If you don’t have the budget for professional organization chart software then there are some pretty decent free options that can be used on a Mac.
We’ve tested and reviewed a range of tools that can create tree diagrams for free on a Mac and offer either unlimited free usage or are free to use with less restrictions than paid software.
If you are intending to use these for corporate or professional use however, bear in mind the following limitations:
- Most free tools for creating tree structures only allow very limited free use for personal use only. If you need to use them commercially in a team or add multiple users you will have to pay for a subscription.
- Most free tools limit the number of charts you can create.
- There are no free tools that offer free HR data integration such as automatic importing from BambooHR and other Employee Management Systems.
- Some free options such as The Org also make your organization charts public.
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1. Draw.io
If you’re looking for a way to draw org charts on a Mac 100% free with unlimited usage, then Draw.io is your best option.
Draw.io is Cloud based but it also offers a Mac desktop app for those that want to create a map of an organization offline.
Draw.io is one of those rare diagramming tools that doesn’t impose any limitations on users. The only paid version is for teams or those that need Jira/Confluence integration.
Before we get too carried away, Draw.io is a very basic tool for creating tree structures.
It has few specific tools for creating organigrams but by using the shapes it provides, you can put one together albeit, a bit crudely.
The easiest way to create a hierarchy in Draw.io is by using the shapes tool.
You can use the rectangular shapes to represent a person and then just give it a name and position.
The “Organization” tool in “Advanced Shapes” will also automatically create the tree diagram in a parent-child relationship structure as you build it.
You can choose from a range of layouts too including horizontal, vertical, fishbone, radial or single columns.
To share organigrams made in Draw.io, you can export to PNG, JPG and SVG format. You can also embed it in a webpage, export it as a PDF or share it as a link with someone.
To a limited extent, Draw.io can even auto-create organization maps based on a text file or CSV data exported from an Employee Management System (EMS).
You can start creating an org diagram with Draw.io for free now.
You can also check out our full review of Draw.io for more.
Pros:
- Free for personal use
- Easy to use drag and drop interface
- Mac desktop app available
Cons:
- Very few specific tools for creating organization charts
- Not easy to add photos or images
- No integration with HR systems available
2. Miro
Miro is a powerful digital whiteboard that helps you quickly paint an overview of your organization with slick and effective organization plotting tools.
The full version of Miro is subscription only but you can create 3 boards for free.
If you prefer the freedom of using a digital whiteboard for drawing a hierarchy map, then Miro is the best whiteboard software we’ve used.
One of the attractions of Miro to big organizations is that it offers an infinite whiteboard to develop charts as much as required.
Miro covers all types of templates including company organization charts, meet the team, project organizations, project planning, hiring process and company vision board templates.
You can also enrich anything made in Miro with images, text documents and other attachments.
Sharing in Miro is really easy and you can instantly share organization charts with stakeholders by exporting them to PDF and other image formats or adding it to your Confluence page.
If you upgrade to the paid version, you also get integrated video chat, @mentions and presentation mode for showing-off your creations in meetings.
Miro can be used for free but is limited to 3 boards while subscriptions start at $8 per month for unlimited boards.
You also check out our full Miro review for more.
Pricing: Free / Plans starting from $8 per month
Pros:
- Free for up to 3 boards
- Unlimited whiteboard
- Lots of templates for all kinds of organizations and needs
- Integrated video conferencing (in paid version only)
- Soc 2 and Soc 3 compliant
Cons:
- PDF export quality is poor in free version
- No Visio import or export support
3. Lucidchart
Lucidchart is a Cloud solution that has positioned itself as an alternative to Visio on a Mac to create hierarchies.
Lucidchart is a paid commercial product but you can use a limited free version for up to 3 documents.
Lucidchart has a very simple drag and drop interface which makes it easy to insert elements where you want them to be.
You can add photos to hierarchies and there are lots of customization options when it comes to colors and shapes.
