All SmartDraw Reviews

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User Profile

Steven

Verified reviewer

Religious Institutions

Used monthly for more than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

4

VALUE FOR MONEY

5

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

5

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed June 2018

Quickly update drawings, org charts and floor plans to keep your team moving!

Very easy interface to work with, and that helped me quickly set out the office layout for our 100 person team and modify as people's requirements changed through the process.

PROS

I've used this for years to plan out the cubicle layout of our office, the details and features make it very easy to visualize and help people determine the best fits. Once you get the general structure it's really easy to keep things up to date.

CONS

A little bit of learning curve and the huge variety of detailed images available is a little hard to navigate.

Anonymous

Used weekly for less than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

4

VALUE FOR MONEY

5

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

5

FUNCTIONALITY

4

Reviewed January 2018

Great platform for simple submittal drawings.

If you are trying to do small professional projects, or simply create a blueprint of you home, SmartDraw's ease of use and robust set of options make it the smart choice over competitors.

PROS

Where this software really shines for our business is its ease of use for submittal drawings when bidding and creating contracts for jobs. It allows us to empower our salesmen to create their own submittals without the expense or training needed for some of the more "professional" suites. This means for smaller projects we do not need to tie up our senior estimators, leaving their time free and better spent with CAD. What this means is that for job cost, we are able to use lower wage employees to perform simpler tasks and not eat into the margins of a job from utilizing higher paid engineers.

CONS

It can be a bit finicky in trying to get it to do exactly what you want it to do. Its ease of use sometimes means that you are fighting those very elements that make it easy to make it do what you want it to do. Snap to grids and the like, while toggle-able, provide an annoyance when they should "just work".

Marc

Verified reviewer

Information Technology and Services, 2-10 employees

Used weekly for more than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra

OVERALL RATING:

3

EASE OF USE

1

VALUE FOR MONEY

2

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

2

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed August 2020

SmartDraw - Not quite a Visio replacement-- but pretty close

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.

Reason for choosing SmartDraw

Didn't choose one. As stated above, Smart Draw only eliminates other tools, if there is no requirements to share or update documents from those tools. I still have both on my systems.

Anonymous

5,001-10,000 employees

Used weekly for more than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

5

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed August 2021

BizzDesign is the best diagramming tool I've used

PROS

This is a heavy duty, feature packed software. Whereas most software with this degree of functionality is usually not intuitive, BizzDesign is. It is incredible for being able to integrated documentation with process flows and diagrams.

CONS

The cost is a little high. I think it's worth it overall though.

Reasons for switching to SmartDraw

BizzDesign was so much better.

Nicky

Verified reviewer

Design, 1 employee

Used daily for less than 12 months

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

4

EASE OF USE

4

VALUE FOR MONEY

5

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

4

FUNCTIONALITY

3

Reviewed April 2019

Basic floor plans but easy to use

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.

Vendor Response

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: support@smartdraw.com -Chris

Replied June 2019

Roberto

Information Services, 2-10 employees

Used monthly for more than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered

OVERALL RATING:

3

EASE OF USE

5

VALUE FOR MONEY

5

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

4

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed January 2021

too slow

An inexpensive but fantastic software for both network diagrams and any other business and other needs. Cheap but very good.

PROS

I' using SmartDraw for many years and my opinion is the same :An inexpensive but fantastic software for both network diagrams and any other business and other needs. Cheap but very good.

CONS

I installed the 2020 version a couple of months ago but opening old files was particularly slow. I tried completely uninstalling the software and reinstalling it but didn't notice any improvements. I spoke to other users of different company and they confirmed the same opinion.

Reason for choosing SmartDraw

much cheaper and at the same time complete for my needs

User Profile

Steve

Verified reviewer

Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing, 5,001-10,000 employees

Used weekly for more than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

4

EASE OF USE

5

VALUE FOR MONEY

4

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

4

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed January 2019

Smartdraw is a truly fantastic product

PROS

There are lots of templates to start with, which makes it a lot easier to get started with this software. I like the integration with popular tools such as Trello and Jira. I also like the easy export to PDF. It's a great feature I use a lot.

CONS

There's definitely a learning curve before one can confidently use this software. I often find that zooming in doesn't work as smoothly as I'd expect.

User Profile

Thamara

Verified reviewer

Information Technology and Services, 11-50 employees

Used daily for less than 12 months

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

4

EASE OF USE

3

VALUE FOR MONEY

3

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

4

FUNCTIONALITY

4

Reviewed September 2018

Tool for Draw Diagrams !

Powerful flowchart maker!

PROS

*Templates for diagrams. *Simple to use. *Can use for small to large projects. *Multiple type export facility. *Easier than Visio.

CONS

*Not features as Visio. *Bit expensive price for a tool. *Not able to multi-users collaboration.

