The Mac App Store has a wealth of content to help you find the right apps for your daily computing life. New apps arrive in the Mac App Store every single day, which makes it nearly impossible for one to keep track of the latest and greatest. We've dedicated our time (a lot of it) to track down and test out the best of the best. We even made a list of the best free apps for Mac. Here are the best paid apps for the Mac.

A mind mapping software or a creative brainstorming software can be used to record all such data and later analyze it to get the key points. These brainstorming software online are available for free and these brainstorming techniques software use different techniques and creative aspects.

1Password

Jan 16, 2020  Cost: Free with an in-app purchase for the full version which includes features like hyperlinks, notes, and icons in topics. Wrapping it up. For your next brainstorming session, make sure that you have an app to collect and organize your thoughts and ideas. Each of these mind map apps for iPhone and iPad are excellent in their own way. May 27, 2018 If this situation is well-familiar to you, then your important mission is to find a multi-featured and powerful mind mapping app which will help you keep everything in order. Here are some of the best brainstroming apps for mac. We rendered a decision to scour through different applications and came across the best options. Brainstorm ideas with these three mind mapping apps on iOS and macOS. The best apps in this are. There is a macOS version that's free to try on the Mac App Store and on the iOS App Store but. Jan 02, 2020 Bear is a unique kind of note-taking app designed to make it easier for Mac users to jot down notes on the go. With it, you can create to-do lists, give yourself reminders, and outline concepts for future brainstorming sessions. Jan 02, 2020  1. Available for all iOS devices, Todoist is a note-taking and organization app that can keep you on top of all your projects—both personal and professional. Its best features are all free to use, including browser extensions, task creation, and interactive boards you.

Every computer should be equipped with 1Password. It's our personal favorite password manager, as it stores all of our web logins (I have hundreds), credit card info, bank accounts, drivers licenses, social security info, and more, and everything is encrypted and locked behind a Master Password that only you should know. It's also fantastic for randomly generating strong and secure passwords, auditing your existing passwords (don't reuse them and change them often), and you can log in with just a few clicks.

1Password is free to download and use (30-day free trial), but afterward, you'll need an individual ($4/mo) or family ($7/mo for up to five people) plan to continue using. However, it's simply the best password manager there is and well worth it.

Logic Pro X

Logic Pro X is Apple's pro-level audio program. If you are a songwriter, producer, or engineer, you probably already have Logic in some form or another. If you don't already have it, Logic Pro X is the one for you. It has hundreds of tools for recording and editing both digital and analog music. You can create an entire album's worth of music using nothing more than a computer, or you can connect to a mixing board and edit tracks recorded by a live band. If the drummer forgets to show up for a recording session, no problem! You can add a virtual drummer with a distinct sound.

If you're new to recording music, Logic Pro X can be a little intimidating, but there are a lot of video tutorials and online how-to guides that can help get you started. It's a hefty investment at first, but worth the initial startup cost if you're planning on becoming a self-recording artist or want to have a home-grown studio.

Affinity Photo

Affinity Photo is one of the most comprehensive photo editing apps you can get on the Mac. It has professional-quality tools, like advanced color manipulation and 32-bit channel editing. It also has dozens of useful features, like multiple editable layers, vector graphics tools, advanced image processing, and retouching and correction masking tools. View the Histogram, manually make color and lighting adjustments, or select from the suggested default options. There are so many tools it would take you months to actually try them all out.

Affinity Photo also comes with paint, clone stamp, annotation, cropping, and selection tools. It's not entirely unlike Photoshop, but it is specially designed for Mac and has a better user interface.

It is somewhat intimidating for new users, but there is a fantastic in-house tutorial section to help photo editors of all levels of experience. You'll be able to call yourself an expert in no time at all.

MacX DVD Ripper

If you're ready to turn your DVD collection into a digital library in iTunes, MacX DVD Ripper is currently the best option for the Mac. I gave MacX DVD Ripper a try a few months ago and realized that it is definitely my new favorite digitizer. It has dozens of great features, like 1:1 copying with original video quality, excellent protection bypass tools (including for region codes and Disney DRM), and batch conversion. The ISO copy takes a long time but produces perfect quality digital files every single time. If you don't want to take the time, you can get faster ripping speed with hyperthreading. You can select which type of device to output the digital file to, including iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV. You can also use MacX to clip video segments to upload to YouTube, Vimeo, and more.

And if your Mac does not have an optical drive, we recommend picking up an Apple Superdrive. It's affordable and connects to your USB port, so you can still use that physical media laying around the house.

