EdrawMind vs MindMeister (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, EdrawMind grades higher than MindMeister: 2.6 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
EdrawMind grades higher on value for money, features and ease of use. MindMeister grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
EdrawMind
Mind mapping and diagram software with AI tools
MindMeister
Browser-based mind mapping with real-time collaboration
Which one is for you
Pick EdrawMind if
- Fits if you want mind maps on your computer and phone with an option to pay once
- Works for people who want AI to draft a map from text or a PDF
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free plan, as none is shown
- Watch out: subscriptions auto-renew and the page shows a crossed-out higher price with no end date
- Watch out: the perpetual licence covers desktop V14 only, and mobile and online access runs for 3 years
- Watch out: an optional Edraw Creative Assets trial renews at $15.90 a month
- Tight if you want cloud storage: subscriptions include 1 GB
Pick MindMeister if
- Fits if your team brainstorms together and wants everyone on the same map at once
- Works for MeisterTask users who want to turn map topics into tasks
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you're staying free, since 3 mind maps is the limit and you can't export or print them
- Not for you if you want a desktop app, because outside the phone apps it runs in a browser
- Skip it if you like paying month by month, as billing is in 6-month or 12-month cycles only
- Pricey if you need Word or PowerPoint exports or Google Workspace, which wait for Pro at €10.50 a month
- Watch out: prices vary by region, and SAML SSO needs Business plus a request to sales
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAEdrawMindGood | 2.2GPAMindMeisterFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | B$53.10 a year is about $4.43 a month, inside the cheaper quarter of $5. A perpetual licence at $100.30 is under two years of the category's middle price. | CPersonal is €6.50 a user a month billed yearly, or €7.50 on 6-month billing, which is the middle of this category. There's no monthly option at all, and Word and PowerPoint exports, branding and Google Workspace wait for Pro at €10.50. |
| Free plan and trial | DThe desktop app is a free download, but the pricing page lists no free plan or trial terms, only a 30-day money-back guarantee. | CFree forever, with unlimited collaborators, templates, presentations and the phone apps. But it's 3 mind maps, and no file exports, printing, attachments or version history, so whatever you make stays inside MindMeister. |
| Features | BMind, concept and bubble maps, Gantt and Kanban views, AI generation and slide export, with no gap named in the listing. | CIt does mind maps fully, and that's a smaller job than this category's: drag-and-drop topics with notes, links and images, mind map, org chart and list layouts, live co-editing with comments, presentation and outline modes, and AI map-building that's still in beta. No freeform canvas, no stickies, no drawing. |
| Ease of use | BNo store rating on record, but it installs and opens with nothing to set up. | C4.4 from 1,269 App Store ratings, in the middle of the range. Nothing to install on a computer, and focus mode hides the menus when you want to think, but a blank map is still yours to build and arrange. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWindows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android and web. No API or integrations are listed. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with MeisterTask, Microsoft Teams, Google Workspace and a Claude connector. There's no desktop app at all, so on a computer it's a browser tab, and Teams needs Personal while Google Workspace needs Pro. |
| Best for | mind maps with AI on every device, bought yearly or once | mind mapping together in a browser |
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: EdrawMind and MindMeister. How we grade
Price against what you get
EdrawMind starts at $4.43 a month when paid by the year and scores 3.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. MindMeister starts at about $7.26 a month for each person and scores 2.3.
EdrawMind scores higher and starts $2.83 a month lower. Of the other whiteboard and mind map tools on the chart, none scores higher than EdrawMind for less, and 13 score higher than MindMeister 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
- EdrawMind can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- EdrawMind also covers diagrams.
At a glance
| EdrawMind | MindMeister | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $35.10 per 6 months (semi-annual), $53.10 per year | €6.50 per user / month, billed yearly |
| Free plan | None | Up to 3 mind maps with unlimited collaborators, templates, presentations, outline and focus modes and the mobile apps. No file exports, printing, attachments or version history. |
| Free trial | Free download of the desktop app; the store page also advertises a 30-day money-back guarantee | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Wondershare | MeisterLabs GmbH |
| Price read from | edrawmind.wondershare.com | mindmeister.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
EdrawMind
- Subscriptions auto-renew, and the store page shows a crossed-out higher price that the page gives no end date for.
- A perpetual license covers the desktop V14 only; mobile and online access on those plans runs for 3 years.
- The listing mentions an optional trial of Edraw Creative Assets that renews at $15.90 a month.
- No free plan is shown on the pricing page; the desktop app is a free download.
MindMeister
- The Free plan stops at 3 mind maps and has no file exports, printing, attachments or version history.
- Plans are billed in 6-month or 12-month cycles with no monthly option, and prices vary by region; the figures here are the vendor's EUR reference prices.
