draw.io vs. Whimsical

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
draw.io
Score 7.3 out of 10
N/A
draw.io is an online diagramming tool with integrations with Jira, Google, and Confluence available free online or at cost depending on integration chosen.
$5
per month
Whimsical
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
Whimsical is a visual workspace application from the company of the same name in Denver, allowing users to create collaborative wireframes, mindmaps, flowcharts, and sticky notes.
$12
per month per editor
Pricing
draw.ioWhimsical
Editions & Modules
Up to 10 Users
$5
per month
Up to 20 Users
$11
per month
Up to 50 Users
$27.50
per month
Up to 75 Users
$41.25
per month
Up to 100 Users
$55
per month
Up to 200 Users
$95
per month
Up to 500 Users
$152.50
per month
Up to 750 Users
$190
per month
Up to 1,000 Users
$227.50
per month
Up to 2,000 Users
$377.50
per month
Up to 5,000 Users
$827.50
per month
Up to 10,000
1,577.50
per month
Pro
$12
per month per editor
Business
$18
per month per editor
Enterprise
$240
per year per editor
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
draw.ioWhimsical
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details17% discount for annual billing on Pro and Business plans.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
draw.ioWhimsical
Considered Both Products
draw.io
Chose draw.io
Draw.io has better user interface compared to Visio. It has lot of features which aren't there is Visio.
Chose draw.io
Draw.io is totally free and it has most of the features a commercial product like Visio would have, so I think it is a go-to. It has good integration with Google Drive and it can export to a variety of files. You are not constrained by some commercial proprietary file format. …
Chose draw.io
Draw.io has the basic features that allows you to create great diagrams. It's main difference to MS Visio is that Draw.io is free and it doesn't require client installation.
On the other hand, MS Visio is a more complete tool with a lot of extra functions.
My advice is to try …
Chose draw.io
I used Visio on other occasions, and it worked fine, but it was also relatively expensive. I switched over to draw.io because it did all I needed to do but was free. I'm sure there are other programs like it, but draw.io was the first one that I came across, and I liked it, so …
Chose draw.io
draw.io blows all other options out of the water. With the price being free, the amount of icons/templates it has, etc. - it's better than anything else that is out there!
Chose draw.io
Both of them are pretty good on the same level, but draw.io felt more fluid to use than LucidChart. Lucid had a clunky interface for our taste, and Draw.io has a better user experience with respect to usability. It's a pretty compelling reason for us to switch to Draw.io from …
Chose draw.io
Draw.io is a free online diagram drawing application for workflow, BPM, org charts, UML, ER, network diagrams. No login or registration are required and features include the ability to save locally (including svg), a range of stencils, .vsdx, Lucidchart and Gliffy import and …
Chose draw.io
Our organization selected Draw.io over other products due to cost savings and its seamless integration with Confluence. Draw.io seems to be an industry leader if you want simple, effective and low organizational training in a product. This is quick to deploy, use, and get …
Chose draw.io
UXPin and Invision are great applications to use to prototype and create working designs for web development projects. However, they both require some payment from your end as well as design knowledge to validate the financial investment. Draw.io is easy to use, free and …
Chose draw.io
I found draw.io right when I was getting tired of using Visio. It has lots of freedom and flexibility.
Chose draw.io
I found the DRAW.IO to be more efficient and easy to use. It allows me to make quick edits and diagrams as my job requires. Competitor software is good too, however, for me, it was more complicated. Its a diagram, there is no need for it to be too complicated.
Chose draw.io
I find Draw.io to be a happy medium between the options available. It doesn't quite offer the flexibility and power of XMind or Visio, but it lives in the cloud and doesn't require software installations or similar hassles. The main contenders in my mind ended up being …
Chose draw.io
It is positioned very well against its competitors, but what really makes it better is that it is very fast and is available all the time, you only use a browser and good internet speed.
Chose draw.io
Similar to PowerPoint and Keynote only designed specifically for diagramming
Chose draw.io
Draw.io is a solid, no-additional-cost (included with G-Suite) substitute for Omnigraffle for our use case. The client can view and collaborate on documents produced with draw.io without us having to go through an export process, or the client having to own an additional piece …
Whimsical
Chose Whimsical
Clickup's mind mapping tool was very basic and hard to use from my perspective. Whimsical was by far easier and did what I wanted for a SaaS/cloud-based mind mapping tool. Xmind is fine as a desktop app, but updating the app was a pain whereas, with Whimsical I don't have to …
Chose Whimsical
Miro has a slight edge in UI but Whimsical is not far behind.
Chose Whimsical
Whimsical is so much easier and has a better interface, so I think it's more suited to our workflow if compared to other tools like Google Charts. I really love this tool and I'm looking to learn and use it even more, as it helps us optimize our time, planning, and delivering …
Chose Whimsical
Whimsical is much easier to learn than Lucidchart. We had coworkers up and running on Whimsical with little to no training. It's intuitive and just makes sense and it never freezes or times out, unlike some other tools we've used in the past. The monthly cost is also …
Chose Whimsical
I like the wireframing/web mockups a little better in Whimsical. I still do use Miro for some other uses (simple sprints/onboarding exercises).
