InVision
Mattermost
| Feature | InVision | Mattermost |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $7.95/mo | Free / from $10/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 3.8 / 5 | 4.2 / 5 |
| Best For | design-teams, product-managers, stakeholder-reviews, legacy-users | devops-teams, security-conscious-orgs, government, enterprise |
| Founded | 2011 | 2015 |
| Prototyping | ✓ | ✗ |
| Freehand Whiteboard | ✓ | ✗ |
| Design Systems | ✓ | ✗ |
| Inspect Mode | ✓ | ✗ |
| Commenting | ✓ | ✗ |
| User Testing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Messaging | ✗ | ✓ |
| Channels | ✗ | ✓ |
| Playbooks | ✗ | ✓ |
| Integrations | ✗ | ✓ |
| Self Hosting | ✗ | ✓ |
| Compliance | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ InVision Pros
- Excellent prototyping with hotspots and transitions
- Freehand whiteboarding for brainstorming
- Design system manager (DSM) for consistency
- Good stakeholder review and commenting workflow
✗ InVision Cons
- Company has pivoted and scaled down significantly
- Studio product was discontinued
- Most teams have migrated to Figma
✓ Mattermost Pros
- Self-hostable
- Open source
- DevOps integrations
- Secure
✗ Mattermost Cons
- Smaller ecosystem
- Fewer integrations than Slack
- Self-hosting complexity
The Verdict
InVision is built for design teams and product managers, with a focus on prototyping and freehand-whiteboard. Mattermost targets devops teams and security conscious orgs and leads with messaging and channels.
Pricing is close: InVision starts at $7.95/mo versus $10/mo for Mattermost — not a deciding factor on its own.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Mattermost edges out on user ratings (4.2 vs 3.8). While both are well-regarded, that gap reflects real differences in user satisfaction worth considering.
Bottom line: Mattermost has a slight overall edge — but if excellent prototyping with hotspots and transitions matters most to you, InVision may still be the right call.