The Best UI/UX Design Software: Complete Comparison Guide

UI UX design software is a fast-moving game, a competitive market, and a growth industry. If you are a relative novice in the field of UI/UX design or even if you are more experienced and looking at options for changing or adding to your preferred UI UX software design package, then this article is absolutely aimed at you.

There are a growing number of top-quality tools from general UI UX software to more specialist UX prototyping tools, and wireframe software. Everything is ready to meet whatever your design needs and push your creativity to its limits. Sometimes the question is time, it’s easier to stick with what you know, rather than research and learn another design software. It’s easier to go with the well-known, rather than find something different. To be fair this is understandable, and not necessarily a bad idea. But, with this article to help you, you can compare the best UI UX software design packages at a glance, and work out what could be more suitable for you, what special features exist, and what are your different options.

Let’s kick off with the basic considerations.

How to choose the right UI/UX software?

Price – A key factor in UI UX design software and not a decision to be taken lightly. There are options, from free packages to paid-for alternatives, from one-off payments to monthly subscriptions. We’ve got the information right here, but you’ll need to check out the limits and small print.

Usage – Another vital factor is what is your intended usage. Some software packages are ideal for web design, others for mobile apps design. Bear in mind your needs, ask yourself what you will use it for.  Think of animations, the packages vary to a greater degree for advanced or basic animation and speed. You know your projects, you know what you need.

Migration – If you are changing software, something to look out for is whether or not your new UI UX design software supports your old file format. Your old files are important to you, you don’t want to have to start everything from scratch.

Workflow – Good workflow equals faster and easier project completion. Ask yourself if your chosen UI UX design software will help you get faster or better? Different options have different features that may speed up your workflow or help you up the quality.

Sharing with clients – It is vital that you can share your progress with your end client. The more you can communicate, early comments and feedback on progress can save you time in the long run. Ask yourself how easily this software enables communication and sharing.

Collaboration – More and more often designers are working in teams or at least collaborating with partners or client’s in house IT teams. Collaboration tools will make all the difference to your working relationship and some software packages are better than others. If it is an important factor, think carefully before choosing.

Most Popular UI/UX software:

Take a look at our UI/UX Design Software Infographic Comparison

 

17. Lunacy by Icons8 UI UX Design Software

Price: Free

Platform: Windows

Usage: Best for websites

Lunacy is a powerful but lightweight vector design tool for Windows and the great news is it’s completely free to use, with no time limits and unlimited usage for both personal and commercial projects. Offering the power of Sketch, including compatibility, reading, and saving Sketch files, even the old versions. It is high performance too, comparing favorably with other software applications regarding speed and memory use. The ease of use is a big plus too, as are the features such as dark mode, code export, AI-supported, and 16 language availability. There is no set-up or login required, a mass of high-quality graphic assets and you can even work offline. The downside, there must be something, is the lack of truly advanced features such as animations, lack of collaboration tools, and limited export options (sketch & PNG only). There are excellent community support and tutorials including videos. And did we mention it’s free?

✔️	Beginner Friendly	✔️	Intuitive	✔️	Prototyping
❌	Collaboration	✔️	Handoff (Developer Tools)	❌	No plugin library
✔️	Support vector and raster files	✔️	Symbols	✔️	Works offline
❌	No comments and share options	❌	Create Responsive designs	❌	Can’t open multiple artboards at once
❌	Pen tool	❌	Real data import	❌	Advanced animation features

Visit website

 

 

16. Hype 4 UI UX Design Software

Price: $49.99 | One-time payment

Platform: Mac

Usage: Best for websites, mobile

Tumult Hype 4 is a Mac-only app that specializes in creating interactive web content, GIFs, and animations for all devices with no coding involved. Hype 4 enables you to produce anything from simple animations to very advanced ones using timelines and scenes, record, and export. as a WYSIWYG editor, you have control and can visualize your creations and avoid the heavy technical stuff. However, there is the option to add code. There is a free trial option to help you decide

✔️	Beginner Friendly	✔️	Intuitive	✔️	Prototyping
✔️	Collaboration	✔️	Handoff (Developer Tools)	❌	No plugin library
✔️	Support vector and raster files	✔️	Symbols	✔️	Works offline
❌	No comments and share options	✔️	Create Responsive designs	❌	Can’t open multiple artboards at once
✔️	Pen tool	❌	Real data import	✔️	Advanced animation features

Visit website

 

 

15. Origami UI UX Design Software

Price: Free

Platform: Mac

Usage: Best for mobile apps

Origami Studio is Facebook’s effort to get involved in the UI UX software design field and to be fair it brings a lot of Facebook’s classic style to the table. Built by Facebook’s own team as they presumably weren’t happy with what was out there already. It aims to give freedom and design flexibility, including an excellent asset library, class animation features, and sound recording. Whilst it can take time to get used to as it’s quite technical it does open up a world of possibilities and it is free, free, free. Big pluses include your own tailored hotkeys, but it lacks the collaboration features that are so good elsewhere. Especially good for smaller projects but harder work for larger multiscreen prototypes.

