Best Prototyping Software To Design the Incredible
We’ve all experienced that heart-sinking moment when our designs don’t come out as expected, right?
Did you know that using the right prototyping software can increase your design accuracy by up to 70%? Incredible, isn’t it?
So, we’ve compiled a list of the best prototyping software to help you bring your dream designs to life, minus the frustration. Let’s dive in and get that creative magic flowing!
Top 100 Prototyping Software
autodesk.comMethodology
The ranking of the prototyping tools is determined by considering several factors, including the number of citations and user reviews they have received.
Most Used Prototyping Software
1.
InVision is a popular web-based prototyping tool that enables designers to create, share, and collaborate on interactive design prototypes for web and mobile applications. Key benefits include:
- Intuitive interface: Offers a user-friendly drag-and-drop environment for easy prototyping.
- Interactivity: Create clickable, high-fidelity prototypes to simulate the user experience.
- Collaboration: Facilitate real-time feedback, comments, and cooperation among team members.
- Design sync: Seamlessly integrates with popular design tools like Sketch and Photoshop.
- Animation & transitions: Incorporate animations and screen transitions to bring designs to life.
- Device preview: Test and optimize prototypes for different devices and screen resolutions.
Pricing: Free/Paid
Pricing page: https://www.invisionapp.com/freehand/pricing
2.
Adobe XD is a robust design and prototyping software that streamlines the creation of interactive user interfaces for web, mobile, and other digital products. Key benefits include:
- All-in-one tool: Combines a single application’s design, prototyping, and collaboration features.
- Intuitive interface: Offers a user-friendly experience with seamless navigation and editing.
- Interactivity: Create interactive, high-fidelity prototypes to simulate real-world user experiences.
- Adobe integration: Syncs effortlessly with other Adobe Creative Cloud products for a streamlined workflow.
- Real-time collaboration: Enables team members to co-edit and provide feedback simultaneously.
- Responsive design: Supports auto-layout and resizing for various devices and screen sizes.
Pricing: Paid
3.
Figma is a versatile, web-based design and prototyping software favored by UI/UX designers and product teams for creating wireframes, mockups, and interactive prototypes. Key benefits include:
- Intuitive interface: Figma’s user-friendly interface enables quick design creation and editing without coding knowledge.
- Real-time collaboration: Work simultaneously with team members, share designs, and gather feedback directly within the platform.
- Responsive design: Create adaptive designs that cater to different devices and screen sizes for a consistent user experience.
- Components & shared styles: Use components and shared styles to maintain design consistency and simplify updates across multiple screens.
- Built-in prototyping: Design and prototype within the same platform, streamlining your workflow and reducing the need for additional tools.
- Integration with popular tools: Connect Figma with Slack, Zeplin, and popular project management apps for a seamless workflow.
- Developer handoff: Export design specifications, assets, and CSS code for developers, ensuring a smooth transition from design to development.
Pricing: Free/Paid
Pricing page: https://www.figma.com/pricing/
4.
Marvel is a powerful, user-friendly prototyping software that simplifies the process of creating interactive mockups for digital products, such as websites and mobile apps. Key benefits include:
- Easy-to-use interface: Marvel’s intuitive interface allows users to quickly create and edit prototypes without coding knowledge.
- Collaboration features: Collaborate with team members in real-time, share designs, and quickly gather feedback.
- Integration with popular tools: Seamlessly connect Marvel with Sketch, Photoshop, and popular project management apps to streamline your workflow.
- Device-specific previews: Test your prototypes on multiple devices to ensure a consistent and responsive user experience.
- User testing: Record and analyze user interactions with your prototype to gather valuable insights and improve your designs.
- Handoff mode: Easily generate CSS code, assets, and design specs for developers to implement, simplifying the design-to-development transition.
Pricing: Free/Paid
Pricing page: https://marvelapp.com/pricing
5.
UXPin is a versatile prototyping software designed for crafting seamless digital experiences, catering to UI/UX designers and product teams. Key benefits include:
- Intuitive interface: UXPin’s user-friendly interface makes creating, editing, and collaborating on interactive prototypes easy.
- Rich design features: Access a wide range of design elements, components, and interactions to bring your ideas to life.
- Real-time collaboration: Work simultaneously with team members, share designs, and gather feedback effortlessly.
