Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Balsamiq VS Cairo Shell

Compare Balsamiq VS Cairo Shell and see what are their differences

Balsamiq logo Balsamiq

Balsamiq. Rapid, effective and fun wireframing software.

Cairo Shell logo Cairo Shell

Cairo is a desktop environment for Windows.
  • Balsamiq Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-02
  • Cairo Shell Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-19

Balsamiq videos

UX Review: Balsamiq.com - Watch a Usability Expert Review Our Site!

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Balsamiq Mockups: Beginner Tutorial
  • Review - Balsamiq Wireframes for Desktop Overview (Windows)

Cairo Shell videos

No Cairo Shell videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Balsamiq and Cairo Shell)
Prototyping
100 100%
0% 0
Image Optimisation
0 0%
100% 100
Design Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Note Taking
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Balsamiq and Cairo Shell

Balsamiq Reviews

Figma Alternatives: 12 Prototyping and Design Tools in 2024
Balsamiq is a design tool that has been available since 2008. It’s easy to use and even boasts active customer service if you need help. The software is beginner-friendly, so there is no learning curve if you’re a newbie.

Cairo Shell Reviews

We have no reviews of Cairo Shell yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Balsamiq seems to be a lot more popular than Cairo Shell. While we know about 30 links to Balsamiq, we've tracked only 2 mentions of Cairo Shell. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Balsamiq mentions (30)

  • Tell HN: My Favorite Tools
    A few apps that are a joy to use: https://ia.net/writer for writing. https://usecontrast.com/ for checking contrast. https://sipapp.io/ for picking colors. https://nova.app/ for editing code. https://cleanshot.com/ for screenshots. https://getpixelsnap.com/ for measuring elements on screen. https://netnewswire.com/ for reading things via RSS. https://panic.com/transmit/ for file transfers. https://usefathom.com/... - Source: Hacker News / 6 months ago
  • Ask HN: Best UI design courses for hackers?
    I think the best practical approach for designing UIs is to download (and buy) Balsamic[0] and use that to design UIs. Cut through the nonsense of colours and pixels in the first instance and just lay things out logically and simply. [0] https://balsamiq.com. - Source: Hacker News / 6 months ago
  • Build Products that don’t SUCK
    Create a low-fidelity mockup or wireframe of your MVP using tools like Balsamiq, Sketch, or Figma. Or use an easier-to-use tool like Uizard, which also has text-to-design capabilities. Source: 10 months ago
  • Starting Design Work in a Spreadsheet
    Just for drawing mock app screens, I have found Balsamiq[0] to be pretty good (you can do a bunch of stuff with the trial version itself). Not affiliated with them in any way. [0]: https://balsamiq.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 12 months ago
  • Is there software for building out copywriting for a website?
    Balsamiq has been pretty good for me so far. It's super bare-bones so it's better for copy mockups than actual UX design. It's also a lot easier than Figma. Note that you don't have to use the default comic sans, but I do because it's funny. Source: over 1 year ago
View more

Cairo Shell mentions (2)

  • Microsoft is turning Windows 11's Start Menu into an advertisement delivery system
    Back when I was an edgy teenager I tried every Windows desktop shell replacement available. My favorites were LiteStep and Emerge Desktop. I was there when Cairo Shell first emerged but has never tried a working version since I moved to other OSes before any usable version was out. I am now using Windows for work and I think it’s time to revisit these options. Source: over 1 year ago
  • My first personal server
    Hyper-V Server 2019 gets my vote, with the Cairo Desktop it's a near unbeatable setup. Add the FoD pack, browser of your choice, Windows Admin Center for local management of the entire system including virtualized guests. It's a very robust enterprise grade server that requires NO LICENSE and ends up having a very nice GUI for a core server. Source: over 2 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Balsamiq and Cairo Shell, you can also consider the following products

Invision - Prototyping and collaboration for design teams

VirtuaWin - VirtuaWin is a virtual desktop manager for the Windows operating system (Win9x/ME/NT/Win2K/XP/Win2003/Vista/Win7/Win10). A virtual desktop manager lets you organize applications over several virtual desktops (also called 'workspaces').

Moqups - The most stunning HTML5 app for creating resolution-independent SVG mockups, wireframes & interactive prototypes for your next project

bug.n - Provide views (i. e. virtual desktops) for showing only those windows, which you need to do your work..

Zeplin - Collaboration app for UI designers & frontend developers

Dexpot - If you don't have Dexpot yet, the new update makes it a must-have tool for Windows, adding a ton of features to your desktop that you never knew you wanted.