TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

Autodesk 3ds Max vs. OmniGraffle vs. Microsoft Visio

Save this comparison

Save this comparison

Add Product

Recommended Comparisons

    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Autodesk 3ds Max

    Score9 out of 10
    N/AAutodesk offers 3ds Max, 3D modeling and rendering software for design visualization, games, and animation. The vendor states that users can produce professional-quality 3D animations, renders, and models with an efficient and flexible toolset to help create better 3D content in less time.

    $235

    per month per user

    OmniGraffle

    Score9.8 out of 10
    N/AOmniGraffle is a wireframing tool for Mac users.N/A

    Microsoft Visio

    Score7.8 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft offers Visio, a diagramming tool for building flowcharts, diagrams (e.g. network diagrams), org charts and floor plans, available online as a subscription and also in enterprise level packages (e.g. Visio Professional).

    $5

    per month per user

    Pricing
    Autodesk 3ds MaxOmniGraffleMicrosoft Visio
    Editions & Modules
    Monthly Subscription
    $235
    per month per user
    Yearly Subscription
    $1875
    per year per user
    3-Year Subscription
    $5625
    3 years per user
    No answers on this topic
    Visio Plan 1
    $5.00
    per month per user
    Visio Plan 2
    $15.00
    per month per user
    Visio Standard 2024
    $309.99
    one-time fee On-premises diagramming solution, licensed for one PC
    Visio Professional 2024
    $579.99
    one-time fee On-premises diagramming solution, licensed for one PC
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Autodesk 3ds MaxOmniGraffleMicrosoft Visio
    Free Trial
    YesNoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsFlex pricing available for limited usage. Minimum plan $300 for 100 tokens. 3ds Max costs 6 tokens per day.——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Autodesk 3ds MaxOmniGraffleMicrosoft Visio
    Considered Multiple Products
    Autodesk
    No answer on this topic
    The Omni Group
    Chose OmniGraffle
    OmniGraffle has a standard and "Pro" version just like Microsoft Visio does.
    OmniGraffle works exclusively on Macs, while Visio can run on both Windows and OS X.
    I probably would be using Visio today if I did not have a Mac background. Even in my past job where I supported …
    Incentivized
    Chose OmniGraffle
    OmniGraffle is a solid Mac based Visio with much added functionality specific to wireframe designs. The libraries, although somewhat out of date, allow rapid designs with low fidelity, exactly what you want in wire frames. We use Sketch increasingly to handle the layout of the …
    Incentivized
    Chose OmniGraffle
    While these other tools are great for what they are, OmniGraffle’s solid focus on and support for diagramming makes it our tool of choice for communicating workflows and concept relationships, creating documentation, and creating other diagrams. Its libraries allow us to create …
    Incentivized
    Chose OmniGraffle
    Because we're primarily a Mac shop, Visio was a non-starter. (It's monstrously complex compared to OmniGraffle, which works against the quick-and-dirty just-enough-documentation ideal common on agile teams.) We've used draw.io on internal projects and when coordinating with …
    Incentivized
    Chose OmniGraffle
    Stands ahead of the competition; native compatibility and robustness of solution make it the tool of choice. OmniGraffle's price and level of functionality surpass the alternatives.
    Incentivized
    Microsoft
    Chose Microsoft Visio
    Some comparable products I have used to complete similar tasks would be Microsoft Powerpoint and Adobe Illustrator. Although both of these are very great programs in their own right, I would say Microsoft Visio is still the best to use, specifically when wanting to create …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    92%
    Would buy again
    12 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    90%
    Would buy again
    54 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    83%
    Delivers good value for the price
    10 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    53 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    13 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    93%
    Happy with the feature set
    56 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    9 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    97%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    36 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    11 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    97%
    Implementation went as expected
    36 Answers
    Best Alternatives
    Autodesk 3ds MaxOmniGraffleMicrosoft Visio
    Small Businesses
    Autodesk Maya
    Score8.4 out of 10
    Creately
    Score8.6 out of 10
    OmniGraffle
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Navisworks
    Score9.1 out of 10
    SmartDraw
    Score8.4 out of 10
    OmniGraffle
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Navisworks
    Score9.1 out of 10
    SmartDraw
    Score8.4 out of 10
    OmniGraffle
    Score9.8 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Autodesk 3ds MaxOmniGraffleMicrosoft Visio
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.5
    (13 ratings)
    10.0
    (18 ratings)
    8.1
    (79 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Usability
    9.3
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.8
    (14 ratings)
    Support Rating
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    7.3
    (14 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Autodesk 3ds MaxOmniGraffleMicrosoft Visio
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Autodesk
    For print media for marketing and for 3d animations for web spots and TV ads/movies/programs. It is less suited for quick 3d graphics or images that you get from AI image programs, but it is much more powerful than most AI image programs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Omni Group
    Omnigraffle is great for documentation, mapping, flowcharting, and other technical diagramming scenarios. It's simple enough to bang out a quick illustration and powerful enough to build complex blueprints for complicated technical systems. If you need cross-platform compatibility, though, you're probably better off looking elsewhere. If you want complex integration with data sources (ala Visio's SQL Server integration for shape metadata), OmniGraffle also falls short — but those scenarios are few and far between in my experience.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Visio is by far and away the best tool that I have used to do Value Stream Mapping sessions with the warehouse I support. It has all of the shapes needed built in to be able to represent all areas of the processes. I also like how you are able to make the drawing as big as needed and when printing it out of Visio you have the ability to use the necessary paper size. The biggest complaint that I have with the software if how it can be cumbersome for non-Visio users (that is, people without a license in the orgnaization) to interact with the Visio Map. We normally have to dedicate one Visio SME to be able to make the changes that Process SME's find since they do not have access to the software.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Autodesk
    • 3ds Max includes some of the inbuild modifiers which can be very good in the case of beginners.
    • 3rd party Rendering support makes 3ds Max a powerful software for rendering out realistic images.
    • Autodesk 3ds max in comparison to its rivals is lightweight and fast, also the animation case also.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Omni Group