Scrivener 3

For the aspiring writer in all of us, Scrivener is nothing short of the most comprehensive writing program around. It features all of the tools you need to get started, like brainstorming tools, note cards, and a virtual draft board for pinning your ideas. Once you're ready to actually start writing, Scrivener makes the process smooth with pre-made templates for building scripts, novels, academic papers, and more.

There is a section where you can keep research documents close at hand for quick access. It comes with half-a-dozen templates for different types of documents, including screenplays, novels, short stories, scripts, and more. It has everything a writer needs to prepare for writing that novel they've always wanted to tackle.

Markdown Pro

If you're in the coding biz, especially if you spend a lot of time using Markdown, Markdown Pro is the best writing app for Mac that you can get your hands on. It shows you a real-time preview of your content, so you'll always know if you've made a mistake or if the end result doesn't look the way you intended. You can add a custom CSS template so you can always have your blog pages ready to go. All files can be saved as HTML or PDF. There is even a handy help guide with the most popular codes for Markdown listed for your convenience.

Notability

When it comes to taking notes, Notability is tops. It has powerful note-taking and annotation features that make it a must-have for college students. You can drag images, PDFs, and other documents into a note. When you record while taking notes, you can tap a word to skip ahead to that specific spot in the recording to playback what was said at that moment. Its note-taking tools are its most ... notable feature. You won't be caught without pen and paper if you have Notability on your Mac.

OmniFocus 3

OmniFocus is bursting at the seams with features. It has dozens of organizational options and lets you create project lists with sub-categories. You can add due dates, flag important items on a list, and view tasks like an email inbox. It definitely scratches my itch for list-making and organizing.

OmniFocus 3 is definitely worth downloading if you need a task manager that can cover every aspect of your working life. If you need a powerful GTD (getting things done) style organizer, OmniFocus 3 is the best one available on the Mac. It's free to download and includes a 14-day free trial. Afterward, you can get the Standard features for $50 or the Pro features for $100.

Gemini 2

Gemini 2 is a flexible, user-friendly duplicate file finder that lets you scan your entire computer or individual files for duplicates. Whether you are trying to track down songs, movies, photos, or documents that are doubles, Gemini has you covered. This is a great app for people that are a little nervous about going around deleting files from their computer.

It has a great looking interface with clear and understandable instructions. You can select a folder to scan. Then, review the duplicates, select the ones you want to get rid of, and hit the Trash button. It is simplified, but still gives you the freedom to scan your entire computer or just specific folders you want to check.

The app is free to download and includes a trial. Afterward, you can purchase a license for $20.

Airmail

Airmail treats your email like a to-do list. You can triage your inbox by scheduling when you are going to take care of an email. If you can't get to it right now, snooze it for later. If it's an email that requires an action, send it to your to-do folder. If it's something important that you'll want quick access to, mark it as a memo. And, when you've finished dealing with your email, send it to the 'Done' folder to get that sweet satisfaction of having completed something on your task list.

Final Cut Pro

If you deal with video editing on a daily basis, then iMovie may not be enough for you. That's when you need Final Cut Pro.

Final Cut Pro is packed with a ton of powerful features to make your job of video editing easier. You'll have access to plenty of cool tools to streamline your editing, and organizing your media is a breeze with tools like smart collections. There are fun things like 2D and 3D titles, plenty of different transitions, and more. You can customize it with a large variety of third-party plug-ins and custom interfaces. The program utilizes all of the GPUs in your Mac for superior playback performance and speedy background rendering, so if you have a powerful machine, it's fully put to use with Final Cut Pro.

Magnet

If you work in multiple workspaces on your Mac, then Magnet is a must.

Magnet makes it super easy to automatically adjust the window size of any app you're working in, so you don't have to manually drag and resize every window each time. With Magnet, just select what size you want the active window to be, and voila, it will change it with one click. Then pick the other app you want to work with side-by-side, select the size you want (and the side), and boom! Now you have two apps side-by-side (or however you want to work it) with just a few clicks. No dragging and rearranging. Magnet lives in the menu bar, but you can also activate it with keyboard shortcuts if you're a keyboard wizard.

Day One

Journaling is a great way to reflect and capture important memories or thoughts, and Day One is the best journaling app you can get on Mac.

Day One has a beautiful interface that is pleasant and relaxing to work with. You can have multiple journals, and the ability to add multiple photos and audio clips to entries makes them more personable than ever. You can organize by tags, see where you were, format your entries with rich text, and more.

