Whether you use them for brainstorming, planning, organizing, taking notes, or office layouts mind mapping web applications are superior in many ways to the old pen and paper approach. Being able to save, access and share your work from anywhere with internet access as well as having the capability to simultaneously collaborate on a project or publish it to a blog makes these applications immensely powerful. Check out my list of the top free mind mapping web applications on the internet.

Bubbl.us
By far bubbl.us is the easiest mind mapping web application to use and yet still remains a very powerful tool. Within minutes you will have figured it out how to use it. The interface is largely intuitive and you can even use it without signing up, though in order to take advantage of all the features you should get yourself a free account.

features:

• Create colorful mind maps online
• Share and work with friends
• Embed your mind map in your blog or website
• Email and print your mind map
• Save your mind map as an image

Mind42.com
This one is has potential for more detail as you can attach notes and links to any nodes that you wish. Also, like bubbl.us you can zoom in and out to get a birds eye view. The major down for this app is that there is no collaborative capability.

features

• Create and share your work online with a private link.
  
• You can Create a diverse amount of diagrams,charts and layouts.
• Save on your PC (Save as .PNG or .PDF)
• Share diagrams with others (via private link)

Glinkr.com
Glinkr is based on boxes linked up with arrows. It is easy to learn and like Mind42 you can add links and descriptions to the boxes. In all honesty I think that Bubbl.us has a smoother work flow and looks prettier. Glinkr, like bubbl.us, features is the ability to share your mind maps by embedding them to your own site or third party site. Also, the embedded mind maps will be updated automatically if you ever change them.

Thinkature.com
Thinkature has a really smooth interface that also includes a versatile drawing feature in addition to the text boxes linked up with arrows. You can also add images from the web or yoru hard drive as well. The major selling point of thinkature seems to be collaboration as they not only have a text-based chat feature but also a voice chat feature. If you will be using mind mapping primarily in a collaborative environment this app is the one for you.

Wisemapping.com
While Wisemapping has a clean look and familiar features like sharing, embedding mind maps in blogs, it seems bloated with an extended tool bar that allows you to change the shapes and colors of different nodes, tag them, and puts various fonts at your disposal. This seems a bit uneccessary to me and an additional drawback is the inability to collaborate. One unique feature, however, is the ability to link documents to different nodes.

ImaginationCubed.com
Imaginationcubed is unique in that it is more like a stripped down paint program with an optional grid background. This might be fun to play around with or it may serve as a good medium to sketch something simple out really quick and send it to someone but it’s not all that serious a competitor to any of the others mentioned here.

Did I miss anything? Please feel free to share your favorites in the comments.