Best Free Org Chart Software in 2025

You searched "free org chart software" because you need an org chart, not a procurement process.

Somewhere between "I'll just use PowerPoint" and "Let's schedule a demo with Enterprise Sales," there's supposed to be a tool that just works. Free. Fast. Done.

Here's the problem: most free org chart tools are free the way airport WiFi is free. You'll get in, discover limitations, and find yourself entering credit card details before you've finished your first chart.

This is the honest version. We make Org Chart Studio, and we'll tell you exactly where our free tier wins, and where you should use something else entirely.

What "free" actually means in org chart software

Before the recommendations, let's talk about the catch. Every free org chart program falls into one of three categories.

Actually free. No limits, no watermarks, no payment ever. These exist, but they make money elsewhere (enterprise add-ons, platform lock-in, or they're open source). The trade-off is usually polish or learning curve.

Free tier as sales funnel. Generous enough to get you started, limited enough to force an upgrade. Document caps, object limits, watermarked exports. This is most of the market.

Free trial pretending to be free. "Start free" means 7-14 days before everything locks. We're not covering these: they're not free, they're samples.

Now, the tools, organized by what you're actually trying to do.

For getting a chart done in 10 minutes

You have a meeting tomorrow. You need boxes and lines that show who reports to whom. You don't have time to create an account, watch a tutorial, or talk to anyone named Chad.

Org Chart Studio

What it is: The fastest path from "I need an org chart" to "here's the org chart." Purpose-built for speed, not features.

Free tier: 10 charts, 100 people each. Watermarked PNG exports. No credit card. No account required to start building; sign in only when you want to save.

Best for: Managers who need a chart now. Anyone who's been burned by signup walls.

Skip it if: You need HRIS integration (we don't have it), real-time collaboration (we don't have it), or PDF export (PNG only).

Honest take: We built this because every other tool made us create an account before we could see if it even worked. You can open Org Chart Studio and start adding people in seconds. The auto-layout handles positioning. CSV import handles bulk data. When you're done, export. That's it.

The watermark on free exports is real; clean PNGs require a one-time pass starting at $5. But the free tier itself (10 charts, 100 people each) is generous enough to cover most small-to-medium organizations entirely.

What we don't do: HRIS sync, team collaboration, PDF/SVG export, custom colors. If those are requirements, keep reading.

Syncfusion Org Chart Maker

What it is: A standalone free tool from a developer components company. No signup, no account, completely free.

Best for: Quick, one-off charts when you don't want to create yet another account.

Skip it if: You need to save your work online or import data from a spreadsheet.

Honest take: It's genuinely free and genuinely fast. The catch is limited functionality: no CSV import, no cloud save. But for "I need something in five minutes and I'll never touch it again," it works.

For turning a spreadsheet into a chart

You already have employee data somewhere: Google Sheets, Excel, your HRIS export. You want the chart to build itself.

Org Chart Studio

What it is: CSV import with typo-tolerant matching. Upload your spreadsheet, map the columns, watch the chart appear.

Free tier: Full CSV import included. Handles messy data; if someone typed "Jon Smith" as a manager and "John Smith" as an employee, the fuzzy matching catches it.

Best for: Anyone with existing employee data who doesn't want to re-enter it manually.

Skip it if: You need live sync (CSV import is a snapshot, not a connection to your data source).

Honest take: Most org chart tools claim CSV import. Ours actually handles the garbage data that real spreadsheets contain: typos, inconsistent formatting, missing managers. The auto-layout positions everyone correctly. You're not dragging boxes around.

draw.io (diagrams.net)

What it is: Open-source diagramming software. Completely free, no limits, no watermarks, no catch.

Free tier: Everything. Unlimited documents, unlimited objects. The whole tool is free.

CSV import: Yes, and it's surprisingly powerful. You can define shapes, colors, and hierarchy relationships directly from your data. The "Arrange → Insert → Advanced → CSV" feature handles complex imports with HTML labels and images.

Best for: Technical users comfortable with a learning curve. Teams that need free with zero restrictions.

