Visio for Mac alternative: SimpleDiagrams vs Visio

There is no desktop Visio for the Mac. If you want a Visio for Mac alternative for quick, informal diagrams, SimpleDiagrams is a native Mac app you buy once and keep. It opens Visio drawings and stencils, too.

Who each is for

SimpleDiagrams

Mac users who want to sketch an idea, a process or a system quickly, in a friendly sketch style, and drop the picture into a document or a slide.

Visio

Organizations that run on Microsoft 365 and share formal diagrams as .vsdx files. On a Mac you use Visio for the web in Safari or Chrome.

Side by side

Feature SimpleDiagrams 5 Visio
On a Mac A native Mac app for macOS 15 or later, on Apple silicon or Intel. Visio for the web, in Safari or Chrome, with a work or school account. The desktop app runs on Windows only.
Price US$39.99 once. No subscription. The licence never expires. Visio for the web is Plan 1 at US$5.00, or Plan 2 at US$15.00 with the Windows app, per user per month, paid yearly. A basic version, Visio in Microsoft 365, comes with Microsoft 365 business, enterprise and education plans, not Personal or Family.
Free trial 7 days with the download from this site. No card needed. The Mac App Store edition has no trial. 30 days of Plan 1 or Plan 2 for first-time users with a work or school account. A credit card is needed.
Works offline Yes. The app has no network access at all. Not on a Mac: Visio for the web needs an internet connection. The Windows desktop app works offline.
Hand-drawn look Built in: sketch-style shape libraries, squiggly connectors, and a Pencil and an art Marker for freehand lines. Hand-drawn themes such as Pencil and Whiteboard in the Windows app only. Visio for the web can't open a drawing that uses one.
Shape libraries Eight built-in libraries, including UML and BPMN, plus more sketch-style libraries, from AWS and Google Cloud to value stream mapping, to download with a free account. Free Built-in templates and stencils: basic ones in Visio in Microsoft 365, many more with Plan 1 or Plan 2.
Containers and swimlanes Containers that hold their shapes and take them along, and swimlanes you edit in place and turn between across and down, shapes and all. Containers and cross-functional flowcharts (swimlanes) on the web with Plan 1 or Plan 2, not in Visio in Microsoft 365.
UML and BPMN Built-in UML and BPMN libraries, with sequence diagrams and BPMN pools. Nothing checks a diagram against either standard. On the web, nine UML diagram types with Plan 1 or Plan 2, and BPMN shapes with Plan 2, in US English only. Checking a BPMN diagram against its rules needs the Windows app.
Shape data Add fields such as owner, cost or status to library shapes. Edit them in the Shape Data panel, compare a whole page in the Page Data table, and export as CSV or JSON. Set up fields once for a whole library. No links to live data. Full Shape Data in the Windows app, which can also link shapes to live data in Excel, SharePoint or SQL Server. In Visio for the web, Plan 1 and Plan 2 can view, edit and add shape data; Visio in Microsoft 365 can only view it.
Export PDF, PNG, JPEG and SVG. Print. PDF, PNG and JPEG on the web. SVG in the Windows app.
Visio files Opens .vsdx, .vsdm, .vstx and .vstm drawings as new diagrams, and imports .vssx and .vssm stencils as libraries. Older .vsd and .vss files don't open, and it doesn't save Visio files. Its own format, .vsdx. With Plan 2, Visio for the web also edits older .vsd files.
Real-time co-authoring No Yes, in the browser, for diagrams saved in OneDrive or SharePoint at work or school.
Windows No Yes

Visio prices are in US dollars, as of October 2026.

Visio files, UML and BPMN

Open Visio drawings

Open .vsdx, .vsdm, .vstx and .vstm files as new diagrams you can edit. Shapes keep their outlines, colours, text and shape data. Flowchart and BPMN shapes become the matching SimpleDiagrams shapes, swimlanes and containers come across, and connectors stay attached.

Import Visio stencils

Import a .vssx or .vssm stencil and its shapes become a custom library, with their colours, connection points, shape data and tips. Lines and connectors in the stencil are left out.

UML and BPMN

A UML library with actors, activity nodes, class and database boxes, sequence diagrams and ten relationships. A BPMN library of 89 shapes in a hand-drawn style, each carrying its BPMN details as shape data, plus a pool, an expanded sub-process and six flows. See BPMN diagrams on your Mac.

Your Visio file is never changed, and macros never run. A summary lists anything that didn't come across exactly. Older .vsd and .vss files don't open; SimpleDiagrams says how to save them in the newer format. It draws UML and BPMN but doesn't check your diagram against either standard.

The user guide has the details on Visio drawings and stencils, UML and BPMN.

Why people choose SimpleDiagrams

  • It is a real Mac app, not a web page. It behaves the way your other Mac apps do.
  • You pay once. There is no subscription to keep up.
  • It works on a plane. The app has no network access and collects no analytics. See our IT and security statement.
  • You can add your own data fields to library shapes, set them up once for a whole library, compare a whole page in one table and export it as CSV or JSON.
  • It opens the Visio drawings and stencils people send you, so you can keep working on them on your Mac.
  • UML and BPMN libraries come built in, in the same hand-drawn style as everything else.
  • Containers, swimlanes you edit in place, tables you type straight into and callouts that stay pointed at a shape are built in too.
  • The informal, hand-drawn look is the whole point. Diagrams were never so easy.

When Visio is the better choice

  • You need to send diagrams back as .vsdx files. SimpleDiagrams opens them but saves in its own format.
  • Your colleagues work on Windows.
  • You edit the same diagram with others at the same time.
  • You need more kinds of formal diagram, such as the nine UML diagram types Visio for the web offers with Plan 1 or Plan 2.
  • You need BPMN diagrams checked against BPMN's rules, or shapes linked to live data in Excel, SharePoint or SQL Server. Both need Visio on Windows, such as the desktop app in Plan 2, and SimpleDiagrams does neither.

Download SimpleDiagrams 5 and try it free for 7 days

The free trial is in the download from this site. The Mac App Store edition is paid up front and has no trial.

Download the free trial Buy a licence Download on the Mac App Store

One licence covers one person on every Mac they use. Buying for a team? There are published discounts from 5 licences. See team pricing.

Also weighing up OmniGraffle? Read OmniGraffle alternative for Mac: SimpleDiagrams vs OmniGraffle.

Considering Lucidchart too? Compare SimpleDiagrams and Lucidchart for Mac.

Sources

Competitor details checked . Prices in US dollars; check the vendor's site for current terms.

BPMN is a trademark of the Object Management Group. These shapes are not endorsed by it. UML is a registered trademark of the Object Management Group. SimpleDiagrams is not endorsed by it.