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IT Manager at a security firm with 51-200 employees
Real User
Jul 13, 2021
Useful for technical and non-technical people, helps in visualization, and saves time
Pros and Cons
  • "I really like the drag and drop feature because it makes the work easier. It is very easy to use. All the pieces are very good. All the icons and all the fields are available in the left panel. So, I just click, drag, and then edit a piece. When I showed it to my managing director, he was very inspired, and he also got a premium account for himself."
  • "With Lucidchart, I can create the whole process flow within a day, and when I show it to the developers, they can understand within five minutes."
  • "Wireframing can be improved. For mock-ups and wireframing, only 10% of what is required is there. If they can develop this feature, it would be much better because it will then provide everything. Currently, we can design network diagrams, processes, etc., but we should also be able to do wireframing."
  • "Wireframing can be improved. For mock-ups and wireframing, only 10% of what is required is there."

What is our primary use case?

I am using it for a wide range of diagrams for network configuration, process flow, etc. I am using its web version.

How has it helped my organization?

It is good for documenting things such as processes, systems, etc. Typically, for each project, I'll start with a new file, and for each and every step, I create more sheets under the same file. It is similar to Excel where you have multiple sheets in the same file. It is an effective way for me. It is very convenient and easy to use.

It provides real-time collaboration among users so that everyone is accessing and working on the same version of a document. We typically organize a Zoom meeting at certain times, and I do screen sharing, and a few other people join in. We work together by using collaborative editing options. Not every person who has access to the collaborative option is very technical. Sometimes, they might unknowingly delete something. When more people are collaborating, they can mix things together. Such human errors will come up, but they happen because of the people who are collaborating and not because of the tool. 

The ability for people to look at a diagram rather than reading through written documents saves time. The clients get the reality of what we are doing, which we consider as important. We can show what we are really working on, and they understand. 

I do a lot of process flows and diagrams. It is very important for me, not only for process flows but also for network designing and other such things. It has been helpful for understanding process flows or workflows, and that's the main purpose for which I use it. I have to forward the software process or application process flow to my development team. For non-technical people, such as a client who doesn't know the technical terms, Lucidchart helps in more visualization. When I present it and explain the process, people can easily understand it. That's the main advantage of using this one. For technical people, I spent a few hours defining the process flow, and they can understand it in five minutes.

Lucidchart saved us around 90% time as compared to the other solution. When you use presentation slides, it takes so much time to create a proper design. You have to insert each and every shape, and you have to connect things properly. Moreover, the slide sizes are fixed, and you can't extend the slides, which makes the work harder, whereas, in Lucidchart, you can extend a particular sheet to whatever size you want. You can also put everything together, and it still works fine. I own a development app in which we have more than 10 modules. For all 10 modules, I'm just using a single sheet. I just extend its height, and I am able to use a single sheet for the overall process flow. So, I don't need to go slide by slide to explain what is happening. Previously, to share my slides with other people, I had to put the file in one place and then send the link. If they didn't know much about designing slides, they used to mess up everything. With Lucidchart, this doesn't happen.

What is most valuable?

I really like the drag and drop feature because it makes the work easier. It is very easy to use. All the pieces are very good. All the icons and all the fields are available in the left panel. So, I just click, drag, and then edit a piece. When I showed it to my managing director, he was very inspired, and he also got a premium account for himself. 

I deal with technical sites. So, I typically use this for roster plans such as who will be on a particular project, and it has been very useful. 

When it comes to network diagrams, it gives us the flexibility to design a network on the go. This flexibility matters to us, and it makes us more productive.

It makes everything easy. It is very convenient as compared to other typical solutions. It makes my work easier. I don't need so much technical knowledge or experience of a particular software. I can just click and drag.

What needs improvement?

Wireframing can be improved. For mock-ups and wireframing, only 10% of what is required is there. If they can develop this feature, it would be much better because it will then provide everything. Currently, we can design network diagrams, processes, etc., but we should also be able to do wireframing. 

I design the process flow, and after the developer starts the process, I also have to design the UI. At present, I'm using another solution for wireframing or UI, but even in that, most of the icons are missing, so I have to get the icons from the internet. If Lucidchart can have the wireframing options into it, it will be a major success and helpful for us. Lucidchart already has the concept, but it does not have many options. You can select only limited options even if you have a premium subscription.

Buyer's Guide
Lucidchart
September 2026
Learn what your peers think about Lucidchart. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2026.
913,924 professionals have used our research since 2012.

For how long have I used the solution?

I used Lucidchart as a student for two years. As a professional, I have been using it for the last one month after joining this organization.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is totally fine in terms of stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is pretty okay. We haven't encountered any compatibility or accessibility issues so far. 

Currently, we have about three employees who are maintaining the Lucidchart pack. They dedicate roughly one or two hours per day. Each one has a different role. One is handling development, one is handling the testing, and another one is handling the database and backend stuff. Their roles are IT manager, system engineer, and assistant system engineer. 

It is one common license. We just share the permissions. So, we have one account, and I am the one maintaining the account. I have three other people who have fewer privileges. I share the documents with them, but they can't do much editing. They can only do limited operations.

Currently, we don't have any plans to extend its usage. After three or six months, when our initial project is rolled out, we might expand it and purchase more licenses.

How are customer service and support?

I have never contacted their technical support. There was no need to contact them because it is very straightforward and easy to use.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

In my organization, they were creating presentations for any kind of process flows, but they didn't have a professional look. They had to spend more time on the explanation part to help clients visualize the process. With Lucidchart, everything is in a single place, and everything is properly designed and organized. When I explain something to clients, it is easy for them to visualize and understand it.

How was the initial setup?

Its initial setup was straightforward. You just create an account and make the payment. It doesn't require any implementation strategy.

What was our ROI?

The ROI is not in terms of money, but it is in terms of productivity. Previously, to explain the process flow to developers, we had to spend hours creating the presentations. The guy who held my position previously spent almost a week designing five slides that explained the process flow. He had to spend another three to four hours explaining it to our developers, so the duration was very long. With Lucidchart, I can create the whole process flow within a day, and when I show it to the developers, they can understand within five minutes. So, I can witness its effectiveness. It is also useful when there is an occasional change in the process, which sometimes can happen once in a month.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Its pricing is very affordable and reasonable for the features that it provides. I am using its basic plan, and for my usage, it is perfectly reasonable. It suits perfectly.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

As a student, when I was searching for such solutions, I came across Lucidchart in Google search. I just created a trial account, and it was pretty okay. I then came to know that my university also provides premium access to Lucidchart. 

In my current organization, I didn't evaluate any other products before recommending Lucidchart to my manager. I know Lucidchart for the last two years, and I thought this would be a perfect fit for us. I recommended it to my manager and showed him how it works, and that's it. He approved to go with it.

What other advice do I have?

It is very flexible and easy to use. These are the two main things about Lucidchart. Moreover, it doesn't take so much technical support. It is just click-and-drag. With some of the other solutions, you need some technical knowledge to understand how it works, whereas Lucidchart doesn't require any technical knowledge. If you have experience working with Word, PowerPoint, or Excel, you can use it easily.

I have very occasionally used Lucidchart to create database schemas or modify existing data structures. I have not used Lucidchart's ability to compare different versions of documents. I might try it in the future.

I haven't tested it with Mac. I have a Lenovo PC and an HP workstation. It works fine with both. I have also tested it with Ubuntu, and it works totally fine with that. In our organization, everyone uses Microsoft.

I would rate Lucidchart a nine out of 10. It just needs more wireframing features.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
Data Advanced Analytic Specialist at a manufacturing company with 51-200 employees
Vendor
Jul 12, 2021
Simple to learn and use, robust, and facilitates collaboration with colleagues in different time zones
Pros and Cons
  • "In general, this product has improved our organization because it makes accessing up-to-date processes and planning a lot easier."
  • "It would be helpful if there were different options available for organizing the folders, such as having a high-level display with pictures."

What is our primary use case?

A lot of people in my company are using it for mapping processes.

