--- title: "SmartDraw Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra" description: "Is SmartDraw the right Flowchart solution for you? Explore 152 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice." source_url: "https://www.capterra.com/p/78945/SmartDraw/reviews/" page_type: "reviews" language: "en" --- SmartDraw 4.2 (152) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/78945/SmartDraw/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated July 21st, 2026 # Reviews of SmartDraw Ease of use 4.1 Customer Service 4.2 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews MS Meg S RetireeDesign, Self-employedUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “The tools are similar to other drawing and design software, which I am familiar with, so learning how to design a accurate floor plan, add furniture and appliances, add doors and windows has been a breeze.“ April 20, 2026 SS Savya S ManagerConstruction, Self-employedUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “One of the main drawbacks of SmartDraw is that it lacks the advanced drafting and engineering capabilities available in AutoCAD. While SmartDraw is useful for creating simple diagrams and floor plans, it does not provide the powerful 2D drafting, precision tools, and 3D modeling features that AutoCAD offers for professional architectural and engineering work.“ March 9, 2026 MO Mario O Safety ManagerConstruction, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “I used it to do floor plans and emergency exit plans, love the end product, helped us meet state, city and county requirements for Certificate of Occupancy.“ April 6, 2026 CL Cristina L Healthcare SpecialistFurniture, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “Limited advanced design tools, mostly 2D (weak 3D), not ideal for complex architecture or engineering work, fewer collaboration features than newer tools“ March 13, 2026 MB Michael B Lieutenant - Technical SupportPublic Safety, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “The ability to utilize layers and various templates has been helpful with the extra benefit of existing icon libraries for various project types.“ February 27, 2026 MS Margaret S TeacherPrimary/Secondary Education, 501 - 1,000 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “Also, students can access, edit, and delete other student's projects, which is extremely problematic.“ March 10, 2026 TW Taylin W Project ManagerRetail, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “The customer support is extremely helpful as well, we had new team members join and we were able to schedule a tutorial with the Smart Draw team.“ February 24, 2026 JH Jensen H Crime scene technicianLaw Enforcement, 201 - 500 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Searching for things is really frustrating, especially how you can simply change a word to plural and get an entire new set of symbols.“ February 26, 2026 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 152 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Rohit Y. Business Analyst Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great tool for business analyst activities" April 4, 2019 5.0 Pros Can create your mind maps and complex flowchart of any kind with ease. Using it on office desktop and well integrated with Microsoft office suit. Also compatible with google docs which is very helpful Cons So i didn't find anything and i will strongly recommend this for pm and business analyst activities. Review Source Response from SmartDraw April 11, 2019 Hi Rohit, Thank you for taking the time to write a review, I'm happy to hear SmartDraw worked well for you. If you need anything, please do not hesitate to reach out. US: 800-768-3729 International: +1 858 225 3300 email: support@smartdraw.com -Chris iA isaac A. Product Dev Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "SmartDraw for Engineering development" March 16, 2026 5.0 it has been about a month since our operations team has created a chart to support our weekly meetings and updates. Less resistance in project deadlines and a smooth transition to the formatting Pros SmartDraw provides an easy to view planner that can be learned and implemented within minutes of signing in. This has kept our team task oriented through clear visual assignment management. Cons our team hasnt found a weakness with smartdraw yet. unfortunately i would like to see more users for the base package Switched from [Microsoft Excel](https://www.capterra.com/p/176574/Excel/) visualization and functionality of a operations hub was needed Review Source WC Wiiliam C. District Sales Manager Retail Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Nice to Try Horrible to Own" September 9, 2025 3.0 Overall I like smartdraw as a program but the customer service, lack of customer retention and acting like they are robots, not actually helping or answering you, just like they are reading from a scripted book. Have over 500+ customers ready to sign up at $15 a month, and they still refuse to budge. Pros Ease of use, templates, learning was a breeze, simple program with basic features. I recommend this if you are a beginner and want to do a free 7 day trial or are looking for a basic program with basic features to get to your desired design. I would not buy this as it's a annual trap. Cons The plans offered are horrible. No monthly plans for those of us who want to periodically want to create personal designs. It's either all or nothing with them. Even with the $10.99 monthly subscription, this has to billed annually which is a headache. They have lost so many customers over not offering a