10 Best UX/UI Design Software In 2023
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Best UX/UI Design Software Shortlist
Here’s the shortlist of the best UX/UI design software tools that I’ll cover in this article, with detailed summaries below:
1.
Balsamiq
— Best for quick and easy wireframing
2.
Sketch
— Best design and prototyping app for Macs
3.
Axure
— Best for building realistic, functional prototypes
4.
Figma
— Best for collaborative UX/UI design
5.
Webflow
— Best for taking control of HTML, JavaScript, and CSS in a visual canvas
6.
VisualSitemaps
— Best for auto generating visual sitemaps in seconds
7.
InVision Studio
— Best all-in-one whiteboard solution for design teams
8.
Maze
— Best for customer feedback and insights
9.
Flowmapp
— Best for collaboration between UX, strategy, design and development, and clients
10.
Origami Studio
— Best for free design prototyping and building
UX and UI are two parts of web design that work together to help ensure the user interface provides a pleasant experience. Whether web designers need to create mockups, accurate hi-fi frames, or prototypes, the right software will help deliver top-quality results. Learn about the best UX/UI design software to provide the information, tools, and structures designers need.
If you have general questions about how UX/UI design software works or how to pick the best option for your organization, take a look at my People Also Ask section below. Or, if you’re curious about how I prepared this list, see How I Selected the Best UX/UI Design Software.
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Overviews Of The 10 Best UX/UI Design Software
Here’s a brief description of each UX/UI design software that showcases the tool’s best use case, their noteworthy features, and some pros and cons. I’ve also included screenshots to give you a snapshot of their user interface if possible.
1
Balsamiq
Best for quick and easy wireframing
Balsamiq is design software used for rapid wireframing that combines the simplicity of a paper sketch with the power of digital tools. All wireframe designs look like sketches to ensure that stakeholders don’t get distracted by the little details and focus on the overall picture instead.
With Balsamiq, wireframing is more accessible at every level, including for business owners, project managers, business analysts, developers, agencies, and anyone interested in entering the UX field. They offer comprehensive wireframing resources through their Wireframing Academy so anyone can learn the software.
Balsamiq also increases accessibility with a cloud-based app, web-accessible portal, and downloadable desktop version (Mac and Windows). This platform offers support for businesses working on as many as 200 projects at a time.
Balsamiq Standout Features and Integrations
Features include UI components and icons, export to PNG or PDF, drag and drop capabilities, optimized for speed, re-usable symbols, and interactive prototypes.
Integrations include Confluence, Google Drive, Jira, Shift, and Trello.
This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.2
477
30-day free trial available
Plans start at $9/month (up to 2 projects)
Visit Website
Pros
- Workflow simulation options
- Quick and easy tools
- No learning curve
Cons
- Limited integrations
- Single-task platform
Visit Website
2
Sketch
Best design and prototyping app for Macs
Sketch is a Mac-based app that offers prototyping tools, website-building tools, illustration tools, feedback tools, and design systems for adaptive workflows and scalability.
While users within your organization may all be operating on Macs, third parties and test users may not, so Sketch created versatile collaboration features viewable with other devices and operating systems. Windows and other non-Mac users in charge of handoff, inspecting, or providing feedback about products can get access to Sketch through the web in any browser.
Sketch offers support for small and medium-sized organizations with two tiers — one for teams of up to 25 users and the other for teams of over 25 users. The platform is also free for all students and educators, including accessibility through Mac, iPhone, and web.
Sketch Standout Features and Integrations
Features include CAD tools, collaboration tools, design management, prototype creation, image library, visual modeling, data import and export, drag and drop, and customizable templates.
Integrations include Abstract, Avocode, Crystal, Drafta, Flinto, Flow, Lingo, Origami, Overlay, and Plant. In addition to integrations, Sketch offers assistant apps and plugins.
30-day free trial
From $9/user/month
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Pros
- Easy learning curve
- Simple transition to Sketch
- Offline design functionality
Cons
- Sketch files only open within Sketch
- Not available on iPad
Visit Website
3
Axure
Best for building realistic, functional prototypes
As a downloadable design platform, Axure offers users unlimited interactive design possibilities through Axure RP widgets that provide users the ability to experiment with sortable grids, working forms, adaptive views, and dynamic interfaces.
Anyone testing dynamic content for realistic UX prototypes can use Azure to ensure functionality across a variety of devices — no matter what type of containers they make. Users can make sure pop-ups, scrolling, and swiping all work on everything from desktop to Android devices through multi-state dynamic panels.
