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By AayushMany essential design decisions have come from sketching a groundbreaking idea on whatever is at hand. Like the NFL’s Vince Lombardi Trophy, Southwest Airlines was born on a napkin.
These brief sketches became the bedrock of a much larger entity that could be refined and iterated upon until they became a design icon or a thriving airline business.
Wireframe tools provide the same option to designers, allowing them to rough out their ideas and set the basic building blocks to evaluate and refine the overall design.
Fortunately, there are many great wireframe tools. To help you find what you’re looking for, we’ve compiled a list of the top ten.
What are wireframe tools?
Wireframe tools allow designers to create an outline of a design as simply as possible. With drag and drop, designers can place images, headings, and content placeholders and move them around to create a first draft that can be refined later.
Why do we wireframe?
Wireframes help designers lay down the fundamentals of a page’s interface: Which content is prioritized? How do you allocate space? What functionalities is this page supposed to have? What should it behave like?
There are numerous advantages to employing a wireframe to design the fundamental layout of a website, such as:
- The information architecture of a website is connected to its visual design through the emphasis on the connections between pages.
- Consistent methods for presenting information of different categories on the user interface
- Determining what functionalities are expected •
- Prioritizing what content to create based on the location of that content and how much space is available within that category.
Lucidchart
The best diagramming application for creating app and website wireframes
- 7-day free trial
- Prices start at $7.95 per user per month (billed annually)
BP, L’Oréal, and BMW use Lucidchart, a software that makes it easier to create app wireframes. It has a vast library of wireframe templates, drag and drop across an infinite canvas, real-time collaboration, in-app chat, automated sync and save, and more. It also happens to be a web app; therefore, no downloads or installations are needed. It works with any operating system, browser, or device.
Considerable value to cost and usability exist with Lucidchart when we apply our specific evaluation criteria. It’s one of the most accessible wireframing tools to use because of its simple interface, intelligent features, and low monthly cost. It simplifies and makes collaboration for hybrid and remote teams more accessible and more convenient with comments, tasks, sharing revision history, and embedding.
It works with Microsoft Office applications, has free add-ons for Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, and integrates with a variety of other applications, including Atlassian, Salesforce, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Slack, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Jive, GitHub, BambooHR, Quip and more via Zapier. Lucidchart also works hand in hand with Lucid’s virtual whiteboarding product, Lucidspark, so you can easily convert your messy ideation sessions into diagrams and processes in Lucidchart.
Figma
The software is available in a freemium version and costs $7.95 monthly.
Our top pick is Figma because it has powerful cloud-based design software, and you can create three projects for free before you commit to one of their payment plans.
Using Figma is as simple and straightforward as it gets. Figma doesn’t have its own built-in UI components, but it allows you to submit your own or use a pre-designed kit.
However, creating artboards, adding basic shapes and text, and performing a small amount of experimentation is straightforward.
All aspects of design organization are handled by a single panel, allowing you to quickly move between artboards, layers, and pages without feeling overwhelmed.
This is where the built-in Figma constraints come in, as they give you a visual representation of how each element will perform on different screen sizes, making optimizing your user experience for mobile devices easier.
Collaborative working in Figma means that multiple team members can access and edit the design and leave remarks. After the prototype is finished, the CSS code can be accessed, and individual elements can be exported.
Adobe XD
Adobe XD is a vector-based design tool that works with other Adobe products such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Adobe Fonts, and Adobe Stock. It is considered one of the best-paid tools available.
Adobe XD is designed to make wireframing easier for designers by offering a full suite of prototyping tools and easy-to-use tools for building site maps, flowcharts, and storyboards.
Adobe XD also offers a repeat grid option, auto animation and voice triggers, and a complete set of collaborative working tools, all part of Adobe XD’s commitment to giving designers the tools to design quickly.
It is also available on macOS and Microsoft Windows. The only downside to Adobe XD is that you need an Adobe subscription to use its features.
FigJam
FigJam is a digital whiteboard application within the Figma suite. The goal is to enable real-time collaboration, brainstorming, and creativity of teams on initiatives. However, this is not the only application; it can also be used to create interactive wireframes and prototypes. There are over 300 templates available in the software that you can use immediately, including wireframing packages to save you time.
Overall, we would suggest FigJam as an excellent tool for anyone who needs to wireframe mobile apps or websites, regardless of whether you’re a product manager, a designer or just have a fantastic app idea. In addition, users fascinated with design will have a very intuitive user interface for starting to sketch their ideas immediately, regardless of the user’s design prowess.
FigJam is more than just a wireframing tool, it can also be used as a collaboration tool for your entire project team. When you invite your team to join your board, they will be able to work together in real-time, improving your team’s productivity. It is also essential to think about the cursor messaging feature. While it may not seem like much, being able to communicate directly on the board makes collaboration much more accessible.
With FigJam, you can generate Wireframe and clickable prototype without writing a line of code. Instead, you can use their pre-built wireframe components, such as headings, buttons, feature widgets, and navigation bars, to bring your digital product designs to life. Also, you can add feedback to your wireframes to make review meetings more effective.
There are so many drawing tools in FigJam for outlining a preliminary idea. And not only that, it has a sticky notes feature which is perfect for writing down your ideas and sharing your feedback with your team. Additionally, the whiteboard’s drag and drop functionality allows you to easily change and refine your product design as you go.
There are many tools for prototyping, user testing, and developer handoff, and integrations with Asana, Dropbox, Figma, Google Drive, Microsoft Teams, Notion, Slack, and Trello.
Balsamiq
Wireframing that replaces your notepad designs and helps you focus on structure, but in low fidelity.
