Mind mapping, freed from the desktop.

CloudMindMaps is free, fast, browser-based mind mapping software. It opens and edits the classic FreeMind and Freeplane .mm format, adds cloud sync, sharing, and real-time collaboration — and asks nothing to install.

What CloudMindMaps is

A mind map is the fastest way to think out loud: a central idea in the middle, branches radiating outward, structure emerging as you type. CloudMindMaps takes that timeless model and puts it where you already work — a browser tab, on any device — so your ideas are never stranded on one machine or locked behind a paywall.

It's built to feel instant. Open the page and start typing. Press Tab for a child, Enter for a sibling, arrow keys to fly around the tree. If you've ever used FreeMind, the muscle memory carries straight over.

Our mission

Capturing an idea should take one tab and one keystroke — and that idea should belong to you forever.

We believe thinking tools should be free, fast, and open. Free, because a great idea shouldn't wait on a subscription. Fast, because the gap between a thought and capturing it should be near zero. Open, because your maps should still open in ten years, in any tool, without asking permission. That's why the open .mm format sits at the core of everything we build.

What makes it different

• FreeMind & Freeplane compatible. Import and export .mm files freely — migrate a decade of old maps in, or hand a file back to a desktop user.
• Truly free. Create, edit, and export without node limits or export paywalls.
• Cloud-native. Your maps sync across every device and turn into shareable or embeddable links.
• Real-time collaboration. Multiple people can build one map together, live — something desktop mind mappers never could.
• AI-assisted, not AI-required. Turn messy notes, a URL, or a meeting transcript into a structured starting map, then take over by hand.
• No install, anywhere. Runs in any modern browser on desktop, tablet, and phone.

Where we came from

CloudMindMaps started as a love letter to FreeMind — one of the great pieces of open-source software — and a frustration with its one weakness in 2026: your maps live as files on a single computer. We set out to keep FreeMind's fast, keyboard-first soul and lose its walls. You can read the full story in Why We Built CloudMindMaps, and where we think the whole category is heading in The Future of Mind Mapping.

Who it's for

Students mapping a syllabus, teams running a brainstorm or retro, writers outlining a book, product folks sketching a roadmap, and anyone with a FreeMind .mm file and no app to open it. If you think in branches instead of bullet points, it's for you.