Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Balsamiq VS Stencil

Compare Balsamiq VS Stencil and see what are their differences

Balsamiq logo Balsamiq

Balsamiq. Rapid, effective and fun wireframing software.

Stencil logo Stencil

Stencil is a the fastest and simplest way to design images and graphics for digital marketing.
  • Balsamiq Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-02
  • Stencil Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-01-28

Stencil is the fastest way to design graphic for social media, blogs, newsletters, print on demand (POD), logos or anything else visual or creative that you can imagine.

We provide you with over 4 million photos and icons that you can use, royalty-free. Just find the perfect photo or icon, add it to the canvas, design whatever you want, and then instantly download it.

Using Stencil, you can also share directly to your social media accounts, SMS it to your phone, email it to your inbox, or copy a unique URL.

Balsamiq

$ Details
-
Platforms
-
Release Date
-

Stencil

$ Details
freemium
Platforms
Browser Wordpress Google Chrome Firefox
Release Date
2013 November

Balsamiq features and specs

No features have been listed yet.

Stencil features and specs

  • Photos: 2,300,000+ Royalty-free Photos
  • Icons: 2,100,000+ Royalty-free Icons
  • Templates: 1,000+ Professionally designed templates
  • Quotes: 100,000 Quotes
  • Instant Resizing: Yes
  • Preset Sizes: 100+ Preset sizes
  • Google Fonts: 3,000+ Google Fonts

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)

Stencil videos

Stencil: The fastest way to create amazing graphics

More videos:

  • Review - Stencil Review After 3 Years Of Using It & How It Can Speed Up Your Workflow
  • Review - Stencil Review - Create Social Media Graphics [AppSumo 2019]
  • Demo - Stencil Review and Demo: Graphic Design App

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Balsamiq and Stencil)
Prototyping
100 100%
0% 0
Design Tools
72 72%
28% 28
Graphic Design Software
0 0%
100% 100
Design Collaboration
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using Balsamiq and Stencil. 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 Stencil

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.

Stencil Reviews

20 Next.js Alternatives Worth Considering
Rev up your components with Stencil, the tool that has one foot in the future with its web components that run everywhere. Think of it as the locksmith of web standards, opening doors to smooth, sturdy front-ends that scale without the sweat.
Canva Alternatives: 5 Social Media Content Design Tools
You can also consider Stencil for creating your visual ads for a fruitful paid ads strategy. There are numerous channels you can choose to deliver your message but at the same time, there’s only one thing that matters: quality. Stencil covers this issue and more, it allows you to save precious time while designing your ads.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Balsamiq should be more popular than Stencil. 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.

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 / 7 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: 11 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

Stencil mentions (3)

What are some alternatives?

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

Invision - Prototyping and collaboration for design teams

Canva - Canva is a graphic-design platform with a drag-and-drop interface to create print or visual content while providing templates, images, and fonts. Canva makes graphic design more straightforward and accessible regardless of skill level.

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

Crello - A simplified graphic design tool with 10,000 free templates.

Zeplin - Collaboration app for UI designers & frontend developers

Easil - Easil is the Drag-and-Drop Design tool that helps you create Visual Content SO good it looks like a Pro designed it.