Kumu review (2026): is the free plan enough?
Relationship maps for systems, stakeholders and networks
Black Friday: is there a Kumu sale?
Kumu report card
Fair · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 12, 2026
Best for mapping stakeholder and systems networks
Kumu draws relationship maps from spreadsheets, for stakeholder, systems and social networks. Public projects are free but visible to everyone and indexed by search engines, and each private project costs $9 a month, so the bill grows with every project.
Who Kumu is for
- Fits if you map stakeholders or systems and are happy to share the map publicly
- Works for people who start from a spreadsheet of relationships
Who Kumu is not for
- Tight if your work is private, because each private project is its own monthly charge
- Watch out: free public projects are visible to everyone and indexed by search engines
- Watch out: all kumu.io customer data lives in one shared database, and sensitive work is pointed to Enterprise
- Watch out: archived private projects cost $20 to unarchive on a Pro workspace
- Skip it if you want a desktop or phone app, as none is listed
Why Kumu gets a 2.0
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- CValue for moneyPrivate projects are $9 a month each on Basic, and Pro is $10 a workspace plus $20 a month per private project. That sits in the ordinary range for one project and climbs fast with more.
- CFree plan and trialRegistration and unlimited public projects are free, but public means anyone can see them. A two-week trial of private projects is offered.
- CFeaturesIt does one job fully: network maps with filters, clustering and spreadsheet import. That is a narrower job than a whiteboard.
- CEase of useNo store rating on record. You import data and set up decorations before a map reads well.
- CPlatforms and integrationsWeb only, with no apps and no integrations listed.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Kumu's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/kumu#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/kumu.svg" alt="Kumu: 2.0 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Kumu stands among whiteboard and mind map tools
Kumu's GPA of 2.0 is higher than 4 of the 61 other whiteboard and mind map tools we grade, and level with 7.
Its paid plans start at $9 a month, against a middle price of $7.49 for the category: 29 of the 44 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.0 out of 4. 28 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 62 whiteboard and mind map tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. Kumu’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 7 of 61, level with 30
- CFree plan and trialAbove 7 of 61, level with 40
- CFeaturesAbove 0 of 61, level with 42
- CEase of useAbove 0 of 61, level with 44
- CPlatforms and integrationsAbove 0 of 61, level with 21
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 55 whiteboard and mind map tools. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
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
Keep Kumu, or make your own?
Keep it
The plain part of Kumu you could make: mind mapping. What surrounds it you could not. The 1 things listed below take a company, not a weekend.
That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 50 of the 61 other whiteboard and mind map tools grade higher. It costs $108 a year.
What you could make
- Mind mapping: an app builder makes this well.
What you could not
- A diagram editor.
What this rests on. Kumu’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Kumu?
Kumu is a browser-based tool for turning data about people, organizations and concepts into relationship maps. Public projects on kumu.io are free, while private projects are billed per project. A self-hosted Enterprise edition is available for teams with sensitive data.
Worth knowing
- Private projects are billed per project, so the monthly cost rises with each one: $9 on Basic, $20 on Pro.
- All kumu.io customer data lives in one shared database; the vendor points sensitive work to Kumu Enterprise.
- The Free workspace's public projects are visible to everyone and indexed by search engines.
- Archived private projects cost $20 to unarchive on a Pro workspace.
Key features
- Relationship maps
- Data about people, organizations or concepts is drawn as a network, with decorations, filters and clustering applied on top.
- Spreadsheet import
- Maps can be built from imported spreadsheets rather than drawn by hand, which suits larger datasets.
- Public and private projects
- Projects can be public and visible to everyone, or private with access given to named people. Maps can be embedded on other sites.
- Workspaces
- Projects are grouped into workspaces, each with its own name and billing profile. Pro workspaces add view-only roles and branding.
- Use cases
- The vendor's examples include stakeholder maps, systems maps and causal loop diagrams, and social network maps.
Kumu pricing
As of Nov 12, 2026, Kumu has a free plan, and paid plans start at $9 per month per private project.
- Starts at
- $9 per month per private project
- Free plan
- Free registration and unlimited public projects, with unlimited collaborators, maps and views.
- Free trial
- Two-week free trial of private projects
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Basic workspace | $0 | Unlimited public projects; private projects cost $9 per month each; daily backups. |
| Pro workspace | $10per workspace / month, plus $20 per month per private project | View-only access control, custom branding, activity feeds, real-time comments, hourly backups, private project archiving. |
| Enterprise | Custom | Self-hosted or cloud-hosted private instance with SAML single sign-on and a 99.95% uptime SLA. Sold through sales. |
Read from kumu.io on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Kumu before you buy.
Ways to pay less
- EducationPrivate projects for students
Students doing classroom work or doctoral research can email from a .edu address to get 3 private projects at no charge.
Stated on kumu.io
Kumu alternatives
- Kumu vs MindMeister
Free plan · from €6.50/mo
- Kumu vs Coggle
Free plan · from $5/mo
- Kumu vs Cmap
Free
- Kumu vs Plectica
Free plan · from $3/mo
- Kumu vs Miro
Free plan · from $8/mo
Common questions
Does Kumu have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. Kumu is listed for Web.
Does Kumu have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. Kumu is listed for Web.
Is Kumu open source?
Kumu is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Nov 12, 2026.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026.