Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users
Visio Logo

Visio pros and cons

Vendor: Microsoft
3.9 out of 5
Badge Ranked 1
3,217 followers
Post review

Pros & Cons summary

Buyer's Guide

Get pricing advice, tips, use cases and valuable features from real users of this product.
Get the report

Prominent pros & cons

PROS

Visio offers a variety of diagramming tools which are essential for detailed modeling and simplify complex information through visualization.
It integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft applications like SharePoint and Excel, enhancing collaboration and workflow efficiency.
Visio provides an extensive array of templates and the ability to create custom stencils which streamline the creation process across various business functions.
Users appreciate the intuitive drag-and-drop interface, which facilitates quick learning and ease of use.
Visio is well-regarded for its stability and speed, contributing to more productive and effective team project management.

CONS

Visio lacks integration capabilities with other tools and platforms, such as Discord or certain Microsoft products like SharePoint.
Publishing Visio content on a web application is still lacking compared to other market products like Bizagi.
It is challenging to transfer data from Visio, especially with older versions, and there is insufficient support for other formats like BPML diagrams.
Auto-align and auto-routing features in Visio are insufficient, often jumbling models with higher complexity levels.
Visio is expensive, especially in regions like South America, and pricing could be more competitive.
 

Visio Pros review quotes

DJ
Jul 24, 2021
Visio makes it easier than with other tools to do such tasks as changing things or coming up with one's own visual style for presentation purposes.
MB
Dec 16, 2023
Visio has improved my workflow by making it easy to create charts, diagrams, and basic illustrations that I can use in my client reports and proposals. It has saved me a lot of time I would otherwise spend creating visuals for clients by hand.
reviewer1266000 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 26, 2021
It's a very meat and potatoes type of product and isn't overly designed. It's very easy to find your way through the solution, as it's not too complicated.
Learn what your peers think about Visio. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
SM
Oct 29, 2021
What I like about it is that the templates are easily findable and usable, and they are usually created for other software packages. It seems to be pretty much widely adopted in the industry.
VK
Oct 14, 2019
Visio has improved our organization through an essential collaboration with the other Microsoft applications like SharePoint and Excel. So basically in the earlier days, what used to happen, a majority of the organization captured all the as-is process, the time and motion data in the form of Excel and then they used to create process diagrams using other freeware applications. Collaboration allows easy and convenient sharing with other stakeholders, that is really helpful with Visio.
ME
Nov 7, 2021
The thing I like most about Visio is the stencils. As the product has matured over time, it comes with more stencils and objects that you can just pick out of the menu and go with.
Basil Jaeggy - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 31, 2022
It's a very flexible solution.
it_user1024038 - PeerSpot reviewer
May 29, 2019
It is easy to learn and implement.
RT
Dec 1, 2021
It is ideal for putting out flowcharts and swim charts. It's really good. It has all the various options to use, particularly depending on what kind of audience you have. It provides you different kinds of options to insert the pictures and explain things.
SD
Feb 22, 2021
If you are a knowledgeable individual, the initial setup isn't too difficult.
 

Visio Cons review quotes

DJ
Jul 24, 2021
The solution's flexibility can be perceived as both a strength and a weakness.
MB
Dec 16, 2023
There could be better integration between Visio and Word, especially when it comes to importing graphics from the one to the other.
reviewer1266000 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 26, 2021
Occasionally, the automation feature that helps you easily add the "next step" goes crazy and it will move a bunch of stuff.
Learn what your peers think about Visio. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
SM
Oct 29, 2021
It is a visualization tool, so database visualization is pretty static in it. They haven't moved the ERDs very well. They haven't adopted any real visualization like what you have in Hackolade for JSON or other data patterns. It has none of that. If you go onto broader patterns, you can actually label and integrate with a data set, if you want, for Visio, but it's very clunky and very difficult for me to assign that to another user. I can't assign it to a junior or a documenter. They really haven't cleaned up and made their tools simpler to use when linking to data, which is primarily what you're trying to do.
VK
Oct 14, 2019
The one particular thing which I would like to see improved is in comparison to other products in the market, and is still lacking in Visio, is publishing on a web application. For example, there is a freeware application business process modeling tool, Bizagi.
ME
Nov 7, 2021
It thinks that it knows what you want to do, but it doesn't. It has a way of behaving that can be very frustrating from time to time. Either it moves things about because it thinks its placement should be at a certain place, or it's keeping track of things that you don't necessarily see, so it moves something elsewhere.
Basil Jaeggy - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 31, 2022
It requires a lot of skill to get into it.
it_user1024038 - PeerSpot reviewer
May 29, 2019
It does not integrate well with other solutions.
RT
Dec 1, 2021
One thing that I always felt was missing was the ability to integrate with other Microsoft products, particularly with things like SharePoint or other Excel Office tools. It may be available, but it is not as good as it could be.
SD
Feb 22, 2021
There are a lot of patches that sometimes change how one version will interact compared to another.