Tools Guide

Lucidchart

General-purpose diagramming with great collaboration. BPMN shapes included.

www.lucidchart.com

At a glance

Category
Diagramming & Whiteboard
Best for
Teams that need a versatile diagramming tool with BPMN shapes and strong real-time collaboration, using it for process maps alongside many other diagrams rather than for process management.
BPMN support
BPMN shapes available but no semantic validation or BPMN XML export
Collaboration
Excellent real-time collaboration, comments, and sharing

Strengths

  • +Intuitive drag-and-drop interface
  • +Excellent real-time collaboration features
  • +Many integrations (Google, Microsoft, Slack, Jira)
  • +Large template library across diagram types

Limitations

  • -Not a BPMN-native tool - shapes are visual only
  • -No BPMN validation or compliance checking
  • -Cannot export BPMN 2.0 XML
  • -Process models are drawings, not semantic models

Our take

Lucidchart is a great diagramming tool with the best collaboration experience in the general-purpose category. If you need to draw a quick process flow and share it with your team, it works well. But the BPMN shapes are cosmetic - there is no model behind the picture, no validation, and no way to export to process engines.

Not sure which tool to pick?

Answer 5 quick questions about what you need to do, your team and your budget, and see which tools match.

Take the 2-Minute QuizCompare all tools