Chapter 1: A Roundup of the Best Prototyping Tools

by Dave Kearney & Daniel Schwarz

As the number and variety of prototyping tools continues to grow, it’s becoming harder and harder to figure out which tools meet what needs, and who they’re suitable for. Since we first wrote this article back in 2015, countless design apps have dominated (and changed) the prototyping space.

Stakeholder feedback and user testing is now taking a far greater role in UI design and this new generation of tools aims to connect these two previously separate stages of the design process. Clients want to be involved, and email isn’t cutting it anymore. Some apps like UXPin are also taking care of the wireframing stages, whereas others like InVision App are bridging the gap between designer and developer by offering design handoff tools.

Plus, there’s now a clear divide between desktop tools with cloud sharing (Adobe XD, Axure, Balsamiq, Sketch+InVision) and collaborative online tools (Figma, UXPin, Fluid UI, Proto.io).

Many of these tools appear to be converging on a feature set that defines the role of the modern user experience designer. TL;DR—here’s a swift comparison of prototyping tools.

Adobe XD

Adobe may have been caught napping during the rise of Sketch, but they’re rapidly making up for it with Adobe XD. Launched in March 2016, it’s the latest addition to Adobe’s Creative Cloud Suite. While you can prototype interactions in Sketch with the help of the Craft Plugin, Adobe XD impressively offers these tools right out of the box, so designers are already comparing Adobe XD to Sketch like longtime rivals.

It’s definitely worth a look if you’re interested in a tool that covers all your bases (low-fidelity prototyping, high-fidelity prototyping, user flows, sharing and feedback) in a single app.

Strengths

• Available for macOS and Windows
• Everything you need in a single app

Weaknesses

• Still in beta (although pleasantly mature as a design app)
• Plugin workflow non-existent, you’re locked into the Adobe ecosystem

InVision App (with Sketch and Craft)

InVision is the primary go-to tool for serious designers and enterprise teams alike. With tools like whiteboard collaboration, dynamic prototyping, comments, device preview, video calling, user testing, version control and design handoff, InVision is already a colossal force in the prototyping space, but when you factor in its Sketch and Photoshop integrations, it becomes an all-in-one design suite, especially when you throw in Craft, the Sketch/Photoshop Plugin that brings a lot of that functionality directly into your design app of choice.

Strengths

• Powerful, mature platform
• Fully-integrated with Sketch for high-fidelity design
• Constantly being updated with new features

Weaknesses

• Feature-set can be a little overwhelming at first
• Sketch is only available for macOS users only (but you can pair InVision with Photoshop on Windows, although Photoshop isn’t strictly a UI design tool)

Marvel App

A very strong favourite for those looking for simpler, friendlier alternatives to InVision App. Marvel App has excelled at creating a prototyping tool that works for both advanced UX designers and those simply looking to communicate high and low fidelity concepts. Plus, while they champion working with Sketch, they also offer component libraries to allow for a complete online workflow in Marvel. Marvel App also recently integrated fan-favourite POP, which allows designers to transform their pen/paper ideas into iPhone and Android apps.

Strengths

• Great support for transitions for additional realism
• Friendlier for non-designers, especially when giving feedback

Weaknesses

• Web based only
• No offline designing

UXPin

UXPin is the most complete online solution for UX designers in terms of their offering. While you can import from Sketch and Photoshop, you can also design complex and responsive interfaces with UXPin’s built-in libraries, making UXPin something of a wireframing tool as well. With their design systems features, UXPin becomes one of the most complex tools in terms of automated documentation, designer/developer handoffs and collaborative features.

Strengths

• Responsive design with breakpoints
• Powerful animations (not just linking screens)
• Complete design collaboration and handoff solution

Weaknesses

• A little pricey versus the competition at $49/user/month
• Additional features increase the complexity of use

Webflow

Webflow is a visual tool for designing responsive websites that also exports clean code—it removes the headache of going from design to published on the web. Competing as much with WordPress as it does with Sketch App, Webflow lets you design fully functional responsive websites incorporating back-end (API) data and can automatically deploy to fully scalable, worry-free hosting with a single click of a button. It’s basically Adobe Dreamweaver for the modern-day designer who cares about clean code and mobile-friendly web design.

