Organising your thoughts can be a difficult task when approaching a complex problem, and there’s no reason why you can’t enlist the help of your trusty Mac. “Mind Maps” have become increasingly common as a way to manage a stream of thoughts, ideas and information – though their graphical nature doesn’t easily fit into a traditional software package.
Today I’ll be looking at 9 different specialist mind mapping applications for the Mac. Some are fairly expensive, commercial solutions – others are relatively budget-friendly. Hopefully there’s something for everyone, and you’ll be mapping our your own thought process in no time!
MindNode
MindNode
This is one of the most mac-like applications available, and feels at home on the platform. It has a very simple interface, and allows you to export to a variety of different file formats such as PNG, TIFF, PDF, RTF or HTML. A companion iPhone app is also available, though full syncing isn’t yet supported. This is one of the best value apps if you’re looking for a simple mind mapping solution.
Price: Free / $20 for Pro
Developer: Markus Muller
Requires: Mac OS X v. 10.5 or later
Curio
Curio
Curio is another application that looks like it was designed for the OS X platform, with a fairly advanced interface allowing several complex features. These include in-built searching of popular image website, encryption, a “dossier” screen to help track the requirements of a project, and a full-screen presentation mode.
Price: $65.40
Developer: Zengobi
Requires: Mac OS X 10.5 or later
MyThoughts
MyThoughts
Another reasonably priced application, MyThoughts is capable of producing some bright and attractive graphic layouts – maps that “work in a way that the human brain enjoys”. It doesn’t convey a huge amount of professionalism, but seems like a very friendly tool to use.
Price: $49
Developer: MyThoughts
Requires: Mac OS X v.10.5 or later
Mind Manager
MindManager 7
MindManager starts the move towards a more professional and “corporate” application, used by companies such as HP and WebEx. You can add images, hyperlinks, and attachments to enhance functionality, fully search any of your mind maps, and use a map for project management purposes. Not cheap at $129, but a fully-fledged solution.
Price: $129.00
Developer: Mindjet
Requires: Mac OS X 10.4 or later
XMind Pro
XMind Pro
XMind is a fully cross-platform solution, so can work on Windows, Mac or Linux – great if you’re needing to work on a map at different computers. It supports traditional mind maps, a full-screen presentation view, Gantt charting, and an interesting pricing policy of monthly or yearly subscriptions. It’s inexpensive to try out, but costs quite a lot for a lifetime license.
Price: $49/year
Developer: XMind
Requires: Mac OS X 10.4 or later
iMindMap
iMindMap
This is the only “official” mind-mapping software, endorsed by the guy behind the phenomena – Tony Buzan. This shouldn’t really sway you in it’s favour, as each application in this roundup is good at achieving the core functionality. This app is fairly expensive, and comes in three versions: Elements, Professional and Ultimate. It feels slightly like the tool has been ported across to Mac as an afterthought, rather than being designed with OS X in mind from the start.
Price: $99 to $395
Developer: Tony Buzan
Requires: Mac OS X 10.4 or later
MindView
MindView
Any requirements list that states “Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher” as the recommended browser for the Mac immediately causes me to flinch, though it seems that MindView may actually offer a fairly robust set of tools. It’s main selling point is the excellent integration with Office for Mac – perfect if you’re user of MS Office, but not so great if you prefer iWork.
It’s one of the most expensive apps in the roundup, but does offer a wide set of features including a solid-looking HTML export option, and good time-lining functionality.
Price: $229
Developer: MatchWare
Requires: Mac OS X 10.4 or later
ConceptDraw MindMap
ConceptDraw MindMap
Another tool aimed at the corporate setting, MindMap is good for brainstorming, planning, and “knowledge management” (don’t you just love these business terms?) The Mac version looks as though it’s had time and effort invested in it, but the price point is fairly high. If you’d like their whole suite of apps rather than just the MindMap tool, you’ll be looking at over $500.
Price: $220
Developer: ConceptDraw
Requires: Mac OS X 10.4 or later
FreeMind
FreeMind
FreeMind is an open source mind-mapping app written in Java. It works cross-platform, and could be a good solution if you’re not looking to spend a dime on this type of software. As is commonly the case with Java software, the interface lacks polish and doesn’t make use of high quality OS X graphics capabilities.