Day One is free to download and use, but you'll only have basic features. If you opt for a Premium subscription for $25 a year, you'll get unlimited photo storage, unlimited journals, cloud sync, unlimited encrypted cloud storage, and more.

Fantastical

While Apple has a built-in Calendar app, it's just not fantastic enough. That's when Fantastical comes in.

With Fantastical, you get a gorgeous interface that makes it easy to see your schedule at-a-glance, whether you're looking at the full app or just the mini menu-bar version. Inputting events is super easy, thanks to the natural language parser. Just type in something like 'Get coffee with Lory tomorrow at 3 pm at Stumptown Coffee Roasters' and Fantastical will take care of the rest. There is also full integration with Apple Reminders, so you can have your schedule and tasks in one place.

Your favorites?

What are the go-to paid apps for Mac you have on your laptop or desktop right now? Put them in the comments and let us know why they are so important to you.

July 2019: Updated to reflect the latest versions of apps, and added some new options. These are the best paid apps for your Mac!

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Mind mapping is the process of using visual diagrams to show the relationships between ideas or information. Its popular uses include project planning, collecting and organizing thoughts, brainstorming and presentations — all in order to help solve problems, map out resources and uncover new ideas.

It can be more useful than trying to keep track of our ideas by scribbling them on paper, and can aid in manipulating and generating concepts.

We've compiled a list of 24 mind mapping tools to help you organize, summarize and visualize information, with both free and paid versions available to suit any budget or requirement. The tools mentioned are either browser- or desktop-based, with a selection of mind mapping mobile apps at the end of the article for use on iOS and Android devices.

Is there a particular mind mapping tool you would recommend? If so, please share a link with our readers in the comments below.

1. Mindmeister

MindMeister was built to facilitate collaboration for mind mapping and brainstorming, with an intuitive, easy-to-use interface. You can collaborate in real time, discuss changes over live chat, exchange ideas and even view the change history of a mind map.

You can access projects via mobile devices as well as online and offline, safe in the knowledge that your data is stored securely with data encryption and daily monitoring. Since MindMeister is cloud-based, there is no need to install any software or worry about upgrades.

Price: Personal accounts start at $4.99 per month, going up to $14.99 for a business account.

2. iMindMap

iMindMap was developed by Tony Buzan, who popularized the term 'mind maps,' and refined and formalized its diagramming process and guidelines.

iMindMap is designed to be visually stimulating, with curved branches, bright colors and sharp images to help unleash your creativity. You can take full control over your map with a customizable drawing experience, or let iMindMap create the whole map for you. There are freehand, styling and text options so you can create a unique project. It's simple to brainstorm, refine, plan and craft an animated presentation.

Price: Home and student edition is £49 (~$79); the Ultimate package is £149 (~$240).

Best Free Mac App For Brainstorming Software

3. SpiderScribe

SpiderScribe is an online mind mapping and brainstorming tool that lets you organize your ideas by connecting notes, files, and calendar events in freeform maps. You can create private or public maps and collaborate with others, as your maps are stored in the cloud and can be accessed anywhere.

You can combine a variety of media to create a stencil, and each stencil can be customized by changing colors, fonts, size and formats. Another particularly interesting feature of SpiderScribe is the ability to embed your mind maps on your website.

Price: Personal accounts are free, with Pro accounts at $5 per month and business accounts at $25 per month.

4. XMind

XMind is a useful open source mind mapping tool for clarifying thinking, managing complex information, organizing and brainstorming. You can gather ideas and craft them in a logical structure to help identify critical information, uncover patterns, relationships, priorities and trends.

For seamless collaboration, your mind map can be exported into a variety of formats, including PDF, TXT, HTML, PNG, JPEG and more. Along with a mind map structure, XMind also offers tree, logic and fishbone charts, with a built-in spell checker, search, encryption and even audio notes.

Price: Accounts range from free up to $79 per year.

5. Coggle

With Coggle you can brainstorm and produce beautiful notes or mind maps to share and collaborate with others. You can drag and drop images onto your diagrams, view the change history to keep track of edits and customize the colors within each project.

You can export your projects in PDF or PNG format, create private links, or share publicly on social media and add clickable links. Coggle supports Markdown and also works seamlessly on mobile devices.

Price: Free

6. Freemind

Freemind is an open source mind mapping tool built in Java, and is available for Windows, Mac and Linux. It has a wide variety of features, including location-based mind mapping, collaboration tools, restore session support and more.