We use it for mapping sales processes and product management processes. We look at a product and map it, including how we interface it through the product life cycle. Personally, I use it a couple of hours a day for project process mapping work.

How has it helped my organization?

In general, this product has improved our organization because it makes accessing up-to-date processes and planning a lot easier.

In terms of documenting things such as processes, systems, and new teams, it's easy to go in and share it with people as you're putting the process down. They can interact with it as well, and make changes at a later date. It stores all of these pages together under one folder and allows others to make changes, and it is also documented.

Lucidchart's capabilities for visualizing and understanding process flows and workflows are very good. There are lots of different shapes to use, they are easy to connect, easy to drag and drop, and the user interface is good. Changes and updates are also very good.

Overall, it's a very simple and very easy application to learn and also to use.

Lucidchart is integrated with Atlassian and it works fairly seamlessly. It's fairly important to our operation and the way it has been set up, I don't notice the integration.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the user interface. We use it live, so as we're having a conversation and deciding on the process that we're working on, it's easy to map it down, drag and drop components, move the different boxes around, and then add labels and things.

This solution allows for real-time collaboration among users so that everybody is working on the same version of a document, and this has definitely improved our development process. It has saved us time because of the time difference between myself and my colleagues. For example, I work in the UK and I have colleagues that work in Calgary, Canada. There are several hours of difference between us. Whenever we have a meeting in the afternoon, we can sit down and see the same document that we're all working on. We can edit and create processes in the live format, which means that we can maximize the amount of work we can do in this limited window of opportunity.

The ability for people to look at a diagram, rather than reading through written documents, has saved us time. I estimate that it saves us perhaps five hours per week. The savings comes from the fact that it's all there in front of us and we can refer back to it when we're referencing something else.

What needs improvement?

It would be helpful if there were different options available for organizing the folders, such as having a high-level display with pictures.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Lucidchart for between two and three weeks. The company has been using it for quite a long time.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This product is very robust, as far as I can tell.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability is very good. You can map a whole product development cycle through sales and interacting with the customer, and probably roadmaps going forward.

It is being used company-wide and I think that most people are probably using it. We have approximately 30 in the UK and in Canada, it is probably 150 more. It seems to be the de facto system and I suppose that as the company expands, the usage will increase.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward. It took a while to get my password for the license, although that may have been an internal issue rather than an external one. I expected it to be pretty quick but it took a couple of weeks, through our IT people.

Once I had my password, all that was required was for me to log onto it. I've also been given links that were shared by a couple of colleagues that I was working on things with.

What other advice do I have?

I probably use 20% of the features available in the product. I'm sure there is a lot more than I could be using it for and over time, I'll figure out more of it.

My advice for anybody who is looking into implementing Lucidchart is that if it fits what you want to do, I recommend it.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Lucidchart
September 2026
Learn what your peers think about Lucidchart. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2026.
913,924 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Business Development Representative at a tech vendor with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Jul 12, 2021
Provides real-time collaboration, saves time, and brings workflow efficiency
Pros and Cons
  • "I like how all the contacts in my chart are linked to LinkedIn. That's what makes it really easy for outreach and for making sure we have all the contacts right there in front of us when we need to."
  • "Previously, we used to create something in a PowerPoint or Keynote file, but they were just not as collaborative, dynamic, and adaptable as Lucidchart."
  • "It would be nice to be able to import not just contacts from Salesforce but also leads. In the beginning, when I was still learning the ropes and my way around it, I couldn't find such an option. There might be an option, but I just don't know about it."
  • "It would be nice to be able to import not just contacts from Salesforce but also leads."

What is our primary use case?

It is mainly for sales and business development. We use it for account mapping. If we have a target account, we want to know who the key players are. They include the decision-makers, individual contributors, etc. We map this information out on Lucidchart.

We are probably using the latest version. They're pretty good about that. In terms of deployment, it might be SaaS.

How has it helped my organization?

When we have target accounts, we really need to see and get a really clear overview of who's who, who does what, and who the champions are. Lucidchart has been in charge of that.

I have used Lucidchart's abilities to modify existing data structures. When I joined the company, they had existing account maps, and I was able to duplicate them and then tweak them to my needs. Lucidchart supports such processes very well. It is very user-friendly. It was easy for multiple users to collaborate on a single chart. Anyone can jump in and start adding and changing to an existing chart. All that activity is also trackable, which is helpful.

We have integrated it with Salesforce and G Suite. These integrations are important because when you make tweaks on Lucidchart, you want to make sure that those tweaks are also reflected on Salesforce and other solutions. You can update on one, and it gets updated automatically on the other and vice versa. These integrations are critical to what we do.

There is also integration with Slack, which is our main communication channel. It is definitely something we use more than email. Having this integration between Lucidchart and Slack really allows us to share documents for feedback. For example, I can share a Lucidchart via Slack with my boss, and then he would take a look at it and give me immediate feedback over Slack, which works in conjunction with the comments in Lucidchart. Basically, when I'm speaking with my manager, we communicate via Slack about the Lucidchart file, but when I'm speaking with my counterpart, who's working with me on the same account, then we would make the tweaks directly in Lucidchart. Slack just complements the collaboration that's within Lucidchart. It adds another layer for sharing with the wider organization.

Lucidchart provides real-time collaboration among users so that everyone is accessing and working on the same version of the document. This real-time collaboration is key because I would be on Zoom with one of my colleagues, and then we would jump into a Lucidchart file and start tweaking it as we go together.

It has definitely saved time. More efficiency gains are definitely there. It has cut our time. Previously, we used to create something in a PowerPoint or Keynote file, but they were just not as collaborative, dynamic, and adaptable as Lucidchart. In terms of numbers, it has saved us at least 20% of the time that would have been spent on other programs.

It has definitely helped us in realizing the efficiencies in the projects. It has made us more efficient as a team. The collaborative nature of it is something that's key to time-saving and being efficient in our workflows. Each of us manages multiple accounts, and it is just easier to keep track of things with Lucidchart.

The ability for people to look at a diagram rather than reading through written documents has saved time and, as a result, money, but I don't have specific metrics to show for that.

What is most valuable?

I really like the drag and drop feature. It makes it really easy. I also like the comment feature that enables various users to comment on the chart in real-time.

I like how all the contacts in my chart are linked to LinkedIn. That's what makes it really easy for outreach and for making sure we have all the contacts right there in front of us when we need to.

It is very user-friendly for documenting things such as processes, systems, new teams, etc.

Lucidchart's organizational charts are very good for visualizing and understanding team hierarchies and relationships. That's the reason we use it. It gives you a very clear overview of who does what within the company. I also like how adaptable it is. It is very easy to tweak if someone leaves the company or someone joins, or as we find out more information about the company that we're working with in terms of who the players are. It is almost like playing chess. We can just move the pieces around the board.

It is very good for visualizing and understanding process flows or workflows. When I first started using it, I didn't feel the need to read the whole manual. It is very intuitive in terms of what the steps are. It is integrated with Salesforce as well, which makes it very easy to import leads from Salesforce into Lucidchart to create those maps. The workflows and processes are very seamless.

What needs improvement?

It would be nice to be able to import not just contacts from Salesforce but also leads. In the beginning, when I was still learning the ropes and my way around it, I couldn't find such an option. There might be an option, but I just don't know about it.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using it for only about a month, but my company has been using it longer.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is really stable. I honestly haven't incurred any issues related to stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is scalable. As our team grows and we hire more people, it can definitely accommodate all the users that we need. I do not have the numbers, but I just know we're hiring a lot of new people, myself included, recently.

We have more than 100 licenses, and its users include the Business Development people and Sales Account Executives. I'm on the Business Development team. There are also some Customer Success Managers who get involved once a deal is closed. They need to know who the players are at various accounts. We also have a team of Sales Engineers. They definitely get involved in it as well. So, Business Development, Sales Account Executives, Customer Success, and Sales Engineers are the four groups that are the main players.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have never interacted with their technical support.

How was the initial setup?

I was not there for that. There is a whole team that does that. They know how to handle Lucidchart. They handle other tools too.