- Code-based design: UXPin’s code-based approach ensures pixel-perfect accuracy between design and development.
- Integration with popular tools: Connect UXPin with Sketch, Photoshop, and popular project management apps for a streamlined workflow.
- Design systems: Create and manage design systems to maintain consistency and improve team collaboration.
- User testing & analytics: Test your prototypes, record user interactions, and analyze the data to optimize your designs for the best user experience.
Pricing: Free/Paid
Pricing page: https://www.uxpin.com/pricing
6.
Axure RP is a comprehensive prototyping software highly favored by UI/UX professionals and product teams for creating interactive wireframes, mockups, and prototypes. Key benefits include:
- Powerful design capabilities: Axure RP offers an extensive range of design tools, allowing you to create low-fidelity and high-fidelity prototypes.
- Conditional logic & dynamic content: Implement complex interactions and conditional logic to simulate real-world application behavior.
- Team collaboration: Collaborate seamlessly with team members, share designs, and gather feedback using Axure RP’s built-in features.
- Integration with Sketch & Figma: Import designs from popular tools like Sketch and Figma to create interactive prototypes quickly.
- Adaptive views: Design responsive prototypes that automatically adapt to different devices and screen sizes.
- Developer handoff: Generate design specifications and CSS code for developers, ensuring smooth design-to-development transitions.
- Interactive documentation: Create detailed and interactive design documentation to guide your team throughout development.
Pricing: Free/Paid
Pricing page: https://www.axure.com/pricing
7.
Moqups is a user-friendly, web-based prototyping software aimed at helping designers and product teams easily create wireframes, mockups, and interactive prototypes. Key benefits include:
Intuitive interface: Moqups’ drag-and-drop interface makes it simple to design and iterate on your prototypes without coding knowledge.
Built-in design elements: Access a comprehensive library of design elements, components, and icons to streamline your design process.
Real-time collaboration: Work simultaneously with team members, share your designs, and gather feedback within the platform.
Responsive design: Create prototypes that adapt to different devices and screen sizes for a consistent user experience.
Master pages & components: Use master pages and components to maintain design consistency and simplify updates across multiple screens.
Integration with popular tools: Connect Moqups with tools like Google Drive, Dropbox, and popular project management apps to enhance your workflow.
Export options: Export your designs in various formats, including PNG, PDF, and SVG, for easy sharing and presentation.
Pricing: Paid
Pricing page: https://moqups.com/pricing/
8.
Framer is a modern prototyping software designed for UI/UX designers and product teams, focusing on creating interactive, high-fidelity prototypes. Key benefits include:
- Intuitive interface: Framer’s visual editor makes creating stunning designs and interactions easy without extensive coding knowledge.
- Advanced animations: Craft intricate animations and transitions to create a truly immersive user experience.
- Interactive components: Utilize Framer’s extensive library of pre-built components or design custom ones to streamline your prototyping process.
- Real-time collaboration: Collaborate with team members, share designs, and gather real-time feedback within the platform.
- Code integration: Use Framer’s built-in React code editor to enhance your prototypes with custom logic and functionality.
- Responsive design: Make responsive prototypes that adapt to different devices and screen sizes effortlessly.
- Integration with popular design tools: Import designs from Sketch and Figma and sync your projects with version control systems like GitHub.
Pricing: Free/Paid
Pricing page: https://www.framer.com/pricing/
9.
MockFlow is a versatile, web-based prototyping software designed to help designers and product teams efficiently create wireframes, mockups, and interactive prototypes. Key benefits include:
- Easy-to-use interface: MockFlow’s intuitive drag-and-drop interface allows users to create designs quickly without any coding knowledge.
- Component library: Access a vast library of UI elements, components, and templates to speed up your design process.
- Collaboration features: Collaborate with team members in real-time, share your designs, and collect feedback effortlessly.
- Multiple projects: Organize your designs by creating multiple projects and keep your workspaces clean and structured.
- Export options: Export your designs in various formats, including PNG, PDF, and HTML, for easy sharing and presentation.
- Integration with popular tools: Connect MockFlow with tools like Slack, Google Drive, and popular project management apps for a seamless workflow.
- Design consistency: Use Master Pages to maintain design consistency across your projects and simplify design updates.
Pricing: Free/Paid
Pricing page: https://www.mockflow.com/pricing/
10.
