Guidelines vs Standards
Guidelines
guidelines.siteStandards
standards.siteSide by side
| Figure | Guidelines | Standards |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $15/mo | $15/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 3 | 3 |
| Spec score · Brand Management Software | 7.6 (#19) | 8.3 (#8) |
| Access controls | Guides can be shared publicly, with password protection, or through account-based authentication. | Published guidelines can be shared by link, with access granted or revoked for people or organizations by email domain. |
| Enterprise security | The pricing comparison lists HTTPS/SSL for all guides and SSO authentication as security features, with SSO included in Enterprise. | Enterprise features include enhanced security and SSO integration, and the pricing comparison lists SAML-compatible custom SSO and viewer SSO options. |
| Intended users | The pricing page describes Studio for studios or in-house teams and Enterprise for large agencies and brands. | Pro is described as made for individuals and agencies, while Enterprise is tailored for in-house teams. |
| Support | Guidelines offers support by message and email, and says message replies usually arrive within a few hours or sooner if the team is available. | Support is provided by email and community Slack, with stated team coverage of 9am–5pm Pacific and best-effort responses outside those hours. |
| What it does | Guidelines is an online brand publishing platform for creating interactive brand guides for teams. | Standards is a no-code platform for designing, publishing, managing and sharing interactive online brand guidelines. |
Plans
Standards
- Studio (directory listing)$15 a month
- Pro$40 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
Guidelines
Guidelines is a web platform for creating and publishing interactive brand guides that teams can manage together. Guides can collect logos, colors, typography, icons, and downloadable files in a searchable place. Quick Start uses uploaded logos, selected colors, and fonts to prepare an initial guide draft, while collaborators can be invited to design and manage guidelines. Guides can be shared publicly, password-protected, or restricted through account-based authentication. Integrations include Figma, Adobe Creative Cloud, Sketch, Tailwind, CSS Variables, ChatGPT, Claude, Claude Code, Cursor, and Okta. The ChatGPT connector uses MCP and OAuth; the support page says it reads brand data without write access. The Free plan costs nothing and includes one public guide, one editor, seven published pages, and 100MB of storage. Studio costs $15 a month, billed per editor per month; Enterprise costs $40 a month, also billed per editor per month, and additional SSO fees may apply per monthly active SSO user. Both paid plans offer broader guide management, with Enterprise adding features including SSO, version history, and localization.
Standards
Standards has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.