Axure can provide solutions for small businesses, medium-sized companies, and massive organizations with tiered pricing plans. Large teams can work together on this platform to co-author and contribute through intentional collaboration.
Axure Standout Features and Integrations
Features include software prototyping, rapid prototyping for UX/UI, mockup creation, collaboration tools, presentation tools, change management, and configurable workflows. All features are available offline.
Integrations include Adobe XD, Avion, Confluence, Figma, Jira, Miro, MS Teams, Sketch, Slack, and UserZoom. Users can embed prototypes directly into Jira and Confluence for testing.
30-day free trial
From $29/user/month
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Pros
- Easy to build high and low-fidelity prototypes
- No-code prototyping
- Offline functionality
Cons
- Limited collaboration tools
- One of the more expensive options
Visit Website
4
Figma
Best for collaborative UX/UI design
Figma is a collaborative design platform that provides a shared workspace where people across various teams and departments can come together to brainstorm, prototype, and build solutions in real time.
In addition to automatically responsive design layouts for websites, Figma also touts tools they say you won’t find anywhere else, including a modern pen tool that helps users draw in any direction; instant arc designs to design clocks, pie charts, and watch screens; and OpenType for advanced font features to explore branding through text.
Figma hopes their real-time collaboration platform will help team members align early in the project and stay in sync throughout — no matter the scope of the project or industry they’re in. To aid businesses in finding a solution for their needs, they offer several tiers that may support freelancers, startups, and small businesses, as well as larger organizations.
Figma Standout Features and Integrations
Features include advanced drawing tools, plug-ins and widgets, interactive prototypes, sketch import, advanced animations, unlimited viewers, shareable links, and team libraries. Figma offers Mac, PC, and Linux compatibility.
Integrations include Axure, Bubble, Flinto, Framer Web, Maze, Pendo, Principle, ProtoPie, Sprig, and UXtweak. Figma offers integrations for prototyping, user testing, developer handoff, collaboration, and productivity.
Free plan available
Plans start at $15/user/month
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Pros
- Stable and fun to work with
- Continuous upgrades for collaboration
- Powerful option for software developers
Cons
- Limited offline functionality
- Navigation to plug-ins is complex
Visit Website
5
Webflow
Best for taking control of HTML, JavaScript, and CSS in a visual canvas
This visual web development platform is built to allow users to design, create, and launch a custom website without writing any code. With its completely visual canvas, Webflow translates any design into CSS3, HTML5, and Javascript once it’s ready for publishing or handoff.
Webflow is optimized for more than just building websites, it can also connect with essential marketing tools so teams can collaborate on content, optimize SEO, and build flows with logic. This design platform also offers tons of support and training, as well as the ability to hire a Webflow-endorsed partner to help with any project.
Webflow offers support for both general and ecommerce websites with plans that are ideal for businesses of all sizes. In addition to free plans for solo operations and low-cost plans for small businesses, Webflow also offers custom solutions for those that anticipate massive scaling.
Webflow Standout Features and Integrations
Features include website-building tools, optimization tools, and scaling tools. Website-building tools include no-code design, interactions, CMS, ecommerce, and membership content.
Integrations include accessiBe, BoomTown, CloudFlare, Cognito Forms, Ecwid, Fomo, HubSpot Marketing Hub, LiveAgent, LiveChat, and Shippo.
Free plan + free trial available
From $12/user/month
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Pros
- Translates into code after building
- No coding needed
- Very user friendly
Cons
- A bit of a learning curve
- Confusing pricing structure
Visit Website
6
VisualSitemaps
Best for auto generating visual sitemaps in seconds
VisualSitemaps does exactly what their name implies, generating visual sitemaps with high-resolution screenshots of any site or web-based app. This makes it easier for designers and developers to perform site audits for SEO, UX, UI, and marketing needs.
To get a visual sitemap, users simply enter a URL, and the cloud-automated software will generate a thumbnail-based architecture of the whole site. Users can then annotate pages for feedback and edit a sitemap based on the original. VisualSitemaps also allows for crawling password-protected websites safely.
VisualSitemaps supports the work of web design directors, UI designers, UX designers, developers, strategists, marketers, and product owners. The software can visualize up to 20,000 pages per month.
VisualSitemaps Standout Features and Integrations
Features include cloud-automated crawling, sitemap editing, visual QA and scheduled crawls, screenshot annotations, export to PDF, crawling password-protected sites, and custom tags. Crawling password-protected sites works through VisualSitemaps’ encrypted credentials.