Justinmind is a comprehensive prototyping software designed for UI/UX designers and product teams to easily create wireframes, mockups, and interactive prototypes. Key benefits include:
- Rich design features: Access a wide range of pre-built UI elements, components, and templates to streamline your design process.
- Realistic interactions: Craft intricate interactions, gestures, and transitions to create lifelike prototypes for web and mobile applications.
- Real-time collaboration: Work seamlessly with team members, share designs, and collect feedback within the platform.
- Responsive design: Create adaptive prototypes that cater to different devices and screen sizes for a consistent user experience.
- Integration with popular design tools: Import designs from Sketch and Photoshop and sync with project management apps for a smooth workflow.
- Developer handoff: Generate design specifications and CSS code to ensure a smooth transition from design to development.
Pricing: Free/Paid
Pricing page: https://www.justinmind.com/pricing
11.
Mockplus is an efficient prototyping software designed for UI/UX designers and product teams, focusing on creating wireframes, mockups, and interactive prototypes. Key benefits include:
- Intuitive interface: Mockplus offers a user-friendly, drag-and-drop interface that enables quick design creation without coding knowledge.
- Extensive component library: Access a vast collection of pre-built UI elements, components, and templates to speed up your design process.
- Real-time collaboration: Collaborate with team members, share designs, and gather real-time feedback within the platform.
- Device-specific previews: Test your prototypes on various devices to ensure a consistent and responsive user experience.
- Integration with popular tools: Connect Mockplus with tools like Sketch and Adobe XD, and integrate with popular project management apps for a seamless workflow.
- Design consistency: Use Master Components to maintain design consistency across your projects and simplify design updates.
- Developer handoff: Export design specifications, assets, and code snippets for a smooth design-to-development transition.
Pricing: Free/Paid
Pricing page: https://www.mockplus.com/buy/mockplus-idoc
12.
Prott is a user-friendly prototyping software designed to help UI/UX designers and product teams create wireframes, mockups, and interactive prototypes quickly and efficiently. Key benefits include:
- Intuitive interface: Prott’s drag-and-drop interface simplifies the design process, enabling rapid prototype creation without coding knowledge.
- Device-agnostic design: Design and test your prototypes on various devices to ensure a consistent and responsive user experience.
- Real-time collaboration: Collaborate with team members, share designs, and gather feedback seamlessly within the platform.
- Screen transitions: Easily define and visualize screen transitions, interactions, and animations to create lifelike prototypes.
- Integration with popular design tools: Import designs from Sketch and Photoshop, streamlining your workflow.
- Instant preview: Preview and test your prototypes instantly in Prott’s built-in viewer, making iterations quick and painless.
- Developer handoff: Share design specifications and assets with developers to ensure a smooth design-to-development transition.
Pricing: Free/Paid
Pricing page: https://prottapp.com/plans/
13.
Proto.io is a powerful, web-based prototyping software designed for UI/UX designers and product teams to easily create wireframes, mockups, and interactive prototypes. Key benefits include:
- Intuitive interface: Proto.io’s drag-and-drop interface simplifies the design process, enabling rapid prototype creation without coding knowledge.
- Advanced animations: Craft complex animations and transitions to create immersive and engaging user experiences.
- Real-time collaboration: Collaborate with team members, share designs, and gather feedback seamlessly within the platform.
- Responsive design: Create adaptive prototypes that cater to different devices and screen sizes, ensuring a consistent user experience.
- Integration with popular design tools: Import designs from Sketch and Photoshop, streamlining your workflow.
- User testing: Conduct user testing and gather valuable insights to refine and optimize your designs.
- Developer handoff: Share design specifications, assets, and code snippets with developers to ensure a smooth design-to-development transition.
Pricing: Paid
Pricing page: https://proto.io/en/pricing/
14.
Sketch is a popular, vector-based design software used by UI/UX designers and product teams to create wireframes, mockups, and static prototypes. Key benefits include:
- Intuitive interface: Sketch’s user-friendly interface allows quickly creating and editing designs without coding knowledge.
- Highly customizable: Access an extensive range of design elements, components, and plugins to personalize your design process.
- Real-time collaboration: Work simultaneously with team members, share designs, and gather feedback using Sketch’s cloud-based features.
