Boardmix vs Xmind (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Xmind: it is second in our ranking of whiteboard and mind map tools, and it grades higher too, 3.0 against 2.2.
Checked Oct 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Xmind grades higher on ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan and features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Boardmix
Whiteboard for diagrams and mind maps with AI tools and lifetime plans
Xmind
Mind mapping app with AI, Gantt charts and a presentation mode
Which one is for you
Pick Boardmix if
- Fits if you want mind maps and diagrams on one canvas and may prefer paying once
- Works for a team that wants unlimited editing guests on a paid plan
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free, since 3 boards and 100 objects per board go fast
- Pricey if you want AI: it starts at $10 a seat and draws on monthly credits
- Skip it if you work from a phone or Linux, as only Windows and Mac apps are listed
- Watch out: single sign-on is on Enterprise only, which has no published price
- Watch out: the lifetime plan covers 10 GB of workspace and a fixed pool of AI credits, not unlimited AI
Pick Xmind if
- Fits if you think in branches and want the same kind of map on your laptop, your phone and Linux
- Works for plans that have to become a presentation, since Pitch mode turns a map into slides
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want an open whiteboard with sticky notes, as Xmind sticks to structured maps
- Pricey if your team wants to edit together, since live collaboration starts at Premium, $99 a year
- Tight if you never pay: 10 online maps, watermarked exports, 3 days of version history and 50 AI credits that never refill
- Not for you if you'd rather pay by the month: Pro is $10 a month against $59 a year, and monthly plans get no trial or refund
- Watch out: desktop maps save as local files by default, so picking up an iPad map at your desk can mean going through Dropbox
How we grade them
| 2.2GPABoardmixFair | 3.0GPAXmindVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | B$5 a seat a month billed annually sits at the edge of the cheaper quarter ($5.00), and the $99 lifetime plan is under two years of the category's middle price. | BPro is $59 a year, $4.92 a month, which puts it inside the lowest-priced quarter of this category, where the line is $5.00. Premium is $99. Pay by the month and the App Store lists Pro at $10, about double. The free trial and the refund only cover yearly plans. |
| Free plan and trial | CThe free plan allows 3 editable boards, 100 objects per board, 1 GB storage and 10 saved versions. No trial is listed. | CFree gives you up to 10 manually created online maps, basic themes and 5 Pitch slides. Those are caps you'll hit on a real project, exports carry a watermark, version history is 3 days, and the 50 AI credits are a single grant that never refills. |
| Features | CMind maps, flowcharts, UML and ER diagrams on one canvas, plus AI tools. The AI tools are metered in credits and start at $10 a seat. | CMaps, timelines and matrices, Zones, an Outliner view, Pitch mode slides, imports from other mappers and AI that drafts from text, a file or a link. That's the narrower job here: no open board with sticky notes, and live editing and editable Gantt charts start at Premium. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You build your own boards from templates. | A4.8 on the App Store from 6,973 ratings, nine in ten of them five stars. Reviewers say it's quick to pick up. A few got stuck on details, like slotting a new topic in above old ones, and desktop maps save as local files by default. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb, Windows and Mac only: no phone app and no integrations are listed. | AWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad and Android, and one subscription covers 5 computers and 5 mobile devices. It ties into Slack, Zoom, Notion and ChatGPT, though not a lot else. |
| Best for | mind maps and diagrams, with a lifetime option | mind maps on almost any device |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Boardmix and Xmind. How we grade
Price against what you get
Boardmix starts at $5 a month for each person and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Xmind starts at $4.92 a month and scores 3.3.
Xmind scores higher and starts $0.08 a month lower. Of the other whiteboard and mind map tools on the chart, 12 score higher than Boardmix for less, and none scores higher than Xmind for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Boardmix also covers whiteboard and diagrams.
- Xmind also covers Gantt & timelines and presentations.
At a glance
| Boardmix | Xmind | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $5 per member / month, billed annually ($12 billed monthly) | $4.92 per month, billed yearly ($59 a year) |
| Free plan | 1 team workspace, 3 editable boards, 100 objects per board, 1 GB storage and 10 version history records. | Up to 10 manually created online maps, basic themes and stickers, 3-day version history, 5 Pitch slides and 50 Xmind AI credits. Exports carry a watermark. |
| Free trial | None listed | 7-day free trial, offered on yearly subscriptions only |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Shenzhen Pixso Technology Co.,Ltd | Xmind Ltd. / Supermind Pte. Limited |
| Price read from | boardmix.com | xmind.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Boardmix
- The Free plan is capped at 3 editable boards and 100 objects per board.
- AI tools start at the $10 AI Starter plan and draw on monthly AI credits.
- Single sign-on (OIDC) is listed only on Enterprise / Private, which has no published price.
- The download page lists Windows and Mac apps and no Linux, iOS or Android app.
Xmind
- Free and Pro cap manually created online maps at 10 and 50; unlimited collaborative maps need Premium or the Business team plan.
- Real-time collaboration, editable Gantt charts and a monthly AI credit allowance start at Premium; Free and Pro get a single grant of 50 AI credits.
- Free exports carry a watermark, and export to Word, Excel, SVG and Markdown starts at Pro.
- The free trial and the 7-day money-back guarantee cover yearly subscriptions only; monthly subscriptions and AI credit add-ons are not refunded.