For its maintenance, maybe one or two people are required on a regular basis. They just need to send out very quick and short surveys to see our experiences with the software. It is usually done when we are getting close to renewal, and then they see if it's worth extending the licenses.

What other advice do I have?

I would definitely recommend it. It is a tool that I wish I had in my previous jobs and companies. I would advise others to start with an existing template from the company and then reverse engineer that. It is very easy and very intuitive to use, so I would say go for it.

Lucidchart really has a clear overview. Once you have your players charted out, it is bound to change at some point, and it is not going to be static. It is dynamic, and Lucidchart can definitely accommodate. It is adaptable enough to accommodate all those changes.

Our company only uses Mac. So, it's not important for us to be able to access it on PC. I have not used Lucidchart's ability to compare versions of documents.

I would rate Lucidchart a nine out of 10.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor. The reviewer's company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
it_user1599150 - PeerSpot reviewer
People Performance & Culture - Generalist at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Jul 12, 2021
Makes things simpler and helps us in looking at the processes in a different light
Pros and Cons
  • "The flow chart is most valuable. It is a very user-friendly and simple-to-use product. Quite quickly, I was able to understand how to use it and just get on with my process flow."
  • "This process flow has really helped all the regions in understanding how onboarding works across all the regions."
  • "It can have more colors or graphics. Currently, it is a little boring. It can have a little bit more fun factor."

What is our primary use case?

We are mainly using it for flow charts, organization charts, and process flows. In terms of deployment, we have a subscription for it. It has a login and a password, and we have to log in.

How has it helped my organization?

I joined my new company at the beginning of May. I'm in HR, and it is called the People Performance and Culture (PPC) team. One of the things I was told to do was figure out the process flow for onboarding. Because it is APAC and we have some people in India, Japan, China, and Singapore, it was confusing to understand who comes under which part during onboarding. My manager wanted to make a process flow, so I decided to make a flow chart. I literally just searched for flow chart software or easy-to-use tools on the web, and I came across Lucidchart. I really enjoyed using it. I was quite quickly able to understand how to use it and get on with my process flow. This process flow has really helped all the regions in understanding how onboarding works across all the regions. In the future, we can easily see how the process works rather than thinking it is too complicated, and we don't want to get into it. It just makes things simpler. Now, more people use it, and obviously, I can add more features to it if I want to. I think we have used it for our org chart as well. We've just rolled out a new org chart. I wasn't part of that, but I can see that they've used Lucidchart for that.

It is very useful for documenting things such as processes, systems, new teams, etc. because it has everything. It is very easy to document, and it is very easy to see the date you created or gave access to something.

It provides real-time collaboration among users so that everyone is accessing and working on the same version of a document. This real-time collaboration has affected our project development process. I was able to get someone to look at the org chart while I was working on it. As opposed to making changes at the end, I could make changes as I was working on a document. Its real-time collaboration has saved us time. It has approximately saved an hour worth of work.

The ability for people to look at a diagram rather than reading through written documents has also saved time, and as a result, money. It has saved about an hour.

It has definitely helped us in realizing efficiencies in our projects. It has made everything more visual. Once things are more visual, it becomes easier for me to see whether there are glitches in the process, whether there is a better way of doing things, and whether we have too many steps for one thing. The visual aid has definitely helped us look at the processes in a different light.

We use Microsoft Teams in our company, and one of the reasons for using Lucidchart is that you can integrate it with Microsoft Teams. If I need to send somebody a document through Microsoft Teams, it is very easy. This integration is highly important for our operations because otherwise, we will have to use another solution or way to do the same thing. We are already using Microsoft Teams, so it is much easier to tag it on to Microsoft Teams.

What is most valuable?

The flow chart is most valuable. It is a very user-friendly and simple-to-use product. Quite quickly, I was able to understand how to use it and just get on with my process flow. 

Its organizational charts are pretty good for visualizing and understanding team hierarchies and relationships. These organizational charts are very visual. The colors also help. It is also easy to create an organizational chart.

I use it for visualizing and understanding process flows or workflows, and I would rate it really high from this aspect because I found it very easy to use. It has some suggested themes, so I can make them look pretty. There was access to videos or tutorials if I got stuck. That was really good as well.

What needs improvement?

It can have more colors or graphics. Currently, it is a little boring. It can have a little bit more fun factor.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have started to use it very recently. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is quite stable and reliable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is quite scalable. We are a small department. Currently, two departments have access to it. We have only about 30 people, and out of them, only four are using it.

I am pretty new here, and we're just figuring out APAC processes and hiring new people. I will be using Lucidchart a lot more in the coming months because we're trying to figure out all the processes and the process flows amongst all the regions.

How are customer service and technical support?

It is pretty good. They were videos available for any questions that I had while I was using the solution. I'm more of a visual person, so the videos really helped.

How was the initial setup?

It was straightforward. It took just a few minutes.

What about the implementation team?

I did it on my own. I was using the free account because you can use a free account. It turned out that we had a company account with Lucidchart. My manager gave me access to that, and then basically, I uploaded the flow chart that I had created over there.

For its deployment and maintenance, probably only one or two people are required.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I did come across Visio, but I looked at Lucidchart first. Visio wasn't as user-friendly.

What other advice do I have?

I have definitely told people to use it. It really makes things easier. The visualization is really good, simple, and neat. For me, visuals work much better, and it is easier to spot mistakes when you can see it all in one go rather than in different steps. I would definitely advise people to integrate it and use it as much.

In my organization, we currently only use PCs, but it is good that it is compatible with Mac and PC. I have not used its ability to compare versions of documents. I have also not used any other product from their suite.

I would rate Lucidchart a nine out of 10. It just needs a little bit more fun factor.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
it_user1598886 - PeerSpot reviewer
Marketing Director at a construction company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Jul 12, 2021
Intuitive, designed in a way that it gives you what need, and saves time and money
Pros and Cons
  • "The ease of creating some of the maps and diagrams is most valuable. Lucidchart is just simpler and works more intuitively than other solutions that I have used in the past, such as Microsoft Visio. I am not in a creative role, but I know how to use Adobe Illustrator and other solutions like that. If I need to map out something that I've never mapped out before, and it is going to need a totally custom graphic, eight times out of 10, I'm going to go to Lucidchart rather than trying to build it in Illustrator. Its intuition and flexibility are really big features for me."
  • "Lucidchart is just simpler and works more intuitively than other solutions that I have used in the past, such as Microsoft Visio."
  • "I would really like to be able to set default appearance settings for new documents because I have a set of appearance settings that I always use. I end up setting that manually every time. There may be a way to do that, and maybe I am not able to find it. This is my only major point of feedback for improvement. There are other little nitpicky things, such as being able to lock layers without them looking like a big red line around them would be nice, but every graphic design software does that, so I understand why they have that. All my concerns are nitpicks. They're not big."
  • "I would really like to be able to set default appearance settings for new documents because I have a set of appearance settings that I always use."

What is our primary use case?

There are a few different things. The main one, obviously, is creating business workflows. 

I've been using its web-based version.

How has it helped my organization?

It is excellent for documenting things such as processes, systems, etc. We have a guy who is a salaried commission salesperson who was doing very dry due diligence work on real estate deals. I took what he was doing and mapped it out so that a $12 an hour temp person can do it. It is very good for that. It is also good for mapping out things like marketing campaigns to explain to clients. I also run an agency on the side, so having here's what we're going to do and let me visualize it for you has been extremely useful as well.

It is important for us that Lucidchart accommodates both MAC and PC users. We have a mix at our current company, and I have guys who work from an iPad. We're currently in the process of transitioning everyone to MAC. It has been a headache because some of the software products that we can get on a Windows computer are not available for MAC. We're a construction company first and foremost, and a lot of construction software is designed around Windows. Lucid is a huge part of my day-to-day work. I use it almost every day. It is very helpful that it is web-based, and it accommodates both MAC and PC users. 

