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SmartDraw has become a go-to solution for many users who want to simplify the creation, editing, and sharing of org charts. Frustrated …
Starting at $5.95 per user/per month
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What is SmartDraw?
SmartDraw is a diagramming and flow chart building tool from SmartDraw Software in San Diego, California.
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Pricing
Multiple-Users (for 5+ users)
$5.95
On Premise
per user/per month
Single-User
$9.95
On Premise
per month
Entry-level set up fee?
- No setup fee
Offerings
- Free Trial
- Free/Freemium Version
- Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Product Demos
SmartDraw Demo
YouTube
Team 6 SmartDraw Demo
YouTube
Product Details
- About
- Tech Details
What is SmartDraw?
SmartDraw Video
While our first impressions of SmartDraw were quite positive, here we dive deeper into how they market their visual design tool, what their pricing plans look like, what users enjoy about SmartDraw, and what issues users have with SmartDraw. The biggest takeaway, is that Smart...
 Show More SmartDraw Technical Details
| Deployment Types | On-premise |
|---|---|
| Operating Systems | Windows, Mac |
| Mobile Application | No |
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(38)
Community Insights
TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!
- Business Problems Solved
- Pros
- Cons
- Recommendations
SmartDraw has become a go-to solution for many users who want to simplify the creation, editing, and sharing of org charts. Frustrated with the cumbersome nature of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, HR teams have turned to SmartDraw to streamline their org charting process. With both desktop and cloud-based versions available, SmartDraw offers an intuitive and user-friendly experience that surpasses other options like Lucidchart. In addition to org charts, users have found SmartDraw useful for discussing application flows, creating high-level designs, creating flowcharts, seating charts, and charts of responsibility. It has proven to be a modern alternative to Microsoft Office tools, offering a time-saving solution for tasks such as designing building floorplans, fire evacuation diagrams, and emergency operations plans. Users also appreciate the software for its capabilities in flow charting, milestone charting, process decomposition/documentation, and creating maps and timelines. With excellent customer service and a wide range of use cases across various departments within organizations, SmartDraw continues to provide an efficient and effective solution for visualizing information.
Clean and professional org charts: Many users have been impressed with SmartDraw's ability to produce clean and professional-looking org charts. They appreciate that the charts can be easily shared or printed in a readable format, making it convenient for presentations or documentation purposes.
Easy import of data for org chart creation: Several reviewers have praised the ease of importing data into SmartDraw for creating org charts. This feature saves them time and effort, allowing them to quickly generate accurate and up-to-date charts.
Wide range of features and templates: SmartDraw offers a wide range of features for various purposes such as flowcharts, structural design, sharing and collaboration, wireframing, and customizable templates. Users find these features to be valuable as they cater to different needs and make diagramming tasks more efficient. Additionally, the provided templates serve as great starting points when users are unsure of how to begin their diagrams.
Cons:
- Lack of customization options: Some users have expressed the need for more customizable functions in the program to achieve better integration, as well as the ability to customize plans and navigation.
- Performance issues: Several users have mentioned that the application is heavy on their system and takes time to load, especially for touch screen interfaces. Additionally, some users find certain tasks like manipulating bubbles in timelines or aligning multiple objects to be difficult and time-consuming.
- Issues with functionality: A number of reviewers have experienced issues with the autosave function not always saving changes, making it unreliable. Users have also found it difficult to link shapes together and desire more customizations and example shapes/objects.
Based on user feedback, here are the most common recommendations for SmartDraw:
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Users suggest exploring the different options available and trying out the software, as it is free and easy to use. They recommend playing around with it for a couple of hours before using it for serious tasks. It is also important to ensure that the software meets all requirements before relying on it.
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SmartDraw is highly recommended by users who work with PowerPoint. It is considered an excellent tool for creating presentations. Additionally, users suggest giving SmartDraw a try for easy drawings, diagrams, and representations. However, for certain types of drawings, some users suggest using Visio instead.
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Users find SmartDraw useful for designing documents such as process flow maps and org charts. It is praised for being easy to use and having useful components for different environments. Taking advantage of any training offered by SmartDraw is also recommended.
In general, users advise trying the trial version of SmartDraw to evaluate if it meets their needs. They find it cost-effective and compatible with other programs like Microsoft Office. Templates are suggested as a way to maximize the value of the software. However, users caution that SmartDraw may not be worth the money and time for certain professional fields, like architect firms. It is important to carefully evaluate use cases before deciding on the software. While generally user-friendly, some users note that support may not be particularly helpful in addressing concerns or issues.
Attribute Ratings
Reviews
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June 20, 2023
Free trial IS NOT free
Score 1 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
I tried to use the free trial on this software. As soon as I finished the drawing I couldn't export, share or print without purchasing. Furthermore I tried to sign in, figuring I could at least save it online to show my builder the plans and got notified that my trial had now expired and I had to pay if I wanted to access my plans again. So basically if I want to see my plans ever again that I spent the last 2 hours drawing, I have to pay smartdraw, and they only have an option to purchase annually. In my opinion, it's super underhanded and sneaky the way they try to get people to pay for their software, as a result, if ever I need any design software, I will most definitely NOT be using or recommending smartdraw. Thanks for wasting 2 hours of my life smartdraw.
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February 25, 2020
Make your office space like the pros!
I use SmartDraw as the office manager to create floor plans of the office space. As businesses are ever changing, it is crucial to have up-to-date information.
- Allows you to create your office space in a professional manner.
- It looks like a pro did it!
- Updates with more graphics.
- Have an online download of the software.
This is currently used by the HR dept for organizational charts and flowcharts, although its capabilities are endless if you want to take the time to learn the software. it is much more intuitive than using Excel when creating flowcharts and org charts and can be exported to a PDF or Word document.
