Creately vs Gliffy (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Creately grades higher than Gliffy: 2.6 against 2.4 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Creately grades higher on features and platforms. Gliffy grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Creately
Visual workspace for diagrams, whiteboards and planning
Which one is for you
Pick Creately if
- Fits if you draw flowcharts, mind maps and org charts and want them all on one canvas
- Works for one person who needs PDF or SVG export, at $4 an editor a month billed annually
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you're staying free, because a diagram stops at 40 shapes and can't be exported
- Skip it if you want a desktop or phone app, as Creately only runs in a browser
- Pricey if all you need is admin controls and roles for a few people, since those start at Business, $89 a month
- Watch out: SAML SSO, SCIM and data residency are Enterprise only, on a price quoted by sales
- Watch out: Starter and Team are gone from the plans page, though existing subscribers keep them
Pick Gliffy if
- Fits if your team already writes its documents in Confluence
- Works for a team of up to 10 that wants free diagrams there
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you do not use Confluence, since the pricing page covers Confluence apps only
- Pricey if your instance is large: the price follows the size of your Confluence users, not who draws
- Watch out: on Confluence Cloud, diagrams become read-only if the licence is not renewed
- Watch out: all purchases and renewals go through Atlassian
- Watch out: the Zero Egress price is shown as an as-low-as figure
How we grade them
| 2.6GPACreatelyGood | 2.4GPAGliffyFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BPro is $4 an editor a month billed annually, so $48 a year, against a category whose middle is $8.33 a month. That's the cheaper quarter, and it buys unlimited shapes and diagrams with PDF, SVG, PNG and JPEG export. Business jumps to $89 a month for the whole organization. | BFree for up to 10 users, then $3.80 a user a month billed annually from 11 to 100 users, under the cheaper quarter of $5. You also need Confluence itself, and it renews through Atlassian. |
| Free plan and trial | CFree forever, with every diagram type, an infinite canvas, real-time collaboration and link sharing. The caps bite quickly, though: 40 shapes per diagram, and no PNG, JPEG, PDF or SVG export, no private links and no email invitations. | BFree with no time limit for up to 10 users on Confluence Cloud, with unlimited diagrams. A 30-day evaluation covers bigger instances. |
| Features | BThe whole job on one canvas: flowcharts, mind maps, org charts, UML, ERDs, BPMN and freeform whiteboards, more than 70 diagram types, with live cursors, comments and version history. AI drafts a first version from a description, and paid plans connect a data source. | CFlowcharts, UML, BPMN, network and Mermaid diagrams with AI generation. It covers diagrams only, and only inside Confluence. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. Nothing to install, and the AI will hand you a rough first draft rather than a blank page, but this is still a canvas you build yourself, with 70-odd diagram types and a shape library to find your way around. | CNo store rating on record. It adds to a Confluence page, but you still draw each diagram yourself. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with no desktop or mobile apps on the vendor's pages. It connects to Microsoft Teams, Slack, Google Drive, Confluence, Jira, GitHub, Azure DevOps and Google Sheets, and there's an on-premise version for organizations that must host it themselves. | CIt runs only inside Atlassian's Confluence and Jira, with Visio and draw.io import. No standalone app is listed. |
| Best for | flowcharts, mind maps and org charts on one canvas | diagrams inside Confluence pages |
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: Creately and Gliffy. How we grade
Price against what you get
Creately starts at $4 a month for each person and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Gliffy starts at $3.80 a month for each person and scores 2.0.
Creately scores higher, and starts $0.20 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other whiteboard and mind map tools on the chart, 1 scores higher than Creately for less, and 8 score higher than Gliffy 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
- Creately is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Creately also covers whiteboard and mind mapping.
At a glance
| Creately | Gliffy | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $4 per editor / month, billed annually ($48 a year) | $3.80 per user / month, billed annually (Confluence Cloud, 11 to 100 users) |
| Free plan | Every diagram type on an infinite canvas, up to 40 shapes per diagram, real-time collaboration and team link sharing. No PNG, JPEG, PDF or SVG export, private links or email invitations. | Gliffy Diagrams for Confluence is free with no time limit for instances of up to 10 users. |
| Free trial | None listed | 30-day evaluation in Confluence Cloud and Data Center |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Cinergix Pty Ltd | Perforce Software |
| Price read from | creately.com | gliffy.com |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Creately
- The Free plan stops at 40 shapes per diagram and has no PNG, JPEG, PDF or SVG export, private links or email invitations.
- Admin controls, roles and the audit log start at Business; SAML SSO, SCIM, SLAs and data residency are limited to Enterprise.
- The vendor's pages list no desktop or mobile apps; Creately is used in a web browser.
- Starter and Team are no longer on the plans page. Creately says existing subscribers keep their current plan and price unless they choose to switch.
