App wireframe software

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For more details on our process, read the full rundown of how we select apps to feature on the Zapier blog. Let's start with an honest disclaimer: you don't need a dedicated app to create an effective wireframe. Flowchart apps , for example, provide ample structure for a basic wireframe of a website design or sitemap structure. However, they aren't created with interface designers in mind, and lack more advanced visual editing tools like object opacity, pre-sized canvases for responsive screen sizes, and so on.

Wireframe apps, on the other hand, assume that you're going to want to refine and improve your design before it's ready to be handed off for further development. And that's where apps that are designed for wireframing really stand out. Not only do they make space for you to create your rough sketch and UX flow, but they also include few standout elements like:.

An included UI kit or ability to upload one : In each of the following apps, you can either take advantage of a built-in UI component library or upload pre-designed kits from third parties. Various levels of mockup fidelity : Whether you prefer to stick with basic, low-fidelity wireframes or move toward more high-fidelity mockups, the apps on this list represent a full range of capabilities. The apps on our list all include at least one viable way to share the design virtually and collect feedback from teammates, design clients, or other stakeholders.

Need a primer on some of the design terms used in this article? Scroll to the bottom or click here for a quick glossary. Sketch macOS. Since its release in , Sketch has maintained a premier spot as a powerful yet lightweight vector design tool for macOS users. By itself, it can be used for anything from wireframes to modern UI and icon vector design on a pixel-based canvas, no less and some interaction design.

Its interface is far simpler and more intuitive than vector design heavyweights Affinity Designer and Adobe Illustrator. Thanks to this simplicity, Sketch can be used to create wireframes quickly with a combination of artboards and vector design shapes. When you download the Sketch app to your Mac, you'll notice that there are no built-in UI components. While you could certainly design your own components to use as part of your wireframe process, there is a vast online community of designers that have created and shared many free wireframe design kits.

A single click to download, and you have a wealth of buttons, icons, and other design elements that can be used inside your Sketch file. Like most desktop apps, Sketch makes collaboration a bit tricky, as there's no way to allow multiple designers to work simultaneously within a design file. However, you can sync your design to Sketch Cloud, which allows you to share a link to the most recent version of your design, collect comments and other feedback, without having to waste time with a lengthy export process.

Or, take advantage of the large variety of integrations to send your wireframe further down the design process. If you're a Windows user, you might want to look into InVision Studio , which was created as a Sketch alternative for designers who prefer to stay within the InVision app suite.

While Adobe products are known for being feature-heavy and complicated to learn, Adobe XD really stands out as an easy-to-use option for wireframing and interface design projects.

Everything from wireframing to basic prototyping can happen within XD. And compared to other feature-rich Adobe tools, XD's minimal interface is a breath of fresh air.

The moment you open the app, a set of interactive onboarding lightboxes helps you get oriented quickly with the design tools at your fingertips. The clean interface and quick onboarding are invaluable for beginners who want to use a professional wireframe tool, without spending too much time trying to learn the software. Basic wireframe vector design tools are easily found in the left-hand navigation. UI elements aren't included, but you can find a variety of free options with a quick Google search.

XD is full of responsive design aids, whether you choose to create multiple artboards, overlay a Bootstrap column grid, or use the responsive resize tool to create variations of each element. For many apps, the interface design files must be exported into a different tool before you can create an interactive prototype.

Adobe XD makes it possible to create the wireframe, mockup, and prototype in the same design file, so you don't have to integrate multiple tools or re-export dozens of times with each iteration.

Then, you can use XD to publish your prototype—whether it's a basic wireframe or a full interactive prototype—and share the link with others so they can view and make comments. As a bonus, AdobeXD also keeps track of the basic CSS and HTML for your designs, so you can grab the code directly inside the interface when handing it all off to your programming team.

You can't miss the resemblance in their interfaces: design layers on the left, a toolbox on the right, with the drawing and publishing tools on a very minimal top bar. All three also allow you to create vector graphics and move them around on a canvas that's measured in pixels.

