Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Freeplane VS Balsamiq

Compare Freeplane VS Balsamiq and see what are their differences

Freeplane logo Freeplane

Freeplane is a powerful and free software for building mind maps.

Balsamiq logo Balsamiq

Balsamiq. Rapid, effective and fun wireframing software.
  • Freeplane Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-10-17
  • Balsamiq Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-02

Freeplane videos

Freeplane Quickstart Guide

More videos:

  • Review - user review: freeplane 127_08 mindmapping tool quick test of hot keys and SVG export
  • Review - user review: freeplane-1.2.7_07 mindmapping tool

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 Freeplane and Balsamiq)
Brainstorming And Ideation
Prototyping
0 0%
100% 100
Idea Management
100 100%
0% 0
Design Tools
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using Freeplane 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 Freeplane and Balsamiq

Freeplane Reviews

  1. More features than Freemind, more active development

    Freeplane began as a fork of the Freemind project. While maintaining comparability with Freemind file format, it has far outpaced in features and development. As of 3/5/2022, the latest Freeplane update (1.9.3) is 3/5/2022 vs Freemind was last updated (1.0.1) 2/5/2016. Active, helpful community.

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, Balsamiq seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 30 times since March 2021. 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.

Freeplane mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Freeplane yet. Tracking of Freeplane recommendations started around Mar 2021.

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 / 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
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What are some alternatives?

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

Xmind - Xmind is a brainstorming and mind mapping application.

Invision - Prototyping and collaboration for design teams

FreeMind - FreeMind is a premier free mind-mapping software written in Java.

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

vym - VYM (View Your Mind) is a tool to generate and manipulate maps which show your thoughts.

Zeplin - Collaboration app for UI designers & frontend developers