It can be used to keep track of projects as a knowledge base, and as a powerful mind mapping tool for complex diagrams with numerous branches, including embedded links and multimedia. You can export your map as HTML, PDF, OpenDocument, SVG or PNG.

Price: Free

7. Text2MindMap

Text2MindMaps is a useful way of organizing your thoughts using a simple, online tool. It's easy to use — just type some text into the text area, use the tab key to indent text lines and click the Draw Mind Map button to see it evolve.

Each line of text is a separate node in the mind map, and there are options to style the map to suit your requirements. It features a number of keyboard shortcuts, and each map can be downloaded as a PDF or image, or even emailed to share with collaborators.

Price: Free

8. Popplet

Brainstorming Apps For Writers

Popplet is a mind mapping tool that is perfect for visually curating your ideas and brainstorms. You can visually record your ideas, inspirations and thoughts, as well as upload text, videos, images and draw on your canvas.

For those working in teams, Popplet allows multiple devices to connect to the same project. You can create Popplet presentations, use high-resolution images, create embeds for websites and blogs, and include tags, keywords and categories on all your Popplet projects to make searching easier. There is an accompanying iOS app which gives you mobile access to your projects; however, there is currently no Android version available.

Price: Free

9. Bubbl.us

Bubbl.us makes online brainstorming and mind mapping simple. To start, just type your central topic to start a tree, and then create another idea at the same level or as a sub-level. The Bubbl.us tree will automatically reposition itself to fit any new ideas you have, or you can move the bubbles around manually.

You can customize a tree to suit your style by changing the color and size. The auto-save feature is especially useful, and you can share your project as a read-only file or allow others to edit it. To collaborate on the same tree, other team members must have their own Bubbl.us accounts.

Price: Free

10. Mind42

Browser-based Mind42 allows you to manage all of your ideas on one platform for a fast and simple mind mapping experience. You can quickly create, manage and edit any kind of data structure required for mind maps to explore ideas in a visually meaningful way.

All you need to do is create an account and click New MInd Map. Once you start a project, you can invite collaborators and create helpful groups such as Business or Private. You can even import existing mind maps from other applications, such as Mindmanager and Freemind.

Price: Free

11. GroupMap

GroupMap is specifically built to make team activities easy, providing a unique platform for anyone to respond on a map, with any parameters you set. You can select a map or create your own, and then invite your team to collaborate, comment, converse and vote to help decide the best ideas from a session.

Each individual can add their ideas to the brainstorm, and the results aggregate into a group view for comments and voting, making for a more open, efficient process.

Price: Accounts range from free up to $49 per month for a professional account.

12. Mindomo

Mindomo provides mind mapping and project collaboration tools for both businesses and education providers. It can be used to brainstorm mind maps, create tasks and share resources within a secure environment. It's fully collaborative with the conversations, discussions and topics enabled within each workspace.

You can style individual mind maps using themes to better illustrate concepts and projects. You can choose to keep you map private or public, and also provide a direct link to your map to share with team members or clients.

Price: Accounts range from free up to $29 per month for a team account.

13. Stormboard

Stormboard focuses on real-time brainstorming and collaboration, allowing you to add ideas, photos and videos to a shared online whiteboard. You can quickly generate and capture ideas, and prioritize and vote on them. All ideas have a unique comment thread to clarify, refine and debate.

Stormboard features a library of templates that you can customize to suit your specifications. Since Stormboard is compatible with mobile, you can access, capture and review ideas anytime and anywhere.

Price: Accounts range from free up to $10 per month for at team account.

14. MindMap

MindMap is a Google Chrome extension that has Cloud, Google Drive, Dropbox and Box support built in. You can save your work into local storage, in the cloud, and print or export finished mind maps as an image.

You can even manipulate the fonts and positions within each node, add images and text, and share your maps through your social media connections. MindMap allows real-time collaboration and embedding within websites or blogs. Also of interest are three similar mind mapping Google Chrome extensions: MindMapr, MindMup and Connected Mind.

Price: Free

15. Wisemapping

Wisemapping is an online, open source mind mapping editor for both individuals and businesses to share with collaborators, embed in blogs, and easily import and export. If security is important and you don't want to use the browser-based app, you can download, install and configure WiseMapping on your own server.

The tool allows you to invite team members to view and collaborate on your mind maps and export maps to Freemind, PDF, SVG and other image file formats. Wisemapping also features an embeddable mind map viewer for use on other websites or blogs.

