MindView 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 1.6.
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, the free plan, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
MindView
Desktop mind mapping with Gantt chart and timeline views
Xmind
Mind mapping app with AI, Gantt charts and a presentation mode
Which one is for you
Pick MindView if
- Fits if you plan projects on your own computer and want mind maps and Gantt charts in one file
- Works for students who export an essay plan to Word with citations
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey at $340 a year for one licence, many times what most tools here charge
- Skip it if you want a monthly plan, as the buy page offers only yearly
- Skip it if you want a web or phone version, as only Windows and Mac are listed
- Watch out: MindView AT and MeetingBooster are separate products with their own prices
- Watch out: education and volume prices are quoted by contacting the company
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
| 1.6GPAMindViewWeak | 3.0GPAXmindVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | D$340 a year is about $28 a month, past the start of the category's dearest tenth at $24.90, with no monthly option. | 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 | DA free trial is offered, but its length and card rules are not stated on the pages read. | 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, timelines, Gantt charts and exports to Office and Project. No collaboration feature is described, which a whiteboard buyer would look for. | 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. It is desktop software that takes time to learn. | 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 | CWindows and Mac programs only. Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Project export are listed, but no web or phone version. | 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 | desktop mind maps that become Gantt charts | 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: MindView and Xmind. How we grade
Price against what you get
MindView starts at $28.33 a month when paid by the year 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 $23.41 a month lower. Of the other whiteboard and mind map tools on the chart, 40 score higher than MindView 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
- MindView also covers diagrams.
- Xmind also covers templates and presentations.
At a glance
| MindView | Xmind | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $340 per year | $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 | Free trial offered; length not stated on the pages read | 7-day free trial, offered on yearly subscriptions only |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | MatchWare | Xmind Ltd. / Supermind Pte. Limited |
| Price read from | matchware.com | xmind.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
MindView
- Sold as a yearly subscription at $340 per license; there is no monthly option on the buy page.
- The system requirements page lists Windows 10 or later and macOS 10.15 or later; no web or mobile version is listed.
- Educational and volume pricing is quoted by contacting the company.
- MindView AT and MeetingBooster are separate products, not covered by this price.
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
MindView
- Interchangeable views
- The same data can be shown as a mind map, top-down or left-right layout, timeline or Gantt chart, and edits carry across views.
- Work breakdown to Gantt
- A work breakdown structure built in the map can be converted to a Gantt chart for scheduling.
- Office and Project export
- Maps export to Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Microsoft Project, with a choice of what content to include.
- Essay writing export
- Exporting to Word can include citations, a bibliography and an academic format such as APA or MLA.
- Assistive technology edition
- MindView AT is a separate edition aimed at assistive mind mapping, sold with a separate buying route.
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
MindView
MindView Suite$340
per year, yearly subscription
One-year subscription for a single license; volume and site licenses are quoted on request.
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
MindView
No public discounts listed.
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, MindView or Xmind?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Xmind is cheaper to start with: $4.92 a month, against $28.33 a month when paid by the year for MindView. MindView starts at $340 per year, and Xmind starts at $4.92 per month, billed yearly ($59 a year).
Which has a free plan, MindView or Xmind?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Xmind has a free plan. MindView does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do MindView and Xmind run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Xmind lists a web app and Linux, iOS and Android apps. Both list 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.