MindMup 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 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.
MindMup
Web mind mapping with a free tier and simple paid plans
Xmind
Mind mapping app with AI, Gantt charts and a presentation mode
Which one is for you
Pick MindMup if
- Fits if you want a plain mind map on the web and a free start
- Works for a class that opens a map by Guest Pass without logins
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free, with 3 maps and view-only sharing
- Watch out: real-time collaboration is marked coming soon on the pricing page
- Watch out: the AI credits are marked coming soon too
- Watch out: only annual prices were readable, and Team and Organization seat rules are not stated
- Skip it if you want a desktop or phone app, as the desktop app is marked coming soon
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
| 2.2GPAMindMupFair | 3.0GPAXmindVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CPersonal is $6 a month billed annually, a little above the category's cheaper quarter of $5. Team is $9 and Organization $15, and the page does not say if they are per 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 | CThe Starter plan is free but capped at 3 mind maps with view-only sharing and a watermarked presentation mode. | 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 layouts, notes, presentation mode, version history and sharing. Gaps the listing shows: real-time collaboration, comment threads and the AI credits are marked coming soon. | 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 maps from scratch in the editor. | 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 | BWeb only, with Google Drive, Google Workspace and Microsoft Office 365 sign-in 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 | a simple web mind map with Google Drive storage | 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: MindMup and Xmind. How we grade
Price against what you get
MindMup starts at $6 a month and scores 2.3 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 $1.08 a month lower. Of the other whiteboard and mind map tools on the chart, 9 score higher than MindMup 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
- MindMup also covers notes and diagrams.
- Xmind also covers templates and Gantt & timelines.
At a glance
| MindMup | Xmind | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $6 per month, billed annually (Personal) | $4.92 per month, billed yearly ($59 a year) |
| Free plan | Starter plan: up to 3 mind maps, view-only sharing, 10 AI credits, and presentation mode with a watermark. | 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 | Mindmup, Inc. | Xmind Ltd. / Supermind Pte. Limited |
| Price read from | mindmup.com | xmind.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
MindMup
- The free Starter plan stops at 3 mind maps and view-only sharing.
- Real-time collaboration, comment threads, the desktop app and AI credits are marked as coming soon on the pricing page.
- The page shows only the annual-billed prices; it says yearly saves up to 40% but its monthly-billed prices could not be read.
- The page does not say whether the Team and Organization prices are per seat.
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
MindMup
- Mind map layouts
- Standard mind maps, org charts, fishbone diagrams and argument visualization, with styling controls for maps and nodes.
- Notes and sticky notes
- Notes attach to nodes for outlines and drafts, and the text can be exported to another editor.
- Sharing and publishing
- Maps can be shared with members or teams, published as interactive maps, or opened to a class with a Guest Pass that needs no login.
- Presentation mode
- A map turns into a presentation in one click. The free plan adds a watermark.
- Version history and restore
- The comparison lists version history, restoring deleted maps for 30 days and manual backup and restore.
- Google Drive and SSO
- Maps can be stored in Google Drive, and organizations can use Google or Microsoft sign-on.
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
MindMup
StarterFree
Up to 3 mind maps, notes, view-only sharing and publishing, 10 AI credits (AI marked as coming soon).
Personal$6
per month, billed annually
Unlimited mind maps, image and file attachments, advanced sharing, high-resolution exports and 100 AI credits.
Team$9
per month, billed annually (seat basis not stated)
Unlimited teamspaces, Guest Pass access and 200 AI credits per seat. Real-time collaboration is marked as coming soon.
Organization (SSO)$15
per month, billed annually (seat basis not stated)
Required Google or Microsoft SSO, advanced security settings, priority support and 300 AI credits per seat.
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
MindMup
- Annual discount
Yearly billing saves up to 40%
The pricing page offers a pay-yearly option that it says saves up to 40% against paying monthly.
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, MindMup or Xmind?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Xmind is cheaper to start with: $4.92 a month, against $6 a month for MindMup. MindMup starts at $6 per month, billed annually (Personal), and Xmind starts at $4.92 per month, billed yearly ($59 a year).
Which has a free plan, MindMup or Xmind?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both MindMup and Xmind have a free plan.
Which platforms do MindMup 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.