MindMeister Review 2023: Is It Worth It?

In this MindMeister Review, take a closer look at the functionality and project planning tools this app brings and how they can help improve your workflow.

Created in 2007 as an offshoot of the company, Meister, MindMeister is a powerful and versatile cross-platform brainstorming and mind mapping tool. If you are a “visual person” and love having your ideas and development plans within easy view at all times, MindMeister can help with that. You’ll not only be able to create to-do lists and website planning sheets, but can also arrange team assignments, share the workspace online or via mobile such as Android and iOS, and create email reminders for tasks.

According to their website, MindMeister is used by over 14 million people around the world to help them brainstorm ideas, plan projects, and organize notes in a format that is easy to view and edit. It helps by mind-mapping your ideas and creative plans and storing them in an easy to share digital format online. From students to business professionals, MindMeister has a range of powerful features and versatile tools that can get your projects organized and arranged for easy editing on the fly.

While MindMeister is an extremely powerful tool on its own for its targeted audience, the company also offers MeisterTask to take your task management to a new level. Previous users of MindMeister have said that MeisterTask integrates exceptionally well and together the two apps create an unstoppable mix of brainstorming, mind mapping, and project planning notes between small teams or entire companies.

Learn more about this app from our MindMeister Review below.

What is MindMeister?

MindMeister gives you the freedom to create a wide range of mind maps to suit your needs. Whether you are an educator, a student, or a business professional, the drag-and-drop editor MindMeister offers can help you provide organized and detailed visual plans and ideas to viewers across multiple platforms.

For students or adults with learning disabilities or issues with remaining focused on their workflow, MindMeister can help users arrange their ideas visually which can make productivity and presentation of flowcharts much less stressful and more effective.

With so many different tools and features, it’s no wonder a wide range of young people and adults alike have turned to MindMeister when they want a bit of assistance in note-taking, creating, collaborating, and time-management on their various projects.

MindMeister Pricing

Now that you have seen the wide range of features and tools MindMeister can offer, the next concern you might have is the price. MindMeister has four different price scales. They each depend on how you plan to use the app.

To give it an initial trial and see if it can offer the tools and features you need, the Basic plan is free of cost. While this free version is quite limited, you will be able to try out the overall features and tools as you create up to three test mind maps. If you find that you like the features of the free plan and see that they can work for your planned project, there are three other paid version price plans you can consider.

The Personal Plan

This is MindMeister’s minor upgrade from the basic plan. It allows you to create unlimited mind maps, while the Basic plan was limited to three, and you will have full access to attach your own images and project-related documents. Once your mind map has been set up, you’ll be able to print it or export it as PDF docs or image files, as well as view it on the mobile app version with ease. This option will cost $4.99 per month.

The Pro Plan

If you are to the point where the personal plan is not offering as many collaboration options between your team as you would like, the Pro plan is a great step up from there. You’ll still have full access to all features and tools, and be able to create as many mind maps as you need, but sharing and collaboration between your team will be much easier with a range of additional export and sharing options. This option will cost $8.25 per user per month.

The Business Plan

When you are ready to take your brainstorming and mind mapping to an entirely new level, the Business plan can be just the option for you. It will offer everything the previous tiers had, in addition to a custom domain so your team can easily find your brainstorming projects. You’ll also fall in line for priority support from the MindMeister support team should you run into any issues. This option will cost $12.49 per user per month.

Unlike some other similar apps and software, MindMeister offers academic discounts for educators using their software. Additionally, if you are a small business, non-profit company or institution, you can also qualify for up to 30% in savings on any mind mapping or project management tools offered by Meister.

Collaboration, Sharing And History View

After you have created your mind map, collaborating with your team, co-workers or employees is extremely simple. MindMeister not only allows you to create a detailed visual panel showing your ideas, plans, goals, and more; but it also allows you to share the project with additional users and get their feedback in real-time.

If multiple individuals are working on the same project together, MindMeister’s History Mode helps you see what changes were made and when. This ensures everyone is on the same page and no one is left surprised by any changes. This also allows other users to comment on changes and explain whether they like them or not.

