# Balsamiq vs Zeplin

**Leader by Vioscale score:** Zeplin

| Attribute | Balsamiq | Zeplin |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 69 (69% (medium)) | 74.3 (39% (low)) |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"cloud":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 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. |
| 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,"dev_handoff":true,"pricing_model":"freemium","self_hostable":false,"platform_breadth":"Web application, VS Code extension, integrations with Jira, Azure DevOps, Slack,","plugin_ecosystem":"Official integrations with design tools (Figma) and dev tools (Jira, Azure DevOp","component_libraries":true,"realtime_collaboration":true}` |
| integrations.count | 5 | 9 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Slack"},{"name":"Jira"},{"name":"Confluence"},{"name":"Notion"},{"name":"MCP server (Claude, Cursor)"}]` | `[{"name":"Jira"},{"name":"Azure DevOps"},{"name":"VS Code"},{"name":"Storybook"},{"name":"Slack"},{"name":"Teams"},{"name":"Figma"},{"name":"Zeplin API"},{"name":"Webhooks"}]` |
| market.availability | - | `{"primaryMarkets":["US"],"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":"subscription","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Free","summary":"Free","features":["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","Zeplin API and Webhooks","Component versioning with version compare","Component variants","AI Design Review Beta (3 screens/week)","AI Organize Beta (3 runs/week)","Chat & email support","Training sessions"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"screens":"100","projects":"1","components":"100","styleguides":"1","version_history_days":"30"}},{"free":false,"name":"Basic","summary":"From $13.75/month per project, annual billing","features":["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)","All integrations","Annotations, Flows, and Approvals","Screen versioning, Screen variants","Component versioning, Component variants","Chat & email support","Training sessions"],"commitment":"annual","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":13.75,"period":"month","currency":"USD","description":"1 project, annual billing (1 month free)"},{"kind":"fixed","amount":35.75,"period":"month","currency":"USD","description":"3 projects, annual billing"},{"kind":"fixed","amount":63.25,"period":"month","currency":"USD","description":"6 projects, annual billing"},{"kind":"fixed","amount":90.75,"period":"month","currency":"USD","description":"9 projects, annual billing"},{"kind":"fixed","amount":118.25,"period":"month","currency":"USD","description":"12 projects, annual billing"}],"description":"One flat fee per project, unlimited members","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"projects":"1-12 (choice at purchase)","components":"unlimited","styleguides":"1","screens_per_project":"1,000","version_history_years":"1"}},{"free":false,"name":"Advanced","summary":"$12 per seat/month, billed annually (2 months free)","features":["50 projects","Unlimited screens per project","Flow Boards","Unlimited styleguides","Unlimited components","Permanent version history","Team workspace with centralized management","User Dashboard","Advanced user permissions (Admin, Editor, Developer, Reviewer)","Unlimited reviewers","Role-based access control","AI Design Review Beta (10 screens × seats/week)","AI Organize Beta (10 runs × seats/week)","All integrations including on-prem Jira","Annotations, Flows, and Approvals","Screen versioning, Screen variants","Component versioning, Component variants","Chat & email support","Training sessions"],"commitment":"annual","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"seat","amount":12,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Per-seat pricing for teams","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"screens":"unlimited","projects":"50","components":"unlimited","styleguides":"unlimited","version_history":"forever"}},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"Custom pricing. Contact sales.","features":["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)","Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)","SCIM user provisioning","Domain capture","Activity logs","Invoiced billing (bank transfer)","Custom terms (MSA)","Success Manager","Priority support (24-hour SLA)"],"description":"Unlimited projects with advanced security and support","contactSales":true,"includedLimits":{"screens":"unlimited","projects":"unlimited"}}],"summary":"Free plan available. Paid plans from $12/seat/month (team) or $13.75/month (per-project). Annual billing includes 1-2 months free.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://zeplin.io/pricing/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T10:27:08.715Z","startingPrice":{"amount":12,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | mid | low |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| reliability.sla_pct | 99.9 | - |
| reliability.status_page | yes | - |
| security.gdpr | yes | yes |
| security.soc2 | yes | - |

## Capabilities (UI/UX & Prototyping Tools)

| Capability | Balsamiq | Zeplin |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **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 application, VS Code extension, integrations with Jira, Azure DevOps, Slack, |
| **Licensing** |  |  |
| Self-hostable / open-source | - | ✗ |
| **AI** |  |  |
| AI design assist | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Pricing** |  |  |
| Pricing model | Subscription | Freemium |
| **Ecosystem** |  |  |
| Plugin / community ecosystem | Slack, Jira, Confluence, Notion, MCP server for Claude/Cursor | Official integrations with design tools (Figma) and dev tools (Jira, Azure DevOp |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T17:31:58.653Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*