# Balsamiq vs Penpot

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Balsamiq

| Attribute | Balsamiq | Penpot |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 69 (69% (medium)) | 62.7 (68% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | - | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | - | 0 |
| adoption.github_stars | - | 60,714 |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"A wireframing and prototyping platform that combines AI-assisted design with real-time collaboration to help teams turn rough ideas into validated, interactive prototypes before handing off to developers. It is indexed under UI/UX & Prototyping Tools.","source":"https://balsamiq.com","question":"What is Balsamiq?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Balsamiq offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Paid plans start at $16 per editor per month. Prices are published openly on the vendor's own pricing page. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://balsamiq.com","question":"Is Balsamiq free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed browser-based access to Balsamiq. That is the extent of what we could verify from public sources, so it may well offer desktop or mobile clients we have not indexed.","source":"https://balsamiq.com","question":"What platforms does Balsamiq support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have only confirmed a cloud / SaaS deployment for Balsamiq, so it appears to be vendor-hosted. If a self-hosted option exists we have not found it documented publicly.","source":"https://balsamiq.com","question":"Can Balsamiq be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 5 integrations for Balsamiq, including Slack, Jira, Confluence, Notion and MCP server (Claude, Cursor). This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://balsamiq.com","question":"What does Balsamiq integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2 and GDPR for Balsamiq. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Balsamiq not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://balsamiq.com","question":"What security certifications does Balsamiq have?","confidence":0.48}]` | `[{"answer":"A web-based design and prototyping tool built on open web standards (SVG, HTML, CSS) that facilitates real-time collaboration between designers and developers. It supports responsive UI design with CSS-based layouts, design systems with components and tokens, interactive prototyping, and integrates with AI workflows through an extensible plugin ecosystem. It is indexed under UI/UX & Prototyping Tools.","source":"https://penpot.app/pricing","question":"What is Penpot?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Penpot is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the MPL-2.0 licence. A commercial or hosted edition starts at $7 per user per month. Prices are published openly on the vendor's own pricing page. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://penpot.app/pricing","question":"Is Penpot free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed browser-based access to Penpot. That is the extent of what we could verify from public sources, so it may well offer desktop or mobile clients we have not indexed.","source":"https://penpot.app/pricing","question":"What platforms does Penpot support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Penpot can be deployed cloud / SaaS, air-gapped and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://penpot.app/pricing","question":"Can Penpot be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 5 integrations for Penpot, including Open API, MCP Server, Webhooks, Access tokens and Plugins. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://penpot.app/pricing/self-host","question":"What does Penpot integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed GDPR for Penpot. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Penpot not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://penpot.app/security-whitepaper","question":"What security certifications does Penpot have?","confidence":0.7},{"answer":"Yes. Penpot is published under the MPL-2.0 licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/penpot/penpot","question":"Is Penpot open source?","confidence":0.95},{"answer":"Penpot is available worldwide. The vendor is headquartered in Spain.","source":"https://penpot.app/pricing","question":"Where is Penpot available?","confidence":0.75}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"on_prem":true,"air_gapped":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | A wireframing and prototyping platform that combines AI-assisted design with real-time collaboration to help teams turn rough ideas into validated, interactive prototypes before handing off to developers. | A web-based design and prototyping tool built on open web standards (SVG, HTML, CSS) that facilitates real-time collaboration between designers and developers. It supports responsive UI design with CSS-based layouts, design systems with components and tokens, interactive prototyping, and integrates with AI workflows through an extensible plugin ecosystem. |
