make your diagrams look better with just one click. When making mind maps with ProcessOn, you can look at your work in outline mode, which makes it easier to find topics. The revision history lets you get back to older versions of a document. This is one of the best Visio alternatives. ProcessOn is one of the most affordable and has a pricing plan that is easy to understand. Among the pricing plans are the following:
Free Plan – $0.
Premium Plan – $58.80 per year.
For Non-Profits – Custom pricing.
With the free plan, you can make up to nine diagrams per month and work with up to three others.
9. MyDraw
MyDraw is a powerful diagramming program that you can install on your Windows PC. Unlike Visio, it is not available online. With this app, you can create organizational charts, business model diagrams, network diagrams, and a lot more. MyDraw also works for creating regular graphics like flyers and certificates. This Visio alternative is easy to use because it has a Friendly UI. The Friendly UI is based on MS Office, which makes it a lot like Visio. MyDraw works with MS Visio right out of the box. It has a lot of the same features as Visio. You can open Visio diagrams and stencils and save, and export files in formats Visio can read. But it needs tools for working together.
There are tens of thousands of shapes and clip art and hundreds of templates in MyDraw. There are advanced features such as barcodes, automatic layouts, rich text formatting, and drawing tools. You can join the online MyDraw community to learn from other users and share your ideas. There is no free plan for MyDraw. But you can purchase the software for a lifetime for only $69. You can use the MyDraw software on up to two computers with a license. You will have to pay an extra $36 per year for a subscription to get technical support and new updates. This is one of the best Visio alternatives.
10. Creately
It is a visual workspace and one of the best Visio alternatives for collaboration. You can easily draw on Creately online or with the desktop app. This software has thousands of smart shapes, themes, styles, and shortcuts that make it easy to draw. In addition, there are marketing, product, engineering, education, HR & operations templates and other use cases. With Creately, you can easily create flowcharts, org charts, wireframes and UI, UML, ER & DB Diagrams, UI Flows and Sitemaps, Mind Maps, DFD Diagrams, and more.
Actions, comments, and chats allow for real-time collaboration. Visio can’t share on social media, but Creately does. You can share your diagrams on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn from the Creately app. In addition, you can embed your works in web pages and URLs. Visio works with Atlassian Confluence, but Creately has FogBugz and Central Desktop as extensions. You can also export your work as PNG, SVG, or JPEG. This is one of the best Visio alternatives. Pricing plans for Creately include the following:
Free Plan – $0.
Personal Plan – $6.95 per month ($4 per month with annual payment).
Team Plan – $8 per month per user ($4.75 per month with annual payment).
Enterprise Plan – Custom pricing.
Conclusion:
Microsoft Visio is great diagramming software for both individuals and teams. Many say it’s the best diagramming software, but you might need something else. If you’re looking for a Visio alternative for Windows, you can choose any diagramming software listed above that meets your needs. Diagrams.net is the best free MS Visio alternative if the price is the main reason you want to switch. It can be found online and as an app for your computer.