Miro vs. Microsoft Visio

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Miro
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
Miro is a web-based Collaborative Whiteboard platform that provides teams with an infinite digital canvas for visual planning, diagramming, and workflow mapping. The platform integrates a spatial user interface with automated drawing tools and natural-language processing (NLP) to structure freeform ideas into defined project workflows and database schemas.
$0
Microsoft Visio
Score 7.8 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft 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
MiroMicrosoft Visio
Editions & Modules
1. Free - To discover what Miro can do. Always free
$0
2. Starter - Unlimited and private boards with essential features
$8
per month (billed annually) per user
3. Business - Scales collaboration with advanced features and security
$16
per month (billed annually) per user
4. Enterprise - For work across the entire organization, with support, security and control, to scale
contact sales
annual billing per user
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
MiroMicrosoft Visio
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional DetailsMonthly billing also available at $10 per month for the Starter plan, or $20 for the Business plan.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
MiroMicrosoft Visio
Considered Both Products
Miro
Chose Miro
I personally tested Microsoft Visio and Mural for the same work that we do now with Miro. These tools were good but were not offering all the features in the same place. Other than that these application felt like slow to me if we compare them with Miro that is why gave my …
Chose Miro
It was the tool available within the enterprise environment that is approved for use. Generally lower barrier to entry and requires less approval.
Chose Miro
Miro is simpler than Figma without sacrificing many features. It has also been much easier for me to share Miro boards with teammates who may not have Miro installed. With Figma, we'd often encounter issues when sharing a board with non-Figma users. Aside from getting signed up …
Chose Miro
More friendly to use, neat, more modern, more comprehensive, more easy and accessible, better interface, more templates etc
Chose Miro
not many to be honest, Miro is definitely leading its category
Chose Miro
Miro allows for more freedom when facilitating remote lessons and workshops that require lots of participant interaction and drawing diagrams. Other diagramming tools require learning how to use it. Same with design prototyping tools.
Chose Miro
Microsoft Powerpoint and Microsoft Excel
Chose Miro
We evaluated so many tools before jumping to Miro. Those tools would be Mural, Google Jamboard and Notions. Google Jamboard was easy to use but it was more suitable for basic brainstorming. Notion is excellent for documentation and knowledge management. Mural was a good choice …
Chose Miro
Miro is faster to enter as a free tier and good enough for freelancers or very small teams. Also, FigJam does not include a UI library like Miro. Whimsical is the closest competitor.
Chose Miro
There are many reasons and its different for each. FigJam provides excellent experience for design focused collaboration and it works particularly well since we are pretty invested in the Figma ecosystem.
Jira and Jira product discovery are valuable for tracking execution and …
Chose Miro
we had tried draw.io, figjam google whiteboard earlier as well so they work well for basic, but Miro is the easier and more functionality than these apps. in the Miro have the more feature like real time editing and team collaboration and remote team, so Miro is better …
Chose Miro
For me, it’s my go-to tool, and aside from the few use cases mentioned earlier I’ve been using nothing but Miro for a long time.

Pour moi c'est ma référence et hormis les quelques cas d'usage mentionnés précédemment, je n'utilise que Miro et depuis longtemps.
Chose Miro
Miro is well-suited to our organization, offering many features not available in the above-mentioned software. The above-mentioned software is not up to the mark compared to Miro, and Miro is better than Draw.io. So, we stopped using Draw.io and shifted to Miro.
Chose Miro
that was long time ago. Lots of game developers are familiar with Miro
Chose Miro
I have used Figma and an Excel sheet to brainstorm and create diagrams. Both are useful, but I found Miro to be more flexible when working with large groups and other types of projects. What I like most about Miro is that it brings all our tasks into a single workspace, like …
Chose Miro
Miro is far superior to Mural (and I used to be a heavy Mural user a few years ago). The rate of innovation at Miro has helped the product blow Mural out of the water.