Chose Whimsical
Whimsical nails early stage project exploration. Whether it’s mapping, wire-framing, or simply whiteboard collaboration, Whimsical provide a flexible toolset that puts you and your team in the correct mindset to explore ideas without feeling committed to a specific direction. …
Chose Whimsical
I've tried a few different services similar to Whimsical, and like the simplicity of Whimsical - as it's very easy to learn how to use and begin creating. The price is also better than a lot of competitors. There are quite a few options for creating wireframes, flowcharts and …
Chose Whimsical
Whimsical has a flexible interface and a more cost-friendly plan than Lucidchart. Whimsical allows you all the room to create whatever comes to mind in one space, whereas with other products, you have to create a separate document to use the different functions. Other apps like …
Chose Whimsical
Whimsical is simpler and easier to use than InVision. Not as many design capabilities, but much better interface.
Best Alternatives
draw.ioWhimsical
Small Businesses
OmniGraffle
OmniGraffle
Score 9.1 out of 10
Stackby
Stackby
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Cvent Event Diagramming
Cvent Event Diagramming
Score 9.5 out of 10
InEight
InEight
Score 8.3 out of 10
Enterprises
Cvent Event Diagramming
Cvent Event Diagramming
Score 9.5 out of 10
InEight
InEight
Score 8.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
draw.ioWhimsical
Likelihood to Recommend
8.4
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.8
(0 ratings)
5.7
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
draw.ioWhimsical
Likelihood to Recommend
If you need to create a diagram in the cloud, I haven't found a better tool yet. If you need further customizability or export options not offered, then a larger tool might make more sense, but wherever Draw.io can fit in, I think it's the ideal solution.
Read full review
It's extremely well-suited for rapid wire-framing of concepts, as product teams can quickly collaborate on any idea and create a visual blueprint of it. Whimsical could provide more intuitive feature prioritization templates. The current templates lack the necessary detail and could be further enhanced from a UI/UX standpoint.
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Pros
  • Easily produces good quality diagrams
  • Has a rich set of predefined shapes for all sorts of different diagramming needs
  • Allows grouping of shapes
  • Smart connectors
  • Integrates with Google Drive
  • Conveniently exports to a variety of formats
  • Allows for collaborative development of diagrams
Read full review
  • Simple to use
  • Tons of uses
  • Can be customized with themeing
  • Can organize all your boards pretty much however you want
Read full review
Cons
  • One element that was hard to use was converting pre-existing drawings and workflows from Gliffy to Draw.io once our company made the change. While we were able to complete the migration, when going back we noticed, oftentimes, some formatting and dependencies did not make it or were not compatible.
  • While the template repository is vast, it has a heavy focus on network style maps. It would be ideal for added diversity in the templates with a focus on workflows just as much.
  • While the integrations are strong, the cloud collaborative environment could still use some work. While you can save and edit in the cloud. Group editing and live dynamic sharing/editing similar to Microsoft office are still missing.
  • Draw.io could add some version control functionality for ease of rollback, auditing, & comparison.
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  • It can be a little frustrating trying to line things up exactly right but that's probably more user error than anything
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Usability
No answers on this topic
Whimsical is overall very easy to learn and remember. One issue with the usability occurs when you attempt to move connected boxes around the workspace. Frequently connections break or do not add easily, causing further disconnects. You can manually fix these issues, but it's a oprobem that seems would have an easy fix
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Support Rating
The support for draw.io is pretty decent, considering it is a free website. I had a question one time when I was trying to do something, so I sent an email to their support email and got a response fairly quickly with an answer to my question. They also have some excellent support tools on their support website for helping you get more familiar with their program, and I found that very helpful.
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I reached out to support, as I was interested in possibly investing in the organization, and they quickly and happily informed me they are a bootstrap organization and do not take on investors at this time. The swift response and information readily available for my consumption was extremely helpful and shows how solid the team behind it is.
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Alternatives Considered
Draw.io is a free online diagram drawing application for workflow, BPM, org charts, UML, ER, network diagrams. No login or registration are required and features include the ability to save locally (including svg), a range of stencils, .vsdx, Lucidchart and Gliffy import and real time diagram sharing. When I compare draw.io to Lucidchart, it's natural that the first point of comparison will be templates. Lucidchart provides many more templates for both beginners and professionals than draw.io but draw.io has all the essential tools and templates for both business professionals and students (engineering drawing, floor plans, etc). Lucidchart lets you import all the three Microsoft Visio formats — .vdx, .vsd, and .vsdx as well as diagrams from Gliffy, Draw.io, and Omnigraffle. Draw.io lets you import Google Drive, Dropbox, Trello, Gliffy and GitHub. Overall, if you plan to make simple drawings, Draw.io is perhaps the best tool for you. All you need is a Google account to upload and save documents. If you can live with the three documents and sixty objects rule of Lucidchart, you may want to give it a try instead.
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ClickUp's mind mapping tool was very basic and hard to use from my perspective. Whimsical was by far easier and did what I wanted for a SaaS/cloud-based mind mapping tool. Xmind is fine as a desktop app, but updating the app was a pain whereas, with Whimsical I don't have to worry about that. Also, I wanted to continue working on a mind map wherever I was, even if I didn't have my laptop or device with me and Whimsical allows me to do that.
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Return on Investment
  • draw.io has surely impacted our organization positively by saving some crucial time.
  • It has not really impacted much monetarily to be honest.
  • The ROI we got from draw.io is that it has made complex things clear for everyone in our organization.
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  • We've been using free version, so it's a no brainer.
  • As it helps us focus on the information organization process, we don't lose time redoing work due to the lack of planning before doing design or code.
  • We can collaborate on the same project, so it's easier to get things done as we're working from home as well.
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ScreenShots