The ability for people to look at the diagram rather than reading through written documents has absolutely saved so much time, and as a result, money. For our due diligence process, I can't give a written manual to the kind of employee I have for this work and expect that employee to follow it. There's no way. Without Lucidchart, the whole project of having that employee do due diligence kind of dies because I don't have a way to show them that this is how to follow this workflow. If I'm paying somebody $12 an hour, I'm not going to expect them to be proficient at reading a technical manual. That would be a huge learning curve, but almost anyone can read a flow chart. I worked at fast food when I was 16, and I had flow charts on how to do stuff. You can give that to somebody who's very low-skilled and have them working above their skill level. It is a tool for employee growth in a way because you're able to give somebody a task that might be out of their pay grade and grow them into that role because you're able to explain it more simply.

It has definitely helped us in realizing efficiencies in our projects. Just yesterday, I was working on this due diligence project. We buy land, and when we get any land under contract, we have a period of time where we have to go and assess the land and decide if we want to buy it. It seems like you have to be an expert to do it, but it's really following a mental checklist. I got with my guy who does that, and I said, "I need you to tell me every question that you need to be answered in order to tell me if we can buy this land." He was like, "Well, this one, no." I was like, "No, you need to tell me every single question, and we'll get it on the chart." Doing that, I realized that sometimes, he's sending people out to look at stuff that he knows we can't build on. I was like, "They shouldn't be going out to look at that if you know that we can't build on it." That's an employee who is more highly paid than the person is who is going out to look at the land. That person is wasting two to three hours of their time to drive out and look at a lot that may not be buildable. That was just yesterday, and that's going to save us thousands of dollars. That's a huge time saving, which is time and money.

What is most valuable?

The ease of creating some of the maps and diagrams is most valuable. Lucidchart is just simpler and works more intuitively than other solutions that I have used in the past, such as Microsoft Visio. I am not in a creative role, but I know how to use Adobe Illustrator and other solutions like that. If I need to map out something that I've never mapped out before, and it is going to need a totally custom graphic, eight times out of 10, I'm going to go to Lucidchart rather than trying to build it in Illustrator. Its intuition and flexibility are really big features for me. 

It is very flexible. I use it for creating flow charts, processes, checklists, and if this/that or decision trees kind of things. I also use it for creating social media posts such as how to have a sales conversation with a prospective client. I like tools where you start from scratch. I know there are some great templates, but I don't really use those. I'm mostly using the start from the scratch feature, but I have used templates for things like customer journeys or to get inspiration for how complicated my campaigns should be. They have been useful situationally.

In terms of user-friendliness for someone who is more of a viewer, such as a client whom I just met or who isn't technical, I'm pretty confident about sending a Lucid link or even a PDF of the document to them. They're going to understand it. It is very well designed, which makes the UI elements of Lucidchart easy for people to understand.

What needs improvement?

I would really like to be able to set default appearance settings for new documents because I have a set of appearance settings that I always use. I end up setting that manually every time. There may be a way to do that, and maybe I am not able to find it. This is my only major point of feedback for improvement. There are other little nitpicky things, such as being able to lock layers without them looking like a big red line around them would be nice, but every graphic design software does that, so I understand why they have that. All my concerns are nitpicks. They're not big.

For how long have I used the solution?

Overall, I have been using this solution for two or three years. My user account is only three or four months old because I started with a new company.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I've never had an issue with it being down or unavailable. I've never had an issue where somebody was on a device and couldn't access it.

Performance-wise, I've never really had a problem. I can't even think of a time that it had slowed down, or I've had to refresh.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Extendability-wise, I don't know how many third-party plugins or additional integrations are there, so I can't speak about that too much. 

Scalability-wise, I could easily see a future where every one of our employees has a license and is using it. It would actually make our lives easier as opposed to more complicated. In that sense, I would say that it is super scalable.

Currently, I'm the only one using it as a creator or editor. Our land acquisition guy is also using it. He is just looking at it; he is not editing. Our two co-founders, our VP of operations, and our VP of construction are using it as viewers. All four people at the executive or VP level are using it. I'm a director, so I'm not quite at the VP level, and everyone else above me is using it, which is cool. We'll very soon be at a place where there are people under me who are using it. That's definitely going to happen soon, so I would say across all levels of our company, it will be used. We have maybe six people right now, but in the next couple of months, we'll be at a point where we have 10 to 15 more people using it. As we get up to that point, we would probably have more editors too.

How are customer service and technical support?

I don't think I've ever used their tech support. I haven't had a problem where I've needed it.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have used Visio very recently. I basically told my boss, "We either have to buy a Visio subscription or a Lucid subscription. I'm buying a Lucid subscription because I don't want to work in Visio." We're on the 365 stack, and they like us to use as much of that as possible, but I was like, "No, I'm using Lucid." I didn't have to migrate anything over.

The ease of use is the main reason for using Lucidchart. I know that Visio and Lucidchart can do similar things. For my purposes, I wouldn't even touch some of the more advanced stuff that can be done in Visio, so it doesn't make sense to me to use something that's clunkier.

One of my complaints with Visio is that it gives you a thousand different tools, but most people need just five tools. Lucidchart is designed in a way that it gives you what need for a task, and if you need more, it tells you where to find it. It's very well organized and user-friendly, so that's great. With Visio, you have a box with no organizers, shelves, or anything in it, and everything is just thrown in there. You have to know where your stuff is to know how to use it. Lucidchart provides you a little shelf for workflows if you're doing a workflow. 

Another thing that I do for people is CRM object mapping, where I define the custom objects that we're going to have in a CRM and all the attributes of those objects, including other objects that an object can have in it. This would even be useful for object-oriented programmers, such as Java or C# programmers. They can also use it for such things. That's how flexible it is. I use the same tool that I use to do my workflows and process maps. It is intuitive to map out what an object has in it because it can have other objects. With Visio, I'd be spinning my wheels a lot more and looking for the right tools for that end product. Capability-wise, they are the same or very similar, but in terms of getting to that end product, it is going to be faster if I use Lucidchart.

How was the initial setup?

Its initial setup is very straightforward. It is just a matter of you basically going to the website, and it is right there. You don't even need to have used any graphic design software such as Visio. If you've used any document management tool, such as Microsoft Word, you can go into Lucid and set it up and use it very easily. It is so simple.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Pricing-wise, it is pretty fair. I don't really know what group pricing looks like, but right now, I pay $10 a month for my Lucid subscription. One thing I would say is that I do worry about my bosses being okay with paying $10 a month for every single employee because we would have around 20 people. It makes me a little nervous about whether they are going to pay $200 a month for people to be able to use this software. At the same time, from where I'm sitting, it's totally worth it. We save a thousand dollars from using this software. It's still a no-brainer.

What other advice do I have?

It is definitely for most businesses. I've worked in a couple of different industries in my professional career. I've been a teacher. I've been in construction. This is my second time in construction. I've also been in marketing for a marketing company. I've been a business owner, and it has always been useful, so I can't really think of an industry where you wouldn't benefit from using it.

I used to use it with Slack. We have Teams now, which I hate. I like Slack much better than Teams, and when I use Slack, I integrate it. I don't know if I ever used the direct integration, but we definitely used to bounce stuff back and forth in Lucid when we were using Slack as our communication platform. These two tools are pretty complementary. They're both SaaS products. I tend to prefer the SaaS experience to having to download something.

I am currently not using Lucidchart for real-time collaboration among users because generally, I'm the document owner. I have done that in the past with my business partner for agency work, but never with a team or with more than one other person. This is something that I would like to do in the future. I see that as a huge plus. I just haven't used it yet. When I used it with my business partner, the development process was much faster because he didn't have to tell me first what needs to be changed and then I would change. It was so much easier. That's what I'm dealing with now. I'm going to slowly roll it out and start giving some of my co-workers access to Lucidchart because if they have feedback on a document, they have to be over my shoulder telling me what to change, whereas I could be sending them the link, and they could be changing it themselves if they have the feedback. That's obviously more preferable to what we're doing now.

