Microsoft Visio
Shares rank 13 of 14 diagram tools by recommenders
Criticized more than recommended, mainly for limited browser functionality and declining quality; those who recommend it see it as hard to match for features and browser reliability.
6 people recommended Microsoft Visio in Hacker News comments, 4 had mixed feelings and 13 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026.
Summary written by Claude from the comments below.
23 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- mixed feelings
- 4
- warn against or regret it
- 13
The record
Recommended in 5 of 12 months
In 8 different threads.
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 0.4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 5 of 12 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
- Recommended in 8 threadsNeeds 5 or more, met.
- The biggest thread supplies 17% of its recommendersNeeds half or less, met.
The same rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. Mixed feelings count toward neither side. How the badge works
What people say about it
Reasons grouped from a sample of 23 of the 26 opinions about it, picked in proportion to how many people recommend it, have mixed feelings and criticize it. Each mark is one comment in the sample. Open a reason to read what they said.
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Quality declining across releases
“Every subsequent release is worse than the one before it.”
Comment from 10 Nov 2025 in “Microsoft's lack of quality control is out of control” “it was better before Microsoft bought it”
Comment from 20 Mar 2026 in “Android: Balancing Openness and Choice with Safety” Hard to lay out diagrams well
“it’s very difficult to lay out the ports consistently and have them flow.”
Comment from 28 Dec 2025 in “Show HN: PatchMyGear – a living map for your studio gear (cables and checklist)”
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Few alternatives match it
“I still don't equate any of the alternatives to Visio as close to equal”
Comment from 22 Dec 2025 in “I can't upgrade to Windows 11, now leave me alone” “No other app or web-based copies are good enough still”
Comment from 11 Oct 2026 in “Open-source Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word replications” “Visio does a lot of things competing apps just don't”
Comment from 7 Dec 2025 in “The state of Schleswig-Holstein is consistently relying on open source” Works well in a browser
“I think even Visio (additional fees) cloud/web version actually works okay now”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “How Microsoft Abuses Its Users” “it worked well in a browser with ~ 10 participants”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “France to ditch Windows for Linux to reduce reliance on US tech” Simple, powerful, pleasant to use
“the applications are simple, powerful, and pleasing to use”
Comment from 27 Nov 2025 in “Trillions spent and big software projects are still failing”
Other diagram tools people recommend
The four most recommended other diagram tools, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Mixed | Criticize | Approval | Months | Had for | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mermaid | 72 | 16 | 42 | 63% | 12 | — | — |
| Excalidraw | 41 | 7 | 8 | 84% | 11 | — | Approved |
| SQL to ER diagram tool | 23 | 4 | 1 | 96% | 2 | — | — |
| Monosketch | 18 | 5 | 4 | 82% | 2 | — | — |
| Microsoft VisioThis page | 6 | 4 | 13 | 32% | 5 | — | — |
Also compared with D2 diagram language, draw.io and PlantUML.
What people said
23 of the 26 opinions about it, picked in proportion to the three counts, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“No other app or web-based copies are good enough still”
“Visio 2019 and Office 365 suite cannot coexist”
“It became so insanely expensive my work started making us apply for 3 month licenses”
“It’s no Visio desktop or OmniGraffle”
“Basic functionality is missing and requests are left open for years or decades”
“Visio's file format correct enough”
“I would have fumbled around with Visio forever and the result would have been worse.”
“I think even Visio (additional fees) cloud/web version actually works okay now”
“it worked well in a browser with ~ 10 participants”
“it was better before Microsoft bought it”
“The schema Visio’s files save to is very complex.”
“It boggles the mind as to why they choose a name for this application that is very clearly a Microsoft trademark.”
“Ahhh, collaboration via Visio. Those were the days!”
“There's a fair amount of work to be done before the French infrastructure runs this service as reliably as current commercial offerings.”
“It's not too bad but quite tier below Zoom. Noise cancellation is not great, being browser based also comes with limitations”
“LibreOffice Draw doesn't come anywhere near it.”
“it’s very difficult to lay out the ports consistently and have them flow.”
“I still don't equate any of the alternatives to Visio as close to equal”
“Visio does a lot of things competing apps just don't”
“the applications are simple, powerful, and pleasing to use”
“Fortunately Visio is nearly dead, 3 to go.”
“Every subsequent release is worse than the one before it.”
“Visio is fool proof and quality is ok even with a poor connection.”
Counts come from 1,791,911 Hacker News comments labeled by Claude, November 2025 to October 2026, with data through October 31, 2026. Counts updated 2 Nov 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.