MindMeister has been making mind mapping simple since 2007, and it runs entirely in the browser, with a team editing one map in real time. Filamental is a desktop app for the structure you keep: no centre required, every node a full document, every connection a relationship you name, and the whole of it on your own machine.
A mind map grows outward from one topic, which is a quick way to break an idea down together. When a risk touches three projects and a supplier sits under two clients, the tree starts asking for a second map.
In Filamental there’s no root and no starting point. Anything connects to anything, and each connection is a type you name, such as “depends on”, “owns” or “contradicts”, with its own colour, direction and pull. Every node is a full document, with headings, tables and attachments, and Dark Energy spaces the structure by how connected each part is, in three dimensions or flat in 2D.
A Filamental space is a folder on your own disk or your own network, made of plain Markdown files any editor can open with Filamental closed. There’s no account and no telemetry of any kind. On a restricted drive it inherits that drive’s permissions, with no separate login and no admin console, and revoking someone’s access to the folder revokes their access to the work.
Nothing leaves unless you publish a link, and a published link is encrypted on your device before it goes.
Working out a structure is lean-forward work: a full screen to see the whole of it, a keyboard for the notes, a mouse to put things where they belong. Filamental is a desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux because that’s where this work gets done.
Reading is different. Anyone you share a link with opens it in a browser, on a phone as readily as on a desktop, with nothing to install and no account.
MindMeister builds its own AI map generator into the app. Filamental has no AI of its own: connect Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, VS Code or Zed over MCP and it reads and edits the open space directly, or add your own key for the provider you choose, or run a model locally through Ollama or LM Studio. Every request goes straight to your provider, on your account, and nothing passes through us.
MindMeister’s free plan holds three mind maps. Unlimited maps, file exports and printing come with the paid plans, priced per user.
Filamental’s Personal plan is free and permanent, with no account and no card, unlimited spaces and everything AI, and the people you share with never need a plan at all. The paid tier is $120 a year, or $12 a month, and covers handing work over beyond the one live link that’s free, including presenting.
For some jobs. MindMeister is a mind map maker that runs in the browser, built for a team editing one map in real time. Filamental is a desktop app for the structure you keep: there’s no central topic, any node connects to any other with a relationship type you name, every node is a full Markdown document, and the whole space is a folder on your own machine.
In a folder you choose, on your own disk or your own network, as plain Markdown files any editor can open. There’s no account and no telemetry, and on a restricted drive the space inherits that drive’s permissions. Nothing leaves unless you publish a link, which is encrypted on your device before it goes.
No, because working out a structure is desk work. Filamental is a desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux, and a space moves between your machines through whatever sync you already use. Reading is different: anyone you share a link with opens it in a browser, on a phone as readily as on a desktop, with nothing to install.
There’s no direct import, but an AI assistant can carry it across. MindMeister offers an MCP server in beta, so an assistant such as Claude Desktop connected to both MindMeister and Filamental can read a map and build the space from it, with the topics as nodes and the branches as typed connections. The result is a first draft that’s yours to arrange.
Filamental’s Personal plan is free and permanent, with no account and no card, unlimited spaces and everything AI, and the people you share with need no plan or account. The paid tier, at $120 a year or $12 a month, covers handing work over beyond the one live link that’s free, such as more links, updating a link already sent, the HTML download and presenting. MindMeister publishes its own prices on its pricing page.
Give each topic the reasoning it never had room for, connect what crosses between branches, then press Dark Energy and see where the work really turns.