- Free trial for 30 days • $9 per user per month (billed annually)
Balsamiq is a wireframe app that is meant to allow you to create wireframes in the same way you would in a notepad. This tool puts the project’s structure first and defers the design to a later time, as it is not concerned with fancy imagery.
Your UX designer will love Balsamiq wireframes because they are so intuitive. It offers the editing options, so that all elements would be appropriately categorized and able to convey their ideas. While there are ways to add color to your wireframes, the only things that aren’t gray by default are callouts and remark sticky notes.
Balsamiq is integrated with Atlassian’s Jira and Confluence, and Google Drive.
Their cloud pricing starts at $9 per month with a maximum of two projects and a 30 day free trial. Pricing programs for Google Drive and Desktop are also available.
UXPin
Pricing starts at $6 per user per month
- A free plan and 14 day free trial
- The most effective wireframing software for ensuring that an organization’s design is consistent across all departments
UXPin is a company that creates interactive prototypes for applications and websites. UXPin is a real treasure in the design domain, as it allows for implementing a code-driven design process. For instance, it will generate the correct CSS code for your ‘drawing’ or ‘sketching’ input.
The rationale behind my selection of UXPin: The design consistency feature of UXPin is something you can be exceedingly pleased with. It lets you create custom components and UX patterns to reuse multiple projects. For example, you might use a light gray color for all pop-up icons on your website.
Although design and branding elements are usually included in the prototyping process, a consistent design can help transition from low fidelity designs to high fidelity prototypes..
UXPin’s Integrations and Standout Features
Features include wireframing, a drag and drop interface, design consistency, interactive prototyping, real time collaboration, prototypes, design handoff, UI/UX design and accessibility features like compliance with WCAG 2.0 standards.
Integrations include Asana, Google Sheets, Microsoft Dynamics 365, NPM, Salesforce, Storybook, Zendesk and more.
Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages:
- Exceptional version branching capabilities
- Comprehensive learning tutorials
- Bulk editing capabilities
Drawbacks:
- An overabundance of unsolicited marketing communications
Justinmind
Justinmind is a wireframing application for Mac and Windows, and is geared towards designers who aren’t as technically savvy. It is a user-friendly platform and not as complex as other alternatives like Sketch or Figma.
However, the user interface is not the only thing sacrificed to have functionality in Justinmind. The platform is intended to allow for the creation of wireframes that can be evaluated as prototypes from the beginning and features a variety of interactive prototype elements.
In addition to a variety of built in UI elements, Justinmind also includes a variety of widgets for iOS, SAP, and Android. You can implement custom styling options to change the pre installed elements or to integrate your own. The prototype can be exported as HTML upon completion.
Skill Level: Perfect for designers who want to keep things simple and get quick feedback on the first design iteration, especially if they don’t have coding skills.
Pros: Even though it only has desktop access, Justinmind allows real-time collaboration with team members. It is an excellent choice for people who need fast design feedback in the early wireframe stage with little effort.
It contains many pre-installed user interface elements that are often updated, allowing you to integrate your own.
Drawbacks:
- The application is unavailable on the web, so you must get it.
- Co editing is not available on the free plan.
- Windows and macOS are supported platforms.
Price: There is a free plan with a variety of features.
The standard plan costs $9 per month and offers real time collaboration and sophisticated prototyping capabilities.
Wireframe.cc
No cost Tier Restrictions: No interaction or export capabilities, only single page wireframes.
Upgrade: Each user pays $16 per month.
If you like ultra minimal and elegant interfaces, you will love Wireframe.cc. The single page wireframes can be created without user accounts and the free version does not require user accounts. To generate interactive wireframes or export them to PNG and PDF formats, you need a premium account. Premium licenses cost between $16 and $99 per month and the top tier gets you access to an unlimited number of users and projects. Unlike the other design tools mentioned here, this application has no immediately apparent tools at its interface. Instead, you are shown context sensitive tools only when you click on an element or drag the cursor.
Cacoo
The free tier has limitations, with a maximum of six papers.
Upgrade: Pricing starts at $6 per user per month.
Cacoo is a diagramming app that lets you visualize your ideas. Cacoo is one of the few products that offer unlimited users in its free plan and integrates with Google Docs, Adobe Creative Cloud, AWS, Slack, and Dropbox. It also provides templates, including wireframes. However, the free eternal plan only allows for the creation of a maximum of six sheets and the exportation of projects only in PNG format. The $6 per month Pro plans include multiple export options, unrestricted sheets, and revision history.
Jumpcharts
Tool for project management and website planning
Browser-based application: Product Type
The free tier limits you to one project, 10 pages, 2 users and 10 megabytes of storage.
Upgrade: The monthly fee starts at $5.
If you are in the process of developing a website, Jumpchart will help you create sitemaps, manage content and coordinate the project. The ability to export your project to HTML, Drupal or WordPress is one of the appealing features. The free plan is pretty limited, with two users, one project (up to ten pages), and ten megabytes of storage. However, it provides one of the most cost effective premium plans. For $5 per month, you get 5 projects (each with a maximum of 25 pages), 5 users per project, and 1GB of storage.
In conclusion
We hope that our carefully curated list of free and paid wireframe tools has answered the questions you were looking for. The right wireframing tool can make an app or website more intuitive and efficient, which is something developers look towards when creating an app or website. When choosing the right software, you need to take into account your own needs, because each software has its own features, advantages and disadvantages.
If you plan to use wireframe tools, enrolling in a UX design course has the advantage of structured learning, hands on experience, and a complete understanding of user experience principles. It teaches you the right skills and knowledge to use wireframe tools in the context of the more extensive UX design, so you can create user-centric and meaningful digital experiences.