Best UX Design Tools Shortlist
Here’s the shortlist of the best UX design tools I’ll cover in this article, with detailed summaries below:
With the right UX design tool, developers can create apps and websites that are elegant, innovative, and easy to use. Thankfully, many great software choices are available to help get the job done.
But with so many options available, it can be hard to choose the best tool for the job. So I’ve written this article to assist you in making the right choice. I conducted in-depth research to shortlist the top software and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses.
Here you’ll find my summary of the best tools, with guidance on what makes each one stand out from the crowd.
How I Selected the Best UX Design Tools
So, how did I select the best UX design tools for this list? I checked out popular software in the market and also evaluated promising newcomers.
Even after filtering for tools with positive ratings, I still had a lengthy list. So then I applied my evaluation criteria to see how each platform stacked up. Plus, I drew on my years of experience to identify key features that added real value.
If you need more information about UX design tools or how to pick the best option for your needs, check out our Frequently Asked Questions section below. Or, you can skip directly to my detailed software summaries if that's what you need the most.
Selection Criteria
Here’s a short summary of the main selection and evaluation criteria I used to develop my list of the best UX design tools for this article:
Functionality
I’m looking for UX design tools that offer a full range of features to support users at all levels of sophistication. The best platforms are constantly evolving to stay up-to-date with trends in this fast-moving market.
Ease of Use
I expect software to be intuitive, so users can get up to speed with minimal training. Both experienced designers and novice users should be able to grasp the functions without frustration.
Innovation
I’m keen to find platforms that are breaking the mold in this market. There’s always room for new ideas and new ways to use emerging technologies for your advantage.
Software Integrations
The top UX design tools will offer native integrations with specialist design apps and general business applications. I selected tools offering a wide range of integrations to extend the power of the software.
Pricing
I seek out software that’s affordable for organizations large and small on a per-user basis. There should be a clear return on investment that makes financial sense.
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Overviews of the 10 Best UX Design Tools
Here’s a brief description of each UX design tool that showcases their best use case, noteworthy features, and some pros & cons. I’ve also included screenshots to give you a snapshot of their user interface, too.
UXCam
Best UX design tool for mobile app experience analytics
A specialist in mobile app experience and analytics, UXCam empowers product teams with contextual insights into how their mobile apps perform.
Why I picked UXCam: UXCam allows you to record, analyze and share sessions and events with the aim of uncovering app usage patterns. The software captures every micro-interaction in your app in real time, then converts all data points into high-fidelity reports for further analysis.
UXCam helps product companies scale by leveraging contextual analytics, giving every stakeholder the right kind of UX metrics. Product teams get to understand the reasons behind user drop-offs and uninstalls, as well as discovering emerging user trends.
The growth team gains deep insights into customer in-app journeys and can analyze specific user segments. Members of the engineering team get real value, too. They get to the root cause of bugs and app crashes, ensuring high-quality development and release cycles.
UXCam Standout Features and Integrations
Features include session replay analysis, heatmaps, user analysis, screen analysis, user journey analysis, custom reports and dashboards, and crash analytics.
Integrations include Amplitude, Android, Firebase Crashlytics, Firebase Google Analytics, Intercom, iOS, MixPanel, React-native, Segment, and Xamarin.
Pros
- Instant insights
- Old-school design
- Helpful heatmaps
Cons
- Session recordings sometimes fail
- Number of recordings limited
Marvel
Best UX design tool for rapid design handoff
Marvel is a UX design tool that facilitates rapid prototyping, usability testing, and handoff for design teams.
Why I picked Marvel: Using Marvel tools, you can wireframe, generate design specs, and connect integrations that enhance your workflow. The software makes it easy to create both low-fidelity and high-fidelity designs.
You can also draw app screens on paper, take photos, or add mockups from the cloud. Alternatively, you can draw directly on the screen. Just link each screen to form your app demo, then press play. Prototypes can be shared by email, SMS, or Twitter.
Features include design prototyping, a UI kit library, animations, responsive web design, version history, prototype sharing, commenting, and feedback.
Integrations include Ballpark, Confluence, Dropbox Paper, Jira, Microsoft, Niice, Sketch, Smartmockups, YouTube, and ZeroHeight.
Pros
- Great for remote teams
- Updated regularly
- Excellent Sketch integrations
Cons
- No animations
- No offline option
UXPin
Best UX design tool for gathering user insights
UXPin helps you create better user experiences and optimize user journeys, all in a single UX design tool.
Why I picked UXPin: The software enables you to gather user insights and feedback quickly. You can build interactive designs fast, then gather feedback by observing how end-users click through the designs.
You can invite team members and other stakeholders to collaborate, import files from other design tools, and make your work interactive. You can also take advantage of the pre-built libraries, and user flows (complete with elements, colors, text styles, and icons).
UXPin Standout Features and Integrations
Features include built-in design elements, easy mockups, comments, auto layouts, and online user testing.
Integrations include Desktop.com, Jira, Miro, Rambox, Shift, and Sketch.
Pros
- Option to upload custom fonts
- Easy to implement basic prototypes
- Great for sharing projects and mockups
Cons
- Limited video integration
- The platform can be slow
Justinmind
Best UX design tool for clickable prototype
Justinmind is an app development platform that helps businesses build prototypes and wireframes compatible with various screen sizes and devices.
Why I picked Justinmind: The software makes it easy to improve user experience through visual designs, web interactions, and mobile gestures. Using the export and documentation tools, you can enable users to generate standard documents and export them into HTML. The platform also allows designers to publish UI designs with a single click, then invite colleagues to provide feedback.