✔️	Beginner Friendly	✔️	Intuitive	✔️	Prototyping
❌	No collaboration options	❌	No handoff (Developer Tools)	❌	No plugin library
✔️	Support images, videos, sounds, etc.	✔️	Symbols	✔️	Works offline
❌	No comment options	✔️	Create Responsive designs	✔️	Artboards
✔️	Pen tool	✔️	Real data import	✔️	Advanced animation features

Visit website

 

 

14. Fluid UI UX Design Software

Price: Free / Solo $25/mo / Pro $25/mo / Team $65/mo

Platform: Mac

Usage: Best for mobile apps

If you are looking for a Mac UI UX prototyping software application with a one-off payment system then Fluid UI could be for you. It is very easy to learn and is a simplified quick prototype drag and drop builder,  with some nice added touches such as over 2000 built-in customizable component assets. It works well for websites but better for mobiles at high or lower levels and has super collaboration features including multiple team member editing and live conference call presentations. A nice, user-friendly software package with no fuss design.

✔️	Beginner Friendly	✔️	Intuitive	✔️	Prototyping
✔️	Collaboration	❌	No handoff (Developer tools)	❌	No plugin library, but offers 2000+ built-in component assets
✔️	Support vector and raster files	❌	Limited symbol features	❌	Doesn’t work offline
✔️	Leave comments	✔️	Create Responsive designs	✔️	Artboards
❌	Pen tool	❌	Real data import	❌	Limited animation features

Visit website

 

 

13. Proto.io UI UX Design Software

Price: $29 /m Freelancer, $49/m Startup, $99/m Agency

Platform: Web

Usage: Best for websites, mobile

From right from the very beginning to the very end Proto.io is an all under one roof online UI UX design software solution, from wireframe to handoff. A powerful tool with a great many features and functions it can still be classed in the easy to learn category. It has drag-and-drop tools, customizable templates, great animation, and customizing options and integrates plugins to add to its already impressive asset library. Strong testing and collaboration features, and all with no coding whatsoever. It’s a bit pricey but it is an all-round package so try out the free trial and see what you think.

✔️	Beginner Friendly	✔️	Intuitive	✔️	Prototyping
✔️	Collaboration	❌	No handoff (Developer tools)	✔️	No plugin library, but a huge assets library with components, animations, audio, etc.
✔️	Support Sketch, Adobe XD, Photoshop, and more file types	❌	No symbols	❌	Doesn’t work offline
✔️	Leave comments	❌	Can’t create responsive designs	✔️	Artboards
❌	No Pen tool	❌	Real data import	❌	Limited animation features

Visit website

 

 

12. Mockplus UI UX Design Software

Price: Free, $1999 per year – Team

Platform: Web

Usage: Best for websites, mobile

Mockplus is rightly regarded as one of the easier prototype UI UX design software for creating mockups of other apps, web applications, etc. No experience or coding is required it is a clear drop and drag editor with pre-designed elements including 3000 ready-made icons, panels, scroll boxes, and more.  Collaboration involves instant feedback but no simultaneous editing and there is good integration with Sketch, Adobe XD, and Photoshop plus others. The auto-recovery function is a real blessing too, especially for true novices. The free version is great for simple projects but you’ll need to upgrade for the full performance potential.

