Scopic vs Kumu
The map and the data side by side.
Kumu has the most serious prior art in systems mapping. Scopic adds what Kumu separates: map and element data visible at the same time, and connections that are records you can open.
Join waitlistScopic map view
Screenshot: Scopic map view
Map and database visible at the same time. Open any connection as a record with its own properties and page.
Kumu map interface
Screenshot: Kumu
A powerful systems mapping tool. Element properties live in a sidebar — you toggle between the map and the data. Connections carry no page-level data.
Kumu styled connections by data values years before most tools tried. Scopic makes connections data — records with their own pages and properties.
What it gets right
Kumu is the most serious prior art. It has a genuine graph database behind a map interface, built specifically for systems mapping and network analysis. The styling system — visual rules that change element and connection appearance based on data values — is genuinely sophisticated. Kumu has been used for serious stakeholder analysis, systems mapping, and network research.
The export to JSON and the public sharing features are well-executed. For organisations doing stakeholder mapping as a primary activity, Kumu represents a real investment in the problem. It is not a diagramming tool pretending to be a database.
Where it stops
The gap is structural: Kumu separates the map from the data fields. You go to a sidebar to see element properties. The map and the element data are not simultaneously visible on the same screen — you are always toggling between the two. For work that requires moving between spatial reasoning and data inspection, this separation creates friction that accumulates over time.
Connections in Kumu carry no page-level data. You can give a connection a label and style it by a field value, but you cannot open a connection and read its own property set. A connection is not an entity-level object. In Scopic, the relation between two elements has its own page, its own properties, and appears as a row in the database.
Map and data visible at the same time
In Kumu, you toggle between the map and the element properties panel. In Scopic, the database and the map are both open. See an element's properties without leaving the map view. No sidebar toggling, no losing your place in the spatial layout. The two views are co-equal, not sequential.
Screenshot: map with element data visible without toggling to sidebar
A connection that is an entity
In Kumu, a connection is a styled line. You can label it and change its appearance by a field value, but you cannot open it and read its own properties. In Scopic, every connection is a record with its own page, its own properties, and a row in the database. The relationship itself is the data.
Screenshot: connection open as a record with its own properties and page
Systems mapping for any domain
Kumu is designed for stakeholder and systems mapping. Scopic imposes no domain. Use the same structure for a competitive landscape, a literature review, a curriculum, or a stakeholder network — the elements and connections are yours to name and define. No template required.
Screenshot: map with user-defined element types and connection names
What people say
Kumu was the best stakeholder mapping tool I had found. Scopic does everything Kumu does and adds what I always wanted: connections as proper records I can query.
2 months ago
The sidebar toggle in Kumu drove me to distraction over time. Scopic keeps the map and the data in view at the same time. That sounds small. It changes how you work.
1 month ago
Kumu's visual styling rules are still unmatched for presentation maps. But for working maps — the ones I actually build and maintain — Scopic's data model is far more useful.
3 weeks ago
In Kumu, a connection between two actors tells me they're connected. In Scopic it tells me how, with what, and since when. That's the difference between a diagram and a database.
5 weeks ago
Used Kumu for three years for ecosystem mapping. Moved to Scopic for the page view on connections. Being able to open a relation and write notes about it changed the depth of my analysis.
2 months ago
Kumu for final stakeholder maps you share with clients. Scopic for the working maps you actually build and maintain. That's my current setup.
6 weeks ago
At a glance
| Scopic | Kumu | |
|---|---|---|
| Map and data visible simultaneously | ✓ | — |
| Connections as entity-level records | ✓ | — |
| Open a connection as a page | ✓ | — |
| Filter map by connection type | ✓ | ◐ |
| Named, typed connections | ✓ | ✓ |
| Page view per element | ✓ | ◐ sidebar only |
| Database view with custom properties | ✓ | ◐ fields panel |
| Visual styling rules based on data | ◐ | ✓ |
| JSON export for network analysis | — | ✓ |
See the map and the data at the same time.
Join waitlistScopic vs Kumu
The map and the data side by side.
Kumu has the most serious prior art in systems mapping. Scopic adds what Kumu separates: map and element data visible at the same time, and connections that are records you can open.
Join waitlistKumu styled connections by data values years before most tools tried. Scopic makes connections data — records with their own pages and properties.
At a glance
| Scopic | Kumu | |
|---|---|---|
| Map and data visible simultaneously | ✓ | — |
| Connections as entity-level records | ✓ | — |
| Open a connection as a page | ✓ | — |
| Filter map by connection type | ✓ | ◐ |
| Named, typed connections | ✓ | ✓ |
| Page view per element | ✓ | ◐ sidebar only |
| Database view with custom properties | ✓ | ◐ fields panel |
| Visual styling rules based on data | ◐ | ✓ |
| JSON export for network analysis | — | ✓ |
See the map and the data at the same time.
Join waitlist- Map and data visible simultaneously ✓ Scopic — Kumu
- Connections as entity-level records ✓ Scopic — Kumu
- Open a connection as a page ✓ Scopic — Kumu