Integrations include Sketch.
Free plan available
From $19/user/month
Visit Website
Pros
- Ideal for checking out competitors
- Very sleek UI
- Easy to get started
Cons
- Scraping large websites is time consuming
- Specialized tool
Visit Website
7
InVision Studio
Best all-in-one whiteboard solution for design teams
As a digital product design to development software, InVision supports design and developer teams with high-fidelity web and mobile prototypes, as users can connect every element of the design workflow — from brainstorming and feedback to in-progress design sharing.
One tool many InVision Studio users applaud is vector-based drawing with flexible layers. This feature allows teams to turn ideas into designs on-screen to prototype, review, refine, and test digital products without using a single line of code. Users can also collaborate and collect feedback in real time to move projects forward quickly.
InVision Studio supports digital design for businesses of all sizes, including solo operations and enterprise-level organizations. They claim that every single company listed in the Fortune 100 collaborates with the InVision UI/UX tools.
InVision Studio Standout Features and Integrations
Features include premade and custom templates, micro-interactions like voting, usability testing, version history, and guest permissions. Advanced team management and security features are only included in enterprise plans.
Integrations include Adobe Creative Cloud, Asana, Azure DevOps, Coda, Figma, Google, Jira, Loom, Mode, and Photoshop. Google tools include Calendar, Docs, and Maps.
No information available
Plans start from $4.95/user/month
Visit Website
Pros
- Free plan is available
- Access to multiple libraries
- Entire team is notified when designs change
Cons
- No responsive UI option when designing
- Workflow between demo and prototype isn’t intuitive
Visit Website
8
Maze
Best for customer feedback and insights
As cloud-based software built to test prototypes, Maze is a tool that’s used for marketing campaigns, design ideas, and user feedback through a single unified portal. This platform can empower agile teams to test their tools and learn more about customer preferences for rapid action.
Maze has a number of essential features, including design and product validation. Users can validate the usability of their design before writing a single line of code and the functionality of their products before investing valuable resources in a full production line. Find and filter research results for targeted, actionable insights that will drive projects forward.
This UX design software can support freelancers, SMBs, and large organizations with tiered pricing and remote capabilities that allow collaboration with internal and external teams no matter their location. Users can discover solutions by use case, role, or industry to ensure a package customized to fit their needs.
Maze Standout Features and Integrations
Features include templates gallery, live website and prototype testing, tree testing, feedback surveys, card sorting, and in-product prompts. These tools can be used for concept and idea validation, as well as feedback and satisfaction.
Integrations include Adobe XD, Figma, InVision, Marvel, Sitoo, Sketch, and Slack. All integrations allow two-way exchange of information.
Free forever plan available
Paid plans start at $99/month. Custom plans and pricing are available.
Visit Website
Pros
- Pre-written qual and quant questions
- Easy test building
- User friendly reports
Cons
- Slow loading time from testers
- Buggy mobile app
Visit Website
9
Flowmapp
Best for collaboration between UX, strategy, design and development, and clients
FlowMapp is a UX platform that offers full-stack capabilities to design websites, apps, and products through an online collaborative tool that includes a flowchart, sitemap, customer journey map, and user personas.
Users can integrate FlowMapp at nearly every stage of development, starting with pre-sale and working their way through to content creation. With a unified location, FlowMapp allows users to collect and organize information for UX and development, planning, teamwork, content, client communication, and sales strategy.
FlowMapp can support a variety of businesses tiered pricing for small organizations and agencies, as well as enterprise teams. They also offer special discounts for students and academic institutions.
FlowMapp Standout Features and Integrations
Features include flowchart diagrams, sitemap creation tools, user flow diagrams, collaboration tools, project sharing and transfer, and project archiving.
Integrations include Figma. When using Slickplan, WordPress, Joomla, concrete5, Drupal, and ExpressEngine are available as plugins.
14-day free trial available
Plans start at $9/month for a single user
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Pros
- Low barrier for entry
- Easy and intuitive to use
- Powerful information architecture tool
Cons
- No SERP information text block
- Limited ability to create/customize templates
Visit Website
10
Origami Studio
Best for free design prototyping and building
The all-in-one animation, design, and prototyping tool from Facebook, Origami Studio 3 is the newest iteration of the original Origami. This UX/UI design software offers features built to make user interfaces and interactions easier and more intuitive. Users can leverage audio and photos, build logic behind apps with the patch editor, and use dynamic layouts.