- Word and PowerPoint exports, custom branding and Google Workspace need Pro; SAML SSO needs Business and a request to the sales team.
- No desktop apps are listed: outside the iOS and Android apps, MindMeister runs in a browser.
Key features
EdrawMind
- Mind and concept maps
- Mind map, concept map, bubble map, brace map and spider diagram makers, plus a Gantt chart, timeline and Kanban tool.
- AI generation
- AI features listed include AI mind maps, org charts and timelines, a text-to-mind-map and PDF-to-mind-map option, and slide generation from a mind map.
- Templates
- Business, personal and study template categories, with unlimited access to community templates on paid plans.
- Every platform
- The store page lists Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android and web availability.
- Slides and export
- A mind map can be turned into slides, and the AI page also lists Word, PDF and image conversion into slides.
- Cloud storage
- Subscriptions include 1 GB of cloud storage; the perpetual plans include 10 GB or 20 GB for three years.
MindMeister
- Mind map editor
- Topics are arranged by drag and drop and can carry links, notes, emojis and images. Layouts include mind maps, org charts and lists, with themes and color schemes.
- Real-time collaboration
- Collaborators invited by link edit the same map at once, comment on topics and @mention each other. Every plan, including Free, allows unlimited collaborators.
- Presentation mode
- A map can be shown as a presentation directly from the editor, so a team can be walked through the ideas without building separate slides.
- Outline and focus modes
- Outline mode switches a map to structured bullet points, and focus mode hides menus, toolbars and icons in the editor.
- AI map creation (beta)
- A prompt or an uploaded file such as a PDF, presentation, spreadsheet or image produces a map, which AI can then expand or tidy. It is listed as beta on every plan.
- Exports and integrations
- Topics convert into MeisterTask tasks on any plan. Image and PDF exports and Microsoft Teams start at Personal; Word and PowerPoint exports and Google Workspace at Pro.
Plans
EdrawMind
Semi-Annual$35.10
per 6 months, auto-renews
Shown at 10% off a crossed-out $45. Access on 3 PCs, 3 mobiles and online, 1 GB cloud storage, AI features and community templates.
Annual$53.10
per year, auto-renews
Shown at 10% off a crossed-out $69. Same access and features as Semi-Annual, with 1 year of free upgrades and priority support.
Perpetual$100.30
one-time, perpetual desktop license
Shown against a crossed-out $145. Perpetual access to EdrawMind V14 on desktop, plus 3 years of mobile and online access and 3 years of 10 GB cloud storage.
Perpetual Bundle$182.75
one-time, perpetual desktop license
Shown against a crossed-out $390. Perpetual EdrawMind V14 and EdrawMax V16 on desktop, with 3 years of mobile and online access and 20 GB cloud storage.
MindMeister
Free€0
Up to 3 mind maps, unlimited collaborators, templates, presentations, outline and focus modes, the MeisterTask integration and AI map creation in beta.
Personal€6.50
per user / month, billed yearly (€7.50 on 6-month billing)
Unlimited mind maps, PNG, JPG and PDF exports, printing, 2 attachments per map, 7-day version history and the Microsoft Teams integration.
Pro€10.50
per user / month, billed yearly (€12.50 on 6-month billing)
Unlimited attachments, all-time version history, multiple admins, Word and PowerPoint exports, custom branding and the Google Workspace integration.
Business€15.50
per user / month, billed yearly (€19 on 6-month billing)
Group sharing, compliance exports and backups, IP restriction, SAML SSO on request, priority email and phone support and a customer success manager.
Ways to pay less
EdrawMind
- Lifetime license
Perpetual plans
One-time purchases of EdrawMind V14 at $100.30, or $182.75 with EdrawMax in a bundle.
MindMeister
- Annual discount
13 to 18% lower on 12-month billing
MindMeister's pricing file says the 12-month billing cycle costs approximately 13 to 18% less than the 6-month cycle, for example €6.50 against €7.50 per user a month on Personal.
- Education
50% off for students and educators
Students, educators and educational institutions get a 50% discount, applied by contacting the support team.
- Nonprofit
50% off for nonprofits
The same 50% discount is listed for non-profit organizations, also arranged through the support team.
- By country
Lower price shown to buyers in India
MindMeister says it uses geo-based pricing. On 9 October 2026 its pricing page showed Personal to a reader in India at $3.50 per user a month on yearly billing, against a reference price of €6.50 for most of Europe.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, EdrawMind or MindMeister?
As of Nov 12, 2026, EdrawMind starts at $35.10 per 6 months (semi-annual), $53.10 per year, and MindMeister starts at €6.50 per user / month, billed yearly. 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, EdrawMind or MindMeister?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only MindMeister has a free plan. EdrawMind does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do EdrawMind and MindMeister run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only EdrawMind lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps. Both list a web app and iOS and Android 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.