Free bowtie tools compared — what to check before you pick

What “free” can mean

Ask the blunt question: can I map a full activity today without a card and without a salesperson?

Known tools (public positioning only)

BowTieXP (Wolters Kluwer / Enablon)

Publicly positioned as the widely used professional bowtie toolset — diagramming plus broader barrier / enterprise options depending on edition. This is the enterprise reference many process-safety teams already know. Expect commercial licensing, demos, and a feature set aimed at organisations that live in barrier management every day — not a “no account, start now” hobby tool.

Fit: established major-hazard / enterprise programmes that need a recognised suite.

Not the fit: someone who wants to sketch one excavation board this afternoon for free.

Browser bowtie products (examples you will see listed alongside Bowtie One)

Directories such as Safety Shortlist’s bowtie list group several browser tools, including Bowtie360, Bowtie Master, Synergi Life Bowtie (DNV), and others. Public positioning for these products typically emphasises templates, sharing, exports, barrier tracking or live dashboards — usually with per-user or platform pricing. Treat each vendor’s pricing page as the source of truth; do not assume a free builder tier exists unless they say so.

Fit: teams ready to pay for collaboration and assurance features.

SolidBowtie

Public positioning: web-based bowtie and barrier management with a “living” model emphasis (barriers, assurance, incidents feeding back). Marketing highlights AI-assisted drafting and per-editor pricing with free viewers. That is a commercial product shape — verify current plans on their site if cost matters to you.

Fit: teams that want barrier health and assurance workflows, not only a static picture.

Presight OpenRisk

Public positioning: web-based collaborative platform built around the bowtie model, with AI assistance called out in marketing, export options, and tiered pricing. Aimed at organisations mapping and sharing scenarios (often process-safety flavoured).

Fit: collaborative / enterprise risk mapping with a vendor platform.

Lightweight and open options

Examples that appear in public searches include Obsidian community plugins for bowtie editing, and text-based or research tooling that can render bowtie-like structures. These can be genuinely free. They are not the same as a hosted product with accounts, PDF reports and invite links. Fine for personal knowledge bases; awkward as your company system of record.

Fit: individuals documenting models in a vault they already use.

Whiteboard / paper

Still valid. Columns on a wall beat a blank paid licence when the goal is one conversation about controls.

Where Bowtie One sits

Bowtie One’s public offer is simple:

• Free to map — unlimited boards in the browser
• No account needed to build
• Causes (threats), controls, outcomes, and what defeats controls
• Control strength and type
• Severity, initial risk and residual risk
• Autosave in the browser

Pro (£12/month or £120/year) is explicitly about getting work out of the browser and working with other people: cloud save, import/export project files, PDF report, dashboard with review dates, invite colleagues, saved templates.

Differentiator to state carefully (and only this): you can complete a real board without signing up. Many “free” paths elsewhere are trials, viewers, or account-gated editors. Always check the other product’s current terms rather than assuming.

Bowtie One is not claiming to replace BowTieXP enterprise suites, live barrier dashboards across a global asset base, or AI that drafts your entire programme. It is a clear builder for activity-level bowties, with optional cloud when you need it.

Decision guide

Choose a whiteboard if you are facilitating one session and the output is a photo in the pack.

Choose Bowtie One Free if you want a proper digital board today, no account, and you are happy that save stays local until you upgrade.

Choose Bowtie One Pro if you need cloud, PDF, review dates or colleagues on the same board.

Choose an enterprise / barrier suite (e.g. BowTieXP and similar) if you already run barrier management at scale, need vendor ecosystem fit, or procurement expects that class of tool.

Choose another browser SaaS if a specific feature they advertise (assurance workflows, AI draft, Word export, etc.) is the reason you are buying — verify on their site, then buy for that reason.

How to compare without getting sold a story

Check these yourself on each product:

1. Can I edit a full threat → control → top event → outcome model on the free tier?
2. Is an account required before the canvas works?
3. What exactly is locked behind paywall (export, save, share, number of boards)?
4. Where does data live (browser only vs vendor cloud)?
5. Can a supervisor read the board without training?
6. Will this file still open in two years if we change vendor?

Ignore vanity metrics and award badges unless you can verify them. This article does not cite any.

Practical recommendation

For learning and for mapping your first critical activities, start with the method, then the lightest tool that respects it. Build one excavation example or one height board. If the picture changes how you brief the job, invest in whatever save/share arrangement your organisation needs — Bowtie One Pro or a larger suite.

If your risk assessments already exist and you only need the picture underneath them, read Bowtie vs risk assessment before you buy anything.

FAQ