Freeplane is a mind mapping application for building, organising, and navigating ideas as a hierarchy of nodes. It is used for planning, note taking, and knowledge work where maps need notes, attributes, formulas, and filters rather than a simple picture.
Freeplane is a mind mapping tool that stores ideas as a tree of nodes and then gives those nodes somewhere to live. Each node can carry formatted text, a longer note, attributes such as owner or cost, icons, images, hyperlinks, and a reminder, so a map becomes a working document rather than a sketch. You build the structure by typing, indenting, and dragging, then collapse branches to keep a large subject readable on one screen. Search and filters hide everything that does not match a condition, which is how a map of several hundred nodes stays usable. Files are saved locally, and the whole map can be exported or printed for people who do not use the tool.
Freeplane is aimed at people who think in outlines rather than slides. University students condense a semester of reading into one navigable map, writers hold a book structure with notes on every chapter, and analysts keep small tables of numbers inside the hierarchy using attributes and formulas. Where a drawing tool such as draw.io produces a picture that explains a system, this one produces a document you keep working in: nodes gain notes, statuses, and links as a project develops. Maps move between machines as ordinary files, including from a removable drive, and they open without a conversion step. The learning curve stays short as long as you stick to typing, indenting, and filtering.
Freeplane's advantage is that the map keeps paying off after the brainstorm ends. A node is not just a label: it can hold a paragraph of context, an owner, a due date reminder, a hyperlink to a source, and an icon that marks status at a glance, so the map doubles as a project record instead of decaying into a stale diagram. Attributes turn part of the hierarchy into structured data, and formulas can total, compare, or derive values from those attributes, which means simple budget or capacity tracking lives beside the plan it belongs to. Filters then let one file serve several audiences: show only unfinished work, only the branch owned by one person, or only nodes matching a condition. For larger jobs, Groovy scripting and add-ons automate renaming, restructuring, and export, and maps can be presented branch by branch in a slideshow view. Search across every node, style and conditional formatting keep the visual language consistent, LaTeX typesetting handles equations in technical notes, and maps can be protected with a password when they need to travel.
Key capabilities and highlights.
Every node accepts formatted text plus a separate note for longer explanation, along with attributes, icons, images, hyperlinks, and a reminder date. A map therefore carries the detail behind each idea, which is what makes it usable months later as a working reference.
Attributes store values such as cost, hours, or owner, and formulas can compute totals, differences, or derived values directly on the node. Small tables of numbers stay inside the hierarchy instead of being copied into a separate spreadsheet.
Filters show only the nodes matching a condition, so a single map can answer several questions: what is unfinished, what belongs to one person, or what falls inside a date range. Script-based filters go further when the condition needs logic.
Groovy scripts run against the open map and can rename, restructure, or export hundreds of nodes in one pass, and they can be stored on a node or as reusable files. An add-on library extends the editor with extra tools contributed by the community.
Styles keep headings, questions, and decisions looking the same across a project, templates start a new map with that structure already in place, and conditional formatting colours a node automatically when a condition is met, such as a date passing.
Instead of exporting to slides, a map can be presented directly, opening one branch at a time so an audience follows the structure rather than squinting at a full canvas. Zoom, hidden nodes, and formatting decide what is revealed on each step.
Freeplane integrates AI chat and prompt profiles that can expand a branch, draft node content, or help write a formula or script from a plain description. Because it also exposes a Model Context Protocol server, external assistants can read and update a map.
Maps can be exported to HTML, Markdown, PDF, or image formats, printed directly, and interchanged with other mind mapping tools through common file formats. CSS can be supplied for HTML and Markdown output so the exported document matches the look you intended.
Browse historical releases and previous builds.
Common questions about Freeplane.
It is used to build mind maps that hold real content: project plans, study notes, meeting records, book outlines, and knowledge bases. Nodes can carry notes, attributes, images, and links, so the map stays useful instead of being a one-off sketch.
Yes. Maps are stored as ordinary files on the machine you are using, and the editor works without a connection. It can also run portably from a removable drive, which suits locked-down computers and machines shared between several people.
It can. Attributes hold structured values, formulas compute totals from them, filters show subsets of the map, and Groovy scripting automates repetitive edits. Styles, templates, and conditional formatting then keep large maps consistent as they grow.
Yes. Maps can be presented directly in a slideshow view that reveals one branch at a time, so attention stays where you want it. Exporting to PDF, HTML, or an image is the alternative when the audience needs a file rather than a live session.
Branches collapse so a big subject fits on screen, search locates any node quickly, and filters hide everything that does not match a condition. Because attributes and scripting can also restructure content, a map of several hundred nodes remains workable.
Yes. It includes AI chat workflows and prompt profiles for expanding branches, drafting content, or writing formulas and scripts from a description, and it can expose a Model Context Protocol server so external assistants can work with the map.
Freeplane is a mind mapping application for building, organising, and navigating ideas as a hierarchy of nodes. It is used for planning, note taking, and knowledge work where maps need notes, attributes, formulas, and filters rather than a simple picture.
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