Filamental shares its market with some very good software, and each of us majors in something different. Ours is the structure that’s still being worked out: arranged in three dimensions, every connection named, kept as plain Markdown on your own disk and worked on with the AI you already use. These pages set each tool beside ours on what it’s for, so you can see which one suits the work in front of you, and for some work it won’t be us.
FigJam
The jam, and what’s left after it
FigJam is Figma’s whiteboard for brainstorms, flows and workshops, with a seat for everyone who edits. Filamental keeps what the jam decided as a structure, a full document on every node, and the people you share it with need no seat at all.
Read it →Graphify
A graph you’re given, or one you work in
Graphify maps a codebase and its documents into a graph you can query, and rebuilds it as the code changes. Filamental is where you build, arrange and present a structure yourself.
Read it →Heptabase
Mastering what you learn, or working out what you build
Heptabase is a visual knowledge base of cards and whiteboards for learning and research, on a paid subscription with tiered AI credits. Filamental keeps the structure as Markdown in a folder you own, free to build, with any AI you like.
Read it →Kumu
A map on the web, or one in your folder
Kumu is built for systems and stakeholder maps that many people edit in the browser, and its free projects are public. Filamental keeps the map on your own disk, private on every plan, with the reasoning on every node.
Read it →Maltego
Finding it, or working out what it means
Maltego gathers, with transforms that query data sources and return entities onto a graph. Filamental gathers nothing and keeps the analysis, with the reasoning and source on every entity and the case in a folder on your own machine.
Read it →MindMeister
A map in the browser, or a structure you keep
MindMeister is a mind map maker that runs in the browser, with a team editing one map in real time. Filamental keeps the structure in a folder on your own machine, with no centre required and a full document on every node.
Read it →Miro
The workshop, and what outlasts it
Miro puts a team on one multiplayer canvas to get ideas up fast. Filamental keeps the structure that has to last, with a full document on every node, connections you name, and AI on your own account.
Read it →Notion
The whole workspace, or the document you send
Notion is a workspace of docs, wikis and databases, priced per member and unlocked tier by tier. Filamental builds the long document you publish as a link and revise from your own computer, at one price with everything in it.
Read it →Obsidian Canvas
Where the cards sit, or how they relate
Canvas lays a vault’s notes, images and PDFs out as cards on an infinite board. Filamental reads the same folder and gives every connection a type you name, a layout that can arrange itself, and a page you can hand over.
Read it →Obsidian
The same folder, read another way
Obsidian is an excellent and beloved home for what you know, and Filamental is for the structure still being worked out. Both read the same Markdown vault, so most people keep both.
Read it →TheBrain
One thought at a time, or the whole shape at once
TheBrain arranges every thought around the one you’re viewing, as parents, children and jumps. Filamental shows the whole structure at once in 3D, with connections you name and keep in your own files.
Read it →Xmind
One centre, or as many as it needs
Xmind grows a polished map outward from a central topic. Filamental connects as many ideas as you have, with no centre required, connections you name and a full document on every node.
Read it →yEd
A diagram, or the reasoning behind it
yEd turns a list of relationships into a clean diagram with excellent automatic layouts. Filamental keeps a full document behind every node, connections you name, and hands over a structure people can explore.
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