✔️	Beginner Friendly	✔️	Intuitive	✔️	Prototyping
✔️	Collaboration	❌	No handoff (Developer tools)	❌	No plugin library
❌	Limited file support	✔️	Symbols	❌	Doesn’t work offline
✔️	Leave comments	✔️	Create Responsive designs	❌	Can’t open multiple artboards at once
❌	No Pen tool	❌	Real data import	❌	Limited animation features

Visit website

 

 

11. Just in Mind UI UX Design Software

Price: Free, Standard $19/m (or $108 annually)

Platform: Windows, Mac

Usage: Best for websites, mobile

Justinmind is a UI UX design prototyping tool for web and mobile app prototypes and hi-fi wireframes. No coding, intuitive drag-and-drop placement, customizable templates, and one-click testing all mean that Justinmind is a great addition to the UI UX design market. Excellent support of file types and integration plus over 4000 UI elements kits mean that this software is a quick and easy way to get something up and running. It’s aimed more at freelancers and individual designers and isn’t so strong on multiple collaboration. There is a free trial and a limited free version.

✔️	Beginner Friendly	✔️	Intuitive	✔️	Prototyping
✔️	Collaboration	✔️	Handoff (Developer Tools)	✔️	Small plugin library, but offers 4000+ UI elements kits
✔️	Support Sketch, Adobe XD, Photoshop, and more file types	✔️	Symbols	✔️	Works offline
✔️	Leave comments	✔️	Create Responsive designs	❌	Can’t open multiple artboards at once
❌	No Pen tool	✔️	Real data import	❌	Limited animation features

Visit website

 

 

10. UX Pin UI UX Design Software

Price: $24/m – Basic, $39/m – Advanced

Platform: Web, Windows, Mac

Usage: Best for websites, mobile

UXPin is a total start to finish product design platform for design, mockups and wireframing, prototypes, and collaborative work, everything under one roof.  Often seen as a UI UX design software for more advanced professional users, whilst it may not be the most user-friendly alternative out there, it is certainly not impossible to use by any means. It offers a powerful design process and works great for larger teams and big projects. UXPin pushes itself as a collaborative platform for increasing the speed, quality, and scalability of product creation. The aim is clear it isn’t the cheapest option but it is speedy, scalable, and powerful. Synchronized integration of files from Sketch, Photoshop, and other design software apps adds to versatility and ease of use.

✔️	Beginner Friendly	✔️	Intuitive	✔️	Prototyping
✔️	Excellent collaboration	✔️	Handoff (Developer Tools)	❌	No plugin library
✔️	Support PSD, Sketch, SVG, image files	✔️	Symbols	❌	Limited offline work
✔️	Leave comments	❌	Doesn’t support responsive designs	❌	Can’t open multiple artboards at once
✔️	Pen tool	✔️	Real data import	❌	Limited animation features

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9. ProtoPie UI UX Design Software

Price: $13/m Individual, $50/m Team

Platform: Windows, Mac

Usage: Best for mobile apps

A super easy to learn tool for design prototyping, ProtoPie is a powerful UI UX design software package that is superb for interactive and animation design. With no coding required, supportive of numerous file formats, and easy to sync (Sketch/Photoshop), ProtoPie is great for micro-interactions and mobile apps. Special features are the control sensors of smart devices. Separate rates for individuals and teams.

❌	Beginner Friendly	✔️	Intuitive	✔️	Prototyping
✔️	Collaboration	❌	No handoff (Developer tools)	❌	No plugin library
✔️	Support Sketch, Adobe XD, Figma, and more file formats	✔️	Symbols	✔️	Works offline
✔️	Leave comments	✔️	Create Responsive designs	✔️	Artboards
✔️	Pen tool	❌	Real data import	✔️	Advanced animation features

Visit website

 

 

8. Framer Web UI UX Design Software

Price: Free, $25/m Pro

Platform: Mac, Web

Usage: Best for websites, mobile

Web-based Framer is a design, prototype, and collaboration tool for Mac users. It’s great for more experienced UX UI designers but with a little time and effort, novice designers can get to grips with it reasonably quickly. The big plus of Framer is that it is extremely flexible, giving you complete control and a huge number of possibilities. although there is a necessity to learn CoffeeScript code. It contains design tools but can be easily integrated with other apps such as Sketch. There are excellent collaboration features including multiperson editing and commenting plus developer handoff tools. Ideal if you want total control, to push your boundaries of creativity and there is a worthwhile free option to get you started.

