# SmartDraw Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > 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: https://www.capterra.com/p/78945/SmartDraw/reviews --- 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 April 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 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 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 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 CV Christopher V. President Construction Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "HomeServ Of Louisville Contractor " April 20, 2026 5.0 It is a game changer for all of us here at HomeServ of Louisville. I wish that would have learned about it sooner. Pros Very user friendly, great price point, you can create so many different things. It works great for a contractor like me. From designing blueprints to outdoor landscapes Cons So far it is great. I wish I would’ve known about it sooner. I would like to see more options for templates on blank estimate pages. Switched from [Hover](https://www.capterra.com/p/239375/HOVER/)[Plan7Architekt](https://www.capterra.com/p/198005/Plan7Architekt/) It does so much more than multiple products put together. 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 DG Danny G. Operations Coordinator Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Give SmartDraw a try--you won't be disappointed" March 16, 2026 5.0 My experience from the beginning has always been great. I would be extremely positive in recommending this product to anyone. Pros I love the ability to transfer files from the old version and convert them to this cloudbased program. It's very simple and convenient. Also, I love having the ability to create new diagrams quickly and efficiently for the many events we host. If you've never used smartdraw then I believe the learning curve will be extremely easy, whether you're creating charts or diagrams; you will be able to easily see your creation and changes immediately. The new ability to store your items in the cloud makes retrieval from virtually anywhere possible while keeping everything safe and secure. SmartDraw's customer service has always been fast and professional. Cons I would have to say trying to scale back the amount of detail you want to include because SmartDraw gives you ability to add many many items! Review Source EG Erica G. buyer Wholesale Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Floor Plans " February 23, 2026 5.0 it was a great experience, i recommend this program for people who need to make layouts and floor plans Pros very easy to navigate and create a detailed floor plan. the program is easy to use and follow. great for our needs Cons that its not savable to everyone's account - it would be helpful if it saved all floor plans to all accounts under a license Review Source NLL NANCY LEE-ANN L. Owner Architecture & Planning Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Positive Smart Draw Review" March 11, 2026 5.0 Overall I am very, very happy with the program. My family are thrilled I can produce drawings for new floor plans and addtions to their homes. Pros Pretty Easy to figure out without support, but support was there when I needed it. I am still learning the program and am surprised how AI can answer most of my questions. Cons Since I am mainly interested in floor plans and furniture arranging, and exterior home drawings and landscapting I wish there were more choices in your catalogue. Exterior siding would be very helpful. I also found navigating between the lbrary and selections a bit of a pain, wish what I use the most would stay in my selections. 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 BL Barry L. Human Resources Deputy Director Government Administration Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Good and Bad" January 3, 2020 3.0 Project management and organization development. Pros I liked the price and the easy project management Tool Set. Cons Newer version does not allow import of Excel or Text files to build org charts. This is a show stopper for me! Alternatives considered [Visio](https://www.capterra.com/p/201133/Visio/) Switched from [Visio](https://www.capterra.com/p/201133/Visio/) Earlier version had the org chart import feature that I liked, along with the price. Since the org chart import Excel and Text files feature has been eliminated, I'll have to look for a different solution. Review Source Response from SmartDraw February 6, 2020 Hi Barry, Thank you for the feedback. The Excel and text file import still exist for org charts. Whether you are using the online or downloaded version of SmartDraw, they are located in the SmartPanel on the left once you have opened an org chart. Hopefully this helps. If you require more, please let us know. Thank you, Chris support@smartdraw.com 858 225 3300 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 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 LV Laura V. Government Accounts Business Supplies and Equipment Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Quick and easy to use" March 13, 2026 5.0 I had a 30 minute training with \[sensitive content hidden\] a week ago, she was great and explained how to use SmartDraw. Pros SmartDraw has been very easy to learn how to use. I like that I can give my customer a quick sketch to see what furniture would fit into a space. Cons It would be nice if SmartDraw would have more office furniture symbols with different sizes and layouts. Review Source LF Larry F. Assistant Manager Education Management Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Best per