I have very briefly touched Lucidspark. I don't think I've created a complete document in Lucidspark. It's something that I would like to use more, especially as we get into using more of these tools for strategic planning as opposed to mapping existing processes or improving processes. Right now, Lucidchart does pretty much everything we need, and I'm even using Lucidchart for things where I might use Lucidspark. For example, for the object mapping solution, I should be using Lucidspark, but Lucidchart does what I need, and so I don't have to use Lucidspark. That's why I haven't felt the need to move over to Lucidspark.

I would rate Lucidchart a 10 out of 10.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
it_user1597488 - PeerSpot reviewer
Salesforce Solution Architect at a consultancy with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
Jul 4, 2021
Salespeople can organize ideas and brainstorm with it
Pros and Cons
  • "It is important to me that the solution accommodates both Mac and PC users because the developers in our company use Mac, then the business people use Windows. The technical people create the technical architecture using Lucidchart. So, it is important that it is compatible with both the systems."
  • "The ability for people to look at a diagram, rather than reading through written documents, has saved us a lot of time, and as a result money."
  • "I would like to have more text boxes to write more comments so I can write a small note below a picture. I would like some flexibility."

What is our primary use case?

We use the data models. We create technical architecture and system architecture, usually for technical diagrams that we need processed.

How has it helped my organization?

On my team, there are business and technical people who all are using Lucidchart. It gives us really clean, professional-looking diagrams that we have tried to make in PowerPoint. Also, if you can leverage their templates, then you aren't starting from a blank canvas.

What is most valuable?

The templates are very useful. We get the templates for technical systems, which are helpful.

There is a connection to the system where you can directly pull the data model. There is a Salesforce Connector that you can use, which pulls out your diagram from the system. That is really cool. When we click on the data model, you can connect to your technical system, like Salesforce or AWS. This helps create a data model that you would otherwise have to do manually in a better looking format, like PowerPoint. It pulls the data model into a kind of presentation mode. You don't have to drag and drop lines and relationships between objects.

It is good for documenting processes. I see the salespeople organize ideas and brainstorm with it.

I use Lucidchart to create database schemas and modify existing data structures. Lucidchart is pretty good in its ability to support these processes. I would rate it as a four out of five.

We use Lucidchart's integration with Salesforce for getting the ER diagram and enterprise relationship architecture. We need it to connect to the database, which is very important.

It is important to me that the solution accommodates both Mac and PC users because the developers in our company use Mac, then the business people use Windows. The technical people create the technical architecture using Lucidchart. So, it is important that it is compatible with both the systems.

Lucidchart has helped us realize efficiencies in the projects that we use it for. The leveraging of templates has been a great help. Previously, I was creating an ER diagram in PowerPoint, which was very tedious to do. Now, I just connect to the Salesforce database and have to pull the data model. The Salesforce Connector pulls the relationship automatically, which is a very big help. It is a great feature.

What needs improvement?

I would like to have more text boxes to write more comments so I can write a small note below a picture. I would like some flexibility.

For how long have I used the solution?

I started using it this month.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

My team consists of five people. In my company, there are a lot of people who use it. We get our licenses on an as-needed basis, e.g., if we need to run a project, then we use it. Not everybody in the company uses Lucidchart. If we need it for a project, then your credentials are created and you are enabled access. 

Only people who are a little bit in the middle management level of leadership use it. Not even our leadership uses it because they have people working for them.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have not contacted Lucidchart's tech support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously used PowerPoint.

How was the initial setup?

I need to tell my company's IT that I need access to Lucidchart. There is a single sign-on that gets enabled, then I just need to set my password. It is pretty self-explanatory. It doesn't take much time. I just had to explore and browse a little bit to see what templates were available. It is pretty easy to navigate and use.

What was our ROI?

The ability for people to look at a diagram, rather than reading through written documents, has saved us a lot of time, and as a result money. In our clients' requirements, they need to see what our deliverables are and we have to produce these pictures, which is also better now.

What other advice do I have?

Go for it. Try it. The solution is good.

I do have plans to increase my usage. I just use it for deliverables and to generate a few diagrams and documents. I have not explored the full features of Lucidchart so much.

I would rate Lucidchart as an eight out of 10.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
Game Designer at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Jul 4, 2021
Makes it easy to collaborate and share
Pros and Cons
  • "The best part of Lucidchart is its comfortableness when sharing it with my teammates. Lucidchart provides me a folder for my ERD. I can make a dozen lists of my chart, then share them with my teammates easily through the diagrams of Lucidchart. This is their main comfortableness, which is the reason why I choose Lucidchart rather than some other chart program."
  • "The real-time collaboration saves two hours a day for my team."
  • "They could provide more documentation or tutorials of ERDs or DDD on the Lucidchart site. That could be better."

What is our primary use case?

I make the domain-driven designs (DDDs) for my teammates as well as ER diagrams (ERDs).

I usually use Lucidchart with my work for some idea improvements or brainstorming.

How has it helped my organization?

Our company has a linking system where we can share hierarchies and general information with our teammates. I use Lucidchart to visualize the main system of our old game systems, like the DDD.

I make the domain-driven design, and through that I make the ERD. Then, through the ERD, I make the database schema. So, all the charts that I make or propose for new systems go through that process.

Lucidchart provides real-time collaboration among users so everyone is accessing and working on the same version of a document. First, I make the proposal or concept of the domain, then I review it with my teammates. If they accept the whole concept of the domain, I make it as a domain model through Lucidchart. So, that loop of feedback makes a better version of the DDD, ERD, or schema.

The concept of a product is something that can always change over time. So, it is good to have a diagram for visualization that makes changes easily. This is the essence of Lucidchart. I fully agree with the concept of Lucidchart because of this reason.

What is most valuable?

The best part of Lucidchart is its comfortableness when sharing it with my teammates. Lucidchart provides me with a folder for my ERD. I can make a dozen lists of my chart, then share them with my teammates easily through the diagrams of Lucidchart. This is their main comfort, which is the reason why I choose Lucidchart rather than some other chart program.

We use Lucidchart for documenting things, such as processes, systems, new teams, etc. I can share these via email to my product team using a Lucidchart shared link. I also declare the main domain of our game as Lucidchart. Then, the majority of my work is the relationship between domains and visualization through Lucidchart. 

It is very important that Lucidchart accommodates Mac and PC because of my job. When our designers usually make their presentations to customers or my teammates, we usually use the iPad. Lucidchart also provides an application version that works from PC to iPad. It is very comfortable to use and present to someone with my iPad. Therefore, it's very important to provide versions for both Mac and PC. 

What needs improvement?

There are some situations where there is a difference between their iPad, mobile, and PC versions. For example, when I use Lucidchart on a PC, the PC provides a layer system for Lucidchart. When I am using the PC, I can assign or change the layer of my chart. However, when I use Lucidchart on the iPad or mobile, I cannot find any UI or UX that provides a layer system. I am unable to find the shape or other layers on the mobile or iPad.

They could provide more documentation or tutorials of ERDs or DDD on the Lucidchart site. That could be better.

If there were any charts from Lucidchart that can be shared as real-time collaboration through Slack or DataPal, then that would make it better to use as a software program.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used Lucidchart for two months. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There are 50 employees in our company who already use Lucidchart. So, everyone in the company is using Lucidchart.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have not used the technical support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

In the past, I used draw.io for ERDs.

We switched because Lucidchart has standalone libraries, which makes it comfortable for me to create some draw charts or data flows. draw.io doesn't have anything like standalone libraries. When I use draw.io, I usually have to make my own standalone library for my work. Using Lucidchart, there is no reason to make my own standalone libraries because Lucidchart already has many good standalone libraries for their ERDs.

Lucidchart is essential. When I use other charts programs, like draw.io, there are no standard shapes nor standalone libraries. They cannot import my ERD or schema to a secure database. When I found Lucidchart, the program already provided the input system to SQL and MySQL. So, it is very comfortable to use this solution rather than another program.

I also switched from Visio to Lucidchart. Visio does provide some good functions and nice directories, but it is very hard to use on an iPad or mobile that is iOS-based. The major feature which made me decide to use Lucidchart is the compatibility because Visio doesn't provide good compatibility for the mobile or iPad. 

draw.io is a free program, but they provide very few standard libraries and no import programs. Visio has good features, but it does not have the compatibility. The reason that I selected Lucidchart was for my chart program.