month to month subscription with a $15 subscription fee. Switched from [Planner 5D](https://www.capterra.com/p/164022/Planner-5D/) Because 5dPlanner was way too powerful for what were doing, a little clunky to use and very very intricate in design features. I loved the free version they had and the monthly subscription options. Review Source JA Jon A. Corrosion Engineer Mechanical or Industrial Engineering Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "CorrTech Smartdraw" March 31, 2026 5.0 Limited so far, but positive and helpful. Having a dedicated support person has been extremely helpful. Pros \- Ease of use and accessibility on any browser - Useful for variety of technical and organizational applications Cons Stringent functionality parameters outside of normal use-cases. More customizable features would be helpful. Switched from [AutoCAD](https://www.capterra.com/p/265024/AutoCAD/) We are using SmartDraw to supplement our AutoCAD license to allow more users access to these tools at a more cost effective price point. Review Source MS Margaret S. Teacher Primary/Secondary Education Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Almost perfect for this teacher's purposes" March 10, 2026 4.0 SmartDraw is rather easy to use, which a greatly appreciate. Improve the Cons above and it would be perfect! Pros I greatly appreciate that there are existing icons for the types of projects my school needs - salon floorplans, crime scenes, professional kitchens, etc. Cons I create templates and distribute them through Google Classroom. The integration could be smoother. Also, when students create work from templates, the new projects push the template down among student work, which makes the template difficult to find. Also, students can access, edit, and delete other student's projects, which is extremely problematic. Switched from [Lucidchart](https://www.capterra.com/p/146136/Lucidchart/) Lucidchart is not NYS Ed Law 2d compliant, SmartDraw is. Review Source MB Michael B. Lieutenant - Technical Support Public Safety Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Useful Program with Fantastic Support Team!" February 27, 2026 5.0 I had a great experience with implementation while playing a lead role in the program adoption within my department. The SmartDraw team was always very thorough, open to questions and meetings, and provided real-time training for our members. There is also continuing potential to utilize this software for unintended purposes, such as post-incident review and emergency response analysis for presentation. Pros I really enjoy the interface, and having the program browser-based instead of application only. The ability to utilize layers and various templates has been helpful with the extra benefit of existing icon libraries for various project types. Cons The main issue our department members had with the functionality was overwriting existing projects due to comfortability with "Save As" procedures and unfamiliarity with auto-save. This was mostly resolved with awareness/education training. Switched from [Visio](https://www.capterra.com/p/201133/Visio/) Cost per license was cost prohibitive for our budget and implementation situation. Review Source JR Joe R. Area Director Food & Beverages Used the software for: 2+ years ### "10/10 restaurant operations" March 15, 2026 5.0 Weve been using it for years for restaurant design. Weve adopted it across multiple operators. App works great. Pros Ease of use. Pricing is extremely fair. We use it for multiple kitchen and dining room layouts. It has basically everything we need. Cons Sometimes some of the functions dont work like I anticipate them too. Things like dragging walls and moving whole rooms. Alternatives considered [PlanningWiz Floor Planner](https://www.capterra.com/p/164199/PlanningWiz-Floor-Planner/) Reason for choosing SmartDraw Pricing and ease of use. I also think there was a trial period. Review Source SS Savya S. Manager Construction Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Review of Smart Draw " March 9, 2026 5.0 My overall experience with SmartDraw has been positive, especially for creating quick and visually clear diagrams. The software is easy to use and offers a wide range of templates that make it simple to create flowcharts, organizational charts, and basic floor plans without spending too much time on formatting. Its automatic alignment and formatting features help produce professional-looking diagrams quickly. However, when compared to professional design tools like AutoCAD, SmartDraw feels limited in terms of precision drafting, advanced customization, and handling complex technical drawings. Overall, it is a convenient tool for business diagrams and simple layouts, but it may not fully meet the needs of users who require detailed engineering or architectural design capabilities. Pros What I like most about SmartDraw is its ability to quickly create professional and well-organized diagrams with minimal effort. The software automatically aligns and formats shapes as they are added, which saves a lot of time compared to manually arranging elements in other tools. It also offers a wide range of templates for flowcharts, organizational charts, project workflows, and floor plans, making it easy to start designing without building everything from scratch. Additionally, its smooth integration with tools like Microsoft Office and Google Workspace makes it convenient to include diagrams in reports, presentations, and documentation, improving overall productivity and clarity in professional communication. Good Customer Support and has a good learning curve. Cons One of the