✔️	Beginner Friendly	✔️	Intuitive	✔️	Prototyping
✔️	Collaboration	✔️	Handoff (Developer Tools)	✔️	Packages library with icons, animations, etc.
✔️	Support vector and raster files	✔️	Symbols	❌	Works offline only in the Pro version
✔️	Leave comments	✔️	Create Responsive designs	✔️	Artboards
✔️	Pen tool	❌	Real data import	✔️	Limited animation features

Visit website

 

 

7. Marvel App UI UX Design Software

Price: Free option, $16/m Pro, $48/m Team

Platform: Web

Usage: Best for websites, mobile

Marvel App is an online prototyping app for designing and creating your own websites and mobile apps and all with a free opening option. It’s a straightforward, friendly, clear but fast UI UX design software package with great tools for hi-fi wireframes, prototyping, and design without coding. There are excellent integration possibilities from Sketch, Figma, Dropbox, etc alongside team synced updates and real-time feedback and comments. It’s recommended for speedy prototyping, but the lack of an offline option and animation features might not excite you.

✔️	Beginner Friendly	✔️	Intuitive	✔️	Prototyping
✔️	Collaboration	✔️	Handoff (Developer Tools)	❌	Small plugin library
❌	Limited Support – Sketch and image files	✔️	Symbols	❌	Doesn’t work offline
✔️	Leave comments	✔️	Create Responsive designs	❌	Can’t open multiple artboards at once
✔️	Pen tool	❌	Real data import	❌	Limited animation features

Visit website

 

 

6. Axure  RP UI UX Design Software

Price: $29/m Pro, $49/m Team

Platform: Windows, Mac

Usage: Best for websites, mobile

Renowned UI UX design software Axure RP has established itself as one of the top software packages in the field for all-around comprehensive wireframing, prototypes, and mockups.  With extensive functionality, advanced animation tools, and sitemaps, it’s both powerful and fast, especially for experienced designers. The superb collaboration possibilities include the ability to view projects on different browsers and mobile devices. An added widget library is particularly useful and great file support completes an impressive package.

❌	Beginner Friendly	✔️	Intuitive	✔️	Prototyping
✔️	Excellent collaboration	✔️	Handoff (Developer Tools)	❌	No plugin library, but Axure Widget Libraries with some useful assets
✔️	Great file support: Sketch, Figma, Adobe XD, Svg, Images	✔️	Symbols	✔️	Works offline
✔️	Leave comments	✔️	Create Responsive designs	❌	Can’t open multiple artboards at once
✔️	Pen tool	✔️	Real data import	✔️	Advanced animation features

Visit website

 

 

5. Webflow UI UX Design Software

Price: Free option, $15/m Basic, $45/m Business

Platform: Web

Usage: Best for websites

This no coding, WYSIWYG prototyping UI UX design software from Webflow is great for more basic static websites but perhaps not ideal for more complex projects. You can pick up the basics in a very short time with the simplified interface and there is useful integration with google fonts as well as code access and export if needed. It’s weaker on collaboration and UX designers will probably still need some wireframe software to go alongside WebFlow. It gives you an instant preview of your project design and has some nice added features for animation and also the increasingly trendy parallax scrolling. Plus it can take care of CMS and hosting, which is well worth considering. Excellent for beginners and the free option is worthwhile to get you started on your UI UX software design journey.

✔️	Beginner Friendly	✔️	Intuitive	✔️	Prototyping
✔️	Collaboration	❌	No handoff (Developer tools)	❌	Website-focused Plugin library and doesn’t offer many design plugins
❌	Limited support of design files	✔️	Symbols	❌	Doesn’t work offline
✔️	Leave comments	✔️	Create Responsive designs	❌	Can’t open multiple artboards at once
❌	No Pen tool	✔️	Real data import	✔️	Advanced animation features

Visit website

 

 

4. InVision Studio UI UX Design Software

Price: Free, $4.95/m Pro

Platform: Windows, Mac

Usage: Best for websites, mobile

Part of the InVision suite, digital design platform Invision Studio is quite simply one of the best prototyping and animation tools for nonexperts as it allows design, prototype, real visualization, and instant feedback on one clear well-designed interface.  As they say, made for designers by designers. It’s easy to learn, it’s easy to use and it’s got tons of features for designing everything from custom animations to whole sites, including freehand drawing, vision boards, and multiple artboards. There are wireframes for mockups and workflow tools so everything is covered. Highly recommended for animation. However, the lack of simultaneous editing might not be great for teams. Did we mention it’s free? Must be worth a try.

