Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

CodePen VS Balsamiq

Compare CodePen VS Balsamiq and see what are their differences

CodePen logo CodePen

A front end web development playground.

Balsamiq logo Balsamiq

Balsamiq. Rapid, effective and fun wireframing software.
  • CodePen Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-09-30
  • Balsamiq Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-02

CodePen videos

What Is Codepen?

More videos:

  • Review - Learn to use CodePen from a co-founder of CodePen
  • Review - Using CodePen For Inspiration & Learning

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)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to CodePen and Balsamiq)
Text Editors
100 100%
0% 0
Prototyping
0 0%
100% 100
Programming
100 100%
0% 0
Design Tools
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using CodePen and Balsamiq. 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 CodePen and Balsamiq

CodePen Reviews

8 Best Replit Alternatives & Competitors in 2022 (Free & Paid) - Software Discover
Codepen is a social development environment for front-end designers and developers. Build and deploy a website, show off your work, build test cases to learn.
Best Online Code Editors For Web Developers
Probably the most popular online code editor. CodePen is fast, easy to use, and allows a web developer to write and share HTML/CSS/JS code online.
Source: techarge.in
Top 25 websites for coding challenge and competition [Updated for 2021]
CodePen is a cool online IDE that allows you to write code in your browser and see the result just as you build it. CodePen challenges is a place for leveling up your skills by building things. Each week, new challenges appear for you to tackle, and the best “Pens” get picked.
6 Coding Playgrounds For Web Developers
Codepen is probably one of the most popular coding playgrounds out there. Chris Coyier of CSS Tricks is a co-founder/co-creator of Codepen, which probably explains why this web app looks grand. Aside from its sleek visuals, Codepen displays live previews of the changes you make in its editor, making it easier to see cause and effect.

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.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, CodePen seems to be a lot more popular than Balsamiq. While we know about 488 links to CodePen, 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.

CodePen mentions (488)

  • Top CSS Websites for Developers: Elevate Your Frontend Skills
    CodePen is an online code editor and community for front-end developers. It allows you to write HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code directly in your browser and see the results instantly. CodePen is a fantastic platform for experimenting with CSS, sharing your work, and discovering what other developers are creating. - Source: dev.to / 2 days ago
  • Flems.io
    Flems.io is similar to online editors like CodePen or JSFiddle, but has one unique selling point. You do not need an account or any external memory: Flems.io stores all data in the URL!. This is ideal for short tests and demos provided on dev.to or other online media. - Source: dev.to / 14 days ago
  • Enhance CSS view transitions with Velvette
    See the Pen Todo list transition by david omotayo (@david4473) on CodePen. - Source: dev.to / 22 days ago
  • Building the Blocks of the Web: A Beginner's Guide to HTML
    The key to mastering HTML is consistent practice. Experiment with different tags, attributes, and layouts to solidify your understanding and gain creative confidence. There are many online playgrounds like CodePen [https://codepen.io/] where you can experiment with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code. - Source: dev.to / 29 days ago
  • Things you should do in your dev journey 🖥️👩‍💻
    Build Projects: Websites like GitHub and GitLab host countless open-source projects where you can contribute and collaborate with other developers. Moreover, platforms like CodePen and Glitch provide environments for building and sharing web projects. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
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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

What are some alternatives?

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

JSFiddle - Test your JavaScript, CSS, HTML or CoffeeScript online with JSFiddle code editor.

Invision - Prototyping and collaboration for design teams

CodeSandbox - Online playground for React

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

GitHub - Originally founded as a project to simplify sharing code, GitHub has grown into an application used by over a million people to store over two million code repositories, making GitHub the largest code host in the world.

Zeplin - Collaboration app for UI designers & frontend developers