The layout feature comes from the new addition of the Canvas tool and delivers a dynamic control system that creates adaptive layouts that integrate design elements more cohesively. Designs will automatically change and update when making changes for faster creation and iteration of work.
Origami Studio is for everyone. Because this software is free, it’s accessible to individuals and freelancers. While it may not have all the tools and features a big team needs, such as collaboration and CRM tools, Facebook is constantly updating the platform.
Origami Studio Standout Features and Integrations
Features include downloadable prototypes for mobile and desktop, downloadable interaction and scroll patterns, dynamic layout, patch editor, concepts, animation, and workflow.
Integrations include Figma and Sketch. More integrations coming soon.
Free to use (open source)
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Pros
- Easy and fun to use
- Completely free software
Cons
- Only available for Mac
- Limited integrations
Visit Website
Other Options
Here are a few more worthwhile options that didn’t make the best UX/UI design software list:
- Framer
Best for no-code website building with simple publishing
- Craft.io
Best for managing the entire product life cycle
- Justinmind
Best for responsive design and event interactions
- Miro
Best for online collaborative whiteboard for teams
- MockFlow
Best for small businesses with end-to-end product design needs
- Marvel
Best for prototyping and wireframing of multi-device apps
- UXPin
Best for component-driven prototyping and product design
- Treejack
Best for evaluating content findability
- Optimal Workshop
Best for qualitative research and information architecture
- Proto.io
Best for creating fully interactive web and mobile prototypes
How I Selected The Best UX/UI Design Software
Maybe you’re wondering how exactly I chose what UX/UI design software to include on this list? When I started building this top 10 list, the first thing I did was pick software options with high user ratings. I then narrowed down what was left using the selection criteria below to compare them to one another.
Seeing how each platform stacked up against the next allowed me to hone my list of best user interface design software to those most versatile and comprehensive options. I also drew on my years of product manager experience to pinpoint those features that added the most value.
Selection Criteria
Here’s a short summary of the main selection and evaluation criteria I used to develop my list of the best UX/UI design software for this article.
Usability
Whether you’re designing a product or a website, time is always limited. You need a UX/UI design tool that’s easy to learn and use. Many of the platforms on this list feature drag-and-drop tools and no-code capabilities for a simpler design experience. I also looked for solutions that offered online training and guidance for new users.
Standout Features
When it comes to design, there are a number of features and tools that really push some platforms above the rest. I checked that those options on my top ten list offered UI design kits and editable templates to get product managers and designers up and running right away.
Software Integrations
While you might not think that your UX/UI design needs to share data or integrate with third-party tools, there are tons of collaboration and design tools that make your job easier. I chose tools with integrations that help businesses connect across all teams with add-on design tools specific to your company needs.
Pricing
There is no one-size-fits-all pricing structure for UX/UI design software. Every company has different needs and a unique budget. To ensure there’s a UI tool for everyone, I included options for small businesses and startups, as well as scalable pricing models and custom creations for enterprise-level organizations.
People Also Ask
If you’re new to product or web design, you might have some general questions. Check out these FAQs for an introduction to UX/UI design software.
What is UX/UI design software?
UI stands for User Interface, while UX stands for User Experience. Each of these design tools is an essential facet of customizing software, websites, and products to ensure a positive journey for the end user. With these two types of tools, businesses can create effective, easy-to-use interfaces for their customers.
What are the benefits of UX/UI design software?
Besides making your product or service easier to use, UX/UI design software has a number of other benefits, including higher customer retention, improved branding, better search engine optimization, and lower design costs.
What are the key features of UX/UI design software?
You want UX/UI design software that supports the different stages of your design process. Take a look at some of the key features below:
- Wireframing: an essential visual guide that blueprints the framework of a website or physical product.
- Prototyping: an early sample or model you can use to test and evaluate functionality and ease of use.
- Visual design: a tool that helps designers explore color, space, typography, and imagery to improve a user’s experience.
- Collaboration tools: a key feature that allows inter-team communication for a more streamlined workflow.
Find Ways to Learn More
Good design can be the difference between success and failure for websites and products. But with the help of a few key tools from this list, you can create an elevated user experience that will delight your customers.
Are you looking for more user experience or user interface tools to enhance your workflow? Consider these summaries for the 10 Best Wireframing Tools in 2023 that target apps and websites, as well as the 10 Best Product Design Software in 2023.
Also, if you’re looking for the latest insights from the experts in the world of product management, sign up for The Product Manager newsletter today.
