I’ve used interactive, online tools like Google Spreadsheets often, but I’m about to start a little exercise with a colleague and we’re looking for an online brainstorming / mindmapping tool.
I’m looking for something which :

  • is free
  • allows multiple people to access the same map at the same time across the internet
  • allows notes, sketches and links (I like to scribble as well as mindmap tidily)
  • can be rendered into a general format, such as a PDF, for printing and using elsewhere
  • simple and stable

We’ve got a list of possibles, and I’m taking a quick look to see which are worth trying. Bubbl.us is the only one I’ve used before, and it was still in a very early state.

  • Thinkature Ticks the boxes, particularly the free form drawing and pictures, and has chat facilities, but seems very slow.
  • Mindmeister 30 day free trail, after which you can sign up for the Premium edition for $4 per month. Integrates with Skype. easy to use, and can export to pdf and various other tools
  • Gliffy more of a general diagramming tool, and more fuss to bring people in to collaborate. Ads in the diagrams on the free edition
  • Kayuda Looks likely, but doesn’t render well on my screen
  • Bubbl.us diagramming isn’t conventional mind-mapping, just joined bubbles. no way to put anything else into the diagram. Free, and can export to html, xml or image formats
  • Mindomo Free version is limited in number of maps, but only $6 per month to upgrade. Very smooth mapping, and rich diagrams can be created. No brainstorming mode.

For the moment, MindMeister looks to be the best, so I think we’ll try that. If it doesn’t work, there are a few more to look at.

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