Key features
Boardmix
- Mind maps and diagrams
- Mind map, flowchart, UML, ER, organizational chart and Venn diagram makers sit on the same whiteboard canvas.
- AI tools
- AI Starter and above list an AI agent plus AI mind map, flowchart and presentation tools, metered in monthly AI credits.
- Team boards
- Boards are shared in a team workspace. Paid plans allow unlimited visitors with editing rights.
- Desktop and web apps
- Windows and Mac apps are on the download page next to the browser version.
- Export and version history
- Free exports standard-definition files and keeps 10 versions. Paid plans export in HD and Ultra HD without a watermark and keep 100 versions.
- Templates
- The site has template libraries for mind maps, flowcharts and other diagram types.
Xmind
- Mind maps and other structures
- Ideas can be laid out as mind maps, timelines or matrices, grouped into Zones, and edited as a linear list in the Outliner view.
- Xmind AI
- Generates a map from text, a document or a link, expands and reorganizes branches, and breaks a project into tasks. Free and Pro get 50 credits; Premium gets 500 a month.
- Pitch mode
- Turns a map into a slide presentation: up to 5 slides on the Free plan and unlimited from Pro, where a pitch can also be exported to PowerPoint.
- Gantt charts and tasks
- Premium turns topics into tasks with assignees, plots them on a Gantt chart and exports tasks to a calendar file or Excel. Free and Pro can only view Gantt charts.
- Real-time collaboration
- On Premium and the Business team plan, several people can edit a map at once and follow one another's view, backed by 30 days of version history.
- Import and export
- Imports Markdown, OPML and TextBundle files and maps from other mind mapping tools. From Pro, maps export to SVG, PDF, Markdown, Word and Excel as well as PNG.
Plans
Boardmix
Free$0
3 editable boards, 100 objects per board, 1 GB storage, standard-definition export and 10 version history records.
Starter$5
per member / month, billed annually ($12 billed monthly)
Unlimited boards, objects and projects, unlimited visitors with editing rights, 10 GB storage per seat, HD and watermark-free exports.
AI Starter$10
per member / month, billed annually ($15.9 billed monthly)
Everything in Starter plus an AI agent, AI mind map, flowchart and presentation tools, and 5,000 AI credits per seat each month.
AI Business$20
per member / month, billed annually ($29.9 billed monthly)
Everything in AI Starter with 20 GB storage and 10,000 AI credits per seat each month.
Enterprise / PrivateCustom
Multiple team workspaces, advanced permissions, OIDC single sign-on and a dedicated customer success manager.
Lifetime$99
one-time, for 1 member
Own it with no renewal: 10 GB workspace capacity and 10,000 total AI credits. Larger packs run $399 for 5 members, $699 for 10 and $999 for 20.
Xmind
Free$0
Up to 10 manually created online maps, basic themes and stickers, 3-day version history, 5 slides in Pitch mode and 50 AI credits.
Pro$4.92
per month, billed yearly ($59 a year)
Up to 50 online maps with basic collaboration, custom themes, topic links and attachments, unlimited Pitch slides, and export without a watermark.
Premium$8.25
per month, billed yearly ($99 a year)
Unlimited collaborative maps, real-time collaboration, 30-day version history, editable Gantt charts, tasks with assignees and 500 AI credits a month.
Business$10
per seat / month, billed yearly
Team plan with unlimited collaborative maps, real-time collaboration, 30-day version history, Gantt charts and 800 AI credits per seat a month.
EnterpriseCustom
Adds SAML single sign-on, unlimited version history, custom AI credits, a dedicated success advisor and team onboarding sessions.
Ways to pay less
Boardmix
- Annual discount
Annual billing
Starter is $5 per member a month billed annually against $12 billed monthly; AI Starter is $10 against $15.9 and AI Business $20 against $29.9.
- Lifetime license
Lifetime plans
One-time purchases from $99 for 1 member, shown against a struck-through $248, up to $999 for 20 members.
- Education
Free access for education
Boardmix says educational use is free; request activation by email and describe the use.
- Nonprofit
Free access for nonprofits
Boardmix says nonprofits get free access; email the team to request activation.
Xmind
- Annual discount
Up to 50% off with yearly billing
The pricing page advertises up to 50% off individual plans on yearly billing. The US App Store lists Pro at $59 a year or $10 a month, and Premium at $99 a year or $15 a month.
- Education
Reduced prices for students and educators
The education pricing tab lists Pro at $3.42 a month and Premium at $5.75 a month for students and educators, plus a custom-priced Campus plan for institutions.
- Nonprofit
Discounted plans for nonprofits and government
Eligible non-profits, NGOs and government organizations can get discounted plans after verifying eligibility; the offers page shows a price of $79 a year.
- Lifetime license
SME Lifetime License for organizations
Organizations can buy a one-time, perpetual license with volume pricing. The price is not published and is quoted by Xmind's sales team.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Boardmix or Xmind?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Boardmix starts at $5 per member / month, billed annually ($12 billed monthly), and Xmind starts at $4.92 per month, billed yearly ($59 a year). One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Boardmix or Xmind?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Boardmix and Xmind have a free plan.
Which platforms do Boardmix and Xmind run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Xmind lists Linux, iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app and macOS and Windows apps. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.