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Genogram Builder vs Creately

Genogram Builder vs Creately compares two editors with standard genogram notation and reviewable drafts from notes. Creately began as a general diagramming platform, and its Clinical Maps product now draws genograms in the notation of McGoldrick and Gerson and drafts them from pasted notes on every plan. Genogram Builder does the same two things and little else. The two therefore meet on the same ground, and this page sets out where they differ.

Last checked on 4 November 20266 minute read

At a glance

Genogram BuilderCreately
PriceFree plan. Pro is $12 a month or $99 a year.Free plan. Check the current Pro price for your region and billing term.
Free limitsTwo genograms of up to 50 people each, PNG and PDF.45 shapes per diagram, no image or PDF export.
Genogram notationMcGoldrick, Gerson and Petry, 59 symbols and connections.McGoldrick and Gerson, with more than 70 relationship types.
Drafting from notesFive drafts a month, four follow-up changes each.Text to genogram with AI, within a starter allowance.
Health viewConditions coloured and named in the key, on every plan.Health view and field packs on Enterprise.
ExportsPNG, PDF and JSON on Free, SVG on Pro.PDF, SVG, PNG and JPEG from Pro, with DOCX, CSV and JSON reports described.

Creately now draws genograms in the standard notation

The Creately plans page lists Clinical Maps as a product with Basic features on every plan, including Free, and the first of those features is to draw genograms in standard clinical notation, which it attributes to McGoldrick and Gerson. The Clinical Maps page describes forty or more person shape variants, 71 relationship subtypes, emotional relationship lines and multi-generational layouts, and the company publishes a long guide to genogram symbols that follows the McGoldrick, Gerson and Petry format and includes a legend. A genogram drawn in Creately is therefore drawn in the same tradition as one drawn here.

681958–Ruth421984–Leah

Close

681958–Ruth421984–Leah

Fused

681958–Ruth421984–Leah

Distant

681958–Ruth421984–Leah

Hostile

681958–Ruth421984–Leah

Cutoff

Five of the emotional lines that Genogram Builder draws, taken from its notation reference. Each is drawn by the editor itself.

Both draft a genogram from notes, and Creately flags thin evidence

Both products turn written notes into a chart. Creately says that a session note or an intake summary is enough, that standard notation is drawn from the note with every person, relationship and health condition traceable to the line it came from, and that an uncertain inference is flagged for the clinician to confirm, correct or discard. A draft can also start from an uploaded PDF, Word or text document. On the free plan this runs within what the plans page calls a starter allowance, whose size is not stated.

Genogram Builder works in the same spirit. The draft arrives as a list of people, unions, parent lines, conditions and emotional lines, each marked as stated in the notes or inferred from them and each shown with the sentence that supports it, and items that need a decision are set aside for you. Nothing reaches the chart until you add the draft. A follow-up sentence such as "Helen remarried in 2012" becomes a change with its own card and an undo, with four such changes per draft. The free plan includes five drafts a month, and the number left is shown before you begin.

Your notes

Ellie Hawkins, born 2009, is the client, a sixth form student with generalised anxiety disorder. Her brother Jack, born 2006, is an apprentice plumber and is close to Ellie. Her parents, Paul Hawkins, born 1971, and Helen Hawkins, born 1974, married in 2003 and are distant from each other.

Found in the notes

  • Ellie Hawkins, 2009
  • Jack Hawkins, 2006
  • Paul Hawkins, 1971
  • Helen Hawkins, 1974
  • Paul and Helen, married 2003
  • Jack and Ellie, close
  • Paul and Helen, distant

On the chart

771944–2021Walter HawkinsHeart diseaseRetired postman791947–Joan HawkinsDepressionRetired schoolsecretary801946–Raymond FletcherRetired electrician771949–Pauline FletcherRetired pharmacyassistant571969–Carol HawkinsDistrict nurse531973–Neil HawkinsCar mechanic541972–Dawn ReillyUnknown551971–Paul HawkinsAlcohol misuseTrain driver521974–Helen HawkinsPrimary schoolteacher202006–Jack HawkinsApprenticeplumber172009–Ellie HawkinsGeneralised anxiety disorderSixth form student
The example family on the home page, from the notes to the chart drawn beneath them. The full draft lists eleven people, four marriages, twelve parent lines and five emotional lines.