When presenting your ideas to the team or your superiors, you can easily integrate your brainstorming and mind map into slideshows on Google Slides or Microsoft Powerpoint. This gives you the freedom to adjust and present your personal map in the most effective way possible to get the results you want from your peers and superiors.

For sharing, MindMeister offers a huge range of options including PDF and Word Document exporting. You can also share ideas across different social media platforms including Twitter and Facebook. Additionally, for educators using this in a classroom setting, students will love the added features of calendar integration, public votes, and a robust emoji library to help get their opinions seen and heard.

Clean And Intuitive Interface

One of the biggest complaints with both mobile and desktop apps these days is that the interface is cluttered, non-intuitive, and difficult to learn. This is not the case with MindMeister; in fact, many users have been pleasantly surprised by how clean and modern the interface on this app is.

Each of the toolbars are arranged in such a way that you can easily access the collaboration tools you want without struggling. While it might take you a short amount of time to learn the placement of each tool, this learning curve is small and not frustrating at all.

Even on the mobile-friendly version of this app, you might think everything will be crammed into a tiny space and become a nightmare to select and use when you need it. MindMeister has really put an emphasis on having a clean and modern interface when it comes to how their interface looks across a variety of mobile devices and in the web browser.

Stylish Templates And Example Library

If you are new to the whole mind mapping app niche, MindMeister offers a range of templates to help guide you through your brainstorming and mapping session. You can choose to start with a blank canvas and fill it in yourself. If that option seems overwhelming, you can select a template that has many graphics and tools already in place for you to fill out and customize.

You’ll also be able to access a Google-based library of maps others have made public. This lets you browse over a wide range of different maps and may spark ideas for your own mind mapping design. In addition to seeing these public-made maps, you’ll also have access to video tutorials and keyboard shortcuts to help minimize the time you spend mapping and increase the time you spend collaborating with your team.

Support Options

The MindMeister website itself offers a Help Center which includes a range of detailed articles to get you started. These articles can cover everything from creating your first mind map, to advanced formatting techniques. You can also find a library of training courses and tutorial videos to give you more visual aid when starting out.

If more targeted assistance is needed, the MindMeister team is available for support via email. This email support is offered for any of their users, including their free trial users, all the way up to their top tier. However, those with a Business plan can receive priority support over the phone for times when waiting on email correspondence is too slow.

A Quick Look At MindMeister Software

While the MindMeister software is somewhat niche, it can be an exceptionally powerful app for its targeted audience. If you are a visual learner or use visual templates to make organizing and sharing projects easier, you are the exact audience this app is made for.

While other apps may offer similar features and a range of useful tools, MindMeister strives to go one step further when it comes to usefulness and ease of use for both beginners and experienced users alike.

• Tools: You’ll find a huge range of tools to help you get started with brainstorming and mind mapping, whether you are a first-timer or an old pro.
• Collaboration: MindMeister makes it easy for you to save and share projects across the cloud, which gives you full freedom in how and when you collaborate with team members.
• Interface: Extremely user-friendly, intuitive, modern, and clean; the tool and feature interface is easy to navigate on both desktop and mobile devices.
• Templates: If you are daunted by starting fresh, you can find a range of premade templates to help guide you in getting started with your own mind map.
• Examples: You’ll find a Google-based selection of examples created by other users to help spark ideas for your own mind map and brainstorming design.
• Support: Email support is the norm for this company unless you are part of their top tier subscription plan. In this case, priority phone support is available.

FAQs about MindMeister Review

Review Criteria

I took a close look at all of the features this app offers, as well as the numerous tools it has available on its interface. If they fell short in any particular area, or didn’t live up to the hype or promises, I scored the app a bit lower than I would have if they had met all of my expectations.

My goal with this full review is to ensure you can make an informed decision when it comes time to select the workflow and collaboration for your team or company.

Why You Can Trust Me

I have spent quite a bit of time testing a wide range of word related apps and software. My goal is to point out the areas they have done right, as well as the areas where they fall a bit short. I strive to be accurate and fair in my reviews so you can get a good idea of what features and tools may work for you and your needs.