- Ability to quickly and efficiently create flowcharts and org charts that are pleasing to the eye.
- Cloud document storage always a plus. Can access work in progress anywhere.
- Ability to export in multiple formats to fit your needs.
- The software seems quite sophisticated. If you are looking to do something a bit more intricate, like a floor plan, you need to do some of their training.
- Training options are a bit rough, they will offer free live training if you have more than 5 people on the training. Doesn't work well for a small company
December 03, 2018
Solid product at a reasonable price !
We purchased SmartDraw to simplify the creation, editing & sharing of org charts for Caravan Health. As a start-up company, we had a limited budget for such technology, but were growing so quickly that two years ago we realized attempting to manage org charts using Word, Excel or Powerpoint was far-too cumbersome. The product we purchased at the time (Lucidchart) was inexpensive and was represented as simple to use and easy to share with others; sadly, in our experience both representations did not pan out. Sharing an org chart file presented many challenges for us when the CEO, COO, CFO or myself were on the road and attempting to access using laptops or iPads... and creating a printable version which was actually readable proved impossible. This created significant frustration at many levels, from managers to the executive team to our Board, as the perception created was one of inefficiency (or inability) within the HR team. Escalations to the provider proved useless, as the only means of communication was via email (no Account Manager to be able to reach out to, no phone number), and when we would receive a response, the most-common direction was provided by pointing us to an FAQ on their web site (rather than responding to and providing a resolution for our specific issues). Once the frustration finally boiled over and we started searching for an alternative solution, SmartDraw was a name I heard from several other HR leaders in my network, so we requested a demo of their product. The demo revealed a product which appeared to be intuitive and provided both a desktop and cloud-based version... both of which were important to us in our use. Implementation and uptake was quick and easy, which were also critical success factors for us, given our rapid growth and limited amount of time many leaders were willing to devote to something most felt should be as "simple" as org chart management.
- Impressed with SmartDraw's ability to produce a clean & professional looking org chart... one which can be shared with a link or printed out in a format readable by all parties.
- We like that we are able to easily import data for org chart creation. Once the data is there, we can the easily place additional positions on an org chart with shapes automatically positioned and connected.
- It would be great if there was an ability to customize some of the functions in the program, so that we have everything as integrated as possible.
- Since we still sometimes receive draft versions of new org structures from department leaders in Powerpoint, I with there was an export option to better-enable file-sharing.
- At first, it seems to take users a bit to adjust to zooming in/out in the program, which can be frustrating.
November 22, 2016
Give Sharepoint a try...but beware
Currently, SmartDraw is used by various members of our organization in order to create dynamic process and organizational charts for both our clients as well as for internal use.
- SmartDraw is great at visualizing process driven charts and models. They are simple, and somewhat understandable.
- SmartDraw can still be a bit slow at times. While the ability to create complex charts and and figures that have multiple connecting (and intersecting) lines has improved, there are still some instances where SmartDraw can improve in (i.e.- sometimes I'm forced to freeze lines that I don't want a newly created line to automatically connect to).
- Restructuring the ribbon to be more user friendly and intuitive could also go a long way. I am not sure why text alignment is all the way to the right of the ribbon on the user interface. It is nearly non-existent when I minimize my window. To me, the functionality in the Design ribbon does not make sense (only because I use PowerPoint and Word on a daily basis). Design is more content creation and editing, sort of like the functionality in the Home ribbon.
- Creating additional right mouse click shortcut options would also save lots of time. I don't want to have to go to the ribbon every time I need to group or ungroup different sets.
- Printing and properly adjusting printing is a nightmare. It is not intuitive, manually adjusting only complicates things, and there aren't enough options that allow for properly adjusting your window for printing. Printing functionality is too complex and a real deterrent when attempting to share content with clients.
November 21, 2016
Simple and Professional Software
We are a commercial general contractor. It gets used mainly by the superintendent for one of our locations where our company maintains all their facilities. Smartdraw is also used by the president of the company to create simple and clean drawings for our customers. It allows these drawings to be cleaner and look way more professional than hand-written. It is not comparable to AutoCAD by any means but it does make drawings look more professional and it is way easier to edit or change a drawing.
- Adjusting size/dimensions for the drawing (up or down depending)
- Simple to function
- Move/Delete/Change drawing
- Exporting to read-able PDF
- Very glitchy. It randomly will move a line in the drawing especially after saving and re-opening.
- Some things don't make any sense the way it is designed.
- The add-on images are weird - Most would like that views are aerial vs. a picsart type image.
November 14, 2016
Smart Design with SmartDraw
We use SmartDraw in my team for flow charting, milestone charting and process decomposition/documentation. Both SmartDraw and Visio are used in my company and within my organization. The problem/need that SmartDraw addresses is we had a need to create process diagrams across a globally distributed development team. We wanted a tool that was easy to use with several output formats for sharing at different levels.
- SmartDraw has a great selection of templates to start from which are great thought starters when you don't know where to begin!
- Often you have data, processes, concepts, flows and interactions to organize, yet you don't always know what will be the best way to put it all together.
- SmartDraw is easy to use, I was productive right away and did not need to reference any help or tutorials in getting started. The UI is very intuitive and I could ramp up quickly.
- I can keep creating and SmartDraw doesn't slow me down. When working with large flows, SmartDraw dynamically extends its display area. I like that when I am creating a flow, I am not constrained to a predefined space. I can keep working and use the zoom in/out as needed to view my diagrams.
- I would like to be able to select multiple objects and right click to align them. So far I have only found one way to get to the alignment and that is on the Design Screen.