How was the initial setup?

There were no problems downloading this program to my computer or iPad. Our country has a very good trial on the Internet. 

What was our ROI?

The real-time collaboration saves two hours a day for my team.

The ability for people to look at a diagram, rather than reading through written documents, has saved my organization time, and as a result money. Developers/artists don't want to read the documentation. They want to see the essence and relationship of their concept. They just want some simple diagrams to help them imagine their main concept. So, the visual diagrams are better than the documentation.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Other programs don't provide a print system, which Lucidchart does.

What other advice do I have?

It is not a complex system. It is very easy to use, collaborate, and share. I like it. It is easy to share, easy to learn, and has compatibility with PCs and iPads.

I already learned most of the information on how to make a schema or DDD in other assets. So, I did not use Lucidchart as my starting material.

We plan on exploring the solution’s integrations with Atlassian, Salesforce, Microsoft, Google Workspace, or other solutions.

I would rate this solution as an eight and a half out of 10.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
Principal Solution Engineer at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Jun 29, 2021
I'm able to diagram process flows and articulate them to others, while centralizing subject matter so I'm not searching for things
Pros and Cons
  • "The collaboration, hands-down, is the top feature. It is valuable because our company doesn't believe in working in silos... While I may be the one leading the efforts, it's very important that my team gets buy-in on decisions being made when we're designing. It's critical, especially in this virtual environment, when we're not in an office to have a team meeting and able to whiteboard something. Lucidchart is an extremely useful tool for our team."
  • "It does everything I need it to do."
  • "If you're trying to expand a comments box that is sitting on top of the chart, it automatically defaults to assuming you're trying to connect it to the next step in the process, when all you're trying to do is make the box bigger. It automatically goes to the arrow, but I just want to resize the box. That gets a little cumbersome because it does it every single time. It's not just a bug."

What is our primary use case?

Primarily, since I'm a solution engineer, I use it to create mock-ups of ideas for building out demo instances; what they should look like based on what we currently have in inventory. I take screenshots, throw them in there, and do all the diagramming. That is not my core responsibility, but it's one of things I am responsible for. I use Lucidchart to build out those mock-ups and to collaborate with the team so that they can have input on the layout, how things should look, and on behind-the-scenes processes.

How has it helped my organization?

The real-time collaboration within Lucidchart saves time. It keeps things centralized to the subject matter so I'm not having to go dig something out of email or to look for things in some other tool we utilize.

What is most valuable?

The collaboration, hands-down, is the top feature. It is valuable because our company doesn't believe in working in silos. It's not just "my show" all the time. I work with a team and they all have valuable insights and input. While I may be the one leading the efforts, it's very important that my team gets buy-in on decisions being made when we're designing. It's critical, especially in this virtual environment, when we're not in an office to have a team meeting and able to whiteboard something. Lucidchart is an extremely useful tool for our team.

In addition, it gives me the flexibility to diagram process flows so that I can articulate to someone else, "This is our idea of how things should flow." Then we'll pull in developers if needed so that our product will match something I have built using Lucidchart.

Because it integrates with Slack, it's super helpful with the way we work. We have Lucidchart set up to integrate with the tools that we use for communication all day long. Most of us are in Slack as our primary chat tool. Slack is a lot more powerful than just a chat. Instead of copying a link to everybody directly from Lucidchart, I'm able to push everything to a group Slack, rather than having to remember individuals. They can access the document and I can give them read/write privileges. And if I send it to somebody in the group that doesn't have Lucidchart, I love the fact that they can easily request access and I get that pinged over Slack, so I don't have to seek it out through Lucidchart. They work nicely together. It's pretty seamless. Our company has guided us to really lean away from emails as a form of communication. They're really trying to get us more focused on utilizing Slack as our primary communication tool.

It is also important to me that Lucidchart accommodates both Mac and PC users because my company issues equipment agnostically. We get to choose. If you are more of a Samsung/PC person, or if you want a Mac, you can choose your device. My team and I are on different devices. It's hugely important that Lucid is operating in a system-agnostic way as well.

What needs improvement?

If you're trying to expand a comments box that is sitting on top of the chart, it automatically defaults to assuming you're trying to connect it to the next step in the process, when all you're trying to do is make the box bigger. It automatically goes to the arrow, but I just want to resize the box. That gets a little cumbersome because it does it every single time. It's not just a bug.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have only been using Lucidchart for about three to four weeks.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I have not experienced any downtime. My impression, so far, is that it's up the typical 99.9 percent of the time, as it's cloud-based. I've had zero issues regarding it being down or being latent in performance. It's been great.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

For my team, it's scalable for the things that we need it to do. We have a little bit more of a narrow focus on what we utilize it for, but I could see using it for other things besides what I actually have to use it for regularly. My core focus is delivering demos, so using Lucidchart is not a core function of mine; it's a tool for me. But it's my go-forward tool for anything that's related to process flows: needing to capture a process flow or diagram or mock-up of how we want to design an instance, for a demo in the future. I won't use anything else. And if they make me, I'll probably pitch a fit.

From what I have seen, it seems like it's pretty scalable. It must be because our company is so huge. It has to be scalable for a company of our size.

Obviously, anything that is that big can always go down too, as far as the number of users that are hitting it goes. 

In terms of extensibility, they should continue to keep integrating it with other cloud apps, the way that it's been integrated with Google Suite and Slack, as those are helpful to us.

How are customer service and technical support?

I've had no need to use their technical support. We have an internal layer of support within our company, so I've only had to deal with them. And the only instance in which I did was requesting a license.

How was the initial setup?

Everything was straightforward, but in part that is because of the way our organization does everything. Lucidchart lives in a tile on a landing page where we access tools. I hit that and then it said, "You'll have free access for seven days, but to get a license click here." When I clicked for a license it went through our company's process and then they added me to the enterprise license and I got an email. It was just seamless. I didn't have to talk to anybody and didn't have to download anything. It was just done.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

When it comes to visualizing and understanding process workflows, I like it better than Visio so far. My impression of it is very high, and that's despite the fact that Visio is a pretty standard and dominating tool. I had never heard of Lucidchart until I came to my current company, and right off the bat, I said, "All right, I love it." It was very easy to use. I didn't have to go through training. It was self-explanatory. Very user-friendly.

Visio is the only comparable tool that I've used. To me, it was a lot of steps and it was cumbersome. I can't say anything bad about Lucidchart right now. I am definitely all in favor of giving feedback for improvement but the only one I've given is about changing the way that you work with the tools to create what you need to create. I would like that to be a little bit less binding than it is. But it's still not bad compared to what I've experienced with Visio or when having to hand-create something using Microsoft Word.

In other companies I worked for, I would make stuff with Microsoft tools, dragging shapes, when they didn't provide me with tools. That was really painful, but it makes using Lucid like getting a dessert and eating ice cream. You're happy, it's easy. You get done what you need to get done.

What other advice do I have?

Get a trial and try to recreate exactly what you want to create. See if it's going to work. Obviously, you need to get feedback from whoever is making the purchase, so get a trial to make sure it meets your needs before you dive on in. It's pretty powerful and it's definitely worth the purchase, but it's a competitive landscape. I knew I needed the license right away, so I didn't wait seven days to request a license. But for most people, the evaluation during a seven-day free trial is critical. Also, talk to comparably sized companies as a reference to see how they implemented it and to gauge their success with it.

In terms of documenting things such as processes, systems, and new teams, on a scale of one to 10, I would put the solution at an eight, only because I just haven't gotten into the depth of all the features yet, as I've only been using it for about four weeks. I definitely see potential for it pushing toward a 10.

We've got G Suite (Google Workspace) in place and I know Lucid works with it, but I try to stay out of G Suite. It has nothing to do with Lucid, it's that I'm not a big fan of G Suite.

I haven't had a need for Lucidcharts' ability to compare versions of documents yet, but it will actually be useful. Versioning is huge. It's one of the things we tout into our own products' capabilities as well.

