Summary (TLDR):
Review Summary: Gliffy is a flowchart maker that has been around, but unfortunately, the technology has not been updated as of late. Its integration with Jira is seamless though.
Has Flowchart Symbols: Yes
Ease of Use: 4/5
Collaboration: No
Overall Score: 3.5/5
Gliffy is a flowchart maker that can work both online and offline. This supportive and user-friendly application is easy to install and use. To better understand its advantages and things that need improving, you should not skip the Gliffy flowchart maker - product review below.
Main Features
Visualize
Gliffy provides users with many vivid and intuitive chart templates. Apart from available templates on the application, it also allows you to design a new diagram with the shape and structure of your choice.
This flowchart tool helps you turn your ideas and creativity into easy-to-see and remember infographics. It is also a way to help you stimulate the brain to read and select information. All boxes or links in the diagram are customizable in size and color.
Simple Interface
To bring convenience and ease of use, especially for beginners, the provider arranges a simple and no-frills interface.
When opening the application, it will display a list of flowchart groups that you want to select. Once selected, the category disappears to make room for the design screen with all clear and visible features on the toolbars.
Customer Segmentation
Gliffy diagram tool divides customers into three main industry groups: business, software engineering, and design projects. In this way, the diagram templates that each group of customers chooses will have more features suitable for their industry needs.
Collaboration Features
You can share your flow diagrams with friends and colleagues via the URL or embedding function. Besides, before sharing data, you can select the option to allow people to view, edit or comment on your document.
Thus, the collaboration tool’s features allow everyone in the same group can use one general diagram. When encountering any details that need changing, they can directly correct them.
Advantages
Easy To Use
It is a simple diagram tool compatible with many integrations like Chrome, Google Docs, MS Word, Google Drive, or Confluence cloud. Drag and drop objects or shapes are easy to perform so that users can create their professional-looking flowcharts in the eye flash.
These utilities are in the upper horizontal toolbar, enabling quick work with one mouse click. Along both vertical sides are options to adjust the size and color of shapes. You can choose to hide or show it depending on your preference.
Large Library Of Example Templates
Gliffy diagram maker provides a material library with more than 200 pre-designed models and other extensive features. You can find many types of workflow diagrams like mind maps, floor plans, organizational charts, network diagrams, or entity-relationship diagrams.
You can save diagram templates to edit online in the app, Google Drive, or even in Chrome offline. Besides, there is a wide range of options for exporting data, including JPEG, PNG, and SVG formats.
Long Trial Use
This application offers users a 14-day free trial. It is enough time for you to experiment and create many creative flow diagrams. Besides, you can freely log in and use the online tool on any device without restricting access during the trial period.
The Ability To Link To Other Tool
You can use Gliffy files to input into several other diagramming applications, most notably Lucidchart. Embedding feature supports export process files from Gliffy to other platforms like WordPress. Moreover, you can also share your files on Slack, HipChat, and Basecamp based on the API platform.
Disadvantages
Templates Limitation For Trial
The number of templates that the trial accounts can access is small. You can only create about five types of diagrams until you pay for a pricing plan. Additionally, it also does not support the use and opening of Visio online files for you to adjust right on the application.
Public Form Of Saving File
The diagrams you create with the free account are public by default. It means that anyone can see the diagrams containing information related to your company's work or business.
Although Gliffy diagram maker offers a long trial period for trial users, its confidentiality is unsatisfactory. It is why some people still prefer other apps where they can keep the charts private.
Google Drive Use Limits
Until you pay to use all the chart types and templates, there are still differences between the pricing plans. Typically, the integration feature on Google Drive and real-time collaboration between users is only available for business team accounts and is not supported for single users.
Not Enough Memory For Large Diagrams
Many users evaluate that the application is weak for specialized technical and complex diagrams with large volumes of data. Consequently, the process of saving the file will take some time.
Besides, the application lags with shaky connection when opening oversized files. Manufacturers should improve this inconvenience to meet the needs of more customers.
Pricing
Honestly, it is an economical application. With the personal plan for one to nine, you only have to pay 8 dollars/per user/per month. The price for 10 to 50 users is 6 dollars. All individual users can access the same provided functions after purchase.
With large-scale use for team plans or business, the price can be even lower for each person. You can contact the support staff for pricing options and more special offers. In addition, vendors can integrate additional features to adapt your business processes better.
In addition to logging in online on the website, you can download this flowchart tool on Chrome for future use without an internet connection. Offline operations are a plus if you need to process or edit diagrams quickly but are in a non-internet location.