✔️	Beginner Friendly	✔️	Intuitive	✔️	Prototyping
❌	Simultaneous Editing Collaboration	✔️	Handoff (Developer Tools)	❌	Studio App Store (in Beta)
✔️	Support vector and raster files	✔️	Symbols	✔️	Works offline
✔️	Leave comments (Excellent)	✔️	Create Responsive designs	✔️	Artboards
✔️	Pen tool	❌	Real data import	✔️	Advanced animation features

Visit website

 

3. Adobe XD UI UX Design Software

Price: $9.99/mo

Platform: Mac, Windows

Usage: Best for websites, mobile

Adobe XD is part of the famous Adobe Creative Cloud design collection and as such offers fantastically useful integration between the other apps. XD stands for Experience Design and this app is heavy on the powerful features that allow you to easily create websites and mobile apps from start to finish, including wireframes and prototyping plus the great UI UX design tools you’d expect from adobe. Design in one tab with a versatile design and text tools and preview or share it in another, even available for preview on mobile devices.  It also offers easy collaboration and the chance to work offline. There are plenty of plugins to extend the functionality too and it’s better than many others for animations. There’s a free option available to try before purchase.

✔️	Beginner Friendly	✔️	Intuitive	✔️	Prototyping
✔️	Collaboration	✔️	Handoff (Developer Tools)	✔️	Big plugin library
✔️	Support vector and raster files	✔️	Symbols	✔️	Works offline
✔️	Leave comments	✔️	Create Responsive designs	✔️	Artboards
✔️	Pen tool	❌	Real data import	✔️	A lot of animation features

Visit website

Interested in Adobe XD? You can master the software with these 25 tutorials.

 

2. Figma UI UX Design Software

Price:$15/m, Limited free option

Platform: Web, Windows, Mac

Usage: Best for websites, mobile

Similar to Sketch in many ways, particularly clear, simplified interface design, Figma works for website design, app design, integrated component design, and prototyping. Features include excellent real-time collaboration tools and commenting between multiple team members, as well as the same space working for design, collaboration, and prototyping. Add to this a huge plugin library, shared resource library, easy editing capacity, and fine design prototyping tools and you can see why Figma has such a good reputation for UI UX design software. Unlike Sketch, you can run from Windows and Mac but there is no offline option. Recommended as a multi-purpose UI UX design software package that is especially useful for teams. There is a free option but it’s limited.

✔️	Beginner Friendly	✔️	Intuitive	✔️	Prototyping
✔️	Collaboration	✔️	Handoff (Developer Tools)	✔️	Big plugin library
❌	Limited Support – Sketch, Image files	✔️	Symbols	❌	Doesn’t work offline
✔️	Leave comments	✔️	Create Responsive designs	✔️	Artboards
✔️	Advanced Pen tool	❌	No real data import	✔️	A lot of animation features

Visit website

You can also learn Figma with these 24 beginner tutorials.

 

1. Sketch UI UX Design Software

Price: $9/m Standard

Platform: Mac

Usage: Best for websites, mobile

Incredibly popular and often a go-to UI UX design software for Mac, Sketch is ideal for website design and app design, and prototyping. Its popularity comes from the fact that it is lightweight and user-friendly but still has a great selection of features (superb symbols) and is especially good for collaboration. The instant feedback function is a great plus that can save you hours of work and slim the design process right down.

It is worth noting that each license is only valid for one device.

✔️	Beginner Friendly	✔️	Intuitive	✔️	Prototyping
✔️	Collaboration (in beta)	✔️	Developer Tools (in beta)	✔️	Big plugin library
✔️	Support vector and raster files	✔️	Symbols	✔️	Works offline
✔️	Leave comments	✔️	Create Responsive designs	✔️	Artboards
✔️	Pen tool	❌	No real data import	❌	Limited animation features

Visit website

If you are interested in Sketch, you can use our collection of Sketch tutorials to master the software.

 

The Best UI/UX Design Software Comparison Infographic

Take a look at our comparison infographic by clicking on the image below.

 

The Best UI/UX Design Software Video Overview

We’ve made a special video about the top 10 the User Interface and User Experience software options, check it out.

Final Words

From the well-known to the up-and-coming UI UX design software packages are plentiful and varied. It’s well worth spending some time researching the detail and taking advantage of trials and special offers in this increasingly competitive market. You know what you need more than anybody and what is good for some people may not be right for you. Use this article as the guide it is intended to be, prices and features will change with time, keep up to date, keep a cutting edge, and keep designing.

You may also be interested in some of these articles:

• Top Free Fonts for 2021
• Top 80+ Sources To Find Design Resources and Assets
• The Best Image Formats to Use in 2021
• The Handy Graphic Design Assets You Never Knew You Needed.