To auto create maps of organizations, Lucidchart can import data from Excel and CSV files. It also has a pretty nifty tool that allows you to paste data it and Lucidchart will automatically create a basic map of your team from it.
If you use BambooHR, Lucidchart also can import employee information from BambooHR to auto populate charts although this is only available in the paid version.
The free version is limited to 60 objects and 3 documents so you’ll need to subscribe if you need to create anything bigger.
For more information, you can read our full review of Lucidchart.
You can also try Lucidchart for yourself.
Pricing: Limited free version, Plans starting from $7.95/month.
Pros:
- Free version for 3 documents
- Imports files from Visio
- Imports employee data from Excel or CSV
- BambooHR integration (paid version only)
- Works offline in Chrome
Cons:
- No Mac desktop app
- Uses low quality bitmap graphics
4. Creately
Creately is a Cloud based diagramming tool that offers a desktop app for Mac and Windows.
You can use the Cloud version for free for up to 3 diagrams although if you want yo download the Mac desktop app, you have to subscribe to Creately.
There are lots of templates to get you started both provided by Creately and other users of the app that have uploaded their own company templates.
Creately also has an infinite canvas so you can make your hierarchy map as big as you want.
You can add images to Creately to hierarchy maps, it’s easy to highlight important people in your charts and drag and drop elements around.
You can export in SVG and PDF format for printing (which also preserves the links in your charts) or you can simply export them as in image in JPEG or PNG format.
You can use the basic Cloud version of Creately free for up to 3 diagrams but to get full functionality and the Mac desktop app, you’ll have to purchase a subscription starting at $5 per month.
You can also read our full review of Creately for more.
You can also use Creately for free.
Pros:
- Offers both web and Mac desktop app
- Slick and easy to use
- Lots of templates
- Infinite canvas
- Very colorful
Cons:
- Mac desktop app requires subscription
5. The Org
The Org is a web based organization directory that allows corporations to publish organization charts for free.
Companies as big as Apple, Samsung and Microsoft have published their company structures on The Org so its a highly respected directory used by some of the biggest enterprises in the World.
The Org is designed for recruitment and talent spotting as much as creating hierarchy maps but its got a lovely slick interface that makes creating organizational charts very easy.
Once you’ve signed-up to The Org, you can start adding personnel and photos along with detailed Bio pages, links to their LinkedIn page and email address.
If you want a publicly listed illustration of your company structure that can be used for recruitment and head hunting, then The Org is an amazing resource covering some of the biggest enterprises in the World.
However, the big drawback is that any charts published on the org are publicly visible so its not suitable for organizations that want to keep things internal.
You sign-up to The Org and start creating your public company hierarchy for free.
Pros:
- Free to use
- Includes hierarchies of major corporations
- Slick, stylish interface
- Easy to add personnel
Cons:
- All charts are publicly visible
- Designed more for recruitment than internal use
Comparison Table
| Software | Visio Import Support | Compatibility | Pricing |
Collaboration Features | Export Options |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw.io | Yes | Web-based, Mac desktop app available | Free apart from for Team use or Jira integration | Limited and only in paid version | Export to PNG, JPEG, SVG, PDF |
| Miro | No | Web-based, works across platforms | Free Plans Available | Real-time collaboration, Comments, Sharing and Permissions, Integration with third-party apps | Export to PDF, PNG, JPEG, and more |
| Lucidchart | Yes | Web-based, works across platforms | Free Plans Available | Real-time collaboration, Comments, Sharing and Permissions, Integration with Slack and G Suite | Export to various formats including PDF, PNG, JPEG, and more |
| Creately | Yes | Web-based, works across platforms with Mac desktop app available | Free Plans Available | Real-time collaboration, Comments, Sharing and Permissions, Revision History | Export to various formats including PDF, PNG, JPEG, and more |
| The Org | Yes | Web-based, works across platforms | Free Plans Available | Real-time collaboration, Comments, Sharing and Permissions, Customization | Export to PNG, JPEG, PDF |