    • OmniGraffle is fairly simple to use, but the one thing I think it does best is working with curved lines, particularly if you are using some of the available arc templates. Drop an arc onto your page, then tell it the dimensions it needs to be, and viola! Done. Manipulating the arcs is as simple as clicking and dragging offset points.
    • OmniGraffle has also done an excellent job in stirring up the creative minds of many people who create templates and tools to work with OmniGraffle (not that Microsoft hasn't done so either), and managed to get the bulk of those into well organized repositories.
    • What it all boils down to for me is: it just works. One doesn't need to have a computer science degree to work with it either. It is as simple or complex as you want it to be.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Microsoft Visio is excellent for organizing thought processes related to our more complex research.
    • The diagrams created with Microsoft Visio are ideal for graphically displaying the internal organization of work and research groups through flow diagrams.
    • Microsoft Visio is a great tool for managing our students' activities by creating flowcharts that help us graphically visualize the steps of their group work.
    Read full review
    Cons
    Autodesk
    • working in 2d is very frustrating and unreliable. It just lacks the precision
    • How scaling affects units (or doesn't) There needs to be a way for modifiers to address a change of scale in the object.
    • Booleans are not intuitive. Especially for architecture, creating an opening and putting a door or a window is an incredibly cumbersome process.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Omni Group
    • I'd love to be able to keep more than one of the different tool tabs open at a time.
    • The stencils are amazing. Would be great if a whole lot more of the free ones came standard as opposed to having to download them from Graffletopia or other sites.
    • Built in tutorials would be great.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • When navigating through swim lanes, the user must be careful between switching from the point to the connection features as it can be difficult to remember which mode you’re in.
    • When drawing “decision points,” it can be difficult to type words like “yes” or “no” between the connection lines.
    • The exporting options aren’t ideal. They are hard to create in PDF format.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Autodesk
    It satisfies 95% of my 3d visualization need. The left over 5% is handled by a few other programs. If Max just can't perform a specific task I can do that elsewhere and then bring it back to Max to finish up. But, it's rare that this occurs in my work
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Omni Group
    Best product for my needs on the market
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    We use Microsoft Visio to keep our diagrams updated and to that end we will need the subscription to keep using the software. Otherwise we will be left with PDF versions of the diagrams.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Autodesk
    It is a very difficult program to learn to use and even harder to use well. But once you get to using it it is a great software package to know how to use. Getting to be good at using it takes lots of use.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Omni Group
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    I have always struggled with some basics, such as connection points, object alignment, font consistency, arranging layers and their order (bring forward, send backward), and managing overlap. I usually need to create an initial rough draft and then do a separate cleanup pass to bring the diagram up to my quality standards. If I skip that step, the result generally does not look very good. And once a diagram becomes busy or the file gets large, Visio has been unstable for me in the past, including occasional crashes that caused non-recoverable edits.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Autodesk
    I have contacted support many times and have had a good experience. They have always been helpful
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Omni Group
    OmniGraffle is an excellent application for chart and diagrams development. Been using it for a while now and it's a multiple platform application.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Overall, I feel that Microsoft's support is weak. They are now such a behemoth that their model of putting documentation online for their users to sift through is totally outgrown. Given the amount of money you pay for these licenses, Microsoft should provide easy one-on-one support for their products via email or chat. The idea of paying their rates for support incidents is ridiculous. If you have an enormous amount of time on your hands, use their support websites and you will eventually find a solution most of the time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Autodesk
    Sketch-up week to be vertically integrated to produce concept all the way to high-end render, an animation (effects, particles, soft-body, etc..) All 3 other softwares are fully capable, it just comes down to what software an operator is most familiar with and if it works in the production pipeline for the client.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Omni Group
    While these other tools are great for what they are, OmniGraffle’s solid focus on and support for diagramming makes it our tool of choice for communicating workflows and concept relationships, creating documentation, and creating other diagrams. Its libraries allow us to create designs quickly, and its ease of use enables us to use the tool widely across the company without much time or effort spent on onboarding.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Even though it’s a more expensive solution, Vizio is built for the enterprise. Therefore, it integrates perfectly with our existing Microsoft stack, and quite frankly, because it’s such a more mature product, it provides exactly the functionality we need and expect.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Autodesk
    • 3ds Max has one of the best control tools that can help someone to sculpt almost anything. With the vertex tool and polyline edit function we can create almost any complex geometry.
    • Default rendering is equipped with almost everything that is needed for process, V-Ray for 3ds Max is the best 3rd party plugin for getting crisp renders.
    • The four view port tools for viewing the model helps from each and every angle. The moment and selection tools in the 3ds Max are quit easy to operate.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Omni Group
    • Omnigraffle isn't an expensive software tool, so there isn't really any negative from the perspective of raw cost. Thinking in terms of time spent using it on a project - what you create in omnigraffle will inevitably lead to a dead end. It's useful only as documentation. There are other tools like Sketch that integrate into prototyping software and can create useable visual assets for applications in addition to being able to create wireframes.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Reduces the amount of time I need to create process flow diagrams. In the past I would use Powerpoint or Word which required a lot more effort and time and never looked as good. Visio just takes that headache away.
    • Only negative is that I personally believe it should always have been part and parcel of the Office suite, thus giving more users the opportunity to use it rather than specifically having to justify its separate purchase within our organisation. Different now with Office 365 of course!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots