SmartDraw Reviews
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114 Reviews
- Industry: Computer Software
- Used Monthly for 2+ years
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10
A great alternative to MS Visio and other "flowchart apps"
Reviewed on 2017/10/10
Pros
I have used this product with several customers migrating from the old ISO9000:2008 to the process approach in the new ISO9000:2015.
Cons
Awkward use of cloud storage versus desktop storage. File folders are not obvious in the new version.
- Industry: Mechanical or Industrial Engineering
- Company size: 5,001–10,000 Employees
- Used Weekly for 1+ year
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10
A great software for creating charts
Reviewed on 2023/01/07
A great 1 year plus experience using smartdraw for designs and all. Still have some certain...
A great 1 year plus experience using smartdraw for designs and all. Still have some certain features to try out and I will definitely do that from now on
Pros
First of all, I love the software layout and its design. I usually use smartdraw to create flowcharts, simple electric circuit diagrams.Well designed Inbuilt templates are available for users and tools to help the user design templates from scratch
Cons
Although there are some features that I haven't tried yet, the rest are working just fine for me
- Industry: Furniture
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Daily for 6-12 months
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 1.0 /10
Unstable and Quirky - Danger - Lost Work Zone
Reviewed on 2018/08/21
The only benefit I have received is when I quickly print what I am working on, so that this...
The only benefit I have received is when I quickly print what I am working on, so that this horribly unstable and unpredictable program will not just lose it and delete even saved work from its memory. When you want to make certain measurements, you will never be able to do so, because it only allows "anchored" points to be measured - not the item or space you wish to measure. It is impossible to scale down their furniture selections/templates because they have it set to scale down the width, when all you want to change is the length. It has been a disappointing waste of time and money.
Pros
I has little to say for Pros: because it is just as easy to draw boxes without having this program. I learned every feature and applied all of the program's features. It is likely that you could get a beginning design to give to someone, as a simple floor plan, if that is what you need. But be sure to print it to preserve your work after each little change.
Cons
Customer service is practically nil and there is no "help" or troubleshooting. If you try to contact them for support, you have to wait and see if they will send you an email the next day - and they usually won't. If you get the email, it does not remotely address the trouble or offer to talk you through it if their "solution" or instruction is not on point. Really disappointing. There is no auto save unless you are working in the Cloud for this program. Further, it constantly just stops and closes itself - and dumps all of your work during that session, even if you have been saving! So, then the hours of work are permanently lost - no kidding, EVEN if you pushed save. If you use it, you must remember to save, save, save - after each little line or inclusion and then print. Then close the program before its instability causes it to just close itself as to the design you are working on. If you don't close it down, you will lose all of your work. Then - get this - when you reopen a file after it has decided to shut down, it says that there is a recovered work file and asks if you want to open it and recover it. If you say "yes" the program shuts down again, over and over and over. It is so unstable that it can't hold up to the tasks it claims to be performing with its features, such as layers, measurements, inserting photos, etc.
- Industry: Design
- Company size: Self Employed
- Used Daily for 6-12 months
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 7.0 /10
Basic floor plans but easy to use
Reviewed on 2019/04/25
I've used other floor planners and this one is definitely the easiest to use at a great price.
I've used other floor planners and this one is definitely the easiest to use at a great price.
Pros
It's very easy to draw up a basic house floor plan.
Cons
Limited symbol options specific to interior design. If you use too many JPEG images within the file the system struggles to convert to PDF. (which isn't the case with my other design software). Often glitches when opening files and/or is very slow to open existing documents.
Response from SmartDraw
Hi Nicky,
Thank you for the positive review and for the feedback. I'll pass the review along to our development team, so we can take a look at the PDF export and file opening issues you mentioned. If you reply back to me, or contact our support using the below info, we can further investigate and help. If there is any other way we can be of assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.
International: +1 858 225 3300
US: 800-768-3729
email: [email protected]
-Chris
- Industry: Computer Software
- Company size: 501–1,000 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Ease of Use
- Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10
Powerful tool for designing software
Reviewed on 2019/03/25
Over-all experience as per my requirements is good and doing my work done easily and fast.
Over-all experience as per my requirements is good and doing my work done easily and fast.
Pros
Very easy to draw flowcharts.
Easily import and export visio. Available at cheap price and can easily replace visio i believe which is much costlier. One can use its rich library of colours.
Templates help alot to quickly built mocks.
Cons
When I used i didn't find multiple user facility.
- Industry: Information Technology & Services
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Weekly for 2+ years
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10
SmartDraw - Not quite a Visio replacement-- but pretty close
Reviewed on 2020/08/19
SmartDraw is great if starting from scratch to create drawing ( both simple & complex). If...
SmartDraw is great if starting from scratch to create drawing ( both simple & complex). If documents need to be traded with users who are using Visio, there will be issues-- especially if drawings need to be updated or converted across several users.
It has most of the power of Visio with some added discovery things so if one is starting without the requirement of Visio integration, its a solid, but pricy tool.
Pros
Lots of examples and help videos
Enterprise discovery tools are great but expensive
Cons
Stated the Enterprise version would import Visio but it is not a 100% conversion to SmartDraw format so that the properties of the Visio document carry thru in the same way with the same functionality.
*) Layers don't really stay intact.
*) Significant amount of the custom formatting gets lost.
*) Support and 'help' is primarily from static Web Videos. While they may provide some help, there is not much detail about what steps to take when things DO NOT work -- so one needs to call in and request support. No exactly the fastest turnaround.
- Used Daily for 1-5 months
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10
The perfect software for edit and modify with vector tools
Reviewed on 2018/06/08
Pros
This is the best software if you want and need to edit segment of a picture or image, because is pretty easy to use, the tools are very friendly and you can even work a pixel level with the maximum zoom and the results are awesome.
Cons
It is a very heavy software and demands many resources of your computer you need a very high speed ram memory and a good video card to get the most of this software.
- Industry: Mining & Metals
- Company size: 201–500 Employees
- Used Weekly for 1-5 months
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10
Good option
Reviewed on 2019/07/18
good
good
Pros
Complete can be elaborated simple and complex flows has greater scope that allows to make multiple forms
Cons
a high cost but the trial option allows you to see its benefits
Response from SmartDraw
Hi Raul,
Thank you for the positive feedback. If we can be of help in any way, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.
International: +1 858 225 3300
US: 800-768-3729 / 858-225-3300
email: [email protected]
-Chris
- Industry: Higher Education
- Company size: Self Employed
- Used for Free Trial
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Likelihood to recommend 0.0 /10
Don't get this product
Reviewed on 2018/10/01
Pros
Specific to my needs, it allowed easy creation of an ER diagram.
Cons
Software is incredibly rigid and buggy. I saved my diagram and tried to open it again and the service would crash. I have also heard that if you download it as a desktop application, it cannot be uninstalled afterwards. This is a serious issue that needs to be fixed.
- Industry: Internet
- Company size: Self Employed
- Used Weekly for 1-5 months
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10
Excellent software with easy to use templates to realize my projects.
Reviewed on 2018/08/21
I have easily used this software, I have created plans and diagrams for my work without problems.
I have easily used this software, I have created plans and diagrams for my work without problems.
Pros
It is a much easier to use design software than others, has excellent templates with shapes and symbols to make flowcharts, bar charts and graphs, and allows you to make custom templates, is excellent software for making plans without the need for an architect.
Cons
The software is a bit heavy and installation is slow. I think it's very expensive.
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 1,001–5,000 Employees
- Used Weekly for 1+ year
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Ease of Use
- Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10
High quality and professional looks drawing software
Reviewed on 2023/02/03
SmartDraw is helping businesses quickly and easily create professional-looking visuals for...
SmartDraw is helping businesses quickly and easily create professional-looking visuals for presentations, documents, reports, and websites. The benefits enterprises have realized from SmartDraw include increased efficiency, cost savings, and improved communication, with visuals helping to communicate complex information more simply.
Pros
The most impactful features of SmartDraw include an extensive library of templates and shapes, drag-and-drop editing, real-time collaboration, integration with Microsoft Office, and compatibility with Windows and MacOS. The product is relatively easy to use, with a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface, which makes it simple to create diagrams with minimal effort. Integration with existing business processes is also straightforward since the product works with most existing file formats.
Cons
Features that I feel are missing or could be improved: Better support for text orientations when editing diagrams, Ability to customize the interface based on user preference.Aspects of the product that are difficult to use: Tooltips are not always clear, making it difficult to understand how to use certain features; navigation can be confusing, especially when trying to find specific parts, Customizing diagrams can be time-consuming, especially when using the software for the first time. Integration with existing business processes should be easy with SmartDraw, but depending on the complexity of the business processes, this may become difficult.
- Industry: Religious Institutions
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Weekly for 1+ year
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 2.0 /10
Frustratingly buggy, and bad tech support.
Reviewed on 2021/04/12
Easily the most frustrating software that I have to use. I am unfortunately not aware of any other...
Easily the most frustrating software that I have to use. I am unfortunately not aware of any other options in that price range that have the simplicity of interface and the features I need. This software would be great if it worked and if customer support wasn't abysmal.
Pros
The interface would be great if it worked. At the price, it would be a great value, if it worked.
Cons
1. Many, many bugs. In particular, things often move when they shouldn't, and saving your work never works like you expect it to. In particular, if you save a project, via the "save" button, then "save as" another file, the work that was "saved" on the original is lost. They refuse to acknowledge this bug, but, over the phone, they did explain to me how to use templates, which gives a decent workaround for this bug, for me. Which brings me to:
2. When you contact customer support via email they are absurdly unhelpful. The last time I sent a bug report in, I included step by step instructions for reproducing the bug. Every single reply I received had nothing to do with the bug. I continued to ask "could you reproduce this bug on your end?", a question that they never answered once. Bugs are not a thing that customer service seems to be allowed to talk about, which is unfortunate, given how full of bugs this software is.
- Industry: Consumer Services
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Weekly for 6-12 months
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10
SmartDraw a great tool for everyone
Reviewed on 2022/07/23
I really like this software, it was absolutely useful.
I really like this software, it was absolutely useful.
Pros
I really like the differents tools that this software provide us, I'm a lawyer and for some diagrams this software let me have a great experience, I really like it, this software it's absolutely great
Cons
This software was so good, it doesn't have things I don't like but I think that the interface can be more friendly and easy to understand for new users
- Industry: Facilities Services
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Daily for Free Trial
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Likelihood to recommend 5.0 /10
Needs a bug-fix for the crashing problem
Reviewed on 2021/04/21
Have used it two days and have yet to complete a simple drawing due to the frequent crashes.
Have used it two days and have yet to complete a simple drawing due to the frequent crashes.
Pros
Product has many symbol libraries in mechanical/plumbing/industrial/fire protection and more than LucidChart, which is good for my needs. Compatibility with Visio and LucidChart a plus. Menus are generally easy to use.
Cons
Symbols are difficult to use, lacking functional attachment points. But the show-stopper is that, at least in this release, the software is very unstable and crashes repeatedly as another reviewer commented. I use Firefox 88.0 (64-bit) on a MacBook Pro under OS Big Sur 11.0.1, I have reported the problem to both Firefox and SmartDraw. It remains to be seen whether SmartDraw or Firefox respond with an acknowledgment of the problem and a stated intention to fix it. I will post an update later in the week, accordingly.
- Industry: Hospital & Health Care
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used for 2+ years
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 5.0 /10
Not a Replacement for Visio/Project
Reviewed on 2017/06/27
Not many, we tried hard to use it for our intended purposes for 6-12 months. Then we gave up. Now...
Not many, we tried hard to use it for our intended purposes for 6-12 months. Then we gave up. Now we use it infrequently when we need to create a simple visual. The mind mapping tool is ok - but free tools online are just as good if not better.
Pros
This product ships with a lot of prebuilt content, templates that can let you create quick and easy diagrams, visuals, etc for presentations.
Cons
We bought this thinking it might be a lower cost replacement for Visio and that we'd be able to use the Project Planning template for our PM needs. Neither turned out to be true. This tool will give you a good variety of templates, but if you want to move something manually... forget it. Don't like how the basic flowchart looks or need to make room for a 3rd branch? You'll go back to Visio after a month. Project plans look create, but when you need to update 1 date good luck. ugh. This had a lot of potential but it just isn't flexible enough for real use cases in our experience.
- Industry: Internet
- Used for 1+ year
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10
Professional 2D Floor Plans at affordable price
Reviewed on 2018/01/10
Imported 2D flow into network management system.
Imported 2D flow into network management system.
Pros
2D Floor feature . I used to implement software monitoring solution at customer site. Very often I have been asked to insert as background of the network map the floor plan of the building to easily determine the physical location of the network devices.
Cons
At time I used it there was not SmartDraw Cloud now available. This is perfect for small/individual business.
- Industry: Information Technology & Services
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Monthly for 6-12 months
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 5.0 /10
SmartDraw Review
Reviewed on 2022/11/13
Pros
We loved SmartDraw for its ease of use and integration options with other related services.
Cons
For the price point that it arrived with, we least expected a smooth export to Visio which was not possible.
- Industry: Construction
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Weekly for 1-5 months
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 6.0 /10
Great product but exspensive
Reviewed on 2021/08/09
Pros
The deck plans and landscaping templates were critical for our company
Cons
Overall it was good software but it was a bit to expensive for us.
- Industry: Higher Education
- Company size: 501–1,000 Employees
- Used for 2+ years
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Ease of Use
- Likelihood to recommend 7.0 /10
A Review of SmartDraw
Reviewed on 2020/02/10
I have had only positive experiences with the use of Smart Draw
I have had only positive experiences with the use of Smart Draw
Pros
Smart Draw is relatively easy to use. It has all the various kinds of charts and graphs on its website you can imagine.
Cons
Smart Draw does not have any negative features. I used it to teach Quality Improvement concepts. It was great!
Response from SmartDraw
Hi Karen,
Thank you for the positive review. Glad to hear SmartDraw is working well for you. If we can help in any way, please let us know. We offer free phone and email support should anything be needed.
Thank you,
Chris
[email protected]
858-225-3300
- Used Weekly for 1-5 months
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
It is the special program for the realization of flow diagrams, with a large number of cliparts
Reviewed on 2018/03/30
Pros
SmartDraw comes with many types of templates that include flow charts, bar graphs and charts. If you do not find a template that you like, you can create a customized template that suits your project, Photos, and images. Add photos and images to the document with the import to lump sum, copy and paste the commands. You can also import images and photos from your digital camera, and then manipulate them inside SmartDraw until you have the effect you want.
Each template comes with a library of shapes and symbols, to use these shapes and symbols, simply drag them to your worksheet and place them where you want. You can add textures and photos to further improve the document.
It works well with programs such as Microsoft Office, Visio, Microsoft Project, SharePoint, and PowerPoint. And so you can export the mind map to any of these programs to be able to share.
You can export the file with just one click of your mouse. The following graphics formats available to you: JPEG, PNG, BMP, TIFF, and GIF. Export the file to the web or send it anywhere in the world
Cons
It consumes abundant resources if your machine is slow it can become tedious to work, besides its installation is slow
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Review Source
Overall rating
Love the mind mapping feature!
Reviewed on 2011/12/29
I've been using SmartDraw for about two months as a tool to help manage my projects. What I love...
I've been using SmartDraw for about two months as a tool to help manage my projects. What I love about SmartDraw is the Mind Mapping feature, which allows me to create tasks in a visually friendly way that mimics brainstorming. It's been very helpful to me when starting out a project. I also really like the way we can add owners to each task in the same view. And the best part is, the information will get transferred to a Gantt chart or a timeline with the click of a button. Once you've filled in the details, you can push the information to a powerpoint slide to share with key stakeholders, again, with just a click of a button.
There are many more features within SmartDraw that I am intrigued about but haven't had the opportunity to explore yet. I plan on playing with SmartDraw more once my current projects slow down.
Pros
Well organized and very easy to move data to other Microsoft Office applications (including Microsoft Project) or Adobe .pdf. There are also some great graphics and geographic maps in the library for use with presentations, flyers, floorplans, etc.
Cons
In the Gantt chart, there is a limited number of columns that can be used.
- Used Daily for 6-12 months
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
SmartDraw makes it easier than any other app to quickly create professional-quality diagrams.
Reviewed on 2018/04/23
Pros
Helpful Smart Panel feature. Good integration options. It is very Easy to use. It has a desktop and online version that allows you to work in any place, it is very useful. Smart Draw is a very complete application for all types of diagrams that you need.
Cons
Weak collaboration features. It is very expensive you asked me. The speed of the online version sometimes fluctuates negatively.
- Industry: Apparel & Fashion
- Company size: 51–200 Employees
- Used for 1+ year
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10
Can easily create organizational charts
Reviewed on 2017/06/08
Create Organizational charts, for the most part, with ease.
Create Organizational charts, for the most part, with ease.
Pros
I love that I can set up an organizational chart fairly easily and make it as large as I'd like to.
Cons
Wish there were more printing options for a large chart. Though it's fairly user friendly, it also has some challenges. I wish it was a little easier.
- Used for 2+ years
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
Good alternative to Visio
Reviewed on 2018/02/19
Pros
This is the best alternative to Visio I tried. Very easy to pickup and get started with. Very 'light' and fast to work with.
Cons
Wasn't good enough to get me to drop Visio, which to me is still slightly better. I found the licensing hard to manage with multiple users in my office.
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
Perfect tool for great diagrams
Reviewed on 2016/12/08
Smartdraw is an amazing and easy to use tool to build professional diagrams and workflow schematics....
Smartdraw is an amazing and easy to use tool to build professional diagrams and workflow schematics. I have used Visio and Smartdraw but find Smartdraw easier to use.
