vioscale
Comparison

Balsamiq vs Zeplin

On the evidence we track, Zeplin leads this comparison with a composite score of 74/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Balsamiq full profile →Zeplin full profile →
Machine formatsJSONMarkdownGraphQLor send Accept: application/json
Balsamiq69
★Zeplin74
Score
Vioscale score
Balsamiq69 / 100medium · 69%
Zeplin74 / 100low · 39%
Pricing
Free tier
Balsamiq✓
Zeplin✓
Model
Balsamiqcommercial
Zeplinfreemium
Price level
Balsamiqmid
Zeplinlow
Transparent
Balsamiq✓
Zeplin✓
Integrations
Count
Balsamiq5
Zeplin9
Security
Gdpr
Balsamiq✓
Zeplin✓
Soc2
Balsamiq✓
Zeplin–
Reliability
Sla pct
Balsamiq99.9
Zeplin–
Status page
Balsamiq✓
Zeplin–
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✓
Zeplin-
Component / design-system libraries
Balsamiq✓
Zeplin✓
Auto layout / responsive
Balsamiq-
Zeplin-
Prototyping
Clickable prototyping
Balsamiq✓
Zeplin-
Advanced interactions (variables / conditions)
Balsamiq-
Zeplin-
Collaboration
Real-time multiplayer collaboration
Balsamiq✓
Zeplin✓
Handoff
Dev handoff / spec export
Balsamiq✓
Zeplin✓
Platform
Platform breadth (Web / macOS / Windows / Linux / self-hosted)
BalsamiqWeb (Cloud), Desktop, Confluence, Jira
ZeplinWeb application, VS Code extension, integrations with Jira, Azure DevOps, Slack,
Licensing
Self-hostable / open-source
Balsamiq-
Zeplin✗
AI
AI design assist
Balsamiq✓
Zeplin✓
Pricing
Pricing model
BalsamiqSubscription
ZeplinFreemium
Ecosystem
Plugin / community ecosystem
BalsamiqSlack, Jira, Confluence, Notion, MCP server for Claude/Cursor
ZeplinOfficial integrations with design tools (Figma) and dev tools (Jira, Azure DevOp

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

Zeplin

Leader

A design delivery and handoff platform that sits between design tools and development. It provides versioning, documentation, feedback, and integrations to help designers and developers collaborate with confidence on production-ready specifications.

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 ↗

Zeplin

Leader
from $12/moSubscriptionFree tier

Free plan available. Paid plans from $12/seat/month (team) or $13.75/month (per-project). Annual billing includes 1-2 months free.

  • FreeFree
    • Unlimited members per project
    • Annotations, Flows, and Approvals
    • Screen versioning with version compare
    • Screen variants
    • Jira, Azure DevOps, VS Code extension, Storybook, Slack, Teams integrations
    • +7 more
  • BasicFrom $13.75/month per project, annual billing
    • Unlimited members per project
    • All members can edit projects
    • Practically unlimited screens (1,000 per project)
    • AI Design Review Beta (20 screens/week)
    • AI Organize Beta (10 runs/week)
    • +6 more
  • Advanced$12 per seat/month, billed annually (2 months free)
    • 50 projects
    • Unlimited screens per project
    • Flow Boards
    • Unlimited styleguides
    • Unlimited components
    • +14 more
  • EnterpriseContact sales
    • Everything in Advanced
    • Unlimited projects
    • AI Design Review Beta (20 screens × seats/week)
    • AI Organize Beta (20 runs × seats/week)
    • SAML-based Single Sign-on (SSO)
    • +8 more
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

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

Platforms
Web
Balsamiq✓
Zeplin✓
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Balsamiq✓
Zeplin✓

Integrations

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

In common (2)
  • Slack
  • Jira

Balsamiq

5 total - 3 not shared
  • Confluence
  • Notion
  • MCP server (Claude, Cursor)
Independently observed

Zeplin

Leader
9 total - 7 not shared
  • Azure DevOps
  • VS Code
  • Storybook
  • Teams
  • Figma
  • Zeplin API
  • Webhooks
Independently observed

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