Mindly review (2026): is it worth $3.99 a month?
Mind mapping app for phones and tablets, one idea at a time
Black Friday: is there a Mindly sale?
Mindly report card
Fair · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 12, 2026
Best for one-idea-at-a-time mind maps on a phone
Mindly 2 is a phone and tablet mind mapper that opens a map one idea at a time. The subscription is $34.99 a year with a trial of unstated length, there is no free plan, and the App Store shows 2.0 from only 7 ratings.
Who Mindly is for
- Fits if you map ideas mostly on a phone or tablet
- Works for people who find a full-screen map too cluttered
Who Mindly is not for
- Skip it if you want a computer app, as no desktop version is named
- Skip it if you want a free plan, since only a trial of unstated length exists
- Watch out: the App Store rating is 2.0, from 7 ratings only
- Watch out: the subscription is bought through the app stores, and no one-time purchase is described
- Watch out: the vendor's site cites 4.6 for the older Mindly app, not this one
Why Mindly gets a 2.2
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- AValue for money$34.99 a year is about $2.92 a month, under 60% of the category's cheaper quarter ($5).
- DFree plan and trialNo free plan: the app downloads free but the subscription starts a trial of unstated length, bought through the app store.
- CFeaturesOne-idea-at-a-time maps, live shared editing, online sharing and a visual clipboard. A narrow tool for mind maps only, with no gap named.
- CEase of useThe App Store shows 2.0 from 7 ratings, too few to count, so there is no usable rating. The one-idea view is a different way of working that takes some getting used to.
- CPlatforms and integrationsiPhone, iPad and Android only. No desktop app is named.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Mindly's own pages on 12 November 2026, and its App Store rating. 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/mindly#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/mindly.svg" alt="Mindly: 2.2 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Mindly stands among whiteboard and mind map tools
Mindly's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 12 of the 61 other whiteboard and mind map tools we grade, and level with 12.
It stands best on value for money (A, above 47 of 61) and worst on free plan and trial (D, above 1).
Its paid plans start at $2.92 a month when paid by the year, against a middle price of $7.49 for the category: 2 of the 44 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.0 out of 4. 7 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. Mindly’s own letter is outlined.
- AValue for moneyAbove 47 of 61, level with 14
- DFree plan and trialAbove 1 of 61, level with 5
- 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 Mindly, or make your own?
Keep it
The plain part of Mindly you could make: mind mapping and notes. What surrounds it you could not. The 2 things listed below take a company, not a weekend.
That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 37 of the 61 other whiteboard and mind map tools grade higher. It costs $34.99 a year.
What you could make
- Mind mapping and notes: an app builder makes these well.
What you could not
- A real app for iOS and Android. Something home-made would be a web page.
- Several people working in it at the same moment.
What this rests on. Mindly’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 Mindly?
Mindly is a mind mapping app from dripgrind that shows a map one idea at a time, zooming in on the topic at hand instead of laying out a whole canvas. The current version, Mindly 2, adds real-time collaboration and maps that can be published online and opened in a browser. It is free to download and sold as a monthly or yearly subscription.
Worth knowing
- The App Store lists iPhone and iPad only, and the site links Google Play; no desktop app is named.
- There is no free plan; the app is free to download and the subscription starts with a trial of unstated length.
- The subscription is bought through the app stores; the pages read do not describe a one-time purchase.
- The Mindly 2 App Store listing shows a 2.0 average from 7 ratings, while the vendor's site cites 4.6 for the earlier app.
Key features
- Progressive focus
- Maps open one idea at a time, so a branch can be explored step by step without the whole map on screen.
- Real-time collaboration
- Mindly 2 lets teammates, classmates or clients work on the same map together.
- Online sharing
- Interactive maps can be published and opened by anyone in a browser.
- Images, emojis and files
- Nodes can carry images, emojis and supporting files.
- Visual clipboard
- A clipboard for quickly reorganizing and restructuring parts of a map.
Mindly pricing
As of Nov 12, 2026, Mindly is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $3.99 per month (App Store in-app purchase), $34.99 per year.
- Starts at
- $3.99 per month (App Store in-app purchase), $34.99 per year
- Free plan
- None
- Free trial
- Free trial on the subscription; length not stated on the listing
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly Subscription | $3.99per month, in-app purchase | Access to all Mindly features on all platforms, as the App Store listing describes it. |
| Yearly Subscription | $34.99per year, in-app purchase | Same access as monthly. Works out to about $2.92 a month. |
Read from apps.apple.com on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Mindly before you buy.
Mindly alternatives
- Mindly vs SimpleMind
Free plan · from $10.99 one-time
- Mindly vs MindNode
Free plan · from $2.99/mo
- Mindly vs Xmind
Free plan · from $4.92/mo
- Mindly vs Coggle
Free plan · from $5/mo
Common questions
Does Mindly have a Windows app?
No Windows app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. Mindly is listed for iOS and Android.
Does Mindly have a macOS app?
No macOS app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. Mindly is listed for iOS and Android.
Is Mindly open source?
Mindly 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.