unit cost I could find" March 10, 2026 4.0 Haven’t used it much but It met my immediate needs of needing a drawing tool over the weekend. I was grateful that it was available. Pros Ease of learning how to use. Using it for a quick weekend work task. It did most of what I needed. Cons Applying text seemed rickety… Not sure I ever figured out the best way to do it. Needed more pre-set shapes. Review Source TC Tara C. Researcher's Education Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "High quality and professional looks drawing software" February 3, 2023 5.0 SmartDraw is helping businesses quickly and easily create professional-looking visuals for presentations, documents, reports, and websites. The benefits enterprises have realized from SmartDraw include increased efficiency, cost savings, and improved communication, with visuals helping to communicate complex information more simply. Pros The most impactful features of SmartDraw include an extensive library of templates and shapes, drag-and-drop editing, real-time collaboration, integration with Microsoft Office, and compatibility with Windows and MacOS. The product is relatively easy to use, with a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface, which makes it simple to create diagrams with minimal effort. Integration with existing business processes is also straightforward since the product works with most existing file formats. Cons Features that I feel are missing or could be improved: Better support for text orientations when editing diagrams, Ability to customize the interface based on user preference.Aspects of the product that are difficult to use: Tooltips are not always clear, making it difficult to understand how to use certain features; navigation can be confusing, especially when trying to find specific parts, Customizing diagrams can be time-consuming, especially when using the software for the first time. Integration with existing business processes should be easy with SmartDraw, but depending on the complexity of the business processes, this may become difficult. Review Source MS Marc S. Seeking Opportunity- Project/Program Management -Organizational Transformation & Change Catalyst Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "SmartDraw - Not quite a Visio replacement-- but pretty close" August 19, 2020 3.0 SmartDraw is great if starting from scratch to create drawing ( both simple & complex). If documents need to be traded with users who are using Visio, there will be issues-- especially if drawings need to be updated or converted across several users. It has most of the power of Visio with some added discovery things so if one is starting without the requirement of Visio integration, its a solid, but pricy tool. Pros Lots of examples and help videos Enterprise discovery tools are great but expensive Cons Stated the Enterprise version would import Visio but it is not a 100% conversion to SmartDraw format so that the properties of the Visio document carry thru in the same way with the same functionality. \*) Layers don't really stay intact. \*) Significant amount of the custom formatting gets lost. \*) Support and 'help' is primarily from static Web Videos. While they may provide some help, there is not much detail about what steps to take when things DO NOT work -- so one needs to call in and request support. No exactly the fastest turnaround. Reason for choosing SmartDraw Didn't choose one. As stated above, Smart Draw only eliminates other tools, if there is no requirements to share or update documents from those tools. I still have both on my systems. Review Source GC Glenn C. Homeowner Construction Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Worst program I have ever bought!" October 27, 2019 1.0 Tried to draw floor plan for a house we are building, took FOREVER to get a plan together. Don't waste your money, I should have asked for a refund. Pros Relatively inexpensive, somewhat easy use Cons Lost count...tried using SmartDraw to create a floor plan for a house we are building and so far have a list of about 2-3 dozen issues and it keeps growing. I have encountered each issue multiple times on different computers with different operating systems so I know it is the program. Issues range from minor issues like I try to expand walls or measure lines with a click and drag of a mouse and the wall or measure lines jumps from 3 foot in length to 45 foot in length or longer or I try to copy and paste a door and a wall gets pasted to major and the most frustrating issues like locking up every 10 - 15 minutes or after a I save a file then reopen it later, doors and windows have moved, room measure lines in some places have moved (even locking objects does not fix this). They sent me an updated version, but it did not help. Then they wanted me to disable user account controls even though it could cause security issues because they know it creates a lot of false positives, nice. Review Source Carl F. Ministry Director Arts and Crafts Used the software for: I used a free trial ### "smart draw 101" July 18, 2019 5.0 I am able to organize,plan,and create forms,documents for my ministry,and hobby,and it makes it so much easier to do.smart draw is a great starter for anyone that has a hobby.or likes to keep track of activities. Pros This software not only helps you draw but has other activities you can plan,organize any kind of project you want to build.I got the free trial and it is great.it is good as a starter for a first timer that desires to create activities for work,school,club,organization. Cons the free trial is limited,but it is worth learning