I used XMind for a long time, until their pricing changed. It was my mind mapping tool that sat between MindNode (simple) and iThoughtsX (far more control).
If there is a mind mapping tool out there that is for Mac or open source, I likely have used it. I advised MindJet for a while. I haven’t looked at alternatives in about 5 to 8 years as MindNode and iThoughsX worked really well for my needs.
Just a few comments in respect of ToketaWare.
First and foremost, despite the comment on its website “About” page that toketaWare no longer exists, that’s not what Companies House (the UK register of companies) has to say. A “Confirmation Statement” was filed on 8th January and there are no filings indicating that the company is in the process of being wound up.
The company year end is 31 January, meaning this year’s accounts don’t need to be filed until October, but as at 31st January 2023 they showed cash in hand of about £2.4 million. That was an increase of some £125,000 over the year, all from retained profit. Also, the accounts don’t capitalise the actual software, which is odd for a software business.
It’s not for me to second guess why Mr Scott wishes to cease trading — hopefully it’s by choice and not something forced on him by ill health or worse. It does seem, however, albeit you’d need to do greater diligence, that there’s an opportunity for an Indy developer.
iThoughtX is a great piece of software. Here’s hoping …
I am here as I was looking for the information about a person who inspired me for the last 11 years.
The story of a developer who created income and a great life journey around the mind mapping app. I told this story to my kids, friends, and IT students and foremost to myself.
I bought licences of iThoughts for my friends as birthday presents.
I don’t know what is going with you as the official site does not give details. If you need help please state so . There are thousands of people who would help, and I have humble privilege to be one of them.
Sincerely,
Radosław.
What a wonderful post to read. Welcome to the forum and thank you for such a heartfelt response to the developer.
What a pity! Just a few weeks ago I used iThoughts again, remembering that mind mapping is a great way of brainstorming that I kind of forgot using. I just remembered how great and easy to use this app is and committed to use it more again.
Well, it still works, so it’s not lost, just because it’s not actively developed anymore.
I hope the developer is doing well.
Brett Terpstra posted in his Web Excursions yesterday that ‘he had checked in with him [the developer], he says he’s fine, he just moved on.’
That’s good to know. It happens to us all - as individuals we can’t be expected to do the same thing for the rest of our lives. Open sourcing is not always an option either because closed source libraries have been licensed and used as part of the application, or because there are code flaws which may cause issues for installed applications if they’re revealed. It also assumes there’s anyone out there with the time and resources to do anything with the code.
That said, I’m saddened that it has gone - I’ve just got back into MindMapping as I’ve taken on a new role, and it’s a great application. I’ll probably have to go for MindNode, although like @Bmosbacker I was avoiding a subscription as well as enjoying the great functionality. At least it’ll run for now.
I’m still looking for alternatives that I like. The problem is I’m not finding native Mac and iOS apps I like. Most of what is available without a subscription are electron or web-based apps. I may mind map with the Apple Pencil in Notes or Freeform and, from those maps, create outlines in OmniOutliner. 
An interesting cross platform(IOS/Android/Windows), non subscription, Apple native, app is SimpleMind. Being cross platform it has a somewhat non Apple app look but its power is on par with iThoughts maybe more so.
Curio‘s mind mapping is quite nice, as is the rest of the application. You can still use it without buying a subscription. The developer is very responsive. In the past it used to bother me that there is no iOS app, but then I rarely mind map on my phone.
Unfortunately, that would be an issue for me. I don’t use my iPhone for such work, but I often use my iPad for mind mapping. I appreciate the recommendation, however. 
There is a lot of reluctance by people to accept subscriber based apps. Personally I believe that this model is usually the only one that makes sense. Apps require continuous upkeep and maintenance even if no features are added.
I view an app without a subscription model as being vaguely dangerous unless they have established a pattern of annual or close to annual updates that have been accepted by the community. I don’t think that customer and developer interests are aligned in many cases of non-subscription apps. The developer is less incentivized not to just walk away.
I believe if you are determined to try and weed out all your subscriptions then your apps that survive this winnowing may be a set of vulnerable apps.
The risks for the consumer are much lower if it does not take much intellectual capital to master the app and if data is readily exported from the app. But some apps take a lot of time to master and having them disappear is a big blow. There may be a large group of people who mourn the death of an app but if it is not a subscription app that large group of people have not been vetted as hard core supporters.
Asking the departing developer to open source his project is a big ask IMO. It is not that simple. And again unless you are a user prepared to jump in and maintain this code which is beyond the ability of most of us, you are sort of just asking that somebody else take over the code base and work on it for free so you can use it.
I don’t like the fact that so much of the community pressures developers not to use the subscription model. I for one embrace it, especially for apps that are complicated or important for me.
I am not familiar with this particular app. Apparently it was on SetApp and so in this sense it at least had a subscription “arm”.
Anyway, the death of good apps be they subscription or not always makes me sad. Even if I never used them heavily.
Thank you, I’m going to check that out!
A well thought out stance. I too have no issue with subscription apps. For that reason my daughter and I both have a Goodnotes subscription although they introduced family sharing for the app. I wish to see that app continue for years.
In my work I need to stay employed and paid for years. Why would I expect an app to generate an income only once for its developer.
I have an interest in niche pipe organ apps. I stumbled accross one with a beautiful sound and reached out to the developer to see if he was updating it to be AuV3 compliant. He responded saying there is no money in the app to generate the required income to justify the outlay. I bought both of his pipe organ apps although they didn’t quite meet my needs as I wished to offer him a little support.
We need developers to stay in the game and subscription is one avenue open to them.
Plus 1 for SimpleMind. It is what I use. It suits the my workflow really well.
I’ve depended on iThoughts enough to create - with z/OS batch jobs - input CSV files with a lot of detail in.
I’d be interested in any mind mapping Mac app that can ingest a flat text file with the level of detail it has. (I’m not looking for positioning but things like colours and shapes are what I’ve been relying on.)
Maybe MindNode - which I also have -fits the bill.
As it’s text I can generate a different text format very easily from my z/OS mainframe.
Completely agree
No other than Google is a good example of a company that is known to abandon free products on a whim.
“If you are not a customer, then you are the product.”
The issue I have with subscriptions (and with software in general) is value for money. Sadly, simply paying a developer annually or monthly does not give any more long-term security or even “bang for the buck” for the user than paying them for each major version and arguably there is less incentive for them to make the next version compelling.
I can see the sense of subscriptions for developers. Not only does it provide a more sustainable model to support them, but there’s an increasing need for many of them to service their investors. The lower entry cost and more flexible ability to vary subscription cost helps a lot with that: you can put on a lot of new users and grow very quickly.
From a consumer point of view it’s much less clear-cut. I’m happy to pay for good-value subscriptions and I enjoy the low cost of entry and exit but there are others where I feel I am being milked with minimal updates and upgrades and an OK service for a relatively high price. All the various ways that the software market went wrong for consumers are just as likely with a subscription model as with one-off licensing.
I understand doing “advance scouting” about an alternative to iThoughts. But from my understanding iThoughts won’t be going away soon. I’d suggest contacting the developer directly. I also use on my Mac and iPhone and a bit on my iPad.
I’m sure I won’t be able to use it anymore in about 5 years, but I highly doubt it will be obsolete within the next year or two.
I used SimpleMind years ago and liked it. I’m going to take another look at it.