The 8 Best Org Chart Software Tools for Founders

Having an organizational chart is essential for managing a new company. Your org chart will give you a clear picture of how your organization is structured and how it could be improved. An org chart can even help you:

Hire better employees Attract investors Establish a healthier company culture

And in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, org charts have only become more important for how companies function. To answer this pressing need, org chart software has sprung up throughout the tech world. From lean, one-trick-pony org chart makers to more robust platforms with a multitude of features, there’s something for everyone.

But which org chart software is best for you? To help you answer that question, we’ve put together a guide for our favorite options.

Let’s take a look at the eight best org chart tools for founders.

1. The Org

The Org is a free platform that lets companies create a public org chart and share it with the world. With The Org, anyone can access the org charts of thousands of companies from around the world — including global brands like Google, Apple and Amazon.

Every org chart on The Org features rich employee profiles that team members can fill out with their:

• Headshot
• Job title
• Bio
• Direct reports
• Indirect reports
• Work history
• Education
• Contact information
• Social media links

…and more. This makes it easier for employees to learn about their colleagues and strengthen connections within their teams.

The Org also doubles as a job posting site. Companies can advertise open positions on The Org’s public job board. Because these open positions are added to the org chart, job seekers can see how the company is structured and who they’d be working with. Then, interested candidates can apply directly through The Org.

Key Features: Users enjoy The Org’s simple, user-friendly approach to org chart design. The built-in hiring process is also a welcome feature for many companies. Best of all, The Org is completely free, with no paid plans or hidden fees.

Pricing Plans:

• Free: No cost

Visit The Org’s website.

2. Lucidchart

Lucidchart is a cloud-based diagramming tool launched by Lucid in 2008. Lucidchart can be used to create a wide variety of diagrams, including:

• Flowcharts
• Wireframes
• Mind maps

But the most popular use for Lucidchart is building org charts. Users can choose from several templates or build their own chart from scratch. Either way, Lucidchart’s drag-and-drop functionality makes customization easy and intuitive.

Key Features: Lucidchart is known for its rich customization options and user-friendly interface. And because it can be used for more than just org charts, it may be helpful for your company’s other diagramming needs.

Pricing Plans:

• Free: No cost
• Individual: Starting at $7.95 per month
• Team: Starting at $9.00 per user
• Enterprise: Custom pricing

Visit the Lucidchart website.

3. Creately

Creately bills itself as a “visual workspace.” This tool is primarily known for helping companies plan and manage projects. In addition to this, it shines as an excellent diagramming tool. Like Lucidchart, Creately’s diagramming capabilities are especially useful when designing org charts.

Key Features: Creately’s main claim to fame is its collaboration features. Team members can easily share diagrams and leave comments as needed. And despite being cloud-based, Creately users can operate the program while offline.

Pricing Plans:

• Free: No cost
• Personal: $4 per month
• Team: $4.80 per user per month
• Enterprise: Custom pricing

Visit the Creately website.

4. ChartHop

Founded in 2020, ChartHop is a newcomer to the org chart software market. This tool was designed to help companies keep up with rapid organizational changes. ChartHop automatically generates and updates org charts using information from your HR database.

ChartHop also lets users:

• Review past versions of an org chart
• Model alternate org charts to track projected growth or consider a possible change
• Generate analytics reports based on data from the org chart

Key Features: ChartHop’s auto-update and analytics features have made it a popular choice for many companies. These aspects reduce the workload required to manage a team and gain valuable insights into how the company is structured.

Pricing Plans:

• Basic: Free for the first 150 employees ($2 per month per employee after that)
• Standard: $8 per employee per month + one-time implementation fee
• Premium: $12 per employee per month + one-time implementation fee

Visit the ChartHop website.

5. Pingboard

Pingboard claims to be an “org chart with superpowers.” This mostly refers to the rich employee profiles companies can add to their Pingboard org charts. Once employees fill out their profiles with ample information, companies can choose from over 32,000 templates to arrange them into a stylish org chart.

Pingboard is especially popular for large organizations that require complex org charts and must manage frequent organizational changes. (Like ChartHop, Pingboard uses existing HR systems to automatically update live charts.)

Key Features: Pingboard is renowned for its thorough employee profiles and extensive org chart capabilities. Pingboard also features an integrated calendar, helping companies highlight important events such as milestones, employee work anniversaries and birthdays.

Pricing Plans:

• Team: $119 per month
• Company: $249 per month (for up to 100 users, then there’s an additional $1.50 per user above that limit)

Visit the Pingboard website.

6. ClosePlan

ClosePlan is a third-party Salesforce application from People.ai. ClosePlan uses your Salesforce contacts to generate an org chart, known within the software as a “Relationship Map.”

ClosePlan can be natively built into your Salesforce instance, and comes with:

• Interactive elements
• Drag-and-drop functionality
• Easy publishing, sharing and export capabilities

ClosePlan is also useful for other sales operations.

Key Features: ClosePlan’s AI-powered smart data analytics system is a favorite for companies that use Salesforce. This system makes it easy to monitor sales processes and create accurate forecasts.

Pricing Plans:

Pricing for ClosePlan is custom. Contact People.ai for a demo and quote.

Visit the ClosePlan website.

7. Sift

Sift is marketed as a “people directory.” Sift’s employee profiles are more detailed than virtually any competitor. The goals seem to be to create org charts that function as a social media platform within a company.

Sift opts for a bare-bones design, shunning many of the extraneous features found in other org chart makers. It does one trick — but it does that one trick very well.

Key Features: Sift’s extensive employee profiles separate it from the pack. The stripped-down approach to org chart design makes it easier to learn and manage than most org chart makers.

Pricing Plans:

• Starter: $1.50 per employee profile per month
• Pro: $2.50 per employee profile per month
• Enterprise: Custom pricing

Visit the Sift website.

8. Freshteam

Freshteam is an HR management system (HRMS) from Freshworks. As an HRMS, Freshteam is much more than just an org chart maker. Freshteam helps companies:

• Hire
• Onboard new employees
• Manage teams
• Track processes and people

However, building org charts is one of its primary uses. Companies can input employee information into Freshteam, then auto-generate a sleek org chart. As with most automatic org chart software, Freshteam also offers an automatic update feature.

Key Features: Freshteam is a popular choice for companies that want to implement a comprehensive HR system, with an org chart as only one piece of the puzzle.

Pricing Plans:

• Free: No cost for up to 50 employees
• Growth: $59 per month + $1 per employee per month
• Pro: $99 per month + $2 per employee per month
• Enterprise: $169 per month + $4 per employee per month

Visit the Freshteam website.