Chose Miro
Miro stacks below Figma for me. I only selected Miro because that is what my company uses. However, I think they chose Miro over Figma because they are more interested in collaborative features than in the prototyping that Figma prioritizes. They also probably chose Miro …
Microsoft Visio
Chose Microsoft Visio
Most other drawing tools were vendor specific and did not cover anything more than their specific products. Saving and exporting for use with other programs were also a challenge or non existent. Trying to find products that covered physical as well as logical were hard to find …
Chose Microsoft Visio
Microsoft Visio is easier to use compared to the other one
Chose Microsoft Visio
Microsoft Visio is a desktop app, while the ones mentioned are browser native apps, starting from here both work differently. Microsoft Visio is a great app for any company whether small, medium or large since there are so many use cases for it, and you can provide individual …
Chose Microsoft Visio
SmartDraw was a program that I used at a prior company before we migrated to Visio. It was not nearly as intuitive to use, and even though it is advertised to be able to offer easy import and export to Visio, when I would export it to a Visio file format and share it with a …
Chose Microsoft Visio
Microsoft Visio stacks up against other tools, because it is a professional tool with standard icons and a nice template library for all my needs. The tool provides many diagrams for many engineering purposes, from simple flow charts to more complex diagrams. The usage of …
Chose Microsoft Visio
Microsoft Visio is familiar, drawings look better, easier to integrate with office
Chose Microsoft Visio
Microsoft Visio is somewhat more rigid that the other tools I mentioned, which can definitely be a good thing. Also the cross functional swim diagram in Microsoft Visio is more advanced.
Chose Microsoft Visio
Visio works offline and is the only way to send an editable copy to an external stakeholder. However, I find myself using an Online tool much more frequently due to the ease of use and ability to collaborate, including live drafting and co-creation during meetings. Overall, …
Chose Microsoft Visio
Microsoft Visio defaults to more professional looking diagrams and has a simpler UX/UI, however it lacks hugely on the collaboration and engineering design templates side of things.
Chose Microsoft Visio
Microsoft Visio is easier to use than MindManager from the user experience. Whilst MindManager is lightweight and supports the browser which make it great with sharing diagrams, its display with information is not always intuitive especially when it becomes too nested. For …
Chose Microsoft Visio
Cost benefit is significant with Microsoft Visio vs Miro, as it is included in the MS 365 Suite. While it has less capability overall than Miro, for flowcharts specifically it is great.
Chose Microsoft Visio
Microsoft Visio is a much more improved software. Its technological features are very advanced compared to the ones from other softwares. It makes it easy to create work of quality, to analyze and visualize any process or data and generate ideas of any kind. It is the easiest …
Chose Microsoft Visio
We still use Sketchup for certain things - especially where the library of existing elements and drawings can be more easily grabbed and manipulated for our needs. Vectorworks is used by some of our main clients, and for theatrical lighting it’s the best out there. We also have …
Chose Microsoft Visio
I have personally never used or evaluated other programs similar to Microsoft Visio. I started using it following an indication from a colleague who told me that our University distributes it free of charge to its users. Since I first used it (more or less three years ago), I …
Chose Microsoft Visio
Publisher is more generic and while it is able to do what we need, Microsoft Visio allows us to do the same thing using less time and higher accuracy with features like custom icon sets, ease of linking and maintaining links to denote work flows as well as scaling up without …
Chose Microsoft Visio
I feel like they all can play an important role in your organization's success but for those who are comfortable with the Microsoft suite of tools, I would choose Visio.
Chose Microsoft Visio
Other paid services have rather better aesthetics and template/graphic support compared to Visio. However, Visio is a clear winner being a part of the Microsoft family and the positives it brings along such as collaboration, service, etc.
Chose Microsoft Visio
MS visio has the advantange of having variety stencils across all the OEM, I create the visual reprenstation of exact network design
Chose Microsoft Visio
Visio is easier to use however a smart draw is a wonderful tool with some unique libraries. Visio, however, is a little easier to license, install and manage.
Chose Microsoft Visio
Chose it for the ease of use, the professionalism of the exported visuals, and the quick and easy learning curve. I personally use Adobe Illustrator for some of the more complex graphics needed, as I've been using that platform for years; but training contractors and clients …
Chose Microsoft Visio
We have used Lucid charts in the past, Lucid chart does the job well. Microsoft Visio has more templates and seamless integration with MS word and excel. Both of the software does the diagram and charting pretty well but Visio is costly in comparison to Lucid charts. If you …
Chose Microsoft Visio
Microsoft Visio is very user-friendly and has many options for the created to use in order to get to their final product. The tool helps to get complex ideas into a visual design, therefore making it easier for other team members to understand the message you are trying to …
Chose Microsoft Visio
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.
