Miro allows you to choose a shape to fill in with information, and then choose from a variety of arrows and paths for connecting thoughts and information to one another. I prefer to make freehand mind maps, which are, for me, just much easier to use. The difference with this app is, you can drag and rearrange the features inside the template to make it flexible enough to meet your needs. To use an existing template, you simply pick the style of mind map you want to use and fill it in as you would a typical mind map that you’re used to seeing from other mind mapping tools. To create a mind map with Miro, you can either choose from a pre-created template or create your own. (If you’re interested in other features like its task and project management features, let me know in the comments below or in the Paperless Movement Facebook group, and I will cover this in another article.) It’s not only a mind mapping tool but a fully-fledged project management tool too.įor this article, I will cover the mind mapping capabilities of the app since these are exactly the features I was searching for, and writing about all the features would turn this article into a novel. Free positioning of my shapes (versus fixed mind map layouts)Īfter two years of searching for an app that contained all of these features, I finally found a tool called Miro (formerly RealtimeBoard) that provides all of these features and even more.Integration with other software like Evernote, Asana, and Notion.Collaboration and easy sharing capabilities.Multi-device support for windows, Mac, and iPad Pro.Now you might be wondering what are the features I consider must-haves when it comes to mind mapping? But each one of these apps lacks at least one feature that I need in a mind mapping tool in order for me to use it on a daily basis. You would think after testing so many apps, I would’ve found one that could meet all of my requirements. I’ve tested them all: draw.io, MindMeister, Milanote, MindChat, SimpleMind, iThoughts, MindNode, XMind, Mindly, LucidChart, Cardflow, Coggle, and Grafio 4. I’ve been searching for the best mind mapping software for a long time.

Best free mind mapping tools