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Design · head to head

Balsamiq Wireframes vs Steampipe

Balsamiq Wireframes logo

Balsamiq Wireframes

Design

Low-fidelity wireframing that keeps focus on structure and content

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit Balsamiq WireframesFull review
Steampipe logo

Steampipe

Developer Tools

Query cloud APIs, SaaS tools and code with SQL, with no extract or load step

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit SteampipeFull review

The short version

  • Free plans on both; paid from $16/mo and $49/mo.
  • Where Balsamiq Wireframes falls short: starter plan is capped at 10 projects and costs $16 per editor per month ($192/year).
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Balsamiq Wireframes and Steampipe actually diverge.

Attributes where Balsamiq Wireframes and Steampipe differ
AttributeBalsamiq WireframesSteampipe
Pricing modelSubscriptionOpen source, with paid hosting through Turbot Pipes
PlatformsWebmacOS, Linux, Windows, Self-hosted, Web
CategoryDesignDeveloper Tools

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Balsamiq Wireframes

Nothing recorded that Steampipe does not also cover.

Only in Steampipe

  • SQL over live APIs
  • Wide plugin set
  • Embedded Postgres
  • Compliance benchmarks
  • Joins across providers
  • Hosted option

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Balsamiq Wireframes

  • Creating wireframes for idea communicationnot Steampipe
  • Prototyping interfaces faster than design toolsnot Steampipe
  • Collaborating on wireframes with unlimited reviewersnot Steampipe
  • Exporting designs to PDF and imagesnot Steampipe

Steampipe

  • Security teams answering posture questions against live cloud accounts rather than a nightly exportnot Balsamiq Wireframes
  • Compliance evidence gathering where the answer must reflect the account at the moment it is askednot Balsamiq Wireframes
  • Inventory and drift questions spanning several cloud providers in one querynot Balsamiq Wireframes
  • Engineers who would rather write SQL than learn each provider command line toolnot Balsamiq Wireframes

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Balsamiq Wireframes

  • Starter plan is capped at 10 projects and costs $16 per editor per month ($192/year)
  • Teams plan raises the cap to only 100 projects at $24 per editor per month; even Enterprise tops out at 400 projects
  • AI credits are metered per editor per month (500 on Starter, 1,000 on Teams, 2,500 on Enterprise), so AI features have a hard usage ceiling beyond the base seat price

Steampipe

  • AGPL-3.0 across all four engines is a procurement blocker at organisations that ban the licence outright, and the network clause reaches any internal portal or service that puts a web interface in front of it
  • Dashboards, benchmarks and mods were removed from Steampipe entirely at version 1.0 in October 2024 and now live in a separate product, so pre-2024 documentation and tutorials describe commands that no longer exist
  • Live querying is bound by cloud provider API rate limits and keeps no persistent store by default, which is why a separate DuckDB-backed product exists for log volumes and why large accounts return slowly
  • The company is fifteen people and bootstrapped, maintaining four command line tools plus a hosted service plus two further products, and the newer tools have thin community traction relative to that surface area
  • Hosted tiers include only three users regardless of tier, with additional Enterprise users charged separately, so a team of thirty costs an order of magnitude more than the headline figure before compute and storage are counted

Pricing, plan by plan

Balsamiq Wireframes

Free
  • Starter$16/mo
    • Up to 10 projects
    • Unlimited reviewers
    • 500 monthly AI credits per editor
  • Teams$24/mo
    • Up to 100 projects
    • Unlimited reviewers
    • 1000 monthly AI credits per editor
  • Enterprise$35/mo
    • Up to 400 projects
    • 2500 monthly AI credits per editor
    • SSO with SAML

Steampipe

Free
  • Steampipe CLIFree
    • AGPL-3.0
    • All plugins
    • No user or query limits
  • Pipes DeveloperFree
    • One user
    • 400 compute minutes
    • 3GB storage
  • Pipes Team$49/mo
    • Three users
    • 2,000 compute minutes
    • 20GB storage
  • Pipes Enterprise$249/mo
    • Three users
    • 10,000 compute minutes
    • 100GB storage

Which should you pick?

Choose Balsamiq Wireframes if

  • You want to start without paying.
Balsamiq Wireframes review

Choose Steampipe if

  • You need sql over live apis.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on macOS, Linux, Windows, Self-hosted, Web.
  • You also want wide plugin set.
Steampipe review

Questions people ask

Is Balsamiq Wireframes or Steampipe better?
Neither clearly leads. Balsamiq Wireframes starts at Free and Steampipe at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Balsamiq Wireframes or Steampipe?
Balsamiq Wireframes starts at Free and Steampipe at Free.
Does Balsamiq Wireframes or Steampipe run on more platforms?
Balsamiq Wireframes runs on Web. Steampipe runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Self-hosted, Web.
Can I use Balsamiq Wireframes for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Balsamiq Wireframes best used for?
Balsamiq Wireframes is most often used for creating wireframes for idea communication, prototyping interfaces faster than design tools, collaborating on wireframes with unlimited reviewers, exporting designs to pdf and images. Of those, creating wireframes for idea communication and prototyping interfaces faster than design tools are not what Steampipe is typically brought in for.
What can Balsamiq Wireframes do that Steampipe cannot?
Steampipe covers SQL over live APIs, Wide plugin set, Embedded Postgres, Compliance benchmarks.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Balsamiq Wireframes: How much does Balsamiq Wireframes cost per editor?

Balsamiq charges $16/month (Starter), $24/month (Teams), or $35/month (Enterprise) per editor when billed annually. Monthly billing costs $192/year, $288/year, or $420/year respectively. Only editors who actively make changes are counted, not viewers or stakeholders.

Source
Steampipe: When did Steampipe become AGPL?

May 2021, about four months after the project went public. It is a settled licence rather than a recent change, and predates the Business Source Licence wave it is often confused with.

Balsamiq Wireframes: What AI credit limits does Balsamiq provide by plan?

Starter includes 500 monthly AI credits per editor, Teams includes 1000 monthly credits per editor, and Enterprise includes 2500 monthly credits per editor. Additional on-demand credits can be purchased at $15 per 500 credits across all tiers.

Source
Steampipe: Where did the dashboards and benchmarks go?

Into Powerpipe. They were deprecated in March 2024 and removed from Steampipe at version 1.0 in October 2024, so the check, dashboard, mod and variable commands are gone.

Balsamiq Wireframes: What are the project limits across Balsamiq plans?

Starter allows up to 10 projects, Teams allows up to 100 projects, and Enterprise allows up to 400 projects per workspace. All tiers support unlimited boards within each project.

Source
Steampipe: Is it fast on a large cloud estate?

Not always. Queries call provider APIs at request time, so rate limits rather than query planning set the pace, and there is no persistent store by default.

Balsamiq Wireframes: Is there a free trial for Balsamiq Wireframes?

Balsamiq offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required for new users to evaluate the platform before committing to a paid plan.

Source
Steampipe: Does the AGPL affect internal use?

Running it internally for your own analysis is fine. Putting a web interface in front of it that other people use is where the network clause becomes a question for your legal team.

Steampipe: Is a bootstrapped vendor a risk?

It cuts both ways. There is no investor pressure toward a licence change or an exit, and there are also fifteen people supporting a large product surface.

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