Only 20 to 40 percent of assigned Plan 2 seats belonged to people who authored a diagram, and 30 to 50 percent of holders only ever viewed one
Viewing a diagram needs no paid license at all. Standardizing up is administrative convenience paid for in seats, every year.
Prepared by Redress Compliance · August 19, 2026 · Microsoft Visio estates. 25 to 35 estates reviewed, 2024 to 2025.
Executive summary
Active diagram authors were 20 to 40 percent of assigned Plan 2 seats. The rest held the full desktop plan for work the plan was not needed for.
Pure viewers held paid seats at a rate of 30 to 50 percent. Files open in the free viewer and inside Teams, so a reader never needs a paid seat.
Idle Plan 2 seats lingered 6 to 12 months after a project closed. Nothing reclaims them automatically, and nothing on the invoice flags them.
Plan 2 is genuinely required for one thing: data linked diagrams and the advanced stencils. If a user never touches those, the tier is overspend.
What are the licensing options?
Three shapes: a web only subscription, a full subscription with the desktop app, and standalone perpetual editions. Microsoft compares the tiers on its Visio comparison page.
The three tiers, read straight
- Plan 1: web based diagramming in a browser, with no installed app.
- Plan 2: the installed desktop app plus advanced shapes and data linking.
- Perpetual: a one time desktop purchase, Standard or Professional.
What actually separates Plan 1 from Plan 2
Plan 1 is a browser tool for straightforward flowcharts and organization charts. The data linking and the installed client are the only real reasons to pay for the higher tier.
Who genuinely needs the full plan?
A narrow group: authors who need the desktop app, the advanced stencils, or diagrams linked to live data. Everyone else fits a lower tier or no paid seat at all.
| User type | What they do | Right license | What it costs today |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diagram author | Builds complex, data linked diagrams | Plan 2 | Correctly licensed |
| Light author | Simple browser flowcharts | Plan 1 | Usually on Plan 2 |
| Reviewer | Opens and comments only | Free viewing path | Usually on a paid seat |
| Offline desktop | Locked down or air gapped | Perpetual | Often on a subscription |
When the higher tier is genuinely required
When a user links diagrams to live data sources or needs the advanced engineering and process stencils. Microsoft documents the desktop feature set in its web and desktop comparison.
The Microsoft EA renewal playbook
The renewal moves, the agreement framework, the seat framework and the buyer side moves across the full Microsoft estate.
Get the brief →What 25 to 35 Microsoft Visio estates showed
Morten Andersen reviewed Visio license assignment across roughly 25 to 35 Microsoft estates between 2024 and 2025, and the same overspend showed up everywhere. Three patterns recur.
- Active diagram authors were 20 to 40 percent of assigned Plan 2 seats.
- Pure viewers held paid seats they did not need at a rate of 30 to 50 percent.
- Idle Plan 2 seats lingered 6 to 12 months after a project closed.
Most Visio seats are bought for people who read diagrams, not people who draw them.
- Entitled vs deployed vs active seats compared, priced at your actual contract terms
- Duplicate tools and unused capacity surfaced across the portfolio
- A ranked savings queue with dollar values, not license counts
Do people who only view diagrams need a license?
No. Viewing needs no paid Visio license, which is why 30 to 50 percent of paid holders were an error rather than a choice.
Three paths that cost nothing
- The free viewer opens files for reading without a subscription.
- Teams and SharePoint render diagrams inline for collaborators.
- Export to image or PDF removes the need for a viewer entirely.
Why the paid seat survives anyway
Because nothing breaks when it is assigned. A license error does not produce an incident, so the seat renews quietly for as long as nobody pulls the activity report.
Watch the briefing · 4:06Microsoft EA: Where the Leverage Really Is, and the Mistakes That Give It AwayThe three mistakes that hand leverage back: the copy paste renewal, everyone gets everything licensing, and price only negotiation on their clock.
Where does the spend actually sit idle?
In two places: viewers on paid seats, and project seats that outlive the project. Both are recoverable with a usage pull and a reassignment routine.
Three moves that recover it
- Reclaim viewer seats: remove paid licenses from users who never author.
- Harvest stale project seats idle since the work shipped.
- Pool the reclaimed licenses for the next project rather than buying new.
The reassignment routine matters more than the first pass
Where the seat mix meets the wider agreement is a separate conversation, covered in the enterprise agreement renewal playbook.
One cleanup recovers the backlog; a quarterly review is what stops it rebuilding. Microsoft documents seat removal in its license management guide, and the wider seat picture sits in the seat optimization guide.
Where the common advice on Visio licensing is wrong
The standard advice is to standardize on the full plan so everyone has the desktop app and nobody manages tiers. We disagree.
Tiering takes effort once, over licensing bills every year
Across the estates reviewed, only 20 to 40 percent of assigned Plan 2 seats belonged to people who actually authored diagrams, and 30 to 50 percent of holders only ever viewed them.
The buyer side move is to pull the activity data, push viewers to the free path, place light authors on Plan 1, and reserve Plan 2 for users who link data or need the desktop client. The tier map sits alongside the license types reference.
What the estates measured, 2024 to 2025
Two cuts of the review file, both about who holds the seat rather than what it costs.
Users building diagrams, against the full population the plan was assigned to across the reviewed estates.
People reading diagrams on a paid seat, when the free viewer and Teams already open the same files.
The two figures overlap by design. Together they describe an estate licensed for a job most of its users were never doing.
Your first five moves
- Pull the activity report and identify who actually authors diagrams, because only 20 to 40 percent of assigned seats did.
- Move pure viewers onto the free viewing path, which covers 30 to 50 percent of holders and costs nothing at all.
- Match light browser authors to Plan 1 rather than Plan 2, since the desktop client and data linking are the only reasons the higher tier exists.
- Reclaim seats idle since the last project closed, because they lingered 6 to 12 months after the work shipped in the reviewed estates.
- Set a quarterly review so project seats do not linger again. The Microsoft practice and the seat optimizer run the pull before the renewal quote arrives.
Frequently asked questions
How does Visio sell?
As a web only Plan 1, a full Plan 2 with the installed desktop app and data linking, and standalone perpetual desktop editions for locked down scenarios.
How many Plan 2 seats actually author?
Between 20 and 40 percent across the reviewed estates. The rest held the full desktop plan for work that never needed it.
Do viewers need a paid license?
No. Files open in the free viewer and render inline in Teams and SharePoint, so a person who only reads diagrams should never hold a paid seat.
How many holders are pure viewers?
Between 30 and 50 percent in the reviewed estates. That is the single largest recoverable population on a Visio estate.
When is Plan 2 genuinely required?
When a user links diagrams to live data sources or needs the advanced engineering and process stencils. Those two capabilities are what the tier is for.
Why do idle seats survive?
Because nothing breaks when a license is assigned. A license error produces no incident, so the seat renews quietly until somebody pulls the activity report.
How long do project seats linger?
Between 6 and 12 months after the project closed. Nothing reclaims them automatically and nothing on the invoice distinguishes them.
Does perpetual still make sense?
For offline, locked down or rarely changing desktops where a subscription adds no value. For everyone connected to the cloud the subscription tiers flex better.
What does the cleanup actually involve?
A usage pull, a reassignment routine, and a quarterly review. One pass recovers the backlog; the review is what stops it rebuilding.
Is standardizing up ever right?
It is administrative convenience paid for in licenses every year. Tiering takes effort once, and over licensing bills at every renewal after that.