Price: Free

16. MindManager

MindManager from Mindjet is a powerful mind mapping tool that lets you organize your ideas in a single view, where you can easily drag and drop to gather and prioritize your ideas. Adding images, video, hyperlinks and attachments is simple, and the project planning tools make it straightforward to turn ideas into action.

It works with Microsoft Office and Apple productivity tools, including Outlook and Entourage. MindManager also features automated calculations to help evaluate and analyze data.

Price: A license is $129, or $349 for MindManager Plus.

17. Freeplane

Freeplane is an open source application that runs on any operating system with Java installed. It can also run locally or portably from a removable storage, such as a USB drive.

You can freely position, order, classify, group or connect any node and style the map using shapes, colors and edge type — or even according to hierarchical level. You can structure nodes in terms of content, such as text, formula, icon, image or hyperlink. Mind maps are password protectable, and you can make full use of the drag and drop functionality, search, publishing and sharing options available.

Price: Free

18. The Brain

The Brain aims to be the ultimate in digital memory, and is available for Windows, OS X and Linux. It's more than a mind mapping application in that it allows you to visualize all of your tasks, ideas, projects, documents and notes in one convenient place.

You can store an unlimited amount of information, which is available on both the desktop and mobile devices, using a simple drag and drop interface. The Brain focuses on helping you build meaningful and dynamic connections that give you a greater insight into whatever idea or project you're working on.

Price: The Service Only package is $15; License Only is $219; Complete Package is $299.

19. LucidChart

LucidChart is a powerful diagramming application that helps you quickly capture and organize ideas during a brainstorming session into a single useful mind map. It features a suite of tools including real-time collaboration, built-in Google image search, custom themes and social sharing.

The auto-spacing of mind mapping nodes, hotkeys for quick mind map creation, collapsible branches, auto theming and chat feature all give you the flexibility to create and customize your mind map.

Price: Accounts range from free up to $21 per month for team accounts.

20. Scapple

Scapple is a mind map app for OS X from the developer of the popular longform writers tool Scrivener, and it's specifically directed at writers. It provides a space for mapping out your thoughts in a free way, without conforming to a single idea or goal. You can start typing anywhere, link ideas, build relationships, and adjust or expand everything.

Your notes can take the form of text, pictures, a PDF or any other type of file you choose. You can stack related ideas into columns for better organization, while the appearance of notes can be easily changed through the font choice, colors or border style.

Price: The software download is $14.99.

21. Mapul

Mapul is a web-based tool powered by Microsoft Silverlight, which allows you to generate mind maps without leaving your browser. It's an evolution of MapMyself and provides a free or subscription-based account.

It features a quirky, hand-drawn interface and has the option to save or export mind maps. You can import images and style your text with various sizing and color options.

Price: Accounts can hold up to 10 users; a single user account for six months is $30, and a 10-user account is $360 per year.

Free Brainstorming Tools

22. MindApp

MindApp is a mind mapping tool available in-browser or as a Windows desktop app. It features a drag and drop interface, keyboard shortcuts, children's options, and map and text formatting.

You can save mind maps online in your free personal account or as images on your desktop, which can be used in other applications. The map can be styled to suit your tastes and includes shapes, lines, alignment, size, color, borders and background options.

Price: Free

23. CoMapping

CoMapping is an online mind mapping application to take notes, plan, organize and share information, with multiple people able to work collaboratively on the same map. The visual interface allows for the drag and drop of topics for quick reorganization, while the app also enables you to work offline and provides a place for private, non-shareable data.

CoMapping has a built-in chat feature to support instant discussion, and also includes task management, presentations and email status updates.

Price: Accounts range from free up to $612 per year (for classrooms/departments with 100 users).

24. MyThoughts

MyThoughts for OS X offers freedom and flexibility to build meaningful, unique mind maps boasting powerful features, including drag and drop, branch styles, relationships, a media browser, print manager and outline notes. You can import OPML and Freemind files and export to RTDF, Word, PDF, Image and OPML formats.

The uncluttered, user-friendly interface make it easy to get started and brainstorm freely, with the ability to add links to files and URLs, and even share files between the popular iThoughtsHD OS X and iPad app.

Brainstorming App For Windows 10

Price: A single license is £31.60 (~$51), and the Family Pack costs £44.49 (~$72).

Mobile Apps

The tools above are among the the best to create mind maps online or on your desktop. However, there are many iOS and Android mind mapping apps that may interest you:

Image: Flickr, Marco Arment