In my role as an engineer, I use it pretty heavily and like it. It gives me the option to save something as a PDF if somebody doesn't have access to Lucidchart or doesn't have a license, if they just need a picture instead of actual collaboration access. We're a large company with 55,000 employees. There are so many levels of users who might use it differently. But obviously, if it wasn't useful, our company would be getting rid of it. It's a preferred tool whenever we bring up org charts.

It does everything I need it to do. I'm on the excited end of things as far as being a user goes. I really love it.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
Continuous Improvement Manager at a consumer goods company with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Jun 29, 2021
I get better and more productive engagement from team members and I get through mapping processes more quickly
Pros and Cons
  • "It is important that Lucidchart accommodates both Mac and PC users because if you support Mac, that means you also support the mobile applications on the iPad... Some of the other employees have access to an iPad, but not all of them do. When we're trying to talk through a process with them on-the-fly, or at the point of occurrence, it's so much nicer if we can both have it up on the iPad. That's why I would say the Mac support is essential."
  • "Visually it is the best application that I've used."
  • "One of the things that I find frustrating is that all of our Tableau information is on a server, so when I send that out people can't open it and use it. I then have to go back and do extra work to convert everything into an Excel format that everybody can use. It would be really important to me, if I send something out to somebody who doesn't have a Lucid account, that they can just click and see it, instead of having to log in and create an account."
  • "One of the things that I find frustrating is that all of our Tableau information is on a server, so when I send that out people can't open it and use it."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use it for process improvement in a factory setting. What I am primarily using it for is making process flow diagrams—with the rectangles, circles, diamonds, arrows, and whatever else you would build into a process flow. 

We've had discussions about using it to build engineering-type stuff, as well. For example, "Here's the room, here are the dimensions. Here's what it would look like if we moved this piece of equipment, what space it would open up. Here are other constraints or barriers that it might create." We've had discussions on that, but we haven't really delved into that yet. 

I have the web-based for my laptop, and I have the app downloaded on my iPad Air. I've been using it on both of them.

How has it helped my organization?

We're primarily using it for process mapping and it's much quicker than trying to do it in Excel. 

Doing things digitally means that if I'm on a Teams or a Zoom meeting, I can get input from people and they can see it as we go. I'm a pretty big user of whiteboards. I have two in my office and those are great. But what I hate sometimes is when it comes to, "All right, let's take this away. Let's run with it," I have to take a picture and send it out. Then, at nine o'clock at night, someone on the team will say, "Oh, I just thought of this step that we completely overlooked..." I can't do anything about it because it's on my whiteboard. But using Lucidchart, I've been able to say, "Okay, I've got my iPad, let me add that in really quickly." I like the convenience and the user interface.

It is so great for understanding process flows or workflows. With the prior training that I had, doing things on whiteboards and in Excel or Word to manually build stuff was clunky. Because it was clunky, it was slow. When it's slow and you have a meeting, you lose people's attention. Because this is fast and not clunky, people are able to say, "Oh, okay. This is the next step and the next step." I get better engagement and I get through mapping the processes quicker. Because it has the different shapes and the explanations of what things mean, I'm able to get more out of it. Visually it is the best application that I've used.

I'm also getting productive engagement and productive challenge from my teams. Someone will say, "Well, that step shouldn't really be represented by a diamond. It's more a case that somebody has to go and get things and that causes a delay, but it's not necessarily a decision because it's built into the process." 

Per week, I probably do two of these exercises, and each one would take three-plus hours to get through when dealing with some of our more complicated processes. Now, we can get them done in about an hour. That's a huge improvement because of the software itself, but it has also helped us to see, "Wow, we have a lot of excess steps and waste in our process." For example, we were working on it with a team over the last two days and we got two new maps up in the span of an hour and a half or two hours. We're getting much quicker at process mapping and understanding what we need to address.

Lucidchart has also helped with training and developing standard operating procedures. Before, we would just use a piece of paper, and maybe it would have a picture of what is going on. And on that piece of paper would be a list of sequential steps. We still have to do that for FDA regulations of having and maintaining SOPs. But having printed out flowcharts benefits us because you can just flip over the piece of paper and see, "All right, here are the four or five little steps I take before I get to a decision, and here are the two branches from that decision." That extra context helps us in building a development tool. And we can post the process flow map for, say, operating a hopper, right on the equipment. That way, people can see things. And if they need more context or deeper instruction, they can bring up the actual SOP with all the words. But a quick little chart that shows the flow: "This is what I do. This is what I do if this fails, et cetera," is something that we're getting a lot of immediate benefit from.

What is most valuable?

It is important that Lucidchart accommodates both Mac and PC users because if you support Mac, that means you also support the mobile applications on the iPad. Because of the kind of factory setting we're in, all of the office personnel and management have laptops, but they also have iPads. Some of the other employees have access to an iPad, but not all of them do. When we're trying to talk through a process with them on-the-fly, or at the point of occurrence, it's so much nicer if we can both have it up on the iPad. That's why I would say the Mac support is essential.

It's easy to click and drag and automatically insert shapes. And once you have selected an arrow to move to a new location, it auto-associates the shape with it and you can right-click and change. There's no copy, paste, make next steps, start typing. It's all seamlessly integrated.

What needs improvement?

Integrations with third-party software are pretty important. I do a lot of work out of Tableau for data analysis. One of the things that I find frustrating is that all of our Tableau information is on a server, so when I send that out people can't open it and use it. I then have to go back and do extra work to convert everything into an Excel format that everybody can use. It would be really important to me, if I send something out to somebody who doesn't have a Lucid account, that they can just click and see it, instead of having to log in and create an account. I can understand if they can't edit it; that makes sense, to restrict that behind the paywall. But in terms of actually being able to open up the data, it would help. With Tableau, for our data management systems, it's a big constraint. The user interface across other software is very important to me.

Something that would also be nice—and maybe it's just a feature I haven't explored yet—would be to be able to link the data from other sources, whether Tableau, Microsoft Power BI, or even straight from Excel. That way, if we build processes we could immediately assign data, whether its defective units, operational uptime or operational downtime, changeover time, et cetera. It would help to be able to put it in there so that we can have the data collected and then somehow integrate it to each step of the process. For example, if this step of the process fails, it causes X minutes of operational downtime and Y number of defective units coming out of the machine. I understand that it might be a little advanced, but right now I'm taking the charts and correlating them to existing data from Tableau and from Excel. If there were a way to make it seamless, so I could click on my flow chart and show, "This decision point, this diamond, is potentially responsible for X number of minutes operational downtime, and Y number of defective bottles," that would be the continuous improvement dream.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Lucidchart for close to a year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I've only had one or two issues where the performance of it was delayed. I don't know if the cause was the internet connection or if it was because I was trying to fill out the charts on the iPad. But using the Apple Pencil, there were time delays between drawing lines between different process steps and getting things entered in. It was a little awkward on the timing. When you build something on the iPad, its performance might just not be as effective as building it on the computer.

Other than that, every time I build something there's no buffering or issues with it deleting my work or not saving things. It seems to be doing all the things that it needs to be doing. The iPad issue is the only little snafu I've had.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I can't speak too much abou its scalability. We could probably expand it and get multiple supervisors at my plant using it. But in terms of getting the information made and sharing it out, it's pretty quick and pretty easy. If we were to add a company server for it and 18 people working on it at the plant, I don't know if there would be scaling or server issues.

I hope we have plans to increase usage of Lucidchart. Our business is split up into four plants across the country. In the Continuous Improvement department there are four of us. We each have a license. There are plans to bring one more person onto the team. I'm hopeful that we would then be looking at getting it at least for our operations and production managers, which would potentially be an additional two licenses per site.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have not needed to use the technical support yet. I've not had any major issues.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Before Lucidchart, we were building process diagrams in Excel.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of Lucidchart is a pretty straightforward process. There is still stuff I'm learning as I go, when it comes to knowing what to look for with different templates. But if the most basic function you need is to make process maps, and to do it quickly, and then figure out what you've got to improve, it's very effective at that.