- Responsive design: Create adaptive layouts that cater to different devices and screen sizes for a consistent user experience.
- Symbols & shared styles: Use symbols and shared styles to maintain design consistency and streamline updates across multiple screens.
- Integration with popular prototyping tools: Seamlessly export designs to prototyping tools like InVision, Framer, and Marvel for interactive prototype creation.
- Developer handoff: Generate design specifications and assets for developers, ensuring a smooth transition from design to development.
Pricing: Paid
Pricing page: https://www.sketch.com/pricing/
Further reading
What Is Prototyping Software?
Prototyping software creates preliminary or incomplete versions of software and applications. The prototype tests, documents errors, and provides feedback on the final product. Before an official launch, these tests will provide feedback on various components for development and product teams.
Prototyping software is mainly used by software designers but can also be used by other developers, including web designers. In addition, prototyping tools are used by professionals with no software design experience, as they often don’t require coding.
What Are the Typical Features of Prototyping Software?
What Are the Differences Between Wireframes, Mockups, and Prototypes?
Wireframes, mockups, and prototypes represent the different stages of the design flow.
A wireframe is the blueprint of the screen. It shows hierarchy, placement, contrast, proportionality, and actions a user would see on the screen. It is rendered in black, white, and grey.
A mockup is a high-fidelity wireframe version that includes branding colors, copy, font choices, and photos.
A prototype is an interactive simulation of a product or feature. Prototypes can be made using wireframes, mockups, sketches, or role-playing. A prototype can be digital or physical.
Wrap Up
We’ve walked you through the top prototyping software options to help you create flawless designs every time.
Remember, choosing the right tool can make all the difference in your creative journey.
So, give these fantastic software choices a try to streamline your design process and bring your incredible ideas to life. Happy designing!
FAQs
Prototyping software is a design tool that allows users to create, test, and iterate digital prototypes of products, websites, or applications before they are developed. These tools enable designers to visualize and refine their ideas, test user interactions, and gather feedback, ultimately leading to better end products.
Prototyping software is crucial because it:
• Allows designers to test and refine ideas before development, saving time and resources
• Helps identify potential usability issues or design flaws early in the process
• Facilitates collaboration and communication among team members
• Allows for the gathering of user feedback, leading to more user-centric designs
• Simplifies the design process by providing a visual representation of the end product
The best prototyping software should offer the following key features:
• Intuitive interface and ease of use
• Support for various prototyping methods, such as wireframing, mockups, or high-fidelity prototypes
• Real-time collaboration and sharing capabilities
• Tools for creating interactive elements and simulating user interactions
• Integration with other design and development tools
• Availability across different platforms, such as desktop and mobile devices
• Secure data storage and privacy protection
The cost of prototyping software varies depending on the provider, features offered, and the number of users or projects. Some tools are free with basic features, while others require a subscription or a one-time purchase. Compare the features and pricing of different tools to find the best fit for your needs.
Yes, many prototyping software providers offer mobile apps for iOS and Android devices, allowing users to create, edit, and collaborate on prototypes on the go. This can be especially useful for remote teams or those working on prototypes while away from a computer.
To choose the best prototyping software for your needs, consider the following factors:
• Ease of use: The tool should be user-friendly and accessible to all team members, regardless of their design experience.
• Collaboration features: Ensure the tool offers real-time collaboration and sharing capabilities for effective teamwork.
• Flexibility: Look for a tool that supports various prototyping methods and allows you to create prototypes that match your project’s requirements.
• Integration: Choose a tool that can integrate with your existing design and development tools, such as graphic design software or project management platforms.
• Support: Opt for a provider that offers reliable customer support and regular updates to the tool.
Yes, most prototyping software is designed to facilitate remote collaboration, allowing team members to contribute to, provide feedback on, and work together on prototypes regardless of their physical location. Real-time collaboration features make it easy for remote teams to work together effectively and efficiently.
Some prototyping tools are tailored specifically for web or mobile app design, offering features such as pre-built UI elements, responsive design capabilities, or app-specific interaction libraries. These tools can help web or app designers create more realistic and effective prototypes, leading to better-end products.
Many prototyping software solutions integrate with popular design and development tools, such as graphic design software, project management tools, or code editors. These integrations help streamline the design and development process, improve efficiency, and provide a more seamless experience for users.