Gliffy
- The pricing page covers Confluence apps only, and all purchases, renewals and upgrades go through Atlassian.
- Prices are per Confluence user and follow the size of your instance, not just the people who draw.
- On Confluence Cloud, diagrams become read-only if the license is not renewed.
- The Zero Egress price is shown as an as-low-as figure.
Key features
Creately
- Canvas for diagrams and whiteboards
- One canvas handles flowcharts, mind maps, org charts, UML, ERDs, BPMN and freeform whiteboards. The workspace page counts more than 70 diagram types, and every plan includes all of them.
- AI diagram drafts
- Describe a process, structure or set of ideas and the AI lays out a first version made of editable shapes and connectors.
- Real-time collaboration
- Several people edit a canvas together with live cursors and comments, and version history shows earlier work. Real-time collaboration and team link sharing are on every plan.
- Connected data sources
- Pro connects one data source that refreshes daily, and Business removes the limit. The Free plan is limited to static imports.
- Basic tier of Creately's other products
- Every plan includes the Basic tier of Atlas for org charts, Process for process maps and Clinical for genograms. Their Advanced tiers are sold on Enterprise, one product at a time.
- Enterprise and on-premise options
- Enterprise offers data residency in the United States, Australia, the EU and the Middle East, and Creately On-Prem runs inside a customer's private infrastructure.
Gliffy
- Native Confluence diagrams
- Diagrams are created inside Confluence pages and stored as attachments, as a .gliffy file and a PNG image.
- Diagram types
- Flowcharts, UML, BPMN, network and Mermaid diagrams are listed, with sticky notes and freehand drawing for sketching during sessions.
- Import and export
- Microsoft Visio and draw.io diagrams can be imported, and diagrams export as JPEG, PNG and SVG.
- AI diagram generation
- Gliffy added AI diagramming in 2025 and describes it as turning a text prompt into a diagram in Gliffy for Confluence.
- Zero Egress edition
- A second app keeps diagram data inside the Atlassian environment, and lists ITAR, GDPR, HIPAA and SOC 2 compliance.
- Searchable text
- All text inside diagrams is searchable from Confluence.
Plans
Creately
Free$0
Every diagram type on an infinite canvas with up to 40 shapes per diagram, real-time collaboration and team link sharing. No image, PDF or SVG export.
Pro$4
per editor / month, billed annually at $48 ($5 billed monthly)
Unlimited shapes and diagrams, export to PDF, SVG, PNG and JPEG, private links and email invitations, and one connected data source refreshed daily.
Business$89
per organization / month, billed annually ($149 billed monthly)
Everything in Pro plus unlimited connected data sources, admin controls and roles, an audit log and priority support. Billed annually at $1,068.
EnterpriseCustom
Annual agreement quoted by sales: the Advanced tier of Creately's other products, granted per product, plus SAML SSO, SCIM, SLAs and data residency.
Gliffy
Confluence app, up to 10 users$0
Free with no time limit for up to 10 users, with unlimited diagrams on Confluence Cloud.
Confluence app, 11-100 users$3.80
per user / month, billed annually
Unlimited diagrams, flowchart, UML, BPMN, network and Mermaid support, plus exports to JPEG, PNG and SVG. Bought and renewed through Atlassian.
Gliffy Zero Egress$2.80
per user / month, shown as an as-low-as price
For security-focused teams: no diagram data leaves the Atlassian environment, and it works with Atlassian Government Cloud and Isolated Cloud. Up to 100 users listed.
Ways to pay less
Creately
- Annual discount
Save $12 a year per editor with annual billing
Pro is $48 per editor billed annually against $5 a month, which the plans page labels as saving $12 a year. Business is $1,068 billed annually against $149 a month.
- Education
Discounted plans for educational institutions
Creately's plans FAQ says it offers discounted plans for educational institutions, arranged by contacting the company. The size of the discount is not stated.
- Nonprofit
Discounted plans for nonprofits
The same FAQ says nonprofits can get discounted plans by contacting Creately with their details. The size of the discount is not stated.
Gliffy
- Annual discount
Annual billing
Gliffy says apps are billed annually at a discount of 12 months for the price of 10 when the Confluence host product is on annual billing.
- Education
Academic and open-source licenses
Atlassian offers special licenses for academic institutions and the open-source community, which Gliffy says extend to Marketplace apps.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Creately or Gliffy?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Gliffy is cheaper to start with: $3.80 a month for each person, against $4 a month for each person for Creately. Creately starts at $4 per editor / month, billed annually ($48 a year), and Gliffy starts at $3.80 per user / month, billed annually (Confluence Cloud, 11 to 100 users).
Which has a free plan, Creately or Gliffy?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Creately and Gliffy have a free plan.
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.