SmartDraw Alternatives for Diagrams, Flowcharts and Floor Plans

SmartDraw is still sold and updated. The company has made diagram software since 1994, and the current product runs in the browser at app.smartdraw.com, with AI that builds a diagram from a prompt, scaled floor plans, org charts, flowcharts and Jira import for agile planning.

Every plan is billed yearly. SmartDraw prices Individual at $7.95 a month and Team at $6.95 per user a month with three users minimum, both marked as introductory prices for new customers next to a crossed-out $10.95. Enterprise adds SSO and a customer success manager at a quoted price. The annual-only billing is a repeated complaint in Capterra reviews, alongside weak 3D and slow search in the symbol library. The seven picks below start with the closest diagram editors and end with whiteboards.

Prices below are as of November 8, 2026. Our method is on How we review tools.

Quick comparison

Lucidchart

Lucidchart is the browser diagram tool most SmartDraw buyers end up comparing against. It covers the same ground: flowcharts, org charts, network diagrams and process maps, with documents shared from one account.

The main practical difference is the free plan. SmartDraw has no free plan, while Lucidchart lets you keep three editable documents with up to 60 shapes each. The paid Individual plan removes the document and shape caps and adds 1 GB of storage. Team and Enterprise plans are priced per user.

Best for: Teams that want SmartDraw-style templates with live co-editing and a free entry point.

Pricing:

• Free: 3 editable documents, 60 shapes per document, 100 basic templates
• Individual: from $9 a month, unlimited documents and shapes, 1 GB storage
• Team and Enterprise: priced per user

Watch out for:

• Three editable documents fill up fast. A fourth chart means archiving one or upgrading, per the Lucidchart plans page.

Official site: Lucidchart.

Microsoft Visio

Visio is the file format SmartDraw itself courts: SmartDraw publishes a guide for Visio users, and a Capterra reviewer noted that its Visio import is not a full conversion. If clients or IT send you .vsdx files, working in Visio removes that step.

Microsoft sells it in two tiers. Plan 1 is the web app only. Plan 2 adds the desktop app with offline work and local files. Some Microsoft 365 business plans already include basic Visio in the browser, so check your tenant before buying.

Best for: Offices on Microsoft 365 that exchange Visio files with other companies.

Pricing:

• Visio in Microsoft 365: included with eligible commercial plans
• Plan 1: $5 per user a month, paid yearly, web app only
• Plan 2: $15 per user a month, paid yearly, web and desktop apps
• 30-day trial with a work or school account and a card

Watch out for:

• Mac users get only the web app. Microsoft support confirms there is no Visio desktop app for macOS.
• A personal Microsoft account cannot start the trial.

Official site: Microsoft Visio.

draw.io

Free is the whole pricing model here. draw.io has no paid tier for the web or desktop app, and no account is needed: you save diagrams to your own device, Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox or GitHub.

Desktop builds exist for Windows, macOS and Linux, and version 32.6.10 shipped in early November 2026. It opens Visio and Gliffy files, which helps if you export SmartDraw work to .vsdx first. Teams on Confluence or Jira can buy the separate Atlassian Marketplace app.

Best for: Anyone who wants a capable diagram editor at no cost, including offline on Linux.

Pricing:

• Web and desktop apps: free, no paid tier
• Confluence and Jira apps: sold separately on the Atlassian Marketplace

Watch out for:

• There is no shared workspace with folders, roles and admin controls like SmartDraw Team. Sharing depends on the cloud drive you save to, as the draw.io site describes.
• The default shapes look plain, so client-facing charts need manual styling.

Official site: draw.io.

Creately

Per seat, Creately undercuts SmartDraw Team. Pro is $5 per editor a month on yearly billing, against SmartDraw's $6.95 per user with a three-seat floor, and a single person can buy one Pro seat.

It goes past static drawings: shapes can hold data fields, and the same canvas works for org charts, process maps and planning boards. The plan lineup changed in October 2026, when Starter and Team were retired and Team became Pro. Our Creately alternatives page covers it in more depth.

Best for: Small teams that want low per-editor pricing and data-linked shapes.

Pricing:

• Free: 45 shapes per diagram
• Pro: $5 per editor a month, billed yearly
• Business: $89 a month billed yearly, or $149 billed monthly
• Enterprise: custom annual agreement

Watch out for:

• A Capterra review from February 2, 2026 reports lag on large, complex diagrams, and the Creately reviews rate the mobile experience below desktop.

Official site: Creately.

Gliffy

Gliffy lives inside Confluence. Diagrams sit on the wiki page they explain, which fits engineering and IT teams that keep their documentation there.

Small sites pay nothing: it is free up to 10 Confluence users. Above that, Gliffy charges per user on the whole Confluence site. A Zero Egress edition keeps diagram data inside Atlassian, and Data Center customers buy perpetual licences.

Best for: Confluence teams that want diagrams embedded next to their docs.

Pricing:

• Confluence Cloud: free up to 10 users; $3.80 per user a month for 11 to 100 users, billed annually
• Zero Egress edition: as low as $2.80 a month for 1 to 100 users
• Data Center: perpetual licences on the Atlassian Marketplace
• 30-day evaluation

Watch out for:

• The per-user fee covers every Confluence user on the site, not only the people who draw, per the Gliffy pricing page.
• Outside Confluence it is a weaker buy, and Gliffy Online is priced on request.

Official site: Gliffy.

Miro

Miro is a whiteboard first. Sticky notes, voting, timers and templates for retros and workshops sit next to flowchart and diagram shapes, so it suits meetings where a SmartDraw chart is only one part of the session.

Starter and Business are billed per member each year, and Enterprise starts at 30 members. For a team that already pays for Miro, adding diagrams there costs nothing extra.

Best for: Teams that run workshops and want diagrams on the same board.

Pricing:

• Free: 3 editable boards
• Starter: $8 per member a month, billed yearly
• Business: $20 per member a month, billed yearly
• Enterprise: custom, from 30 members

Watch out for:

• Only the three most recent boards stay editable on the free plan, according to the Miro pricing page.
• There are no scaled floor plans with real dimensions, one of the things SmartDraw does well.

Official site: Miro.

Whimsical

Speed is the reason to pick Whimsical. Flowcharts, mind maps, wireframes and docs share one workspace, which suits product managers sketching a user flow before a meeting.

It runs in the browser and has a far smaller shape set than SmartDraw. Pro and Business are priced per editor, and the free plan works as a trial rather than a long-term home.

Best for: Product teams that sketch flows and wireframes more than formal diagrams.

Pricing:

• Free: 50 board objects and 50 doc blocks a month, watermarked exports, 7-day version history
• Pro: $10 per editor a month, billed yearly
• Business: $20 per editor a month, billed yearly

Watch out for:

• The free plan caps you at 50 board objects a month and watermarks exports, per the Whimsical pricing page.
• No floor plan, network or engineering shape libraries.

Official site: Whimsical.

How to choose

When to stay with SmartDraw

Stay with SmartDraw if you draw scaled floor plans, office layouts or site plans, because none of the browser tools here handle real dimensions as directly. It also makes sense for a team of three or more at the introductory $6.95 per user a month, which is cheaper than Lucidchart team seats or Miro Business. Note the renewal price before you sign: the regular SmartDraw rate is $10.95.

Frequently asked questions