Software Alternatives & Reviews

Principle VS Balsamiq

Compare Principle VS Balsamiq and see what are their differences

Principle logo Principle

Principle makes it easy to create animated and interactive user interface designs.

Balsamiq logo Balsamiq

Balsamiq. Rapid, effective and fun wireframing software.
  • Principle Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-19
  • Balsamiq Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-02

Principle

Categories
  • Prototyping
  • Design Tools
  • Design Collaboration
  • UI
Website principleformac.com
Pricing URL Official Principle Pricing

Balsamiq

Categories
  • Prototyping
  • Design Collaboration
  • Design Tools
  • UI
Website balsamiq.com
Pricing URL Official Balsamiq Pricing

Principle videos

The Talos Principle (Review)

More videos:

  • Review - American Scandi Gerber Principle Knife
  • Review - The Talos Principle (Zero Punctuation)

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 Principle and Balsamiq)
Design Tools
21 21%
79% 79
Prototyping
18 18%
82% 82
Design Collaboration
18 18%
82% 82
Development
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

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

Principle Reviews

11 Best Prototyping Tools For UI/UX Designers — How To Choose The Right One?
Principle is built for OS X and comes with an iOS app to mirror live prototypes. Whether you’re designing the flow of a multi-screen app, or new interactions and animations, Principle lets you create designs that look and feel amazing. The app appears very much like the UI of Sketch including other familiar aspects of alignment, art board creation, and screen connections,...

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 should be more popular than Principle. 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.

Principle mentions (8)

  • What app was used to design this animated image?
    Seeing how principle is on the list. I'm going to say principle. It's like after effect but for interface design. Source: about 1 year ago
  • A mobile shopping app we just finished
    However, I did manage to make a very simple animation with my very limited skills for another project using Principle. Source: over 1 year ago
  • How to use animations to increase conversion
    Your visitors will scan your hero image or graphic first. Take advantage of that. Create subtle animations that explain better your product or offer. How will the interface be used? How simple it is? Keep it simple. I use Principle or Figma smart animate feature. If it's too complicated for you it might be very easy for a designer. Hire one for a small gig. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • New prototype: What if Tesla had an App Store?
    I use Figma & Principle to design & prototype, usually. I show a bit of the process on my YouTube channel, if you're interested. Source: about 2 years ago
  • I made an eyes-free gesture prototype — thoughts?
    No engineering here, just smoke & mirrors! This is a set of mockups stitched together with Principle into a prototype that runs on my iPad. It uses simple keyframing for most animations and is configured to react to different touch targets. Not a single line of code was harmed in the making of this prototype ;). Source: about 2 years 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 / 4 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 / 4 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: 8 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 / 10 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: about 1 year ago
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What are some alternatives?

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

ProtoPie - ProtoPie is the easiest tool used to turn your UI/UX design ideas into highly interactive prototypes for mobile, desktop, web, all the way to IoT.

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

Adobe XD - Adobe XD is an all-in-one UX/UI solution for designing websites, mobile apps and more. 

Invision - Prototyping and collaboration for design teams

UXpin - Design is really about solving problems. UXPin is the UX Design Platform that gets that right.

Zeplin - Collaboration app for UI designers & frontend developers