vioscale
Comparison

Balsamiq vs Sketch

No clear leader: Balsamiq (69.0) and Sketch (68.3) are within the 5-point margin; treat as a tie. The attribute-by-attribute breakdown below, with a source and date on every value, is the honest way to compare them.

Balsamiq full profile →Sketch full profile →
Machine formatsJSONMarkdownGraphQLor send Accept: application/json
Balsamiq69
Sketch68
Score
Vioscale score
Balsamiq69 / 100medium · 69%
Sketch68 / 100medium · 73%
Pricing
Free tier
Balsamiq✓
Sketch✗
Model
Balsamiqcommercial
Sketchcommercial
Price level
Balsamiqmid
Sketchlow
Transparent
Balsamiq✓
Sketch✓
Integrations
Count
Balsamiq5
Sketch4
Security
Disclosure policy
Balsamiq–
Sketch✓
Gdpr
Balsamiq✓
Sketch✓
Iso27001
Balsamiq–
Sketch✓
Pci
Balsamiq–
Sketch✓
Soc2
Balsamiq✓
Sketch✓
Reliability
Sla pct
Balsamiq99.9
Sketch–
Status page
Balsamiq✓
Sketch✓
Market
Availability

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for ui/ux & prototyping tools. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Design
Vector UI design
Balsamiq✓
Sketch✓
Component / design-system libraries
Balsamiq✓
Sketch✓
Auto layout / responsive
Balsamiq-
Sketch✓
Prototyping
Clickable prototyping
Balsamiq✓
Sketch✓
Advanced interactions (variables / conditions)
Balsamiq-
Sketch✓
Collaboration
Real-time multiplayer collaboration
Balsamiq✓
Sketch✓
Handoff
Dev handoff / spec export
Balsamiq✓
Sketch✓
Platform
Platform breadth (Web / macOS / Windows / Linux / self-hosted)
BalsamiqWeb (Cloud), Desktop, Confluence, Jira
SketchWeb, macOS, iOS
Licensing
Self-hostable / open-source
Balsamiq-
Sketch✓
AI
AI design assist
Balsamiq✓
Sketch✗
Pricing
Pricing model
BalsamiqSubscription
SketchSubscription
Ecosystem
Plugin / community ecosystem
BalsamiqSlack, Jira, Confluence, Notion, MCP server for Claude/Cursor
Sketch-

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Balsamiq

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.

Independently observed

Sketch

A design toolkit built for designers, with real-time team collaboration, unlimited free viewers, offline support via native Mac app, and developer handoff tools. Runs on web, macOS, and iOS.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Balsamiq

from $16/moSubscriptionFree tier14-day trial

From $16/editor/month. Free 14-day trial. Save 30% with annual billing.

  • Starter$16/editor/month billed annually ($192/year)
    • Up to 10 projects
    • Unlimited reviewers
    • 500 monthly AI credits per editor
    • Balsamiq MCP server
    • Slack integration
    • +2 more
  • Teams$24/editor/month billed annually ($288/year)
    • Up to 100 projects
    • Unlimited reviewers
    • 1,000 monthly AI credits per editor
    • Balsamiq MCP server
    • Billing admin role and permissions
    • +3 more
  • Enterprise$35/editor/month billed annually ($420/year)
    • Everything in Teams, plus:
    • Up to 400 projects
    • 2,500 monthly AI credits per editor
    • Balsamiq MCP server
    • SSO with SAML
    • +3 more
as of verify ↗

Sketch

from $12/moHybrid30-day trial

From $12/editor/month (billed annually). $120 perpetual Mac-only license. Free 30-day trial. Unlimited free viewers included in all plans.

  • Standard$12/editor/month, billed annually
    • Real-time collaboration
    • Unlimited documents
    • Unlimited free viewers
    • Document version history
    • Free developer handoff
  • Professional$24/editor/month, billed annually
    • Everything in Standard
    • Single Sign-On (SSO)
    • Project archiving
    • Permissions groups
  • Enterprise$44/editor/month, billed annually. Available for 15+ editors.
    • Everything in Professional
    • SCIM provisioning
    • BYOK encryption
    • Dedicated support
    • Custom reviews and terms
    • +2 more
  • Private CloudContact sales
    • Everything in Professional
    • Private cloud environment
    • Choice of hosting locations (US/EU)
    • Unlimited Workspaces
    • Unlimited storage
    • +2 more
  • Mac-only license$120/seat, perpetual. No collaboration or online sharing.
    • Native Mac app
    • Design, prototype, and illustrate
    • Work privately, offline
    • Save documents locally
    • One year of updates included
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
Web
Balsamiq✓
Sketch✓
iOS
Balsamiq✗
Sketch✓
macOS
Balsamiq✗
Sketch✓
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Balsamiq✓
Sketch✓
Hybrid
Balsamiq✗
Sketch✓

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

Balsamiq

5 total
  • Slack
  • Jira
  • Confluence
  • Notion
  • MCP server (Claude, Cursor)
Independently observed

Sketch

4 total
  • Unsplash
  • Okta
  • Ping Identity
  • TrustLogin
Independently observed

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.