What was our ROI?

While it's not directly saving money, because it is a paid-for service, it saves us money in the sense that we have a better understanding of our processes, what can be changed, and what we need to attack. We then go out and attack it, do it, update the maps, and then we get the return on the investment.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I used Visio here and there when I worked for another company, but I was not the main user of that application. Still, between it and Lucidchart, I prefer Lucidchart. It is a lot simpler and a lot more accessible.

In my current company, we have not evaluated any other solutions. I think our engineers do have CAD for facility layout, but in terms of competitors to this, we have not looked at any directly.

What other advice do I have?

Watch some of the tutorials, check the reviews, and definitely talk to folks who are using it. Figure out what they like, what they don't like, and what they would want changed. There's a lot that I like about it. I find it to be a pretty good service. Get involved and play around with it, especially if you're working on facility layouts. I have printouts for some of the areas where we're implementing 5S and changing processes in. It's nice having something that the engineers have printed out, like a schematic or a blueprint for us.

Also, if you're going to try it out, try to make a simple process that you already know all the steps for; one you've already done it in Excel or in something else. See how much faster you can do it on this. That would be the big selling point. Trying to make some of these process maps in Excel, because it's so clunky and so slow, could take me 35 minutes just to get a 15-step process properly built, connected with the decision points in the lines, and for us to really understand where the pain points are. Taking something as simple as a 15-step process, timing out how long it takes to build it in Excel or PowerPoint, and then comparing it to this may show you, "Wow, with Lucidchart it took, maybe, five minutes."

I've been discussing getting this implemented in other departments at my facility.

In terms of its integrations, we've used it with some of the Microsoft suite for sending things out. I haven't used it for Slack yet, although I do use Slack for a nonprofit that I'm in. That actually might be a good opportunity because then I could just make some process maps for some of the nonprofit stuff that I do. And could then just send it out that way.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
Director, People Systems and Data at a wellness & fitness company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Jun 27, 2021
Easy to use, facilitates real-time collaboration, and works well in a remote environment
Pros and Cons
  • "One of the features that I really like is the collaboration aspect of it. During the pandemic, it's very important that we're able to collaborate virtually."
  • "Overall, we've been very happy with the product and it is being used across the organization, but there are always opportunities to improve."
  • "If it could be a little more visual, in terms of being able to make it stand out a little bit more, then that would be helpful."

What is our primary use case?

I have been using Lucidchart for process flows and diagrams of our business processes for a system that we've implemented called Workday. We have been building out our process flows to communicate them to our end users in a more digestible format.

It is used on the technology side of the business in several departments, including the help desk, service center, and others.

How has it helped my organization?

With respect to documenting processes, Lucidchart has been very helpful, especially for our team in a remote setting. We've tried other platforms and by far, Lucidchart has been the most beneficial to us, especially since it's been integrated into our organization. We're able to work cross-functionally on various projects, even outside of our team.

My impressions of Lucidchart's capabilities for visualizing and understanding process flows have been really good. It's pretty straightforward and Lucidchart does a really good job at simplifying the process flows for the end-user in a very digestible format. You don't need to have a project management background to understand the flows. It comes down to ease of use, and the fact that it can present things in a very digestible format has been very beneficial.

It is important to our organization that Lucidchart accommodates both Mac and PC Users because we have hybrid users who might prefer to use one over the other, or both. Due to the nature of our organization, we definitely have Mac users but for the most part, we use PCs. That said, having Mac users adds a little more credibility.

In our collaborative efforts, people simultaneously access and work on the same version of a document. In addition, we have other team members that are working on various process flows. The real-time updating allows us to drill into documents in real-time, and pick up where people leave off. The related security feature is also very beneficial, as you can prevent users from editing the document if you don't want them to, while at the same time, giving them visibility.

This ability has enhanced our project development process because it allows us to meet and work on the same document in real-time if needed. If there are any takeaways or any additional work that needs to be done on a particular document, the ease of use allows us to do that.

The real-time collaboration capability definitely saves us time. I would estimate that we save at least 15% of the time that it would take otherwise.

The ability for people to look at a diagram, rather than reading through written documents, is another way that we have saved time. It is difficult to estimate how much money this may have saved but we do work at a very visual organization where people prefer diagrams and visuals, rather than written or documented processes. As such, it's definitely saved us time, especially when it comes to explaining what the process is. The visuals definitely help.

Lucidchart helps us to realize efficiencies in the projects that we use it for. We're working on a Workday implementation, and one of the key reasons for using Lucidchart is to make the information that we're passing along to our end-users a little more digestible. By using Lucidchart, we can explain our process flows visually, and this has definitely saved us time.

What is most valuable?

I really like the setup and the ease of use. One of the good things is that everything is fairly editable, to the point where you don't have to really start over. You can just pick up where you left off.

One of the features that I really like is the collaboration aspect of it. During the pandemic, it's very important that we're able to collaborate virtually. Our organization is a remote-first company. As such, while we're not in the office, it's very important that we have access in real-time to the information that we need and that we're able to collaborate on various projects without any lags.

What needs improvement?

If it could be a little more visual, in terms of being able to make it stand out a little bit more, then that would be helpful. I'm not sure how to accomplish this because the configuration is fairly straightforward, but if there are additional bells and whistles that could be added to make it more interactive then that would help. Ideally, I would like a way to make it "pop" a little bit more, rather than what you see is what you get, out of the box.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with Lucidchart for approximately one month.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

From a stability standpoint, it's been great. The performance has been very good as well. I don't really have any issues from a stability or performance standpoint when I'm using the product.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We are working toward scaling and increasing our usage of this product. I think that's where we're trying to get to but it's a matter of finding the use cases throughout our organization to continue scaling and applying it a little bit more. I'm not really sure how many licenses we have to use it, but I think once you showcase the product, there are always opportunities to expand usage and apply it to individualized use cases, depending on what you're working on.

I don't know exactly how many users we have across the organization but it is probably fewer than 100.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have not been in contact with technical support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We have used Visio and have also tried creating process flows in Excel.

Migrating from Visio to Lucidchart was not difficult, as it is a SaaS solution. We are a Google company from a product standpoint, and we used Google integration to assist with the transition. It was pretty seamless.

Being able to import everything from Lucidchart was very important for us because Lucidchart is a collaboration tool. One of the limitations when working with Visio compared to Lucid is it's pretty static, but here, we are able to do the work in real-time. One of the things that really helped with our import is how integrated it is with Google. The learning curve was fairly low in terms of understanding how to use it and share and collaborate using the tool.

How was the initial setup?

I was not involved in the initial setup. When I wanted to start working with it, I was provided with an administrative license to accomplish what we needed.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Lucidchart has good organizational charts for visualizing and understanding team hierarchies and relationships. I always look at it in terms of the other products that are out there and I think one of the close competitors is Visio. But in this situation, I think the fact that Lucidchart has a lot of different features integrated into the solution, enhances ease of use.

For example, if you're using decision planes, it automatically populates with information as you're outlining your business processes. The ability to edit swimlanes and remove swimlanes and keep everything right in front of you, without having to really do too much, makes it a lot simpler to use.

I would definitely say that Lucidchart is a lot more intuitive and a lot easier to use than Visio. I think with Lucidchart, you don't necessarily need to be an expert to use the tool, because it's a little bit more straightforward with fewer opportunities to make mistakes.

What other advice do I have?

I primarily use this product for HR technology. For example, I have not used it to create database schemas or modify existing data instructions. However, I do know that it's being used by the technology team to layout different schemes and things like that.

We use Atlassian products but we haven't integrated Lucidchart directly into them yet, at least on my side of the organization.

We do not use Lucidchart's ability to compare versions of documents because we're constantly working on the same document of a particular type. Essentially, our version control is usually refined to the document that we're working on.

Lucid has other offerings in its product suite. One of them is Lucidspark, and we are looking to compare it against another product that we are currently using. 

Overall, we've been very happy with the product and it is being used across the organization, but there are always opportunities to improve.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Lucidchart Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: September 2026
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Lucidchart Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.