main drawbacks of SmartDraw is that it lacks the advanced drafting and engineering capabilities available in AutoCAD. While SmartDraw is useful for creating simple diagrams and floor plans, it does not provide the powerful 2D drafting, precision tools, and 3D modeling features that AutoCAD offers for professional architectural and engineering work. Users also report limited design options, fewer customizable shapes, and slower performance when handling large or complex diagrams. In comparison, AutoCAD is widely recognized as an industry-standard platform used by architects and engineers to create highly detailed construction drawings and collaborate across firms. SmartDraw would improve significantly if it added more advanced CAD features, better performance for complex projects, and a wider library of symbols and customization tools to better compete with professional design software like AutoCAD. Review Source NR Nicole R. Owner Retail Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Try it and love it!" April 13, 2026 5.0 I love using SmartDraw and will recommend to anyone who needs to generate charts, workflows, floor plans, etc. Pros After trying out several types of programs to create a basic floor plan for my storefront I discovered SmartDraw and fell in love with how easy it is to use! Cons I think the only thing I don't like about SmartDraw is I don't actually require it for a year and would've preferred a month to month subscription Review Source AM Angela M. Territory Manager Furniture Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Quick floor plans." March 30, 2026 5.0 I am able to communicate simple things and I know I have training and support resources if I need it. Pros I like that SmartDraw is a quick way to communicate with customers how furniture fits in their space. Cons I'm used to working in AutoCAD and its quite different thank that and not easy to manipulate things. Review Source GH Gerald H. Owner Arts and Crafts Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Novice’s Dream Drawing Program " April 20, 2026 5.0 It was a great experience for a novice’s need for a drawing program. The simplicity and ease of use saved valuable time in putting together a layout for our staff. Pros The best thing about SmartDraw is its ease of use. I’m not experienced in CAD, but was able to learn and use the program to put together a shop layout with dimensions and icons representing each shop machine. All of it was intuitive without needing a broad tutorial to use. Cons The only thing I had difficulty with was making symbols display at a specific dimension. Most icons were either slightly larger or smaller than what they really were. Review Source NR Nicolas R. Procurement Manager - CAD Drafter Design Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Once you get it, you get it!" March 27, 2026 5.0 Overall, I'm happy with the built-in features and the support I needed when I asked for it. Would certainly recommend to anyone who does not need/want the massive feature list and menu diving of AutoCad, but still want their presentations to be accurate and professional Pros Once I began to understand the subtle differences between SD and other drawing software, I really started to enjoy the functionalities and ease of use. It makes simple projects simple! Cons I quickly realized the snap function does not work well on a laptop screen but fine on a bigger monitor Review Source MO Mario O. Safety Manager Construction Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### " Safety First Evacuation Plans " April 6, 2026 5.0 I used it to do floor plans and emergency exit plans, love the end product, helped us meet state, city and county requirements for Certificate of Occupancy. Pros Very user friendly and all the options needed to cover our needs and maintain safety compliance required by city and county offices. Cons Like any new app or program, it takes a little while to navigate platform, nothing negative for your software, just user adjustment. Review Source AP Ashley P. Associate, Signature Events Fund-Raising Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "5 Start Support Team" March 30, 2026 5.0 I primarily work on outdoor events and the ability to bring in a satellite image to then create an event site to scale is HUGE! Pros I'm a fairly new user and the software is easy to navigate. But when I ran into a challenge, I had a nearly immediate response from the support team \[sensitive content hidden\] , who continued to follow up until the issue was resolved. Cons I ran into limitations with moving files and folders because some of those privileges are reserved for the license owner, but nothing I couldn't work around. And again the support team was willing to move files back and forth to the license owner to further assist. Review Source RG Rebecca G. Owner Food & Beverages Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Amazing Program" April 20, 2026 5.0 From someone that has no skill - drawing up a scale of our new building was very easy with this program. Pros All the measuring ease and the number of prop/pictures I could add into my drawing. Very easy to add a second floor as well. Cons When drawing a line/wall - you had to remember to click back on to the arrow or walls would keep being drawn with every click. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Accountant Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Great platform for simple submittal drawings." January 10, 2018 5.0 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". Review Source MS Mark S. Building manager Religious Institutions Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Frustratingly buggy, and bad tech support." April 12, 2021 2.0 Easily the most frustrating software that I have to use. I am unfortunately not aware of any other options in that price range that have the simplicity of interface and the features I need. This software would be great if it worked and if customer support wasn't abysmal. Pros The interface would be great if it worked. At the price, it would be a great value, if it worked. Cons 1\. Many, many bugs. In particular, things often move when they shouldn't, and saving your work never works like you expect it to. In particular, if you save a project, via the "save" button, then "save as" another file, the work that was "saved" on the original is lost. They refuse to acknowledge this bug, but, over the phone, they did explain to me how to use templates, which gives a decent workaround for this bug, for me. Which brings me to: 2. When you contact customer support via email they are absurdly unhelpful. The last time I sent a bug report in, I included step by step instructions for reproducing the bug. Every single reply I received had nothing to do with the bug. I continued to ask "could you reproduce this bug on your end?", a question that they never answered once. Bugs are not a thing that customer service seems to be allowed to talk about, which is unfortunate, given how full of bugs this software is. Review Source CO Christopher O. Student Mechanical or Industrial Engineering Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "A great software for creating charts" January 7, 2023 4.0 A great 1 year plus experience using smartdraw for designs and all. Still have some certain features to try out and I will definitely do that from now on Pros First of all, I love the software layout and its design. I usually use smartdraw to create flowcharts, simple electric circuit diagrams.Well designed Inbuilt templates are available for users and tools to help the user design templates from scratch Cons Although there are some features that I haven't tried yet, the rest are working just fine for me Review Source Cesar A S. Analyst Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Create simple and complex workflows and diagrams" June 14, 2018 5.0 Pros The interphase is awesome, and you have no limits using this software you can a simple diagram showing a workflow or you can do a complex net design for established a network in an office building, you can even design plans of houses or do 3D models for engineering processes. Cons It is really expensive, if your are going to buy it be sure of spend that amount of monet in one software, the best option is use the online version. Review Source Joely R. COO Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Smart draw is very user friendly, i am able to show others how to do the basics really easily." January 18, 2018 4.0 Pros Ease of manipulation of floor plans, handy clip arts. User friendly, can move groups of objects together. 3D modeling is something we rarely use, but it was easy to learn to do. Cons I don't care for the cloud based option and it seems like this is what it is migrating to. I prefer to save copies to my hard drive. I was unable to open previous files unless I upgraded software as well. That isn't right. Review Source MF Mikos F. Facility Engineer Facilities Services Used the software for: I used a free trial ### "Needs a bug-fix for the crashing problem" April 21, 2021 3.0 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. Review Source AB Ariana B. Executive Support Coordinator Hospital & Health Care Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Review of SmartDraw" April 27, 2022 4.0 Pros If I'm being honest, the only thing that I like about SmartDraw is how the org chart looks once completed. It is also great that you can save it as a PDF file afterwards. It has a professional look to it and it is very nice that each tab I have in the system saves as a new page when in PDF format. Cons When I open the program, it seems as though a new problem arises. Sometimes I cannot copy and paste a section of the org chart, I cannot see all of the tabs I have, or I cannot make any edits. While I do like how the org chart looks, getting to that point is rather frustrating. While I would love to be able to write a good review, I constantly run into issues which takes up a lot of my time. Review Source Thamara D. Software Engineer Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Tool for Draw Diagrams !" September 27, 2018 4.0 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. Review Source christopher H. co owner Consumer Goods Used the software for: I used a free trial ### "Ease of use as a trial" December 3, 2019 4.0 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 Review Source Response from SmartDraw December 11, 2019 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 Renea H. President Used the software for: I used a free trial ### "So Glad I Discovered Smart Draw!" June 24, 2018 5.0 The ability to create powerful, moving charts and mind maps. Pros My absolute favorite thing about SmartDraw is the simple drag and drop to build out anything from mind maps to flowcharts and more. An especially good investment for anyone needing to make their ideas clear and points understood in a powerful way. Cons The design of the dashboard could be better. It is a bit boring for all that it does. The layout would be better if I had the whole screen and the options to drag and drop were at the top. Review Source Similar Products Featured ## Send me user reviews about this product ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox.