Manager, Marketing at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Easy to set up and use, saves time when presenting processes
Pros and Cons
  • "The usability is very nice in terms of flowchart components that are available."
  • "It would be really helpful if we could create a process flow based on a Word Document or a PPT file."

What is our primary use case?

Professionally, I am involved in marketing and I use Lucidchart to create campaign flowcharts. One of the specific things I do is create process workflows.

How has it helped my organization?

Lucidchart has features for documenting things such as processes and the product is very nice in terms of creating the flowchart, but it appears to lack the ability to process handwritten or textual documentation. I'm not sure if this is possible, so I would rate the capabilities a seven out of ten.

This product has very good capabilities for visualizing and understanding process flows and workflows. I would rate it an eight out of ten in this regard because we can create very good process flowcharts.

Having people look at a diagram rather than read through written documents has absolutely saved us time and money. I estimate that it saves us two hours per week.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the ease of use. The usability is very nice in terms of flowchart components that are available.

What needs improvement?

I would like to see more flexibility in terms of the components that are available. For example, I was not able to create a freeflow shape and I did not have the option to create a straight line without an arrowhead on at least one side. I only had the option of having an arrow on one side or the other, rather than a simple line. Adding these few things would make sense but overall, it is fine.

It would be really helpful if we could create a process flow based on a Word Document or a PPT file.

Having integration with a CRM would certainly help. For example, it would be better if we could extract the fields from our CRM when we are creating a process. 

Buyer's Guide
Lucidchart
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about Lucidchart. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Lucidchart for approximately four months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The availability of the application is 98%. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

At this point, I am not sure of how scalable the product is.

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

Prior to Lucidchart, I used Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint to prepare flowcharts. I switched because it is easier to build flowchart diagrams.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. It is a web-based application that is easy to set up and easy to use. Getting started with inserting diagrams and workflows is not something that I found difficult.

What was our ROI?

It will take another two or three months to see ROI but as of now, we are happy with the investment.

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

The price of this product is a little bit high. It is probably 20% higher than what I expected to pay for such a solution.

What other advice do I have?

I have not yet integrated Lucidchart with other products but this is something that I plan to do in the future. I would like to integrate it with Microsoft Teams.

My advice for anybody who is considering Lucidchart is that it's a very good tool for creating processes and documenting flows. It is plug-and-play and very easy to use.

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
Office Manager at a energy/utilities company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Easy and quick to set up, intuitive to use, and helps my org charts look presentable
Pros and Cons
  • "I like the panel on the left of the screen that has all of the shapes that are available to use in the charts. It's easy to use because you can just drag and drop."
  • "I would like an on-premises version of the software that I can just download and use. I think that it's easier that way."

What is our primary use case?

I am primarily using it to draw org charts but I also use it to create flow charts.

My goal is to make sure that my org charts are presentable, and that they look great.

How has it helped my organization?

The look of the org charts and presentation of them to the management time is better and neater with Lucidchart. Things are more aligned; it's easier and quicker for me to create them. It used to take ages to make the boxes look the same and make the lines look the same.

This product has helped me to realize efficiency in the projects that I use it for, otherwise, I would not subscribe to it. I have explained to my HR department that it is easy to use and not very expensive.

I like Lucidchart's organizational charts for visualizing and understanding team hierarchies and relationships. I take instructions from the management team on how the charts should look, so I create them following their guidelines. In the past, this was a manual process. In Lucidchart, I don't copy the examples and use those, because I think every company has different ways of doing their org charts. However, I am able to create what I need.

What is most valuable?

Lucide chart is user-friendly and quite easy to use. In terms of ease of use and intuitiveness, I would rate this product a nine and a half out of ten.

I like the panel on the left of the screen that has all of the shapes that are available to use in the charts. It's easy to use because you can just drag and drop.

Drawing and connecting the lines is really nice.

What needs improvement?

I would like an on-premises version of the software that I can just download and use. I think that it's easier that way.

For how long have I used the solution?

I started using Lucidchart approximately three weeks ago.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Stability-wise, I haven't run into any trouble so far.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Our team in Singapore is very small, so I'm subscribing as an individual user for now. I have a subscription for one year. I have recommended this solution to my wider team in our main office and they are looking into getting a team of users there. The things that I do here may also coincide with some of their charts and other types of drawings.

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

Prior to using Lucidchart, I was using Visio. I really struggled with drawing lines and with other actions. For example, it is difficult to make boxes symmetric. I find Lucidchart much easier to use.

Because of our experience with Visio, we started exploring other org chart drawing applications. This is when I tried Lucidchart and found it quite easy to use.

When I switched over from Visio, I did not try to import anything. I did it all from scratch. I prefer to do that, so it's clean.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very straightforward and the deployment is very quick. I started with a test and then I decided to pay for it. Once you pay, you can use it. You just have to choose what you want to do.

What about the implementation team?

I deployed it myself. There is nothing complicated about it.

What was our ROI?

I have not seen a return on investment after only three weeks.

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

I have a subscription as an individual user for one year, and it is not expensive.

For me, the price is acceptable, which is why I'm able to get approval to use it. It is cheaper than other solutions that I have looked at.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I compared Lucidchart with one to two other applications, and I think the price is more reasonable.

What other advice do I have?

This is a SaaS solution and I did not understand why it was that every time I wanted to get into Lucidchart, I had to go through Chrome or IE to open it and then log in from there. For most applications, you download it and you can just drag and drop it into your Windows and work from there. I wasn't sure if I was opening my charts the correct way. I really didn't mind because as long as I can get my work done, I'm happy.

The biggest lesson that I have learned from using this product is that I don't need to struggle with creating org charts. It's quick and easy to use.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

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
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about Lucidchart. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Data Advanced Analytic Specialist at a manufacturing company with 51-200 employees
Real User
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
Web Developer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Quick to set up and easy to use, but each shape should be accompanied by hints on usage
Pros and Cons
  • "Using Lucidchart for documenting processes is great. The elements are ready to use and it is quick to do."
  • "When I download a flowchart as a PDF file, it breaks it up. I would like to see the continuous display of flow charts, even if they are larger than one page."

What is our primary use case?

I am using Lucidchart to help me with learning about flowcharting and workflows. Essentially, I was creating flowcharts.

How has it helped my organization?

Using Lucidchart for documenting processes is great. The elements are ready to use and it is quick to do. Sharing the chart with somebody else can also be very effective.

Using Lucidchart, I was able to save between two and three hours on my project. Using other software would have required some customization but Lucidchart has some ready-made functionality that made the design process very fast, as well as easy to use.

Having people look at a diagram, rather than reading through written documents, saves me between two and three hours for a small task that might take one or two days.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the ease of use. When I was working on a chart and wanted to add arrows or new lines, I just had to drag and drop or copy and paste. These operations make it simple.

Being able to share my chart with a colleague is a feature that I really like.

What needs improvement?

When I download a flowchart as a PDF file, it breaks it up. I would like to see the continuous display of flow charts, even if they are larger than one page. What happens is that when my layout is four to five pages long, it looks like it is cut from one page to the next. Having no space would make my design look better.

After I started my subscription, I was billed and payment was automatically deducted two times. Because I was not using the product regularly, I did not plan on continuing my subscription so I raised a ticket with them regarding the cancellation. Ideally, there should be a reminder before there is a payment taken for renewal.

The software should provide additional information about the shapes that are available. For example, if I use a round shape, then the software should suggest or point out that it is normally used to represent a database. This would help new users to draw layouts that follow the standard. Explaining the purpose of each shape will make it easier, overall.

For how long have I used the solution?

I only used Lucidchart for a short time. I was able to complete my task in between four and five hours. I will continue to use it based on my requirements.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Stability-wise, this platform is good. It provides a space to work where we can share it with others, and data can never be lost. It's great.

The performance is good. My project was saved online in less than a minute.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I did not notice any problems with scalability.

How are customer service and technical support?

I did not contact technical support for issues regarding functionality.

Rather, I contacted them one time because I had canceled my account and wanted them to refund my last payment. It had been withdrawn without any warning. Yesterday, they responded and told me that I would receive my refund within two or three days. However, I still have not received it, nor any updates about the status of it, so I am not very happy with the support.

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

Prior to Lucidchart, I used Figma. I switched because the free version of Lucidchart provided more features.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is not too complex. After I logged in, I found the starting stages a little bit confusing. However, once I figured out how and where to start, it became easier to do.

It took approximately half an hour to set up.

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

There is a nominal charge for the paid version of the product. It is suitable for a normal-sized budget. They have a free version available and from what I could see, there was not much difference between it and the pro version.

I think that they should add more features so that the paid users have more. There was definitely a difference but it did not affect me. However, it will affect people who work on larger projects.

For example, a user might be able to finish 80% of their work but then, to move on to 81%, they need the pro version. A user might work for between four and five hours before hitting the limit, and without warning. I think that it would be better if the limit was declared at the beginning so that the users properly understand the differences with the free version.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I evaluated both Figma and Adobe XD before choosing Lucidchart.

I found that the flowcharting capabilities were more accessible and had better performance in Lucidchart. 

What other advice do I have?

My advice for anybody who is considering Lucidchart is to first study the basics, and how it can be used in projects. The product is good, but my usage in the future will vary depending on my projects and requirements. Overall, I would rate this product somewhere in the middle. Not bad, but not good.

I would rate this solution a six 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
Solution Consultant at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Consultant
The ability for people to look at a diagram, rather than reading through written documents, saved time and as a result, money
Pros and Cons
  • "Lucidchart helped us to realize efficiencies in the projects we use it for. I can show people pictures, and I can change things in a meeting and then email it by the end of the meeting. Because most places we go, especially now with everybody in-home office, I'm going to have great internet access, and that just makes it easier to be able to change things quickly while we're in a meeting and go, "Oh, you changed this. Oh, okay.", and then send it to them as a proof and send it as a PDF or send them a link. That works great. That saves time and accelerates a sale."
  • "As far as I know, LucidChart can’t be automated with Visual Basic .Net like Visio."

What is our primary use case?

My primary use case is for drawing technical diagrams.

I'm an engineer so I create process diagrams. 

How has it helped my organization?

Before we had people on Visio and Lucidchart. Now we still have some people on Visio and we can seamlessly trade Visios between machines. I anticipate that we're all going to Lucidchart.

Lucidchart provides real-time collaboration among users so that everyone is accessing and working on the same version of a document. Most of what we do is document our platform and then change it to show what it would look like in the customer's world. We're a cloud company, and our customers want to know how they connect to our cloud. We changed those diagrams to show how things would fit into the customer environment, to go from access from the customer environment to ours, and we collaborate on that. We may have a voice architect, a data architect, and an end-user architect all on the same call, and we're chatting and changing things as we go, and sharing it through Zoom or doing it through version control. It really depends on what we're going to do.

The real-time collaboration has saved us time. I have collaborated on two diagrams so far and it made it easier.

The ability for people to look at a diagram, rather than reading through written documents saved time and as a result money. Nobody reads. People look at pictures. Imagine trying to read through a diagram that's typed out as an explanation versus looking at a picture. If you look at a picture you can just get it, but with a diagram, you just understand it right away because you can see where things connect. Trying to read that, the human brain doesn't work like that. We work looking at pictures and Lucidchart is a really effective tool to help illustrate those pictures, to explain very complex technical ideas to other technical people. We can do immediate sync and realize, "Oh, it connects like that. Okay. We're done. Next."

We're a cloud company, so we have to overcome technical objections to advance the opportunity and help the customer. If we make it right for the customer and we help them, the money comes. We don't need to focus on selling. We just explain, share, and solve, and then eventually money will come.

I was using Visio before because the benefits of graphic representation of data are obvious. The ability to import Visio diagrams is really helpful because a lot of customers that are on Windows are still on Visio. It's such a pain to install Visio on a machine. If it's a Mac there are requirements and it takes a lot of RAM and it bogs down a machine. This doesn't bog down anybody's machine. It's just to have this web.

Lucidchart helped us to realize efficiencies in the projects we use it for. I can show people pictures, and I can change things in a meeting and then email it by the end of the meeting. Because most places we go, especially now with everybody in-home office, I'm going to have great internet access, and that just makes it easier to be able to change things quickly while we're in a meeting and go, "Oh, you changed this. Oh, okay.", and then send it to them as a proof and send it as a PDF or send them a link. That works great. That saves time and accelerates a sale.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features are: 

  • The network
  • Great network icons
  • It's easy to use.
  • It's simple.
  • It's easier than Visio.

Documenting things like systems and new teams is fantastic. It's even easier when you're doing process stuff. You just drag it out and use it.

Its capabilities for visualizing and understanding process flows ad workflows are very good. It's every bit the equal of Visio and that's a compliment because Visio has been developed for 20 years and Lucidchart is relatively new compared to Visio. It's every bit the equal of Visio. I haven't found any feature that I haven't needed yet.

I do not use it for integrations with Atlassian, Salesforce, Microsoft, or G Suite but I think that would be super handy. 

It's important that Lucidspark accommodates both Mac and PC users. We're a diverse company. I'm on Mac, other people on my team are on PCs and we just use whatever we're most comfortable with.

What needs improvement?

As far as I know, LucidChart can’t be automated with Visual Basic .Net like Visio.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Lucidchart for years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is flawless. I haven't heard of any stability problems from anybody. And we're a cloud company, so we're uniquely sensitive to that. It has to work all the time.

There is no downtime.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I haven't encountered any slowdowns at all. It's a modern web solution. It's going to scale. It uses the same technology like Google and Amazon and every other cloud provider. It's going to be fine. Scalability shouldn't be a problem.

There are at least 150 people like me using it. We don't require any staff for maintenance. It's a browser app, we don't have to do anything but grant access. It's access management, that's it. Zero. There's no install. It opens in a browser.

I'm sure we will increase usage. As we grow, there'll be more licenses added. I can't imagine why we wouldn't add licenses as we gain employees.

How are customer service and technical support?

We haven't had to contact their technical support. 

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

I switched from Visio. I use a Mac and the migration was simple. I just imported old Visio into Lucidchart. It's simple and effortless. The ability to import all these files is important to us. 

They're both good products but I use Lucidchart because I'm on a Mac and it's easier to use.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was the simplest ever. A child could do it.

It's a web browser. If you can't do that, you don't need to do anything. If you can start a web browser, you can use this thing. The online help is really good.

The implementation consisted of me opening a web browser. Got it added to my Okta tile. That's about it.

What was our ROI?

We see ROI because it's cheaper than adding something to the Microsoft suite. Instead of getting Visio, we have Lucidchart. We're not buying Visio anymore.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I didn't evaluate other solutions. I went straight to Lucidchart because it came so highly recommended.

What other advice do I have?

My advice would be to just buy it. You don't need to look at anything else. I wish we'd done it a long time ago.

I would rate Lucidchart a ten out of ten. 

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
Business Development Representative at a tech vendor with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
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."
  • "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."

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
Graduate Engineer at a engineering company with 11-50 employees
Real User
One diagram can have multiple users on it at the same time
Pros and Cons
  • "The ability to have more than one person editing at the same time is the most valuable feature. You can have one diagram and have multiple users on it at the same time. We haven't been able to do that on other software. So that's the main reason we moved to Lucidchart."
  • "It might already exist and I haven't used it, but in terms of improvement, I would like a hot-key system for some of the diagrams to auto-generate things a bit quicker to be able to produce charts a lot faster, or have more standard templates that you can just go to if you're trying to generate something quickly."

What is most valuable?

The ability to have more than one person editing at the same time is the most valuable feature. You can have one diagram and have multiple users on it at the same time. We haven't been able to do that on other software. So that's the main reason we moved to Lucidchart.

The main benefits of Lucidchart are collaborative working and also being able to just create documents really quickly that are still editable. Even though you've done an initial quick layout, you don't lose the ability to go back and continue with that same chart and turn it into the final version.

The real-time collaboration among users, where we're working on the same version of the document or chart, sped up our project development process. Especially with remote working, you can have two people working and looking at it while discussing it at the same time. It just sped things up and especially eased remote working.

This real-time collaboration has also saved us time. It's just been quicker than it would otherwise have been if we didn't have it.

It's been more efficient than not using it. It's not like we had a regular process and we've changed over to this. It's that we've had a project and this is what we selected. It's been pretty good at visualizing and understanding workflows. We haven't come across anything that limits it.

What needs improvement?

It might already exist and I haven't used it, but in terms of improvement, I would like a hot-key system for some of the diagrams to auto-generate things a bit quicker to be able to produce charts a lot faster, or have more standard templates that you can just go to if you're trying to generate something quickly.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Lucidchart for a month and a half. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I have not had performance issues. 

If you lose internet connection or you're in and out of the internet, then that can be an issue for loading it up, but that's the only issue.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We haven't rolled it out across too many people, but we haven't had any issues so far with adding people. We're not a massive company, so we're only looking at 10 users or so, but on that sort of scale, it's not an issue.

The users are all engineers of varying levels.

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

We switched from Visio to Lucidchart for some of our documentation. One of the main reasons why we use Lucidchart is to switch from Visio to that.

We haven't migrated any prior documents. We're still keeping them as a legacy on Visio, but anything new going forward is moving to Lucid.

The interface for Visio is obviously common to all of the Microsoft programs, so it's quite easy to pick that up, but despite Lucid not being as well known or having that background of being part of the 365 packages, I think it's pretty good for that integration and how easy it is to use.

We still have Visio for the old documentation that we have to keep information on. So we won't be getting rid of that, but won't be buying any new versions. It's not a subscription-type setup, it's that we own those versions of the software. We'll just keep them for when we need to do legacy-related support.

We won't be getting rid of the old documentation that we have to keep information on but we won't be buying any new versions. It's not a subscription-type setup, it's that we own those versions of the software. We'll just keep them for when we need to do legacy-related support.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was really quick. It was already set up within the organization, so I didn't do that, and then somebody just sent me an email invite and that was it.

What other advice do I have?

Lucidchart is really intuitive for a new user. We didn't specifically do any tutorials or anything like that. There's pretty reasonable support when you want. If you just Google how to do something, there's normally a step-by-step guide. I'd definitely encourage you to go with this solution especially if they want to do this concurrent working.

I would rate Lucidchart a nine out of ten. 

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
Product Manager at Technogise
Real User
Enables us to remotely collaborate in real time and be more efficient, but the UI and UX need work
Pros and Cons
  • "Lucidchart is very visual in nature, and it is something that we do use extensively for stakeholder mapping, for example. If you want to build graphs for things like who the decision-makers are in a particular organization, Lucidchart can be used for that."
  • "There is a premium for the use of certain elements in Lucidchart... It becomes very annoying, especially if you are a first-time user of Lucidchart and you don't have a premium plan. It feels a little too restrictive, in terms of using very basic shapes and icons. It asks you to sign-up for the premium account, which I think shouldn't be the case."

What is our primary use case?

As a product manager, I often use these infinite canvases for coming up with ideas and  for brainstorming. I also use it for defining workflows of new products or features that we are brainstorming on.

Now that remote working has become so prominent, these types of tools come in handy when you are collaborating with a lot of folks and you need their input quickly, in a manner that is manageable. That is where I have used Lucidchart.

It's a SaaS-based service, through the browser. Things are automatically saved over the cloud.

How has it helped my organization?

We are a very visual organization. We are an Agile team and we practice XP (extreme programming). When we were on the floor in the office, we used to use whiteboards to create and visualize flows. The whiteboard was always stuck in front of the team's table so that we would know where we were up to as a team and the decisions that had been taken on that flow. When we all started working from home, in March 2020, those meetings became extensive and intense. That resulted in a little bit of Zoom fatigue. Being on a call for so long ends up with people tuning out. That is when we started looking at products with infinite canvases, and Lucidchart came in handy. It enabled us, once again, to work as a team. We could sketch out ideas and brainstorm on things collaboratively and comment on things in real time. We could see where and how things are moving in real time. It almost emulates the in-person meetings. Of course, it cannot replace the feeling of being on the same board, writing with felt markers. But it's a good enough replacement. 

The team could not operate without it. We were actually collaborating on Google Slides, which sort of worked. You can obviously edit a Google document in real-time, but it did not give us the same feeling of an infinite canvas, where the team could contribute and people could express their opinions on every step. I wouldn't say it improved the processes that we already had in place, pre-lockdown, but once we started working from home, it certainly aided us in doing something that we used to do. 

The solution also helped us be more efficient because we were using Google Slides. It's efficient in the sense that the information is percolated to everyone better. Everybody is on the same page and that is the most important thing when you are in the development stage of a project. Having everybody rowing in the same direction is very important. With Lucidchart, there is a document that everybody is able to look at and contribute to at the same time. It maintains the document well and in a very lucid manner so that the decisions are very clearly chalked out. That improves efficiency. Every member spends less time figuring out in which document decisions were taken or where that email is where they can get a sense of what the outcome was of a certain meeting. Instead of that, they can just look at Lucidchart and get the answers.

It saves time and money, at the end of the day.

What is most valuable?

The basic valuable feature is the infinite canvas, because that gives you the space to come up with anything. 

There are a few templates as well, for things like brainstorming or coming up with a mind map, although I haven't explored them much. I usually opt for a free-form canvas where I can build my flows from scratch and the team can collaborate at the same time.

Lucidchart is very visual in nature, and it is something that we do use extensively for stakeholder mapping, for example. If you want to build graphs for things like who the decision-makers are in a particular organization, Lucidchart can be used for that. It's a use case for which you might use a Google Doc or a Google Slide, but if you want to get everything on a single canvas, Lucidchart does come in handy.

We design flows and wireframes and models and we put in where the data would flow.  I have used Lucidchart to create the diagrams and flows of system architecture, and how the data would flow downstream and upstream. One thing that I really appreciate about Lucidchart, a standout feature, is that whenever you attach a Google Sheet link, to signify the data flows in a particular sheet, it actually captures a particular DB or Google Sheet with its link. If you double-tap on it, it redirects you to that particular sheet. I don't know if that feature is available in other products. I really like that in Lucidchart. It comes in handy if you don't want to have to bookmark that sheet separately. You can get it from within Lucidchart itself, which helps you to keep everything neatly in one place.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using Lucidchart for about two months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I have had no issues with the stability. Everything is saved in real time and whenever I access it, what I have worked on is there. I have no complaints. It almost works with the reliability of Google Sheets and Google Docs. Google is the gold standard for real-time saving of edits. Lucidchart is pretty much the same in that respect.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I haven't really thought of Lucidchart in terms of scalability. From an enterprise perspective, if 1,000 or 2,000 people were collaborating on a particular canvas in Lucidchart, it would probably become a mess. It works well for smaller teams, perhaps a maximum of eight to 10 people. Beyond that, it's not really practically possible. Even in physical settings, we do not do whiteboarding with more than 10 people. If there are 20 or 30 people in a meeting, on a whiteboard, it becomes very messy. A small, nimble team, like an XP team or a scrum team, can use Lucidchart.

Whether we will expand our usage depends on how Lucidchart evolves as a product. If the product gains enough momentum and enough industry adoption, where more and more people end up using it, then everybody ends up using it. So it is dependent on the adoption of the product itself and is not necessarily something related to the product's features. If it provides better value through its pricing, people will start adopting it. That is the same curve that we saw with Google Suite. They provided immense value to organizations and now everybody is using Google Suite. There might be better products than Google Suite, but the adoption of Google Suite has spread. In the three organizations I have worked at during my career, I haven't seen any using Microsoft Outlook.

How are customer service and technical support?

I haven't used their technical support.

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

We tried using draw.io as a stop-gap solution, but that didn't work that well. While draw.io looks very similar to Lucidchart in terms of its UI, I don't think it has evolved much.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was done by our client's organization, so I wasn't involved. But because it is a cloud-based solution, I don't think there was any kind of deployment needed. I expect it is a plug-and-play solution that they paid for and we started using.

It doesn't really require any day-to-day maintenance because everything is stored in the cloud. It doesn't require any kind of configuration.

We have six or seven folks right who are using it. There are developers, people on the QA team, the product manager, and the engineering manager.

What was our ROI?

Right after the lockdown started, meetings were really long. That is when we felt the need to select something like Lucidchart. As a result, on average we have saved one and half hours per day in meeting time. That translates to value.

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

I wasn't involved in the purchase of Lucidchart, but Lucidchart does the same things that other products do, like Miro and MURAL. The way I would make the decision is that if Lucidchart is cheaper than those products I would pick it. Maybe the UI is not the most modern, but it helps you achieve the same goals. If there is a major difference in price, I would definitely go with Lucidchart. Otherwise, I would take Miro or MURAL, because they are more modern looking and have better UIs.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I do really appreciate that Lucidchart is actually on par with draw.io. That is a tool that I have been using for a very long time, and it is a free tool as well. Lucidchart can pretty much do what draw.io can do. It has been structured in a very similar manner. draw.io doesn't give you as many ready-made templates. Lucidchart can pretty much do what you ask of it, in terms of building workflows. draw.io is primarily used for creating architectural diagrams, to show how systems interact in a software program, for example.

But I feel that there is a premium for the use of certain elements in Lucidchart, like a drop-down. These features come at a premium and are only accessible in the premium plan. Most of draw.io's icons and clip art are free. It becomes very annoying, especially if you are a first-time user of Lucidchart and you don't have a premium plan. It feels a little too restrictive, in terms of using very basic shapes and icons. It asks you to sign-up for the premium account, which I think shouldn't be the case. I realize that companies need to make money, but first impressions are important. Without completely communicating the value of the product, people might switch to something else. After a while, my organization did take the premium account, so that problem was solved, at least for me. But this was one of my biggest gripes with Lucidchart in the beginning.

With the unpaid version of Lucidchart, where you can get a feel for the user experience, when you try to drag a premium icon into a chart, a pop-up says that you have to buy the premium account. There is a product called Canva. It's an online platform for designing. Something they do, which is really smart, is that they call out premium elements very clearly in the menus. If something is premium, you already know that you can't use it without a premium account, and that saves you time, instead of ending up with a premium element and seeing a pop-up. In Lucidchart, there's no clear demarcation that something is a premium element, unless you try to bring it into your chart. That is annoying at times.

I have been using a couple of other products, such as Miro, which is also an infinite canvas, as well as MURAL. What I have found is that Miro and MURAL certainly have better UIs compared to Lucidchart. Lucidchart emulates draw.io in terms of its UI. It's a little dated. A user will be able to find their way through Lucidchart and draw.io, but Miro and MURAL have a much more modern look.

Other than the visual aspects, Lucidchart can be used to achieve the same goals as the others when it comes to functionality. You can collaborate on the same canvas in real time and you can see other peoples' cursors.

What other advice do I have?

Collaboration is the key. For teams to move faster, they need to make decisions in real time and keep everybody in the loop. As a scrum team or an XP team, these are the things that we valued even before Lucidchart. But then, we needed something that would aid our discussions in the absence of a whiteboard.

My advice would be to visit product review sites, like IT Central Station, and see how the products in the category compare to each other. You might unearth certain features which are not very evident from a product website itself. Word of mouth is something that
will give you an unbiased opinion. It's actual users who can articulate the value proposition. If your own use case matches that of somebody who has already used it, read the reviews and evaluate it yourself.

Lucidchart is not seen as a tool that can be used for documentation purposes. It is primarily seen as a tool that can come in handy for things like brainstorming and when sketching out new processes. It is basically a replacement for a whiteboard, and the processes that we used to do at the office around that, such as collaboratively sketching. That is what it has replaced. It has not replaced Google Docs or other things that are primarily used for documentation.

We use Lucidchart's Slack integration, so if you share Lucidchart in Slack, it will automatically pop up if you want to share it with somebody who is on Slack. When you want to integrate Lucidchart with Slack, it asks for certain permissions. After that, if you want to share a particular file, it will start showing it to all the people who are on the Slack channel. Once you share that file for collaboration, it pops up on their Slack channel, and they can open it from there. That is a neat feature I would say. But if I had to use some other product that has better features than Lucidchart, but lacked this particular integration, I would be fine with it.

I would rate Lucidchart a seven out of 10. It achieves what it says in the value prop. But there is a lot of scope for improvement in making it easier and more modern in terms of the look and the experience for new users.

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: March 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Lucidchart Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.