Tools · Issue #15 ·
Napkin AI, the visual tool that turns your text into diagrams, flowcharts and charts in a click
In one line: Napkin AI reads text you paste or import and suggests ready-made diagrams, flowcharts, mind maps, timelines and charts you can edit and drop into slides, docs or posts, with a free plan of 500 AI credits a week (about one credit per word you turn into a visual).
What it is
Napkin is a web app for people who can explain an idea in words but can't draw it. You paste text into a Napkin document (or import a PPT, DOC, PDF, HTML or Markdown file), hover over a paragraph and click the blue Generate Visual button. A few seconds later it offers a scroll of visuals built from what you wrote: a process becomes a flowchart, a list of options becomes a comparison, a plan becomes a timeline, numbers become a chart. There's no prompt to write; Napkin works from your own text. You pick one, choose a style, and then everything is editable: colors, fonts, icons, layout and individual shapes, and those manual edits don't cost credits. If the first batch misses, Custom Generation lets you ask for a specific type (say "timeline" or "mind map"), an orientation (portrait, landscape or square) and a level of detail. You export each visual as PNG, PDF, SVG, PowerPoint or Google Slides. Napkin also has Slides, now in beta, which asks you a few questions about your goal and audience, builds an outline and then generates a full deck; it's included on every plan. There's an API too, for people who want to generate visuals from their own tools.
Who it's for
Anyone who explains things for a living and wants it to look less like a wall of bullet points: teachers and trainers, consultants and project managers, marketers and LinkedIn posters, people writing reports, docs or blog posts, and founders putting together a pitch. Napkin says it works in 60+ languages. It's less useful if you're a designer who needs pixel-level control, if you need a whole presentation designed from scratch (Gamma, from issue #10, is built for that, and Napkin's Slides is still beta), or if you mostly work on your phone: you can view work and edit presentations on mobile, but generating visuals needs a computer.
Try this today
Go to napkin.ai, click Get Napkin Free and sign up with Google or an email address; no download and no card. Click Create my first Napkin, then paste something you actually have to explain this week: the steps of a process, the three options you're choosing between, or the plan for a project. Hover over the text and click the blue Generate Visual button, scroll through the suggestions, and pick the one that says it best. Now spend two minutes editing it by hand (fix a label, change the colors to your brand), since that part is free. If none of the suggestions fit, open Customize and ask for a specific type, like a flowchart or a timeline. Export it as a PNG and drop it into the slide, doc or post you were going to write anyway. Tip: select just the paragraph you want visualized rather than the whole document, because credits are charged per word selected.
The catch
The Free plan is real but small. 500 credits a week at roughly one credit per selected word means a few hundred words of visuals a week, and every time you hit Generate again for a fresh batch of suggestions it uses credits again. Free credits refresh weekly and don't roll over. Everything you export on Free carries a small Napkin logo; the export toggle to remove it is locked on until you pay for Plus or Pro. Free also caps how many PowerPoint and SVG exports you get (PNG and PDF are unlimited), so if you want editable files for your slides, you'll hit that limit. Applying a Visual Effect can use up to 100 credits per visual or slide. Napkin's own pages don't fully agree on credit top-ups: the pricing table lists them as a Pro feature, while the pricing FAQ says you can buy extra credits any time. Generated visuals aren't guaranteed to be unique, so someone else may get a similar-looking diagram. On data: Napkin says its AI subprocessors are contractually barred from training on your content, but Napkin itself may use anonymized interaction data to improve its AI unless you turn off "Use my content for product improvements" in Account Settings → Data Privacy. And it's online only, with no offline mode.
Pricing
Free: $0, 500 AI credits a week, unlimited editing, unlimited file imports, unlimited PNG and PDF exports, built-in styles, fonts and icons, Napkin branding on exports. Plus: $9 per person a month billed yearly, or $12 monthly, 10,000 AI credits a month, premium AI image models, unlimited PowerPoint and SVG export, no Napkin branding, 3 brand styles, team management and billing. Pro: $22 per person a month billed yearly, or $30 monthly, 30,000 AI credits a month, exclusive designs, unlimited custom branding, your own fonts and optional credit top-ups. Enterprise is custom (contact sales). Paid credits refresh monthly even on yearly billing and are shared across a paid Teamspace; each member who joins a paid Teamspace is a paid seat. Slides is included on every plan at no extra cost. You can cancel any time and keep paid features until the end of the billing period. There are no student or non-profit discounts.
Pricing checked on napkin.ai/pricing and the Napkin help center (credits and plans, Plus vs Pro, watermark, export and data privacy articles) on Oct 29, 2026.