Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Balsamiq VS Joplin

Compare Balsamiq VS Joplin and see what are their differences

Balsamiq logo Balsamiq

Balsamiq. Rapid, effective and fun wireframing software.

Joplin logo Joplin

Joplin is a free, open source note taking and to-do application, which can handle a large number of notes organised into notebooks. The notes are searchable, tagged and modified either from the applications directly or from your own text editor.
  • Balsamiq Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-02
  • Joplin Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-01-20

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)

Joplin videos

Joplin, a free, open source, self hosted syncing note taking alternative to Evernote and OneNote..

More videos:

  • Review - Joplin Is An Open Source Alternative To Evernote
  • Review - Joplin Desktop: Take Notes With A Rich Markdown Editor

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Balsamiq and Joplin)
Prototyping
100 100%
0% 0
Note Taking
0 0%
100% 100
Design Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Todos
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using Balsamiq and Joplin. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

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

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.

Joplin Reviews

20 Obsidian Alternatives: Top Note-Taking Tools to Consider
Joplin is best defined as an open-source note-taking app. The app lets you take notes and access them anywhere as it backs all your notes on the cloud. You can create checklists, notes, and tables within Joplin or attach images and videos. In addition, Joplin supports diagrams and math functions, making it an inclusive note-taking app regardless of subject or topic.
Source: clickup.com
The 6 best note-taking apps in 2024
Not only is Joplin the best open source note-taking app on our list, but it's also the best free Evernote alternative too. For a number of reasons I'll explore below, I don't feel Evernote merits a spot on this list right now; however, because Evernote has been such a staple of the note-taking app space, most other apps compete by trying to be different. OneNote is awesome,...
Source: zapier.com
The best note-taking apps for collecting your thoughts and data
In order to synchronize Joplin among your devices, you need to set it up with one of several existing cloud services (such as Dropbox or OneDrive). You can also use Joplin Cloud, which is available in Joplin’s paid plans: Basic, which includes 2GB storage space and 10MB per note or attachment, and Pro, which offers 30GB storage space, 200MB per note or attachment, and other...
10 Best Open Source Note-Taking Apps for Linux
It also supports alarms (notifications) for to-dos, End-To-End Encryption (E2EE) for security, allows for saving web pages and screenshots as notes using the web clipper extension available in Firefox and Chrome web browsers, and supports synchronization with cloud or file storage services such as services including Joplin Cloud, Dropbox, and OneDrive.
Source: www.tecmint.com
The best encrypted note taking apps
Joplin is open-source, maintains Linux, Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows apps, and also offers built in cloud-sync functionality called “Joplin cloud.” Finally, Joplin scores highly on their use of end-to-end encrypted to keep all user notes private. For more convenience features Joplin offers a web clipper directly integrated into the notes app to allow for cataloging,...
Source: www.skiff.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Joplin seems to be a lot more popular than Balsamiq. While we know about 350 links to Joplin, we've tracked only 30 mentions of Balsamiq. 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 / 5 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 / 11 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

Joplin mentions (350)

  • My productivity app is a never-ending .txt file
    I've had great success with using Joplin for this, with Syncthing as a sync backend. Works well across OSes; I use it on Linux, macOS, Windows and Android. https://joplinapp.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • My productivity app is a never-ending .txt file
    I use https://joplinapp.org because it allows for pasting images and files. Has easy sync and also mobile and desktop apps. Free and open source. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Ask HN: What do you use for note-taking or as knowledge base?
    Joplin, an open source, extendable, Markdown-based hierarchical note-taking app: https://joplinapp.org/ It lets you choose a synchronization backend, offers applications for every major desktop and mobile OS (also has a terminal version). You can create notebooks and subnotebooks to organize your notes. You can also add tags for better search experience. I created notebooks for specific domains (work-related, home... - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
  • Alternative for document storage/filing cabinet
    I'm not certain, but I believe that Joplin will serve your needs. Source: 6 months ago
  • Ask HN: What software did you purchase that positively impacted your family life
    Joplin (free, but sponsored) in combination with a Storagebox at Hetzner. Joplin allows us to share notes, shopping lists, to do lists, etc via Webdav between our various devices (mobile phones, laptops, desktops). https://joplinapp.org and https://www.hetzner.com/de/storage/storage-box. - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

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

Invision - Prototyping and collaboration for design teams

Standard Notes - A safe place for your notes, thoughts, and life's work

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

OneNote - Get the OneNote app for free on your tablet, phone, and computer, so you can capture your ideas and to-do lists in one place wherever you are. Or try OneNote with Office for free.

Zeplin - Collaboration app for UI designers & frontend developers

Obsidian.md - A second brain, for you, forever. Obsidian is a powerful knowledge base that works on top of a local folder of plain text Markdown files.