| features.capabilities | `{"ai_design":true,"dev_handoff":true,"pricing_model":"subscription","vector_design":true,"platform_breadth":"Web (Cloud), Desktop, Confluence, Jira","plugin_ecosystem":"Slack, Jira, Confluence, Notion, MCP server for Claude/Cursor","component_libraries":true,"clickable_prototyping":true,"realtime_collaboration":true}` | `{"ai_design":true,"auto_layout":true,"dev_handoff":true,"pricing_model":"open_source","self_hostable":true,"vector_design":true,"platform_breadth":"Web-based; self-hosted on Linux with Docker; cloud-hosted with data residency op","plugin_ecosystem":"Open plugin API with community contributions and MCP Server for multi-directiona","architecture_model":"managed_cloud_saas_browser","component_libraries":true,"advanced_interactions":true,"clickable_prototyping":true,"realtime_collaboration":true,"third_party_plugin_ecosystem_api":true,"css_flexbox_based_auto_layout_engine":true,"component_variants_and_property_overrides":true,"design_token_variable_mapping_colors_spacing_typography":true,"stateful_interactive_prototyping_with_variables_and_logic":true}` |
| integrations.count | 5 | 5 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Slack"},{"name":"Jira"},{"name":"Confluence"},{"name":"Notion"},{"name":"MCP server (Claude, Cursor)"}]` | `[{"name":"Open API"},{"name":"MCP Server"},{"name":"Webhooks"},{"name":"Access tokens"},{"name":"Plugins"}]` |
| language.primary | - | Clojure |
| license.spdx | - | MPL-2.0 |
| market.availability | - | `{"hqCountry":"ES","primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"web":true}` | `{"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"subscription","plans":[{"free":false,"name":"Starter","summary":"$16/editor/month billed annually ($192/year)","features":["Up to 10 projects","Unlimited reviewers","500 monthly AI credits per editor","Balsamiq MCP server","Slack integration","Custom UI components","Export to PDF or image"],"minSeats":1,"commitment":"annual","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"editor","amount":16,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Up to 10 projects, 500 monthly AI credits, Slack integration","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"projects":"10","reviewers":"unlimited","ai_credits_monthly":"500"}},{"free":false,"name":"Teams","summary":"$24/editor/month billed annually ($288/year)","features":["Up to 100 projects","Unlimited reviewers","1,000 monthly AI credits per editor","Balsamiq MCP server","Billing admin role and permissions","Custom UI components","Export to PDF or image","Priority support"],"minSeats":1,"commitment":"annual","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"editor","amount":24,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Up to 100 projects, 1,000 monthly AI credits, priority support","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"projects":"100","reviewers":"unlimited","ai_credits_monthly":"1000"}},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"$35/editor/month billed annually ($420/year)","features":["Everything in Teams, plus:","Up to 400 projects","2,500 monthly AI credits per editor","Balsamiq MCP server","SSO with SAML","Legal and security review support","Data storage in the US or EU","Premium support"],"minSeats":1,"commitment":"annual","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"editor","amount":35,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Up to 400 projects, 2,500 monthly AI credits, SSO, premium support","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"projects":"400","reviewers":"unlimited","ai_credits_monthly":"2500"}}],"summary":"From $16/editor/month. Free 14-day trial. Save 30% with annual billing.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://balsamiq.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-01T15:33:44.068Z","freeTrialDays":14,"startingPrice":{"amount":16,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` | `{"type":"freemium","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Professional","summary":"Free","features":["No file limits","Unlimited teams","Open source","Unlimited team size (8 members + unlimited viewers)","10GB storage","7 days autosave versions","50% discount on Penpot events"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Free and fully featured with core design tools","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"storage":"10GB","autosave":"7 days","team_members":"8 plus unlimited viewers"}},{"free":false,"name":"Unlimited","summary":"$7/editor/month (capped at $175/month). 14-day free trial.","features":["All Professional features","Extra storage","Extended history","Early access to features","30 days autosave versions","Single sign-on (SSO)"],"components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"editor","amount":7,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Enhanced features with extra storage and early access","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"storage":"25GB","autosave":"30 days"}},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"$25/member/month","features":["All Unlimited features","Advanced governance","Centralized administration","Team permissions","Secure collaboration","90 days autosave versions","Single sign-on (SSO)","Choice of hosting region","IP whitelisting"],"components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"member","amount":25,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Advanced governance with centralized administration and security features","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Private Server","summary":"$50,000/year","features":["Dedicated infrastructure","Custom hosting","Advanced security","Enterprise-grade support"],"commitment":"annual","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":50000,"period":"year","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Dedicated infrastructure for enterprise deployments","contactSales":true}],"summary":"Free Professional plan with full features. Unlimited plan at $7/editor/month (capped at $175/month) with 14-day trial. Enterprise at $25/member/month. Private Server at $50k/year.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://penpot.app/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-10-05T11:14:13.929Z","freeTrialDays":14,"startingPrice":{"unit":"editor","amount":7,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | mid | low |
