Know any good Mind Mapping tools?

While Scapple is fine, I am looking for software that offers a bit more functionality. For my basic needs, MindNode has worked very well. Unfortunately, the new version, MindNode Next, is a complete disaster. Can anyone recommend something better? - Thanks.

I personally recommend Aeon Timeline. Yes, it is mainly a timeline tool, but their mind-nodes are really cool and detailed. Plus, Aeon works with Scrivener, which is another plus in my opinion.
However, If you really don’t need the timeline tool, I would go for Simplemind. Didn’t try it myself, but seen very positive reviews about it.
Hope it helps.

5 Likes

The one I use the most is yEd Graph (completely free), here: yEd - Graph Editor.
I highly recommend it! I think it is for creating XML files, but I use it for mindmapping as well. It’s a bit complicated to learn and takes some time getting used to, but it has a lot of functionalities. You can customize the shapes of the nodes with the images you want (if you add them), as well as customize the thickness and type of the connection lines and, maybe the best thing, you can arrange the nodes and connections automatically and completely unrestricted. It has a lot of options to choose the way you want to arrange it (hierarchical layout, circular, organic, tree, genealogical tree, etc) with different options for each one (for example, if you want the hierarchy to be from top to bottom, from left to right, from bottom to top, what distance to leave between nodes, etc.) and the program does it for you. Of course, you can arrange the nodes freely if you want.

1 Like

I moved to SimpleMind when MindNode went subscription. (To be fair, they didn’t abandon their paid users like Ulysses did, but the writing was on the wall, and it was clearly going to be a headache when I bought a new machine, so I ditched it as soon as I could.)

SimpleMind is more functionally rich than MindNode. I liked MindNode’s simplicity, so SimpleMind took some getting used to. I suppose it’s a bit like how some folk feel coming to Scrivener: there’s a lot of features, and it takes some time to learn which bits are useful to you personally, and which aren’t; but over time you kind of absorb the breadth of the thing and become comfortable with it. That said, doing the basics is easy.

They have a youtube channel.

2 Likes

Thank you very much for your time and for providing such a comprehensive and detailed answer. I’m going to test it; hopefully, it will work for me.

Thanks auxbuss, I appreciate your time and thorough response. I plan to try out the SimpleMind app soon. I prefer simple apps, so I hope this one isn’t too complicated. :slightly_smiling_face:

I moved from MindNode to Curio, and never looked back. The mind mapping is quite robust, but there is so much more to the app. I use it on everything now.

1 Like

Thanks. I’m going to look at that too.

doing a 30 day free trial of simplemind, used scapple for years. Is interesting and relatively simple, though documentation is not super robust.

1 Like

Been using Aeon Timeline for a couple of years now, it’s really good and the integration with Scrivener is very useful.

1 Like

Thanks. I’ve heard good things about AEON Timeline. After visiting their website, I’m interested in it. If it integrates with Scrivener and Ulysses, it would be sufficient for me. Could you tell me if you’ve had any trouble integrating it into Scrivener?