The vector elements can then be anchored to the page so that they resize or not as you scale your design up and down to mimic responsive screen sizes. Figma stands out as a powerful cloud-based alternative to tools like Sketch and XD. And the best part: it doesn't hold back for free users, offering a suite of features that work well whether you're a standalone designer or part of a bigger team.

As many have said, the price point is certainly a factor. Miro is a wildly helpful and popular tool, especially for ideation sessions, interactive presentations, design thinking workshops, and the like. You can drop shapes, draw freeform, type, add digital sticky notes, or insert images and videos and more onto the infinite canvas.

You can download them or just use them for inspiration. With a large number of ready-to-use components, icons, UIs and templates pre-installed, Mockplus goes beyond simply providing you the tools to create your wireframe and lends you a hand with your designs.

A full set of interactions and animations also make it easy to create more realistic wireframes. Mockplus is much suitable for you to create low- and medium-fidelity wireframes, mockups and prototypes.

If you are looking for tools to create high-fidelity designs, it may not be a good option. A wireframing tool for creating quick designs, running user testing, and sharing mockups with a design team. One of the many Balsamiq Studios products, Balsamiq Wireframes is a Flash-based wireframing software with an extensive library of UI elements and templates that make wireframing a breeze.

The complexity of the Balsamiq Wireframe library can be a source of great inspiration for designers when producing desktop and mobile wires. Most designers describe it as being as simple as dragging, dropping, and arranging elements from the menu onto your canvas until you have the interface you desire. Balsamiq Wireframes also has built-in presentation tools that make presenting your designs to clients a seamless process.

Balsamiq Wireframes is not the best for building larger prototypes and lacks animations or interactive features. Designers wishing to simulate the UX of their software must be able to program interactions themselves and export as an interactive PDF. This wireframing software is unique in style as the design elements have a hand-drawn appearance to them. This gives your designs a bit of a cartoony feel that may not be desired.

If you need a quick and efficient tool for putting together some simple wireframes then Wireframe. This web-based wireframe tool is super intuitive as the layout is a bit like drawing items on pencil and paper and cutting and pasting them on to your design. Mock Flow. Based on the Adobe Flash platform, Mock Flow is another free wireframing tool at your service. It offers tons of features, including preset buttons, images, graphs, and pre-made templates for your convenience. Plus, it has a built-in revision control and team chat to collaborate with other developers on the team.

The tool provides complete freedom of creativity in designing mockups for iOS, Android, Web, and wearables. Additionally, WireframePro is a product of Mock Flow that allows designing of interactive wireframes, and collaborate on projects. The developers can even create sitemaps for the pages created and export them in any format.

The free plan for the Mock Flow wireframing tool offers one design license with one design project. Wireframing tools help realize your idea of an app or website. Regardless of platform type, wireframing provides a direction for the developers to follow during development. It helps them stay on track and gives the clients a visual of how the product will look once completed. No platform is superior to others. Each one offers distinct features, convenient navigation, and freedom of creativity.

So, the choice of wireframe tool to use depends on the requirements of the app, the work processes, and the convenience of the developer. These eight tools are free to use, with premium plans also available. Spanning a diverse range of content, our Editor keeps a close eye on all published materials while publishing and making edits to existing posts.

Axure Axure is another multipurpose tool that allows designers to create flowcharts, wireframes, mockups, prototypes, and user journeys. You can also export boards in high-res for sharing. Mockplus is built to support your entire product design workflow. It has task management capabilities and makes your design process easier with ready-to-use components and templates.

It is a collaborative tool that lets your entire team work together. You can add 10 users and create 10 projects, with unlimited pages for each project. It also shows revision histories for the past 7 days and lets you set up 50 tasks. It has a sleek and minimal UI and lets you create single-page wireframes without signing up. The free version of Wireframe.

MockFlow is a complete wireframing and prototyping app that lets you create basic outlines, low-fidelity wireframes, and high-fidelity mockups.