What Visio Professional 2024 adds over Visio Standard 2024
Visio Professional 2024 adds specialist diagrams and data features to Visio Standard 2024. Flowcharts, organisation charts, mind maps, basic network diagrams and office plans work the same way in both. Professional adds Azure and AWS architecture diagrams, database and UML diagrams, P&ID and electrical diagrams, support for the BPMN 2.0, IEEE and UML 2.5 standards, and shapes linked to live data. In Microsoft’s UK store, Visio Professional 2024 is £639.99 and Visio Standard 2024 is £339.99, so Professional costs £300 more per PC.
If your diagrams are flowcharts, organisation charts and floor plans, Standard does the job. Professional earns its price once a diagram has to follow an industry standard, map a cloud or software system, or show figures that change.
The two editions side by side
| Visio Standard 2024 | Visio Professional 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Flowcharts, organisation charts and mind maps | Yes | Yes |
| Basic network diagrams | Yes | Yes |
| Detailed network and rack diagrams | No | Yes |
| Azure and AWS architecture diagrams | No | Yes |
| ERD, database model and UML diagrams | No | Yes |
| P&ID, engineering and electrical diagrams | No | Yes |
| BPMN 2.0, IEEE and UML 2.5 standards | No | Yes |
| Linking shapes to data | No | Yes |
| Data graphics | No | Yes |
| Viewing diagrams connected to real-time data | Yes | Yes |
| Comments, touch drawing and DWG import | Yes | Yes |
| Product ID in the Office Deployment Tool | VisioStd2024Volume | VisioPro2024Volume |
| Licence | One PC, one-time purchase | One PC, one-time purchase |
| Security updates until | 9 October 2029 | 9 October 2029 |
What both editions do
Microsoft describes Visio Standard 2024 as an “On-premises diagram and data visualization solution, licensed for one PC.” It has templates, shapes, icons and sticky notes for brainstorming, cross-functional flowcharts, organisation charts, mind maps and basic network diagrams, and shapes for processes, workflows and home or office plans. You can draw and take notes with a finger or pen on a touch screen, add and reply to comments inside Visio, and import AutoCAD drawings. The accessibility features in both editions include Narrator support, the Accessibility Checker and high contrast.
Microsoft’s notes on the 2024 release say “All features listed here, unless otherwise noted, are included in both Visio Standard 2024 and Visio Professional 2024.” Visio 2024 has the new Office 2024 theme, a refreshed look with a transparency effect behind the canvas and menus, and search in the title bar, where the other Office apps have it. Standard also gained new icons and sticky notes for brainstorming.
Cloud, network and software diagrams
Professional has the shapes for mapping IT systems. Microsoft’s comparison lists cloud architecture diagrams for Azure and Amazon Web Services, detailed network and rack diagrams, and software and database diagrams, including entity relationship diagrams and UML class diagrams. For the 2024 release, Microsoft says Professional “includes 10+ new Azure stencils, and more network and software content like Kubernetes Shapes and Yourdon-Coad Notations.”
Professional can also build a database model from an existing database. Standard stops at basic network diagrams, so an IT team that documents an Azure subscription, a server rack or a database needs Professional.
Engineering diagrams and industry standards
Professional adds piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&ID), electrical schematics and other engineering drawings. Microsoft’s product page lists the ability to “Build and validate diagrams that support industry standards, including BPMN 2.0 and UML 2.5”, and its edition comparison adds IEEE for electrical work.
BPMN 2.0 is the notation business analysts use for process models, UML 2.5 is the modelling language for software design, and IEEE standards cover the symbols used in electrical schematics. Validation checks a diagram against the rules of its standard and lists anything that breaks them, so mistakes show up before the diagram goes to anyone else.
Diagrams linked to live data
Data linking is the other reason to choose Professional. Microsoft’s comparison puts “Data connectivity to link diagrams to live data”, “Automatic data refresh” and data graphics such as icon sets, colour by value, text callouts and data bars in Professional only. A linked shape carries the values from a row of data and can change colour, show an icon or display a figure when that data changes.
Microsoft’s FAQ says “Data linking is only available through the Visio desktop app” and lists the sources it supports.
- Microsoft Excel workbooks
- Microsoft Access databases
- Microsoft SharePoint Foundation lists
- Microsoft SQL Server databases
- Microsoft Exchange Server directories
- Microsoft Entra ID information
- Other OLEDB or ODBC data sources
A facilities team can colour a floor plan by which desks are booked, and an IT team can mark which servers are down from a list kept in Excel or SharePoint. Microsoft’s comparison lists viewing diagrams connected to real-time data in both editions, so a Standard user can open a linked diagram. Linking shapes to data and adding data graphics need Professional.
Choosing between them
An office manager who keeps the organisation chart up to date and plans a move on a floor plan has everything needed in Standard. The same goes for anyone who maps processes as plain flowcharts for a staff handbook.