the basics of creating document,forms,and lots of projects that you are going. Review Source Response from SmartDraw July 25, 2019 Hi Carl, Thank you for the positive review. Good to hear you are getting so much use out of the software. If you need anything from us at all, please let us know. International: +1 858 225 3300 US: 800-768-3729 / 858-225-3300 email: support@smartdraw.com -Chris GP Graciela P. Employee Consumer Services Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "SmartDraw a great tool for everyone" July 23, 2022 5.0 I really like this software, it was absolutely useful. Pros I really like the differents tools that this software provide us, I'm a lawyer and for some diagrams this software let me have a great experience, I really like it, this software it's absolutely great Cons This software was so good, it doesn't have things I don't like but I think that the interface can be more friendly and easy to understand for new users Review Source GK Gulshan K. Associate Project Manager Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Powerful tool for designing software" March 25, 2019 4.0 Over-all experience as per my requirements is good and doing my work done easily and fast. Pros Very easy to draw flowcharts. Easily import and export visio. Available at cheap price and can easily replace visio i believe which is much costlier. One can use its rich library of colours. Templates help alot to quickly built mocks. Cons When I used i didn't find multiple user facility. Review Source SM Simon M. Self employed Photography Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Good when it doesn't crash" February 27, 2019 3.0 Cannot recommend to others due to the continual crashing. When it works it does a good job. Customer support were good when I contacted them several times in the first year. They gave me a program to remove the software and a link to re-install each time, sometimes worked well for a few times but then the crashing started again. Interested to hear others still experience the same problem with the latest version. Pros Good when it works, good symbol library, versatile Cons Have the desktop version for drawing floor plans only and have persevered with it for 2 years (version 2017). It regularly crashes on me as others have detailed. If it crashes once you may as well start again as it will crash continually after that. For the price I paid I was hoping for much better and feel ripped off. Review Source SJ Simeon J. Architectural Assistant Architecture & Planning Used the software for: I used a free trial ### "Can't change thickness of walls" April 4, 2019 1.0 Five minutes of trial version. I realised after that short amount of time that it wasn't good enough. Pros Simple to use, I guess. You can get started straight away adding walls and dimensions. Cons It is utterly useless if you actually want anything precise. I'm an architectural designer, and the most basic thing I need to be able to do, even if I'm just measuring up an existing building, is change the thickness of the walls, but this doesn't seem to be possible! Without even this basic feature, it's just an utterly useless piece of software to me. After seeing this software, though, I realise why many estate agent's floorplans are so poor. If they use software like this, there just isn't the amount of flexibility within the software even to draw a normal house, let alone anything which is complex or has a variety of unique features. I think SmartDraw really need to up their game, and in doing so, could enhance the quality of estate agents floorplans for everyone! Review Source Response from SmartDraw April 5, 2019 Hi Simeon, Sorry your trial of SmartDraw did not go as you had hoped. You can change the thickness of the walls by choosing Line (between Fill and Effects) under the Home tab and then More from the dropdown menu if you want to specify an exact thickness. I'll see if we can add that same option in the right click menu as well for ease of location. Should you need more, we offer live US based phone support: 800-768-3729 (+1 858-225-3300 for callers outside of the US), or via email: support@smartdraw.com. -Chris SD Susan D. Consultant Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "For those who are Visual Planners" April 21, 2022 4.0 Pros I was a programmer in the 70's and flowcharts and diagrams were how we designed applications and programs. SmartDraw was a great tool to get ideas "on paper" without having to draw it out, erase changes and store the diagrams in a file folder. It was a great transition to a digital format. Cons No tool is a "perfect fit" for everyone and doesn't solve every need but this fills the diagram need nicely. Review Source TTO Tania Tamara O. Departamento Recursos Humanos Used the software for: 2+ years ### "I love doing flow charts, timelines, mind maps, decision trees and other visual presentations." June 7, 2018 5.0 Pros With SmartDraw, I can create visual documents in an easy way, in addition to streamline the work, smartDraw has templates that come with a library of shapes and symbols, which I can use with just drag them to the worksheet. I can add textures and photos to further improve the document. Cons \-Consume abundant resources, and its installation is so slow that it becomes tedious waiting until fully charged. Review Source Similar Products Featured ## Related categories [Diagram](https://www.capterra.com/diagram-software/)[Org Chart](https://www.capterra.com/org-chart-software/)[Floor Plan](https://www.capterra.com/floor-plan-software/) ## 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.