Microsoft Visio Standard vs. Professional: the differences

• Posted on 13 April 2023
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The business license Microsoft Visio is a great solution for small and bigger companies. With Visio you can create diagrams, flowcharts, schedules and any type of technical designs. Since this license is mainly aimed for corporate use, Microsoft Visio is not a part of the Office bundles. In this article you can read more about Microsoft Visio, the differences between Visio's two versions - Standard and Professional and whether you should upgrade from Standard to Professional.

What is Microsoft Visio?

Microsoft Visio is a software program, with which you can create technical designs. It is a popular tool that is being used in several different branches, such as technology and engineering. With Visio, you can create schedules, maps, diagrams and flowcharts. It is an easy-to-use program, which supports collaborating and sharing with your colleagues. Moreover, Microsoft Visio offers integrated collaboration with other Microsoft-apps, such as Teams and SharePoint. Microsoft Visio is a business license and is available in different versions and editions. For example, you can acquire Microsoft Visio 2019 or 2021. Within these 2 editions, you can choose between the 2 versions Standard and Professional. Microsoft Visio is available in older editions as well, however, the downside to these is that they are not up-to-date and no longer receive Microsoft support.

Microsoft Visio 2021 Standard

This is the basic version of Microsoft Visio 2021. It offers all the basic features and functions of Visio. Standard is a very useful package, which includes the following features:

• More and improved functions in comparison to Visio 2019, such as Live Preview
• Information Rights Management which prevents data breaches
• Easier to create and share diagrams
• A wide variety of themes, which allows the creation of authentic and professional designs
• Connection between data from Exchange and Excel to Visio 2021

Microsoft Visio 2021 Professional

Microsoft Visio 2021 Professional is an upgraded version from Standard. It offers some extra functions in addition to all the features that come with Standard. These extra features are:

• Extra options for automating diagrams
• Integration with Office-applications such as SharePoint and SQL Server
• Real-time collaboration on the same file
• A bigger variety of diagrams and templates

The differences between Microsoft Visio 2021 Standard and Professional

One of the main differences between Microsoft Visio 2021 Standard and Professional is the variety of functions. With Visio Professional you get more functions such as options for automating diagrams, bigger choice of diagrams and templates, collaborating options and integration with Office-applications. Visio Standard also provides integration opportunities and diagram automations; however, these are limited. Due to these differences, Visio Standard comes at a lower price than the Professional version. See below for the price difference between the two Visio versions.

See here which applications are included in each Office bundle.

Microsoft Visio Standard and Professional: prices

Due to the differences in functions and features, Visio Professional is more expensive than Standard. For the 2019 edition, Standard costs €158,95*, and Professional costs €192,95*. For the 2021 edition, Standard costs €185,95*, and Professional costs €259,95*.

* = the price at Digi License as of the 3rd of April.

Should I upgrade from Visio Standard to Professional?

Whether to upgrade your Visio Standard license to Professional, highly depends on your needs and frequency of use. If you use Microsoft Visio on a regular basis, together with other colleagues, or you need more than just the basic functions, it is a good idea to upgrade to Professional. On the other hand, if you do not extensively use Visio, and only need the basic diagrams, the Standard version should be enough to cover your needs. Another aspect you could take into consideration when choosing between the two versions is the size of your business. Visio Standard is mainly used by smaller businesses, while Visio Professional is mainly used by bigger companies.

Microsoft Visio 2019 vs 2021

There are a few important differences between Visio 2019 and 2021. For example, the user interface completely changes, which gives it a more modern layout compared to Visio 2019. Moreover, Microsoft Visio 2021 offers more diagrams and templates than Visio 2019. The 2021 edition is also faster than 2019, and the integration with other Office applications, such as Teams and Excel, is also improved in Visio 2021. Finally, Visio 2021 has an important new function – Live Preview. With this function, you get to view your changes to a diagram, before actually accepting the change. This way, you can see whether you like the change or not, and then choose to accept or refuse the change.

Conclusion:

• Whether to upgrade your Visio Standard to Professional, depends on multiple factors, such as the size of your company and the frequency of using Visio; the bigger the two factors, the more it is worth it to invest in Visio Professional.
• Visio 2021 offers major improvement compared to Visio 2019.
• Microsoft Visio 2021 Professional includes multiple improvements compared to Visio 2021 Standard, such as more diagrams, functions and a better integration with Microsoft-apps.