MindGenius 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 2.0.
Checked Oct 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Xmind grades higher on value for money, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan and features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
MindGenius
Mind mapping that turns into tasks, boards and timelines
Xmind
Mind mapping app with AI, Gantt charts and a presentation mode
Which one is for you
Pick MindGenius if
- Fits if you plan projects as maps and want them as tasks and a timeline
- Works for a small team that wants guests to join a project
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you are one person, at $160 a year against the category's usual yearly price
- Tight after the trial: the free fallback is a single project
- Watch out: the Windows desktop version is separate and licensed on its own
- Watch out: volume prices apply only to annual billing from 11 seats
- Watch out: dollar prices come from a currency switch, because the page opens in pounds
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
| 2.0GPAMindGeniusFair | 3.0GPAXmindVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C$160 a seat a year, about $13.30 a month, sits above the category's dearer-quarter start of $9.99 but well below its dearest tenth. Monthly billing is $16 a seat. | 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 | CA 14-day trial needs no card, after which the account drops to a single-project plan. | 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 | CMap, task board and timeline views in one subscription. Gap the listing shows: the cross-project Needs Attention view is online only, and the desktop product is separate. | 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 the project structure yourself. | 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 only, with Microsoft Teams as the one listed integration. The desktop version is separate. | 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 that turn into tasks and timelines | 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: MindGenius and Xmind. How we grade
Price against what you get
MindGenius starts at $13.33 a month when paid by the year 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 $8.41 a month lower. Of the other whiteboard and mind map tools on the chart, 38 score higher than MindGenius 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
- MindGenius also covers tasks.
- Xmind also covers templates, Gantt & timelines and presentations.
At a glance
| MindGenius | Xmind | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $160 per seat / year, billed annually ($16 per seat billed monthly) | $4.92 per month, billed yearly ($59 a year) |
| Free plan | None | 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 | 14-day free trial, no card needed; afterward the account drops to a single-project plan | 7-day free trial, offered on yearly subscriptions only |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | MindGenius Limited | Xmind Ltd. / Supermind Pte. Limited |
| Price read from | mindgenius.com | xmind.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
MindGenius
- After the 14-day trial the account becomes a single-project plan unless a subscription is bought.
- MindGenius Desktop is a separate Windows-only product with its own licensing; these prices cover Online only.
- Volume pricing applies only to annual billing from 11 seats up.
- Dollar prices come from the page's USD currency switch; the page opens in pounds.
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
MindGenius
- Mind maps
- Ideas, assumptions, risks and open questions are laid out as a map before any work is committed.
- Taskboard and Timeline views
- The same project can be shown as a map, a task board or a timeline, and all three are part of the single subscription.
- Needs Attention
- A cross-project view that collects whatever is slipping across all projects. The vendor lists it as Online-only.
- Microsoft Teams and guests
- A Microsoft Teams integration and guest access let people outside the account take part in a project.
- Volume pricing
- Annual plans drop to $144 per seat at 11 to 25 seats, $120 at 26 to 50 and $80 at 51 to 100.
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
MindGenius
Subscription$160
per seat / year, billed annually ($16 billed monthly)
Unlimited projects and views, Needs Attention overview, Microsoft Teams integration and guest access.
EnterpriseCustom
For 25+ seats with volume pricing, deployment guidance and a named contact. Sold through sales.
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
MindGenius
- Annual discount
About 17% off with annual billing
Annual billing costs about 17% less per seat than paying monthly; the page puts the difference at $32 a seat.
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, MindGenius or Xmind?
As of Nov 12, 2026, MindGenius starts at $160 per seat / year, billed annually ($16 per seat 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, MindGenius or Xmind?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Xmind has a free plan. MindGenius does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do MindGenius and Xmind run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Xmind lists macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. 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.