Pricing guide
What mind mapping software costs in 2026,
over the years you'll use it.
Fifteen tools, the cheapest plan one person can buy, and what it adds up to after one, three and five years — plus which ones still sell a licence you pay for once.
Use it free — no card, no trial →
- Free forever — not a trial
- Up to 10 maps, kept for good
- Every export included
Atlas Red is ours: Pro is $99 once. This page also says where that price loses.
Prices read 27 October 2026
We make one of these. Every price below was read from the vendor's own pricing page on 27 October 2026. Where a vendor shows euros, the dollar figure uses the ECB reference rate of that day (1 EUR = 1.115 USD). Where we could not confirm a number, we say so. Prices change — check the vendor before you buy.
The short answer
For one person, most mind mapping software costs $5 to $10 a month on annual billing. That is $60–120 a year, $180–360 over three years and $300–600 over five. Paying month to month usually costs 20–100% more.
The exceptions: Freeplane is free and open source. MindNode is $24.99 a year, on Apple devices only. A FigJam seat is $3 a month if you already use Figma. AI-first tools sit higher — MyMap.AI is $20 a month with no annual plan.
Of these fifteen, two still sell a licence you pay for once: MindManager ($369, desktop, no upgrades) and Atlas Red ($99, updates included). A few desktop apps outside this list do too — see below.
Fifteen tools, totalled over time
| Tool | Cheapest plan for one person | 1 year | 3 years | 5 years | $99 once is cheaper from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XMind | Pro, $4.92/mo billed yearly | $59 | $177 | $295 | Year 2 |
| MindMeister | Personal, €6/mo billed yearly, excl. VAT | $80 | $241 | $401 | Year 2 |
| Miro | Starter, $8/member/mo billed yearly | $96 | $288 | $480 | Year 2 |
| MindManager | Essentials (web), $99/yr | $99 | $297 | $495 | Year 2 |
| Mindomo | Premium, $7/mo billed yearly | $84 | $252 | $420 | Year 2 |
| Coggle | Awesome, $5/mo | $60 | $180 | $300 | Year 2 |
| Mapify | Basic, $5.99/mo billed yearly | $72 | $216 | $359 | Year 2 |
| Creately | Pro, $60/yr | $60 | $180 | $300 | Year 2 |
| Whimsical | Pro, $10/editor/mo billed yearly | $120 | $360 | $600 | Year 1 |
| Lucidchart | Individual, $9/mo, excl. VAT | $108 | $324 | $540 | Year 1 |
| Ayoa | Ultimate, €12/mo billed yearly | $161 | $482 | $803 | Year 1 |
| MyMap.AI | Pro, $20/mo (monthly only) | $226 | $706 | $1,186 | Year 1 |
| FigJam | Figma Collab seat, $3/mo billed yearly | $36 | $108 | $180 | Year 3 |
| MindNode | Plus, $24.99/yr (Apple only) | $25 | $75 | $125 | Year 4 |
| Freeplane | Free, open source — no paid tier | $0 | $0 | $0 | Never |
| Atlas Red | Pro, $99 once, updates included | $99 | $99 | $99 | — |
The cheapest plan one person can buy, on annual billing where offered, assuming no price rises. Euro prices converted at 1 EUR = 1.115 USD. MyMap.AI's first year includes a $5.90 first month. Coggle shows only a monthly price, so its total is 12 × $5. Read 27 October 2026.
Where paying once loses
A one-time price is not automatically the cheaper one. Against the table above, $99 once loses in these cases:
- In the first year. Most subscriptions cost $60–96 for year one. If you need a mind mapper for one project, a single year of XMind, Coggle or Creately is cheaper.
- Against MindNode until year four, and FigJam until year three. MindNode is $24.99 a year if you only use Apple devices; a FigJam seat is $36 a year if you already pay for Figma.
- Against Freeplane, always. It is free and open source. You trade a dated interface and no cloud for paying nothing.
- When AI is the main use. XMind Premium, Mapify, Mindomo and Miro include AI credits in the plan. Atlas Red sells AI import separately, as prepaid credits — the editor, export and the AI-assistant connection are not metered, but heavy AI import has its own cost.
- When several people edit the same map live. Miro, MindMeister and Whimsical charge per seat because they are built for that. Atlas Red shares maps read-only; it does not do live co-editing.
Who still sells a one-time licence
- Atlas Red Pro — $99 once. Includes future updates; no renewal, no expiry. The free edition is the same product with smaller limits (10 maps).
- MindManager — $369 perpetual. The desktop application, version 26. Its own feature table says the perpetual licence receives no upgrades. Enterprise perpetual licences are quote-only.
- XMind — business only. "Lifetime licenses" are mentioned for businesses, with no public price. Individuals subscribe.
- Ayoa — a three-year plan, not a licence. €5.75 a month billed every three years (€207). It is the cheapest way to buy Ayoa, but it renews.
- Freeplane — free. Open source under GPLv2, updated July 2026.
- Outside this comparison: SimpleMind Pro (bought per platform), EdrawMind / MindMaster and iMindQ also sell one-time licences. Read the terms before buying — some cover only the desktop app, not web or mobile, and some exclude major upgrades. We have not priced them here.
Tool by tool
XMind pricing xmind.com/pricing
Pro $4.92/mo billed yearly ($59.04 a year), or $10 month to month. Premium $8.25/mo billed yearly, or $15 monthly, adds 500 AI credits a month. Education: Pro $3.42, Premium $5.75 a month, yearly.