Professional suits an IT consultancy that documents clients’ Azure or AWS set-ups, a business analyst who models processes in BPMN, a developer who draws UML or database diagrams, an engineer who works on P&ID or electrical drawings, and anyone who wants a diagram to show live figures from Excel, SQL Server or SharePoint. Visio Professional 2024 is the edition we stock, with the rest of our Microsoft apps.
Before you install
Visio 2024 runs on Windows only. Microsoft “doesn’t have a desktop version of Visio for macOS”, and it lists Windows 11, Windows 10 and Windows Server 2019 as supported. The PC needs a 1.6 GHz or faster processor with two cores, 4 GB of memory, or 2 GB for 32-bit Visio, 4 GB of free disk space and a 1280 x 768 display.
Visio has to match the Office already on the PC in two ways. Microsoft’s FAQ says “You can’t mix 32- and 64-bit versions of Microsoft solutions,” and every Office product on a PC has to use the same update channel.
- A volume licensed Visio key installs with the Office Deployment Tool as Visio LTSC Professional 2024, with the product ID VisioPro2024Volume and the language en-us. Microsoft notes that English UK “isn’t available in Project or Visio”. Next to Office LTSC Professional Plus 2024 or Office LTSC Standard 2024 it uses the PerpetualVL2024 channel, and our Office Deployment Tool guide has the configuration.
- A retail Visio key is redeemed to a Microsoft account and installs from that account. Microsoft’s support page says “Office doesn’t support installing volume license versions of Office on the same device as non-volume license versions”, so a retail Visio doesn’t go on a PC that runs Office LTSC 2024.
- With Microsoft 365 Apps, Visio 2024 needs version 2408 or later, and a volume licensed Visio has to be set to the same update channel as Microsoft 365 Apps.
Our guide to Office LTSC 2024 and Microsoft 365 on one PC goes through every combination.
Visio 2024 is supported until 9 October 2029, the same date as Office LTSC 2024. Visio 2021 reached the end of support on 13 October 2026, with Office 2021 and Project 2021, as our article on the Office 2021 end of support explains.
Professional or a Visio Plan 2 subscription
Microsoft’s subscription with the desktop app is Visio Plan 2, at £11.50 per user per month, paid yearly, before VAT. In Microsoft’s words, “Visio Plan 2 provides access to both Visio for the web and Visio desktop”, and its product page says the plan lets each user “install Visio on up to five PCs”. Plan 2 always has the latest version, and over the 36 months to October 2029 it comes to £414 per user before VAT. It stops working if the subscription lapses.
Visio Professional 2024 is a one-time purchase for one PC. It gets security updates until 9 October 2029 and keeps working after that date. It never gains new features, since Microsoft states that “Only subscription versions of Project and Visio receive regular feature updates”.
Microsoft’s cheaper options run in a browser. Visio Plan 1 costs £3.80 per user per month for the web app, and Microsoft 365 commercial plans include a web version called Visio in Microsoft 365, with “Basic flowcharts, organisation charts, and network diagrams.” Neither includes the desktop app.
Questions about Visio Professional and Standard 2024
Can Visio Standard 2024 open files saved in Visio Professional 2024?
Yes. Both editions use the same .vsdx file format, and Microsoft lists viewing diagrams connected to real-time data in both.
Is there a Mac version of Visio 2024?
No. Microsoft doesn’t make a desktop version of Visio for macOS. On a Mac, Visio for the web runs in Safari or Chrome with a Visio Plan 1 or Visio Plan 2 subscription.
Does Visio Professional 2024 include Word, Excel or the other Office apps?
No. Visio is sold on its own, and Office needs a licence of its own.
Can I install Visio 2024 next to Office LTSC 2024?
Yes, with a volume licensed Visio that uses the same architecture as Office and the PerpetualVL2024 update channel. A retail Visio redeemed to a Microsoft account isn’t supported on the same PC as Office LTSC 2024.
How long is Visio 2024 supported?
Until 9 October 2029. The app keeps working after that date without security updates.
Sources
- Compare one-time purchase Visio plans, Microsoft UK
- Visio Professional 2024, Microsoft Store UK
- Visio Standard 2024, Microsoft Store UK
- Compare Visio options, Microsoft UK
- What’s new in Visio 2024, Microsoft Support
- Use Visio on a Mac, Microsoft Support
- Deployment guide for Visio, Microsoft Learn
- Product IDs supported by the Office Deployment Tool for Click-to-Run, Microsoft Learn
- Supported scenarios for installing different versions of Office, Project, and Visio on the same computer, Microsoft Learn
- These versions of Office can’t be installed or activated on the same device, Microsoft Support
- Overview of deploying languages for Microsoft 365 Apps, Microsoft Learn
- Products ending support in 2029, Microsoft Learn