User Profile

Natasha

Verified reviewer

Government Administration, 1,001-5,000 employees

Used weekly for less than 12 months

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

4

EASE OF USE

4

VALUE FOR MONEY

2

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

4

FUNCTIONALITY

4

Reviewed February 2019

The perfect solution for diagramming work processes

The diagramming is excellent for getting the information to others, helps to understand and document ideas, with this software the experience is unique, we have presented ideas of work, organization in diagrams and diagrams that have allowed us to understand, visualize the flow of information circulating in our area and the importance of each step we take from beginning to end

PROS

Create your diagrams and document the processes step by step of your workflow, ideal for planning strategies, powerful and easy to use, contains many templates to choose from to make your visual presentations.

CONS

The price can be a problem, since it is really expensive

User Profile

christopher

Verified reviewer

Consumer Goods, 2-10 employees

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

4

EASE OF USE

4

FUNCTIONALITY

4

Reviewed December 2019

Ease of use as a trial

Product was pretty good to use as a beginner. Not over stuffed with functions. But those functions you may want

PROS

Program was a little easier to use then some other programs. Wasnt overly difficult

CONS

Not as good features that other programs offer. expecially if your a advance person in design

Vendor Response

Hello Christopher, Thank you for the positive feedback. We are constantly adding new features to SmartDraw and love to hear new suggestions. If there is a feature you would like to see, please let us know and we can add it to the software. -Chris US: 800-768-3729 or 858-225-3300 International: +1 858 225 3300 email: support@smartdraw.com

Replied December 2019

Glenn

Construction, 1 employee

Used less than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered

OVERALL RATING:

1

EASE OF USE

3

VALUE FOR MONEY

1

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

3

FUNCTIONALITY

3

Reviewed October 2019

Worst program I have ever bought!

Tried to draw floor plan for a house we are building, took FOREVER to get a plan together. Don't waste your money, I should have asked for a refund.

PROS

Relatively inexpensive, somewhat easy use

CONS

Lost count...tried using SmartDraw to create a floor plan for a house we are building and so far have a list of about 2-3 dozen issues and it keeps growing. I have encountered each issue multiple times on different computers with different operating systems so I know it is the program. Issues range from minor issues like I try to expand walls or measure lines with a click and drag of a mouse and the wall or measure lines jumps from 3 foot in length to 45 foot in length or longer or I try to copy and paste a door and a wall gets pasted to major and the most frustrating issues like locking up every 10 - 15 minutes or after a I save a file then reopen it later, doors and windows have moved, room measure lines in some places have moved (even locking objects does not fix this). They sent me an updated version, but it did not help. Then they wanted me to disable user account controls even though it could cause security issues because they know it creates a lot of false positives, nice.

Mikos

Facilities Services, 11-50 employees

Review Source: Capterra
This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered

OVERALL RATING:

3

EASE OF USE

4

VALUE FOR MONEY

3

FUNCTIONALITY

3

Reviewed April 2021

Needs a bug-fix for the crashing problem

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.

Reasons for switching to SmartDraw

Seeking better symbol libraries. LucidChart is too info system-centric. I need good symbols for P&ID 2-d drawings, which LucidChart lacks and which is why I made the switch.

Simeon

Architecture & Planning, 2-10 employees

Review Source: Capterra
This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered

OVERALL RATING:

1

EASE OF USE

1

FUNCTIONALITY

1

Reviewed April 2019

Can't change thickness of walls

Five minutes of trial version. I realised after that short amount of time that it wasn't good enough.

PROS

Simple to use, I guess. You can get started straight away adding walls and dimensions.

CONS

It is utterly useless if you actually want anything precise. I'm an architectural designer, and the most basic thing I need to be able to do, even if I'm just measuring up an existing building, is change the thickness of the walls, but this doesn't seem to be possible! Without even this basic feature, it's just an utterly useless piece of software to me. After seeing this software, though, I realise why many estate agent's floorplans are so poor. If they use software like this, there just isn't the amount of flexibility within the software even to draw a normal house, let alone anything which is complex or has a variety of unique features. I think SmartDraw really need to up their game, and in doing so, could enhance the quality of estate agents floorplans for everyone!

Vendor Response

Hi Simeon, Sorry your trial of SmartDraw did not go as you had hoped. You can change the thickness of the walls by choosing Line (between Fill and Effects) under the Home tab and then More from the dropdown menu if you want to specify an exact thickness. I'll see if we can add that same option in the right click menu as well for ease of location. Should you need more, we offer live US based phone support: 800-768-3729 (+1 858-225-3300 for callers outside of the US), or via email: support@smartdraw.com. -Chris

Replied April 2019

Arcadio

Used weekly for less than 6 months

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

5

VALUE FOR MONEY

4

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

4

FUNCTIONALITY

4

Reviewed March 2018

It is the special program for the realization of flow diagrams, with a large number of cliparts

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

Anne

Used free trial

Review Source: GetApp

OVERALL RATING:

4

Reviewed December 2011

Love the mind mapping feature!