Strengths

• Real data can be included (from APIs/JSON/etc)
• Creates high-quality, reusable code
• Responsive websites can be designed and deployed with ease

Weaknesses

• Not useful for designing native mobile apps
• Requires some knowledge of HTML/CSS to be at its most effective

Figma

A somewhat recent addition to the prototyping space, Figma boasts the most mesmerising real-time design collaboration features of any prototyping tool while modelling its feature-set on many of the intuitive design tools of Sketch and Adobe XD (such as symbols and device preview), along with a bunch of tools usually reserved for the online crowd (such as versioning and design handoff). Version 2.0, launched in July 2017, includes a prototyping mode with hotspots and developer handoffs to further streamline the design workflow. It works in the browser, on macOS, and on WIndows, although it sometimes can be slow.

Strengths

• Real-time collaborative design features are second-to-none
• Fully-featured, ideal for designers from start to finish

Weaknesses

• Figma can can be laggy at time, especially with real-time collaboration

9 More Prototyping Tools Worth Considering

Fluid UI

With a strong focus on simplicity and communication, Fluid UI includes built-in high and low fidelity component libraries, live team collaboration, device previews and video presentations making it a top-notch solution for designers, product managers and founders alike.

Proto.io

Mature and feature-rich, Proto.io is best used by designers looking to create high-fidelity and highly-animated prototypes in the browser.

Axure RP 8

Established way back in 2003, Axure is an excellent choice for UX designers who need to create specifications for designs and animations in supreme detail. Axure’s includes support for conditional flow interactions, dynamic content and adaptive/responsive design, as well as high and low-fidelity prototyping. Axure is a serious tool for serious designers.

Framer X

Straddling the line between design and code, Framer X allows a designer to create stunningly detailed animations with a minimal amount of coding (it uses a simplified version of JavaScript called CoffeeScript) and integrates well with other tools like Sketch and Figma. You’ll have to code animations and interactions, but the possibilities are essentially endless.

Mockplus

Mockplus is a wireframing and low-fidelity prototyping tool with a relatively simple learning curve and support for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android. With over 200 built-in components and 3,000 icons to help you build mockups quickly, Mockplus is a fairly solid rapid prototyping solution for teams using a range of devices and operating systems.

Justinmind

Justinmind is a feature-rich desktop app that’s surprisingly maintained fantastic usability for a tool that’s been growing in features for 8 years. Although not as mainstream as InVision and Adobe XD, it’s fairly easy to use and designers can create clickable wireframes and functional, high-fidelity prototypes with no trouble at all. Definitely a reliable choice.

Flinto

Flinto is a macOS desktop app with a lighter web-based alternative called Flinto Lite, where both have a strong focus on high-fidelity mobile app prototyping with customisable animations. Flinto has an interesting pricing structure which sets it apart—Flinto for macOS is $99 one time, and Flinto Lite is $20/month but also comes with Flinto for macOS. If you’re a designer that works alone, Flinto for macOS the cheaper, smarter solution.

Animation Prototyping Tools

Principle for Mac

Principle is another macOS-based tool with a focus on animation, and although it comes at a steep cost of $129/user, it has a very happy customer base. Principle lets you import from Sketch and preview designs on their iOS app, but there’s no Android app for testing, sadly.

Kite Compositor

Kite Compositor really sets itself apart as an animation tool with the ability to create native code for iOS and macOS apps. Kite App is for Apple users, to help you design for Apple.

Wireframing Tool ≠ Prototyping Tool

Prototyping doesn’t necessarily = wireframing. You can create wireframes of high(er)-fidelity mockups (designers that enjoy sketching lo-fi mockups usually more onto wireframes afterwards), and you can also prototype low-fidelity mockups in a wireframe style, which is why some prototyping apps also include wireframing tools (such as Axure and UXPin, which I mentioned above).