MindMeister

Collaborative online mind mapping, free for three maps in total

As of 30 August 2026, MindMeister has a free plan and paid plans start at $6/month. Real-time collaborative mind maps with a presentation mode, from the makers of MeisterTask. Softwr lists it under Productivity.

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Overview

What MindMeister does

MindMeister is a browser-based mind mapping tool from Meister, an Austrian company that also makes the MeisterTask task manager. Maps are radial node trees built by keyboard or by dragging, editable by several people at once, with a presentation mode that walks through branches as if they were slides. There are iOS and Android apps alongside the browser version. The free plan allows three mind maps in total, with unlimited collaborators. Paid tiers lift that to unlimited maps and add attachments, version history, Microsoft-format export, custom branding, and at the top tier single sign-on and compliance export. The live collaborative editing is the genuine capability, and the handoff of branches into MeisterTask is the reason to prefer it over a general whiteboard. The commercial design is worth noticing though, because the free tier's boundary is unusually well placed. Three maps is not three months and not a feature restriction, it is a hard object cap, and since a mind map is a whole artefact rather than an item on a list, three is reached in a single afternoon of real use. The free plan is a demonstration rather than a tier anyone works on. It is bought by consultants, trainers, teachers, and product and marketing people who run workshops. The trade-off is export. The free plan cannot export files at all, Microsoft-format export starts at the middle tier and compliance export at the top, so retrieving your own work in a portable form is itself a paid feature. Even when you pay, what comes out is an image, a PDF or a document, none of which is an editable map another tool can open, so the maps themselves stay where they were made.

What people use it for

Running a live brainstorm with people in different places, where everyone edits the same map simultaneously.
Teaching or training where the map doubles as the slide deck through presentation mode.
Structuring a project or an argument visually before it becomes a document or a plan.
Teams already using MeisterTask who want ideas to become tasks without transcribing them.

The honest half

Where it falls short

Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about MindMeister.

The free plan allows three mind maps in total, and a map is a whole document rather than an item, so the cap is reached in a first afternoon of genuine use, making it a demonstration with no clock rather than a usable tier.
Exporting is a paid feature, since the free plan cannot export files at all, Microsoft-format export begins at the Pro tier and compliance export at Business, so retrieving your own work in a portable form costs more than the entry subscription.
Pricing is per user and a map's value comes from being seen, so an organisation pays the same rate for people who only read and comment on maps as for the few who actually build them.
Attachments are rationed by tier at two per map on the entry plan, so using a map as a project hub rather than a sketch pushes you to a higher tier for a limit that has nothing to do with mapping.
Single sign-on and the administrative controls an IT department requires sit on the Business tier and involve a sales conversation, which is where a tool adopted quietly by individuals becomes an organisational purchase at several times the entry price.

Cross-shopped

What people choose instead of MindMeister

Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.

MindMeistervs
FigJam
FigJam: Free online whiteboard for teams
MindMeistervs
Coggle
Coggle: Simple, Fast, and Powerful Mind Maps. Just Coggle it!
MindMeistervs
Milanote
Milanote: Get organized. Stay creative
MindMeistervs
MindManager
MindManager: Visualize your path to success

Pricing

What MindMeister costs

Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.

Free

3 mind maps
Unlimited collaborators
Templates
Presentations
Focus mode
Mobile apps

Personal

$6 /mo

Unlimited mind maps
2 attachments per map
7-day version history
Private maps
File exports
Print capability

Pro

$10 /mo

Unlimited attachments
Unlimited version history
Multiple admins
Google Workspace integration
Microsoft exports
Custom branding and color schemes

Business

$15 /mo

Group sharing
Compliance exports/backups
SAML SSO (contact sales)
Advanced settings
Automated access approval
Dedicated customer success manager

Capabilities

Features

Real-time collaboration
Several people editing one map at once, with unlimited collaborators even on free
Presentation mode
Turns branches into a walkthrough that can replace a slide deck
Free plan
Three mind maps in total, with no time limit
File export
A paid feature, with Microsoft formats arriving at the Pro tier
Attachments
Two per map on the entry paid plan, unlimited on Pro
Version history
Seven days on the entry plan and full history on Pro
MeisterTask handoff
Branches become tasks in the vendor's task manager without retyping
Custom branding
Themes and styling on the Pro tier
Single sign-on and compliance export
SAML and compliance features on the Business tier

Answered, with sources

Questions people ask

Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.

What does the free plan allow?

Three mind maps in total, with unlimited collaborators, templates and presentation mode. It does not include file export, so maps made on the free plan stay in the browser.

Can I export my maps?

On paid plans. The entry tier adds file export and printing, and Microsoft formats arrive at Pro. What comes out is an image, a PDF or a document, not an editable map another tool can open.

Does it work offline?

Treat it as needing a connection. If you are running a workshop somewhere with unreliable network, export or print what you need beforehand rather than relying on the browser.

How does it relate to MeisterTask?

Same vendor, separate products and separate licences. Map branches can be sent into MeisterTask as tasks, which is the main reason to prefer it over a general whiteboard tool.

Keep looking

Where to go from MindMeister

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Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for MindMeister, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.

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