Napkin AI vs Whimsical

Napkin AI

• Turning written documents into diagrams for slides and reports
• People who have the text but not the design skills or time to draw
• Bloggers and marketers illustrating posts and social content
• Developers adding generated visuals to a product through the API

Whimsical

• Product teams sketching flows, wireframes and specs in one place
• Teams with many occasional viewers, since only editors are billed
• Linux users: the desktop app ships as DEB and RPM packages
• Students and teachers, who can apply for a free year

Napkin AI

• The Free plan gives 500 AI credits a week, puts Napkin branding on visuals and exports only PNG and PDF.
• Unused AI credits do not carry over, and generating a visual costs roughly 1 credit per word selected.
• Napkin runs only in a browser and needs an internet connection; the vendor says there is no offline mode.
• The vendor states that it does not offer discounts for nonprofits or students.

Whimsical

• The Free plan allows 50 new board objects and 50 doc blocks a month and puts a watermark on exports.
• There is no dedicated mobile app: on a phone, files can be viewed and commented on in a browser, and iPad use is browser-based.
• AI credits are a one-off 10 per account on every plan; more are sold in bundles starting at 250 credits for $25.
• Private teams, SAML single sign-on and SCIM are limited to Business, at $20 per editor / month billed annually.

Napkin AI

Visuals generated from text

Napkin works from pasted or imported text rather than a prompt. Selecting a passage produces several candidate visuals, and the user picks the one that fits.

Editable results

A generated visual can be restyled and taken apart: wording, colors and individual elements can all be changed, and editing is unlimited on every plan.

Brand styles and fonts

Brand colors and fonts are set up in Brand Studio. Plus allows 3 brand styles, while Pro allows unlimited custom branding and uploaded fonts.

Import and export

PPT, DOC, PDF, HTML and Markdown files can be imported on every plan. PNG and PDF export are free, and PowerPoint and SVG export need Plus or Pro.

Slides (beta)

Napkin Slides builds full presentations with an AI agent. The vendor says it is covered by the Free, Plus and Pro plans with no separate charge.

API

A REST API returns a visual for submitted text as SVG, PNG or PPT and works with Make and n8n. Any plan can create a token; credits, rate limits and watermarks vary by plan.

Whimsical

Boards on an infinite canvas

One board type covers flowcharts, mind maps, sequence diagrams, sticky notes and freehand sketches. Voting and a timer are included on every plan.

Wireframes

Wireframes are assembled from drag-and-drop components, as a quick way to explore product ideas and iterate on them.

Whimsical AI

A prompt generates a flowchart, a branched mind map or an editable wireframe. Each account gets 10 one-off AI credits; more are sold separately at $0.10 each.

Docs

Docs hold notes, project plans, briefs and specs next to the boards they describe, with Markdown support, toggles and embedded content.

Multiplayer editing and comments

Several people can edit a file at once and leave comments on it. Share links can grant view, comment or edit access on every plan.

Embeds and AI tool connectors

Boards embed live in Notion and Obsidian and preview in Slack, Jira and Google Docs. An MCP server and connectors let ChatGPT, Claude and Cursor create diagrams.

Napkin AI

• Free$0

  500 AI credits per week, unlimited visual editing and file import, PNG and PDF export, standard icons, and Napkin branding on visuals.

• Plus$9

  per person / month, billed yearly ($12 billed monthly)

  10,000 AI credits per month, PPT and SVG export, 3 brand styles, bold icons, no Napkin branding, and team management and billing.

• Pro$22

  per person / month, billed yearly ($30 billed monthly)

  30,000 AI credits per month, exclusive designs, unlimited custom branding, uploaded fonts and optional credit top-ups.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Offered on request through the sales team; the pricing page gives no details beyond a contact link.

Whimsical

• Free$0

  50 new board objects and 50 doc blocks a month, 5 MB uploads within 1 GB of storage, watermarked exports and 7-day version history.

• Pro$10

  per editor / month, billed annually ($12 billed monthly)

  Unlimited board objects and doc blocks, exports without a watermark, 90-day version history, password-protected files and 100 GB of storage.

• Business$20

  per editor / month, billed annually ($24 billed monthly)

  Private teams, SAML single sign-on, SCIM, content security lock, unlimited version history, invoicing, priority support and storage from 2 TB.

Napkin AI

• Annual discount

  Save 25% with yearly billing

  Napkin's pricing page states a 25% saving on yearly plans: Plus is $9 per person a month against $12 billed monthly, and Pro is $22 against $30.

Whimsical

• Annual discount

  2 months free with annual billing

  Pro is $120 per editor billed annually against $12 a month, and Business is $240 against $24. The pricing page shows this as a 17% saving.

• Education

  Free for a year for students and teachers

  Teachers and students can apply for the education plan, which provides the same features as Pro free of charge for a year.

• Nonprofit

  20% off for nonprofits

  Whimsical offers a 20% discount to non-profit organizations that apply through its form.

• Other savings

  Free for life for YouTube creators

  Creators with a public YouTube channel of at least 1,000 subscribers and a video published in the past 30 days can apply for a plan that is free for life.