Chose Microsoft Visio
Well, I have more than 25 years of experience with all MS products since MS Windows was launched; the user interphase has changed to improve and accommodate the new feature requirements as they come along. Overall, MS Office is coming to have a single experience but separating …
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 …
Best Alternatives
MiroMicrosoft Visio
Small Businesses
Lucid Visual Collaboration Suite
Lucid Visual Collaboration Suite
Score 9.0 out of 10
OmniGraffle
OmniGraffle
Score 9.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Lucid Visual Collaboration Suite
Lucid Visual Collaboration Suite
Score 9.0 out of 10
OmniGraffle
OmniGraffle
Score 9.8 out of 10
Enterprises
Lucid Visual Collaboration Suite
Lucid Visual Collaboration Suite
Score 9.0 out of 10
OmniGraffle
OmniGraffle
Score 9.8 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
MiroMicrosoft Visio
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(0 ratings)
8.1
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.3
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.5
(0 ratings)
7.8
(0 ratings)
Availability
8.9
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.8
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.1
(0 ratings)
7.3
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
3.3
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
8.6
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Configurability
8.5
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
8.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.6
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
6.4
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
6.5
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
MiroMicrosoft Visio
Likelihood to Recommend
For me, the greatest joy is watching a messy tangle of abstract thoughts instantly click into place. I can quickly drag in colorful sticky notes, connect them with smooth lines, and watch a beautiful, structured workflow come to life right before my eyes. It takes the stress out of alignment by letting everyone see the big picture immediately.
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If I wanted to produce best-in-class deliverables, particularly for an external-facing document where presentation quality matters, I would use Visio. For an organization that wants to standardize and ensure consistent deliverables across teams, I consider Visio a strong option. However, if I need a quick illustration of a process flow or architecture, I would use another tool to avoid spending more time than necessary.
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Pros
  • Makes internal coordination between admin team and tutors extremely painless. It's like a single place where everyone can drop ideas, get updates and notes without loss of context which usually happens in long email threads.
  • Versioning and board history are handled very well, which drastically reduces the workload. They help me track how a policy or math guideline has evolved, and also make it easy to revert changes if something doesn't work.
  • Comments stick exactly where they are meant to, making internal reviews much clearer. Admins don't have to guess which note refers to which rule or section.
  • Exports are clean, so even non-Miro teammates get it instantly.
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  • Visio comes with icons that can help differentiate processes within a map. These can be used to be a legend and helps create a visually appealing flow.
  • Visio is user-friendly and allows the user to easily navigate through the different creative options that can be used.
  • Because this is a Microsoft product, Visio works well with other Microsoft products for easy translation.
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Cons
  • It looks somewhat hokey at times and can come off as a little cartoony.
  • Its singular focus can often be its drawback, given that it has multiple use cases, but those are often not explored with its core features.
  • It could be a bit more complex, which somewhat ties into my above point.
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  • For me personally I cannot highlight anything specific that has any bearing on how I use the product. Everything is very straightforward and clearly signposted including template desgins and categories. The layout is easy to navigate and as it's part of the MS Office ecosystem means there is less to learn as I'm used to a lot of the cross product functionality.
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Likelihood to Renew
Miro saves my day. I would spend at least 4x more time on documenting my projects and work without this tool. It support my day to day role and helps me be successful while saving my capacity. It is not only very easy to start working on it without additional training required, but also adapts to any use case that I might need to implement
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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.
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Usability
This is a hard one.. and totally subjective.. Initially when i started using Miro, i had trouble scrolling here and there.. the canvas was so vast and zoomed out .. Now i have learnt how this works .. I feel we need some kind of indexing at board level, which will give the topics / headings in a concise way .. Like a birds eye view of the components on the board. That might improve usability a bit.
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You need to really understand what you are trying to communicate and deliver with this software package. It allows you to get as simple or as complex (depending on your intended audience) and with the capability of integrating with other Microsoft products like Word, you can deliver a very polished document on a project that would very easily address all aspects from beginning to end.