| pricing.starting_price | - | `{"amount":7,"currency":"USD"}` |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| release.cadence_days | - | 9 |
| release.history | - | `[{"url":"https://github.com/penpot/penpot/releases/tag/2.18.2","date":"2026-10-05T10:51:33Z","type":"stable","version":"2.18.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/penpot/penpot/releases/tag/2.18.1","date":"2026-10-01T09:33:54Z","type":"stable","version":"2.18.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/penpot/penpot/releases/tag/2.18.0","date":"2026-09-23T09:02:03Z","type":"stable","version":"2.18.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/penpot/penpot/releases/tag/2.17.2","date":"2026-08-27T08:31:12Z","type":"stable","version":"2.17.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/penpot/penpot/releases/tag/2.17.1","date":"2026-08-17T10:40:41Z","type":"stable","version":"2.17.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/penpot/penpot/releases/tag/2.17.0","date":"2026-07-22T06:59:59Z","type":"stable","version":"2.17.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/penpot/penpot/releases/tag/2.16.2","date":"2026-07-01T13:11:49Z","type":"stable","version":"2.16.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/penpot/penpot/releases/tag/2.16.1","date":"2026-06-24T09:37:20Z","type":"stable","version":"2.16.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/penpot/penpot/releases/tag/2.16.0","date":"2026-06-11T13:07:01Z","type":"stable","version":"2.16.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/penpot/penpot/releases/tag/2.15.4","date":"2026-06-02T08:41:29Z","type":"stable","version":"2.15.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/penpot/penpot/releases/tag/2.15.3","date":"2026-05-14T14:30:44Z","type":"stable","version":"2.15.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/penpot/penpot/releases/tag/2.15.2","date":"2026-05-13T05:30:29Z","type":"stable","version":"2.15.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/penpot/penpot/releases/tag/2.15.1","date":"2026-05-12T17:21:59Z","type":"stable","version":"2.15.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/penpot/penpot/releases/tag/2.15.0","date":"2026-05-12T09:33:25Z","type":"stable","version":"2.15.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/penpot/penpot/releases/tag/2.14.5","date":"2026-05-06T12:56:41Z","type":"stable","version":"2.14.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/penpot/penpot/releases/tag/2.14.4","date":"2026-04-27T11:17:28Z","type":"stable","version":"2.14.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/penpot/penpot/releases/tag/2.14.3","date":"2026-04-16T08:35:57Z","type":"stable","version":"2.14.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/penpot/penpot/releases/tag/2.14.2","date":"2026-04-08T16:45:36Z","type":"stable","version":"2.14.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/penpot/penpot/releases/tag/2.14.1","date":"2026-03-30T13:29:06Z","type":"stable","version":"2.14.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/penpot/penpot/releases/tag/2.14.0","date":"2026-03-24T09:53:25Z","type":"stable","version":"2.14.0"}]` |
| reliability.sla_pct | 99.9 | - |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.gdpr | yes | yes |
| security.scorecard | - | 4.9 |
| security.soc2 | yes | - |
| security.trust_center | - | https://penpot.app/security-whitepaper |
| security.vulnerabilities | - | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=helm&package_name=penpot%2Fpenpot&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (UI/UX & Prototyping Tools)

| Capability | Balsamiq | Penpot |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Design** |  |  |
| Vector UI design | ✓ | ✓ |
| Component / design-system libraries | ✓ | ✓ |
| Auto layout / responsive | - | ✓ |
| **Prototyping** |  |  |
| Clickable prototyping | ✓ | ✓ |
| Advanced interactions (variables / conditions) | - | ✓ |
| **Collaboration** |  |  |
| Real-time multiplayer collaboration | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Handoff** |  |  |
| Dev handoff / spec export | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Platform** |  |  |
| Platform breadth (Web / macOS / Windows / Linux / self-hosted) | Web (Cloud), Desktop, Confluence, Jira | Web-based; self-hosted on Linux with Docker; cloud-hosted with data residency op |
| **Licensing** |  |  |
| Self-hostable / open-source | - | ✓ |
| **AI** |  |  |
| AI design assist | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Pricing** |  |  |
| Pricing model | Subscription | Open-source |
| **Ecosystem** |  |  |
| Plugin / community ecosystem | Slack, Jira, Confluence, Notion, MCP server for Claude/Cursor | Open plugin API with community contributions and MCP Server for multi-directiona |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T19:06:08.965Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*