Skip it if: You want something polished and modern. The interface feels dated, larger diagrams can get sluggish, and auto-layout sometimes needs manual cleanup.

Honest take: draw.io is the only major tool that's genuinely, completely free. No premium tier, no watermarks, no account required. The trade-off is UX: it's a general-purpose diagramming tool, not a purpose-built org chart maker. The CSV import works, but you'll spend more time configuring it. Worth it if budget is truly zero and you have patience.

Lucidchart

What it is: A polished diagramming platform with solid org chart features.

Free tier: 3 editable documents, 60 objects per document. Static CSV import included.

Best for: Teams already in the Lucidchart ecosystem who occasionally need org charts.

Skip it if: You have more than 25-30 people to chart. The 60-object limit includes lines and text boxes; a 25-person chart with job titles hits the ceiling fast.

Honest take: Lucidchart is good software trapped behind aggressive free-tier limits. The 3-document cap is annoying; the 60-object limit is the real killer. Users consistently complain about hitting restrictions mid-project. For quick, small charts, it works. For anything you'll maintain over time, you'll pay.

For teams planning a reorg together

You don't just need a chart: you need your team looking at it together, moving boxes around, debating who reports to whom. Real-time collaboration is the feature, not the chart.

Miro

What it is: A collaborative whiteboard that happens to have org chart templates.

Free tier: 3 editable boards (team-wide, not per-user), unlimited team members, CSV import for org charts.

Best for: Teams doing reorg planning sessions, design workshops, or strategic offsites where the org chart is one part of a bigger canvas.

Skip it if: You want a polished org chart tool (Miro is a whiteboard with templates). You need private boards (free tier is visible to your whole team). You need high-resolution exports (free is low-res only).

Honest take: Miro's real-time collaboration is genuinely best-in-class; it was built for design teams working simultaneously. But it's not org chart software. There's no HRIS integration, no auto-layout that adjusts when you add people, no data import that maps manager relationships. It's a whiteboard. Great for planning together; tedious for maintaining an actual chart.

Lucidchart

Free tier: Limited collaboration; no real-time editing without paid plans.

Skip it if: Collaboration is the primary need. You'll hit the paywall immediately.

For polished presentation charts

You need something that looks good in a board deck or investor update. Visual design matters more than ongoing maintenance.

Canva

What it is: A design tool with org chart templates. Makes beautiful charts for presentations.

Free tier: Unlimited designs, many templates (premium ones marked with crowns), PNG/PDF/JPEG export.

Best for: One-off charts where visual polish trumps functionality. Small teams (under 20) creating investor materials, company all-hands slides, or onboarding docs.

Skip it if: You have more than 20-25 people (every box is manual entry), you need CSV import (it doesn't exist), or you'll update this chart regularly (every change is manual).

Honest take: Canva makes the prettiest org charts. Full stop. But it's not org chart software: it's a design tool. No data import. No auto-layout. No manager relationships. Every box is manually placed and manually styled. For a 15-person startup creating a quarterly investor update, it's perfect. For anything you'll maintain over time, it's the wrong tool.

Watch for: Canva mixes premium elements throughout the interface. If you accidentally use one, your export gets watermarked until you pay. Stick to elements without the crown icon.

For larger teams on zero budget

You have 50, 100, maybe 200 people to chart. You have genuinely no budget. Every free tier you've tried maxes out.

draw.io

What it is: Open source, completely free, unlimited everything.

Free tier: No limits. Seriously. Unlimited documents, unlimited objects, unlimited storage (via Google Drive/OneDrive).

Best for: Teams with zero budget who need to chart large organizations. Technical users willing to accept a learning curve.

Skip it if: You want polish, speed, or hand-holding. draw.io is powerful but not pretty.

Honest take: draw.io is the answer when budget is truly, absolutely zero. It handles 500-person orgs without blinking. The catch is everything else: dated interface, manual layout adjustments, slower performance, general-purpose UX. You'll spend more time configuring it than you would with purpose-built tools. But it's actually free.

ChartHop Basic

What it is: An HR platform with org charts, designed for companies that want automation.

Pricing: $2 per employee per month. (This used to be free for under 150 employees; that tier no longer exists for new signups.)

Best for: Companies that want HRIS integration, auto-sync, and employee profiles, and have the budget for $2/head.

Skip it if: You want actually free. This is cheap, not free.

Honest take: ChartHop Basic at $2/employee/month is genuinely good value compared to enterprise tools at $8-15/head. But it's not a free option anymore. If you have 50 people and $100/month, it's worth considering. If your budget is zero, keep looking.

Org Chart Studio

Free tier: 10 charts, 100 people each. That's 1,000 people across your charts without paying anything.

Best for: Organizations that can work within these limits, which covers most small-to-medium teams entirely.

Skip it if: You need more than 100 people in a single chart, or more than 10 charts total.

Honest take: Our free tier handles more than most competitors' paid tiers. 100 people per chart covers the vast majority of teams. The watermark on exports is the trade-off; if you need clean PNGs, that's $5 for a 7-day pass.

For truly free exports (no watermarks, no payment)

You need to export a chart image right now, for free, with no branding or watermarks. This is surprisingly rare.

draw.io

What it is: The only major tool with completely watermark-free exports at no cost.

Export formats: PNG, JPEG, SVG, PDF, HTML, XML. All free. All clean.

Best for: Anyone who needs professional exports with zero budget.

Honest take: If watermark-free exports at no cost is your primary requirement, draw.io wins by default. No other major tool offers this. The trade-off is everything else: UX, speed, polish. But the exports are clean.

Everyone else

Lucidchart: Free exports are watermark-free, but the 60-object limit means you'll rarely have a complete chart to export.

Miro: Free exports are low-resolution. High-res requires paid.

Canva: Free exports work, but if you've used any premium element (easy to do accidentally), watermarked.

Organimi: Watermarked on free. All exports carry branding.

Org Chart Studio: Watermarked on free. Clean exports start at $5.

Quick comparison table

Tool	Best For	Free Limit	CSV Import	Auto-Layout	Watermark-Free	Account Required
Org Chart Studio	Speed, spreadsheet import	10 charts, 100 people	Yes (fuzzy matching)	Yes	Paid	No (to start)
draw.io	Zero budget, large orgs	Unlimited	Yes (manual config)	Partial	Yes	No
Canva	Beautiful small charts	Unlimited	No	No	Conditional	Yes
Lucidchart	Quick small diagrams	3 docs, 60 objects	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Miro	Team collaboration	3 boards	Yes	Yes	Low-res only	Yes
Organimi	Dedicated org charts	25 people	Yes	Yes	No	Yes

How to choose

You need a chart in 10 minutes with no friction: Org Chart Studio. No signup to start, auto-layout, done.

You have a spreadsheet and want it to become a chart: Org Chart Studio (easy) or draw.io (powerful but manual).

Your team needs to collaborate on a reorg: Miro. Accept that it's a whiteboard, not org chart software.

You need something pretty for a presentation: Canva. Accept manual everything.

You have 100+ people and zero budget: draw.io. Accept the learning curve.

You need watermark-free exports and won't pay anything: draw.io. It's the only option.

You're willing to pay $5 for clean exports: Org Chart Studio. One-time pass, not a subscription.

Bottom line

"Free org chart software" mostly means "free to try, pay to use." The tools that remain genuinely free (draw.io, The Org) make their money elsewhere or operate as open source. Everyone else, including us, is running some version of a freemium model.

The difference is how honest they are about it.

We built Org Chart Studio for speed. No signup wall to start. CSV import that handles messy data. Auto-layout so you're not dragging boxes. A free tier (10 charts, 100 people each) that covers most small-to-medium organizations entirely. When you need clean exports, it's a one-time pass, not a subscription that charges you every month whether you use it or not.

But if you need HRIS sync, team collaboration, or truly free exports with no watermarks, we're not the right choice today. Use draw.io for free exports. Use Miro for collaboration. Use ChartHop if you have budget and want automation.

The right tool depends on what you're actually trying to do, not what sounds impressive in a feature list.

Need to build an org chart now? Try Org Chart Studio free, no account required to start.