- ClickUp: Best overall and for automation
- Canva: Best for designs
- SmartDraw: Best for data transfer
- Deel: Best for multinational organizations
- Creately: Best for limited budgets
- Miro: Best for multiple layouts
- Lucidchart: Best for collaboration
- Functionly: Best for sharing
- monday.com: Best for scaling organizations
- Pingboard: Best for medium and large enterprises
Updated: Mar 23, 2024, 4:27pm
Whether small or large, organizations have several moving parts, which can make their day-to-day operations complicated. However, with the best org chart software, you can streamline the many facets of an organization with a visual representation of team members, their roles and how they fit together. Clear org charts can improve workflow management and communication, moving an organization closer and faster to its goals. We’ve evaluated the most popular org chart software and compared their features, pricing and user experience to determine the best org chart software for your organization.
The Best Org Chart Software of 2024
Forbes Advisor Ratings
Company | Forbes Advisor Rating | Starting price | Free trial | Employee directory | LEARN MORE | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ClickUp | ![]() |
4.9 | ![]() |
$7 per user per month | None | Available | Learn More | On ClickUp's Website | |
Canva | ![]() |
4.4 | ![]() |
$14.99 per user per month | 30 days | Available | View More | ||
SmartDraw | ![]() |
4.4 | ![]() |
$9.95 per user per month | Seven days | Unavailable | View More | ||
Deel | ![]() |
4.3 | ![]() |
$0 | None | Available | View More | ||
Creately | ![]() |
4.3 | ![]() |
$5 per user per month | None | Available | View More | ||
Miro | ![]() |
4.2 | ![]() |
$8 per user per month | 14 days | Unavailable | Learn More | On Miro's Website | |
Lucidchart | ![]() |
4.1 | ![]() |
$7.95 per user per month | Seven days | Available with limited information | View More | ||
Functionly | ![]() |
4.1 | ![]() |
$24 per user per month | Seven days | Available | View More | ||
monday.com | ![]() |
3.9 | ![]() |
$8 per user per month | 14 days | Available | View More | ||
Pingboard | 3.5 | ![]() |
$149 per month (billed annually) | 14 days | Available | View More |
What Is an Org Chart?
An org chart, short for organizational chart, also known as an organogram, organogram chart or hierarchy chart, is a visual representation of an organization. An org chart shows the structure of an organization, with information about the departments and team members that constitute the organization. You’ll see each team and their members’ names, positions, roles and relationships with each other.
Benefits of an Org Chart
Here’s why you need an org chart.
- It helps in understanding the organization’s structure: Since an org chart reveals the relationships between members and teams, it gives new hires, potential investors and stakeholders a picture of the organization. They’ll see how the organization is structured to operate and how everyone fits into the organization.
- It aids workforce planning and management: Having a visual outlook of your organizational structure will help executives and the HR team determine your organization’s resources and capability. It will be easy for them to identify the resources and gaps within your organization, helping them develop relevant budgets, plans, work shifts, recruitments, promotions and the like.
- It enhances communication among team members: An organizational chart serves as an employee directory, providing employees with access to pertinent information, such as the names, photographs, contact addresses and roles of their coworkers. They will know whom to reach for specific projects or issues and how to reach them.
- It updates members about their roles and responsibilities: As an organization grows, people are promoted, transferred to other teams, required to report to new team leads and more. An org chart reflects these changes and makes everyone aware of their responsibilities and how they are required to bring value to the organization’s further growth.
How To Choose the Best Org Chart Software
When considering org chart tools, look out for features, such as an employee directory, collaboration, mobile compatibility and easy data transfer. Your chosen org chart software should also enable customizations and integrations while being easy to use.
Essential Features
While each organization is unique, the following features are essential for any organization:
- Prebuilt templates: To make building your org chart easy and quick, look out for organizational chart software with several templates and org chart layouts.
- Data transfer: An org chart software should allow importing employee data from multiple platforms. It should also enable exporting charts to various formats you can share.
- Employee directory and engagement: Make sure your chosen org chart tool can serve as a directory to show your team members and stakeholders what your structure looks like, who your team leads and members are, what they bring to the table and how to reach them. Coworkers should also be able to find each other and be informed of anniversaries and relevant updates.
- Collaboration and sharing: Your team members should be able to work on org charts together. Even better if you get to share created charts with new hires and those not on your account.
- Mobile access: Org chart tools that are mobile-compatible make it easier for team members to access your company’s charts from anywhere.
Customization Options
Creating an org chart from scratch can be tedious, so choose an org chart software with pre-made templates and a drag-and-drop editor to configure the charts to suit your organization’s structure. You should be able to add fields and import images and custom shapes for a personalized organizational chart. Dimitri Graf, an engineering and program management leader, commended Miro, one of our best org chart software solutions, for being easy to customize and saving his team’s time and resources, as it helped them create org charts for an organization with up to 130 team members.
Ease of Use
When considering an org chart software, ensure it has a user-friendly interface and is easy to learn. Also, it should provide robust educational resources and reliable customer support, especially if you’re new to creating organizational charts. According to Ronald Osborne, a business consultant for several organizations, one significant advantage that drew his organization to ClickUp, another of the best org chart software platforms, was its simplicity. And he is glad they chose it because even the least tech-savvy members of his team find it easy to use.
Integration
To avoid manually transferring data or hopping from one platform to another, choose an org chart software that seamlessly integrates with your payroll and HR systems and other workforce management or communication software.
How Much Does an Org Chart Software Cost?
Most org chart software providers offer multiple plans ranging from $0 to $24 per user per month, and you can pay per month or year. Yearly commitments offer lower prices, and discounts are often available for organizations, such as startups, nonprofits and educational institutions. You’ll also find org chart software, such as Pingboard, which offers subsidized rates for a team of 20 users for $149 per month (if billed annually).
Generally, org chart prices depend on factors such as storage limit and other features provided by the software platforms. Such functionalities include recruitment, payroll management, human resource management and data management.
How To Set Up Org Charts
It’s easy to build an org chart with any of these best org chart tools. While each one has its setup or customizing peculiarities, generally follow these steps to create an organizational chart that displays your organization’s structure.
- Gather the necessary information
Before creating an org chart, collate the data you want to go on the chart. Basic information includes names, job titles, responsibilities, contact details and reporting lines. - Create an org chart
The best org chart software typically has drag-and-drop editors to customize templates. Customize provided org chart templates by moving elements around. Add custom fields, change shapes, switch font sizes and even add and remove colors to suit your organizational structure. You can also use the digital whiteboards to build your org chart from scratch. - Add necessary details to your charts
Fill in the fields with the names of your team members alongside their job titles, roles and contact information. Then, add lines to indicate their reporting relationships, that is, how the different roles and departments interact. Also, invite your coworkers to build your company organizational chart with you. - Review and update created charts
Review completed charts regularly for accuracy. You can also integrate with your HR system for automated updates.
Methodology
To provide a comprehensive and accurate ranking of the best org chart software for organizations and businesses, Forbes Advisor reviewed and analyzed 23 tools for creating org charts. Our methodology evaluates each software across four key categories, with a broad range of metrics—34! Below is an overview of our evaluation process.
- Pricing and Fees (20%): Pricing is an important factor in choosing org chart software. So, we considered areas such as the cost per user per month for all paid plans. We also looked at the availability of free plans, live demos, free trials and their lengths and discounts for those who prefer annual billing. Pricing accounts for 20% of our total score.
- General Features (40%): General features cover the essential functionality of the org chart software, and it accounts for 40% of our total score. We analyzed each provider’s features, such as pre-built templates, automation, data import and export, customizable fields, drag-and-drop interface and data visualization. We also considered the level of employee directory, how many layout types are available and whether or not the software enables user collaboration.
- Additional Features (30%): These features provide enhanced functionality and user experience. So, we devoted 30% of the total score to their inclusion. Features we looked at include storage limits, mobile compatibility and integration with third-party apps. We also made sure we allotted higher marks to org chart software platforms that allow you to create multiple org charts and enable employee engagement and workforce planning.
- Expert Score (10%): We derived our expert score, which makes up 10% of the total score, from firsthand experience and professional insight into each org chart system. We considered popularity, standout features, ease of use and value for money. We also interviewed other users and weighed their feedback on the best org chart software.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Does Google have an org chart builder?
You can create org charts on Google Sheets by choosing “Organizational” chart from its Chart drop-down menu. However, you’ll need to build from scratch, since it lacks built-in org chart templates. Also, there’s a limit to how you can represent your organizational structure.
What is the best software to create an org chart?
Any of our recommended best org chart software will work to create org charts for your organization. The best one for you depends on your unique needs as an organization. For example, those looking for enhanced collaboration will find Lucidchart a perfect fit, while organizations on a tighter budget are better off with Creately. Our best overall org chart software, however, especially in terms of automation, is ClickUp.
What are some of the most important features to look for in org chart software?
Some essential features to seek out when choose org chart software include prebuilt templates, data transfer, employee directory and engagement, collaboration and sharing and mobile access.
Is it okay to use a free org chart?
Yes, you can build your org charts with a free version of org chart software. However, remember that there are usually limited users, features, customization, integration and storage available to free users.