Free: 10 online maps and 50 AI credits, with a watermark and PNG-only export. No lifetime licence for individuals.
MindMeister pricing mindmeister.com/pricing
Personal €6, Pro €10, Business €15 per user per month, billed yearly, excluding VAT. Six-month billing is €7 for Personal; there is no month-to-month plan. Academic discounts exist, without published amounts.
Free: three maps, no file export.
Miro pricing miro.com/pricing
Starter $8 per member per month billed yearly, with 25 AI credits; Business $20. Free for accredited education institutions.
Free: three editable boards.
MindManager pricing mindmanager.com
Essentials (web) $99 a year, Professional $179 a year. A perpetual desktop licence is $369, without upgrades. US prices; the page shows regional prices including VAT elsewhere.
Free: no free plan, a trial only.
Mindomo pricing mindomo.com/pricing
Premium $7 (€6) a month billed yearly, with 50 AI credits a month; Professional $16 (€13.50). Student plans exist from about $5–6 a month.
Free: three diagrams, one AI credit.
Coggle pricing coggle.it
Awesome $5 a month; Organisation $8 per member. Coggle's terms mention yearly plans, but its pages show only the monthly price.
Free: three private diagrams plus unlimited public ones, with export included.
Whimsical pricing whimsical.com/pricing
Pro $10 per editor per month billed yearly ($12 monthly); Business $20.
Free: a small monthly allowance of board objects and doc blocks, with a watermark and 10 AI credits.
Mapify pricing mapify.so/pricing
Basic $5.99 a month billed yearly ($9.99 monthly), with 1,000 AI credits a month; Pro $11.99. 30% off for students and educators.
Free: 30 AI credits once, a handful of PDF and YouTube maps.
Creately pricing creately.com/plans
Pro $5 per editor per month, billed $60 a year ($8 monthly); Business $89 a month per organisation.
Free: up to 45 shapes per diagram.
Lucidchart pricing lucid.app/pricing
Individual $9 a month, excluding VAT; Team $10 per user.
Free: three editable documents, 75 shapes each.
Ayoa pricing ayoa.com/pricing
Ultimate €12 per user per month billed yearly (€16 monthly), or €5.75 a month on a three-year plan.
Free: 10 mind maps, no AI.
MyMap.AI pricing mymap.ai/pricing
Pro $20 a month, monthly only (first month $5.90); Max $100 a month.
Free: three maps and five credits a month, watermarked PNG.
FigJam pricing figma.com/pricing
Sold as a Figma Collab seat: $3 a month billed yearly on Professional ($5 monthly), $5 on Organization.
Free: included in Figma's Starter plan; its FigJam file limits are not stated on the pricing page.
MindNode pricing mindnode.com
Plus $24.99 a year or $2.99 a month. Now sold as MindNode Next; macOS and iOS only.
Free: basic mapping.
Freeplane pricing freeplane.org
Free and open source (GPLv2), version 1.13.3 from July 2026. Desktop only, no account, no cloud.
Atlas Red pricing atlas-red.com — ours
Pro $99 once, including future updates — no renewal, no expiry, 60-day money-back guarantee. Free is the same product with limits: 10 maps, 1,000 topics each, every export format.
AI import (photos, PDFs, documents, audio, YouTube) is the only metered part: every account starts with $1 of credit for 30 days, then prepaid packs that never expire. With Pro you can use your own model key instead, with no markup. The MCP server and the ChatGPT plugin are free and never metered.
Questions people ask
How much does mind mapping software cost?
For one person, usually $5 to $10 a month on annual billing — $60–120 a year, $180–360 over three years, $300–600 over five. Freeplane is free; MindNode is $24.99 a year on Apple devices; AI-first tools like MyMap.AI cost $20 a month.
Is there mind mapping software with a one-time purchase?
Yes. In this comparison: Atlas Red Pro is $99 once, with future updates, and MindManager sells a $369 perpetual desktop licence without upgrades. XMind offers lifetime licences to businesses only, unpriced, and Freeplane is free. Outside it, SimpleMind Pro, EdrawMind / MindMaster and iMindQ sell one-time desktop licences — check whether web, mobile and upgrades are included.
How much does XMind cost?
Pro is $4.92 a month billed yearly ($59.04) or $10 monthly; Premium is $8.25 a month yearly or $15 monthly, with 500 AI credits a month. The free plan has 10 online maps, a watermark and PNG-only export.
How much does MindMeister cost?
Personal €6, Pro €10, Business €15 per user per month, billed yearly, excluding VAT. No monthly plan. The free plan has three maps and no file export.
What is the cheapest mind mapping software?
Freeplane, at nothing. Among paid tools, MindNode ($24.99 a year, Apple only) and a FigJam seat ($3 a month, if you use Figma) are cheapest per year. From the fourth year, $99 once costs less than every subscription here.
What costs are easy to miss?
VAT, which several vendors exclude from the quoted price. Per-seat pricing, which multiplies by every editor. AI credits, included in some plans and sold separately in others. And export: a free tier that cannot export keeps your maps tied to the subscription.
How was this put together?
We make Atlas Red, so read this as an informed vendor's view. Each price was read from the vendor's own pricing page on 27 October 2026. Totals use the cheapest plan one person can buy, on annual billing where offered, with no price rises. Euro prices are converted at the ECB rate of that day.
Choosing on more than price? The best mind mapping software, compared · Atlas Red vs XMind · vs MindMeister · vs Miro. Two rivals head to head: XMind vs MindMeister · Miro vs XMind · Miro vs MindMeister · Coggle vs Miro.