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Reliability and Availability
I have not encountered events where Miro is not available. It is quite nice and reliable to be fair, even on my freemium version (startup) I don't have reliability issues. It does have sometimes where the screen refresh or "freezes" or "consumes a lot of data" and we have to rewind windows and the likes, this instances are very less
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No answers on this topic
Performance
I took the loading quickly to be related to availability which I commented on before, so ditto with those comment on load time here. Although to reemphasize, Miro doesn't crash or just refuse to load like some other programs. The weak point of Miro for me is integration of files like Word, Excel, or PowerPoint (especially the later two). When you embed these, it gets slow, and complicated to bring them up while you're in the application.
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No answers on this topic
Support Rating
We have never reached out to or contacted support because Miro's platform has been incredibly intuitive and user-friendly. The comprehensive resources available, such as tutorials, documentation, and community forums, have provided all the guidance we needed. The seamless integration with our existing tools and the reliability of the platform have ensured that we rarely encounter issues that require external assistance. This self-sufficiency has allowed us to focus more on our projects and collaboration without interruptions. Overall, our experience with Miro has been smooth and efficient, eliminating the need for additional support
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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.
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Online Training
There was a series of webinars which Miro hosted with our organization that went over the basics, then progressively became more advanced with additional sections. The instructors were knowledgeable, and provided examples throughout the sessions, as well as answered peoples' questions. There was ample time and experience on the calls to cover a range of topics. The instructors were also very friendly and sociable, as well as honest. Of course Miro isn't a "God-tool" that does absolutely everything, but the instructors were aware and emphasized the strengths where Miro had them and sincerely accepted feedback.
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No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Easy to learn, Miro has a series of videos on YouTube that effectively taught this program to my team members and me. The program is drag-and-drop and works excellently. People pick up on how to use it efficiently, and it's great for organizing ideas more freely. This product is more challenging for some older audiences who are not accustomed to using a touchpad, but for most, it was very easy to use.
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No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
We looked at other tools for the freeform communication and collaboration, as well as for tracking timelines and roadmaps, and Miro was just the best overall tool because we can keep everything in one spot and our team only has to learn and one use tool, as opposed to having to log into multiple spots.
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SmartDraw was a program that I used at a prior company before we migrated to Visio. It was not nearly as intuitive to use, and even though it is advertised to be able to offer easy import and export to Visio, when I would export it to a Visio file format and share it with a colleauge, they would always tell me that something would look off with the diagram I sent them. We eventually migrated to Visio at my prior company and thankfully my current company used Visio from day 1.
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Scalability
Miro is great for scaling. In every department and subdivision across my entire organization, there is someone using it. From Sales to marketing, to manufacturing and operations; and even in legal and finance, there isn't a process or a department that is not using Miro, and if they aren't, they're missing out! Even at the highest to the lowest levels of the organization, it is essential for virtual collaboration.
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No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
  • Miro has helped increase productivity within teams because all the brainstorming, planning, and collaborative tasks can now be done within one tool.
  • Conversations about projects and decision-making processes are now quicker, allowing teams to plan and document their work much faster.
  • Working remotely has become much better because everyone can collaborate through Miro, eliminating communication gaps.
  • It has become easier to create documentation and follow up on meetings, saving time during the process.
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  • It has allowed us to speed up the creation of flowcharts and organizational charts significantly.
  • Microsoft Visio has enabled us to be more effective with our customers by using diagrams to describe our businesses.
  • It allows us to organize work with our students more easily.
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ScreenShots

Miro Screenshots

Screenshot of Miro's design sprint templates, used to solve big challenges, create new products or improve existing ones.Screenshot of the Sprint Planning features in Miro, that assists Development Teams in creating a transparent understanding of what can be built and how. Users can run sprints and turn a team into creative and active participants. Today, many organizations use Agile tools to manage software development and other non-IT projects.Screenshot of the PI Planning Template that brings teams toward one vision of what stories to develop. Used to manage a backlog, increase productivity, and build the foundation for a successful PI Planning event. Miro’s PI Planning Template helps to get an overview of any PI Planning event, with step-by-step frames to guide the process.Screenshot of diagrams, concept maps, and system mapping templates used to communicate complex flows and create a shared understanding. Users can check off all the essential steps of the diagramming process and gain a complete overview of operations with Miro's diagramming templates collection.