TRL Helpdesk: Microsoft Visio

[ckn]

I've been using Microsoft Visio for a good couple of decades now, less each year as it goes but I still use it.  My current subscription that I got as a corporate thing expired and I now have to pay for it myself.  The standalone Visio app is £309, the Professional version is well over £500.  The Office 365 subscriptions for it to use the proper app are around £15/month.

That's just stupid for something I'd use less often than once every 2-3 months now.

So, any recommendations for replacement that has roughly the same features?  Free is good but I don't mind paying a bit for a decent replacement.  £300+ is beyond stupid though...

[Griff9of13]

6 minutes ago, ckn said:

I've been using Microsoft Visio for a good couple of decades now, less each year as it goes but I still use it.  My current subscription that I got as a corporate thing expired and I now have to pay for it myself.  The standalone Visio app is £309, the Professional version is well over £500.  The Office 365 subscriptions for it to use the proper app are around £15/month.

That's just stupid for something I'd use less often than once every 2-3 months now.

So, any recommendations for replacement that has roughly the same features?  Free is good but I don't mind paying a bit for a decent replacement.  £300+ is beyond stupid though...

I mainly use it for entity relationship diagrams so the only freebies I know are for that, usually Oracle Designer.

[CanaBull]

For diagramming stuff our place moved onto LucidChart  We have the team (company) version which has the Visio import/export, though the individual Pro version has the same features for $10US/month.

I used to use Visio a fair amount but found LucidChart more intuitive and easier to collaborate with, not being Microsoft is always a bonus.

Good luck!

[ckn]

28 minutes ago, CanaBull said:

For diagramming stuff our place moved onto LucidChart  We have the team (company) version which has the Visio import/export, though the individual Pro version has the same features for $10US/month.

I used to use Visio a fair amount but found LucidChart more intuitive and easier to collaborate with, not being Microsoft is always a bonus.

Good luck!

Thanks.  I used to use Visio 2-3 times a week and it was worth the license fee then.  My current role barely needs it and I could do most of what I need in PowerPoint if I really put my mind to that awful interface.  I’m just stuck as I need to do a fancy diagram for work tonight and PowerPoint is driving me potty, it’s the sort of thing that I could knock out in Visio in 1/10th of the time.

US$10/month would be a bit expensive for my needs, thanks though.

[CanaBull]

17 minutes ago, ckn said:

Thanks.  I used to use Visio 2-3 times a week and it was worth the license fee then.  My current role barely needs it and I could do most of what I need in PowerPoint if I really put my mind to that awful interface.  I’m just stuck as I need to do a fancy diagram for work tonight and PowerPoint is driving me potty, it’s the sort of thing that I could knock out in Visio in 1/10th of the time.

US$10/month would be a bit expensive for my needs, thanks though.

It does have a free version but it's limited as to how complex your charts can get, there's also a $5US version but it doesn't have the Visio import/export.  I went through a similar search a couple of years ago, LucidChart is middle of the road really, there's not a lot out there for free or little cost with access to Visio unfortunately. 

You could try Draw.io but I'm not sure if it will open native Visio files (maybe .vsdx) on the free version.