Worth looking into as a free option, but I’d suggest MindNode as a superior alternative.
Price: Free
Developer: Open Source
Requires: Java
Conclusion
These nine are undoubtedly amongst the most popular mind mapping applications for OS X, but don’t represent every different tool on offer. Do you use a different piece of software, or something slightly more generic such as OmniGraffle? Please do let us know in the comments!
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Organising your thoughts can be a difficult task when approaching a complex problem, and there's no reason why you can't enlist the help ...
Organising your thoughts can be a difficult task when approaching a complex problem, and there's no reason why you can't enlist the help ...
Organising your thoughts can be a difficult task when approaching a complex problem, and there's no reason why you can't enlist the help ...
Nice overview. I my eyes you missed one of the best ones: http://www.novamind.com/ – also not cheap, but worth the price.
Furthermore curio is priceranged up to 140 Dollars, according to their website and mindmanager 8 is already announced by mindjet with a lot of tuning in comparison to v7.
there an open source version of XMind which is actually free if you can live without the “pro” features. http://www.xmind.net
I just checked the open source XMind out and I love it, thanks for the suggestion!
The free version is my favorite free mind mapping program. I like it a lot better than freemind.
I used to use Inspiration when I taught college writing – very intuitive, can be playful and still professional. They have “kid” versions as well.
http://www.inspiration.com/Inspiration
@Markus I am with you on this. Novamind is superior in many respects, not the least of which is its integration with Project Wizards’ Merlin 2, (which is IMO the best Project Management software on the market even though it is Mac only. So good in fact, that independent PMs and PM firms alike should [at the very least] consider switching platforms).
http://www.novamind.com/
http://www.projectwizards.net/
Trust me I don’t work for either of these companies. I just think they have created outstanding products, that are well worth their pricing.
Thanks for the pointers Joshua!
If one considered piling up the money for Mindjet’s software, one should be aware that Mindjet will soon update Mind Manager to version 8.
Regarding FreeMind’s limitations being a Java application: There are in fact intentions to modify FreeMind in a way that it is more Mac-like, e.g. with respect to keyboard shortcuts. If I remember correctly, I found the respective information in the FreeMind wiki on their homepage. Your trusted search provider might help either way.
I really like Mind Meister which is subscription based. It’s online so not strictly Mac but I find it intuitive and easy tt make look good. http://www.mindmeister.com/
I was a huge MindManger fan for years, but it’s support for Word export in their Mac version was sorely lacking. I switched to MindView because of the Word export functions. Yeah a hefty price tag for sure, but exporting to Word was essential to my workflow. I hope they keep developing it, there hasn’t been an update in a very long time.
You should check PersonalBrain out, it’s awesome app. http://www.thebrain.com/
I use Spinscape, it’s web based platform independent. Looking forward to their sophomore version coming out this winter … http://www.spinscape.com
I too use MindView and found the price relevant to the feature list. It a multiple views for communicationa and the MS Office integration cannot be touched.
Love it!
My vote is for MindNode Pro. Easy to use, great to look at, does everything I want it to.
MindManager 8 now has an iPhone companion app, simply called Mindjet, that currently sells for $7.99.
How can you talk about mind mapping and not mention omnigroup’s omnigraffle pro?
Try mind42.com and tell me what you think….
XMind is great. Nearly the same like MindManager for PC – but Open Source.
yes, and XMind is also cross platform.
I’ve been using FreeMind for some time now, and surely it feels like from the last decade. Have checked out the free version of MindNode to find out that you cannot expand/collapse nodes, have nodes with several lines of text, and create URLs – things that I am used to in FreeMind. Those features work with the paid version, but for me it will be the trash bin for MindNode.
XMind seem to support those features in the free version.
It’s crazy that you didn’t list Omni Graffle. It’s one of my favs
Another vote for Mind Meister here – I work in a multi OS workplace, so having a browser based mind mapping solution is perfect. The features are so good you don’t notice you’re working with a web app – which I guess is the best thing you can say about any web app.
I like Tinderbox for combined notes and mindmapping functionality.
I prefer a pen and paper for mind mapping.
I found another program called Personal Brain – just as good as pen and paper in my view.
There a lot of cool stuff to help me for my mac.
I found another program called Personal Brain, is it possible for you to review it?