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.

Susan

Information Technology and Services, 1 employee

Used weekly for less than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

4

EASE OF USE

4

VALUE FOR MONEY

4

FUNCTIONALITY

4

Reviewed April 2022

For those who are Visual Planners

PROS

I was a programmer in the 70's and flowcharts and diagrams were how we designed applications and programs. SmartDraw was a great tool to get ideas "on paper" without having to draw it out, erase changes and store the diagrams in a file folder. It was a great transition to a digital format.

CONS

No tool is a "perfect fit" for everyone and doesn't solve every need but this fills the diagram need nicely.

Laron

Used weekly for less than 12 months

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

4

EASE OF USE

4

VALUE FOR MONEY

4

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

4

FUNCTIONALITY

4

Reviewed February 2018

A smart way to draw diagrams

PROS

I used SmartDraw a lot for school assignments, and it really came in handy. I like that it has lots of built in contents and templates and that it is easy to use. You can use SmartDraw to make flowcharts, network diagrams, organizational charts, software design plans, and so much more. One even can share diagrams with others using just a link.

CONS

I like SmartDraw. A minor con if I must say one, is that moving and manipulating bubbles can be quite challenging at times. Or, maybe it's my computer.

Teddy

Verified reviewer

Used daily for less than 6 months

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

5

VALUE FOR MONEY

5

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

5

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed June 2018

The perfect software for edit and modify with vector tools

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.

User Profile

Jebin

Verified reviewer

Information Technology and Services, 11-50 employees

Used monthly for more than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

4

EASE OF USE

5

VALUE FOR MONEY

4

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

4

FUNCTIONALITY

4

Reviewed March 2022

SmartDraw - Review

Very happy with overall experience with smartdraw. So never got the chance to think about an alternative.

PROS

Its an essential tool especially in IT Field to design network topology. Almost everything is there in templates to make the diagram more presentable and selfexplanatory.

CONS

Nothing at the moment as negative. Never changed to any other software for network design drawing.

Brian

Consumer Goods, 201-500 employees

Used weekly for less than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

3

EASE OF USE

3

FUNCTIONALITY

3

Reviewed February 2019

SmartDraw

Not the best drawing software on the market but decent for simple work

PROS

SmartDraw is straightforward and easy to learn.

CONS

Advertised as free but is only a free trial. Functionality is limited to simple drawings

Mercedes

Used weekly for less than 6 months

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

5

VALUE FOR MONEY

4

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

5

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed May 2018

When I want to work with flowcharts and creating graphics, this is the best app!!

PROS

It is an unbeatable visual processor that uses complex algorithms to generate various types of graphics. This allows you to create flowcharts, other diagrams, calendars, flowcharts, family trees, architectural plans, maps and other types of graphics to make presentations. It has many templates needed to create items quickly. It also provides export options to other productivity applications including Adobe Reader, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Excel.

CONS

Having a computer with enough processing capacity and memory so that it does not become slow to work in this application because it requires a lot of resources.

Carlos

Automotive, 501-1,000 employees

Used monthly for more than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered

OVERALL RATING:

4

EASE OF USE

3

VALUE FOR MONEY

3

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

3

FUNCTIONALITY

4

Reviewed January 2023

Flowchart and layout design

I´ve developed lot of layout study and flowcharts for my company using this simple app!!

PROS

Very easy and simple way to make a layout study oir even trace new process flowcharts diagrams.

CONS

Maybe the webapp funcionality, several errors while open and costant shut down.

James

Used less than 12 months

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

4

VALUE FOR MONEY

3

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

4

FUNCTIONALITY

4

Reviewed October 2017

Strong tool for creating charts graphs and diagrams

PROS

Strong diagramming tool available as a windows downloadable program or as a cloud based service- really useful smart panel feature and good selection of templates and presets.

CONS

Could have benefited from exporting in Visio format and not as competitively priced as some other options

Judy

Management Consulting, 1 employee

Used monthly for more than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

5

VALUE FOR MONEY

5

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

5

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed July 2019

Great program to help me offer the unexpected services.

I use SmartDraw to prepare various flowcharts for my training sessions; check lists for processes; use for experiments of room flow for work space placement.

PROS

Easy to use, well documented help tutorial.

CONS

I would like a print preview screen. .

Douglas

Used monthly for less than 12 months

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

4

VALUE FOR MONEY

5

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

5

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed July 2018

Diagrams and Flowcharts made easy

PROS

SmartDraw gives us the ability to create custom workflow charts for various processes in our business. It is easy to use without being a graphics disign person. I like that it design library has an adequate amount of shapes and symbols for our processes.

CONS

I have problems making changes or additions to charts at times when I started with free trial. Had to buy individual license before i was able to finish learning to use.

Showing 1 - 25 of 111 Reviews