Creately exports on paid plans, and Genogram Builder exports on the free one

The Creately free plan is free forever, with an infinite canvas, all diagram types, real-time collaboration and up to 45 shapes per diagram. Its comparison table marks PNG, JPEG, PDF, SVG and document export as not included on Free, so a free genogram is drawn and shared by link rather than downloaded. Pro removes the shape limit and adds image and PDF exports, private links and email invitations. The plan page lets you choose the currency and billing term. Enterprise is priced by agreement and is where the health view, the field packs and the eight report types live.

A chart moves between the two as an image or as a description

Creately exports a genogram as PDF, SVG, PNG or JPEG on Pro and above, and its Clinical Maps page describes DOCX, CSV and JSON reports as well. Neither product states that it writes GEDCOM, and Genogram Builder does not state that it reads Creately files, so a chart does not pass between them as people and unions. Genogram Builder reads spreadsheets with a header row, but the columns of a Creately CSV are not stated on the pages read, so this page does not promise that one opens here.

Feature by feature

Each row states what the two products offer in their own terms. Checked on 4 November 2026 on creately.com and on this site.

FeatureGenogram BuilderCreately
Where it runs and what it costs
Free useIncluded. One genogram without an account, and two genograms with a free account, which includes watermarked PNG and PDF export.In part. Free forever, with 45 shapes per diagram and no image or PDF export.
Paid plansIncluded. Pro at $12 a month or $99 a year, Max at $29 a month or $228 a year.Included. Pro and Business are paid plans. Enterprise is priced by agreement.
Drawing the family
Drafting from notesIncluded. Five drafts a month on the free plan, each reviewed before it is added.Included. Text to genogram on every plan within a starter allowance, from pasted text or PDF, Word and text documents.
Follow-up changesIncluded. Four per draft, each with a card and an undo.Not stated. Not described on the pages read.
Standard notationIncluded. McGoldrick, Gerson and Petry, 59 symbols and connections, with a key on every chart.Included. McGoldrick and Gerson notation, more than 70 relationship types.
Files
ReadsIncluded. GEDCOM, GenoPro, Gramps, Mermaid and spreadsheets.In part. Pasted text and PDF, Word and text documents for drafting. A family file format is not stated.
ExportsIncluded. PNG and PDF on the free plan, SVG on Pro and Max, JSON for everyone.On a paid plan. PDF, SVG, PNG and JPEG from Pro. DOCX, CSV and JSON reports are described for Clinical Maps.
IncludedOn a paid planIn partNot includedNot stated

Sources: Creately plans, Creately Clinical Maps, the Creately genogram symbols guide, the Creately genogram templates, Genogram Builder plans.

Before you decide

Whether Creately replaces a dedicated genogram tool

For many people it can. Its Clinical Maps product draws the standard notation, drafts from notes on every plan, and on Enterprise adds reports and views that Genogram Builder does not offer. The differences that remain are the free plan, which exports nothing there and exports PNG and PDF here, the stated monthly count of drafts here against a starter allowance of unstated size there, and the family files that Genogram Builder reads.

The size of the starter allowance

The Creately plans page says that text to genogram on the free plan runs within a starter allowance, and neither that page nor its AI genogram page gives a number. Genogram Builder states its count, five drafts a month with four follow-up changes each, and shows how many are left before you begin.

Exporting on the free plan

The Creately comparison table marks PNG, JPEG, PDF, SVG and document export as not included on Free, so a free chart is shared by link and downloaded only after upgrading to Pro. Genogram Builder exports PNG and PDF with a small watermark on the free plan, and SVG without the watermark on Pro.

Draw a genogram in the browser now, or describe a family and watch the draft arrive. No account is needed to begin.

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