Creately vs. Microsoft Visio

Creately is a commonly used tool to create infographic elements for your workflows. It is effortless to use and has excellent and underrated features such as rules & database creation. While using Creately, one can not create hierarchical structures such as folders inside folders and so on for organizing diagrams.

Incentivized

I believe any company or individual that is looking to get a process map visualized; would be a great tool. The tool is a great way to get complex ideas onto “paper” for all to see. Visio can be harder to use if you have an idea that is going in many different directions. If all ideas can fit on one page, this is the tool to use to visualize it all.

Incentivized

• The flexibility of use when it comes to design.
• Option for collaboration with users who do not have paid accounts.

Incentivized

• The templates for basic flowcharting are simple to use and cover most of the basic functions and touch points in a diagram.
• The variety of included icons and connectors means it's very easy to create floor plans and/or network diagrams.
• The ease at which you can customise connectors with different colours/thickness makes it very effective in overall presentation of a diagram.

Incentivized

• The fonts are limited
• Navigating in the canvas can be hard especially if you're working on a big one

Incentivized

• Its inability to delve deeply into micro information successfully.
• It is a paid software which comes after paying a Microsoft licensing fee.
• The cost is high and the integration of the stencil library is unnecessarily fragmented.
• The more you use it, the faster and more effective you will get.

Incentivized

We use Microsoft Visio to keep our diagrams updated and to that end we will need the subscription to keep using the software. Otherwise we will be left with PDF versions of the diagrams.

Incentivized

I think Microsoft Visio is pretty easy to initially pick up and understand the user interface to dive into make basic models. It would be nice if there were some fit for purpose templates so that not as much time needs to be spent on some types of engineering diagram structure. Trying to work on a single Visio file with multiple team members is also a sticking point.

Incentivized

It definitely could be better, but it may also depend on the type of license you are subscribing to.

Incentivized

Overall, I feel that Microsoft's support is weak. They are now such a behemoth that their model of putting documentation online for their users to sift through is totally outgrown. Given the amount of money you pay for these licenses, Microsoft should provide easy one-on-one support for their products via email or chat. The idea of paying their rates for support incidents is ridiculous. If you have an enormous amount of time on your hands, use their support websites and you will eventually find a solution most of the time.

Incentivized

Creately's folder system is a novel feature that beats its competitors. It helps keep everything organized. In addition, there are many more customization possibilities, especially in the shapes and in the library of templates and drawings. It has an intelligent drawing capability superior to all the competition, allowing more customization and detail.

Incentivized

I have personally never used or evaluated other programs similar to Microsoft Visio. I started using it following an indication from a colleague who told me that our University distributes it free of charge to its users. Since I first used it (more or less three years ago), I have never left Microsoft Visio. Excellent!

• Helped the team work collaboratively by sharing on the ideas on Canvas
• Boosted the client engagement whenever this tool is used
• Made the work easier by providing the predesigned templates

Incentivized

• Greatly enhanced time to create share and finalize documentation.
• Better collaboration between disparate teams, such as marketing opts and sales ops.
• Transparency/visibility into standardize, workflows and processes have led to better team, relationships, and better results that translate directly to the bottom line and ROI.

Incentivized