The software allows you to create clickable prototypes, then work through to fully-functional simulations—all without typing a single line of code. You can design full interactions of your web and mobile products, including advanced interactions, animations, transitions, and interactive UI elements.
Justinmind Standout Features and Integrations
Features include pre-installed user interface kits, animations, transitions, effects, templates, forms, data lists, collaboration, app testing, and flow scenario management.
Integrations include Adobe Illustrator, Adobe XD, Figma, Jira, Microsoft TFS, and Sketch.
Pros
- Easy to share designs
- Ability to link/add Photoshop files
- Great for fast prototyping
Cons
- Needs more tutorials
- Limited integrations
Treejack
Best UX design tool for content design
Treejack empowers you to identify where and why people get lost when consuming your content, then take action to fix the issues.
Why I picked Treejack: Using this tool, you can evaluate the searchability and hierarchy of your content, whether it’s located on the web, in an app, or inside an intranet. You can test, iterate, and validate your design decisions, building out a digital experience that’s intuitive and simple to navigate.
The software allows you to test how easily users can find the content they want. You can deploy the tree testing tool to build a website structure based on data, not assumptions. It's easy to test which labels and hierarchy make sense to your users and place elements where people expect to find them.
Treejack Standout Features and Integrations
Features include multiple iterations, design validation, automated insights, multiple visualization methods, user testing, and benchmarking.
Integrations with other software tools are available through connectors such as Zapier.
Pros
- Ability to drill down through multiple levels
- Closely matches actual user behavior
- Great for testing hierarchies
Cons
- Limited integrations
- Relatively high entry pricing
Freehand by Invision
Best UX design tool with a collaborative design whiteboard
Freehand by InVision is a digital product design platform that helps development professionals create and manage prototypes. The software provides a digital dashboard, allowing users to collaborate, test, and experiment with design templates and ideas.
Why I picked InVision’s Freehand: The multiplayer whiteboard provides a collaborative workspace for teams to get work done, either in real-time or asynchronously. Using InVision Freehand, designers can streamline and automate workflows or develop prototypes.
The built-in shared design libraries help professionals work collaboratively, using tools such as instant playback, mirroring mobile devices, and editing timelines. Users also get library access with push/pull changes, UX components, and version rollback.
InVision Freehand Standout Features and Integrations
Features include visual collaboration tools, presentations, prototype creation, digital whiteboards, wireframing, planning, and feedback management.
Integrations include Asana, Basecamp, Confluence, DropBox, Jira, Sketch, Slack, Teamwork, Trello, and Microsoft Teams.
Pros
- Interactive prototyping
- Strong asset sharing capabilities
- Wide variety of templates
Cons
- Navigation can be confusing
- More integrations needed
Wondershare Mockitt
Best UX design tool for creating animated prototypes
Wondershare Mockitt is an all-in-one online design, prototyping, and collaboration platform which aims to help developers create better products faster.
Why I picked Wondershare Mockitt: This UX design tool is perfect for creating interactive and animated prototypes that showcase your ideas effectively. You can create a life-like experience, leveling up your workflow by creating multiple artboards and instant interactions.
Formatted annotations help you understand the logic behind every interface design decision, while the real-time collaboration features allow you to share, edit, and comment in real time. The extensive library of templates and components helps you build prototypes faster.
Wondershare Mockitt Standout Features and Integrations
Features include a drag-and-drop functionality, a widget library, responsive design, version history, prototype sharing, and customizable templates.
Integrations include Asana, Box, Confluence, Dropbox, Google Drive, GitHub, Jira, Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Trello.
Pros
- No coding knowledge required to design or prototype
- Convenient developer handoffs
- Rapid prototyping
Cons
- Occasional minor bugs
- Smaller user base
Framer
Best UX design tool for interaction design
Framer is a development platform that allows you to create realistic, interactive UI and UX designs for any app or website.
Why I picked Framer: Using this software platform, you can collaborate with copywriters, developers, and other designers on all your UI and UX designs in real-time. The multiplayer features allow collaboration with colleagues on everything from wireframing to handoff.
All designs made in Framer are realistic from the start, with interactivity built into everything you create. Thanks to the interactive designs, you can spend more time designing and get quicker results from user testing. Team members can leave comments and respond to all feedback directly from the canvas.
Framer Standout Features and Integrations
Features include interactive prototyping, code components, design collaboration, UI kit library, design previews, responsive design, and templates.
Integrations include Copy Clipboard, Eventbrite, Giphy, Gumroad, Instagram, OpenTable, Product Hunt, Spotify, TrustPilot, and Twitter.
Pros
- High-fidelity prototypes
- Powerful interaction elements
- Excellent animation features
Cons
- Needs more sharing options
- Steep learning curve
Figma
Best UX design tool for ease of collaboration
Now part of the Adobe empire, Figma has a reputation for creating excellent design tools that empower rapid prototyping and development.
Why I picked Figma: Figma helps businesses create, test, and efficiently deliver new product designs. Using Figma’s pen tools, designers can draw in any direction with vector networks and generate arc designs. They can pin files for fast access, track contributors, add context notes, and perform collaboratively in real time. The application helps users build prototypes, create design transitions, and define interactions.
Collaboration tools such as diagrams, sticky notes, audio discussions, and online whiteboards also make brainstorming easy for teams.
Figma Standout Features and Integrations
Features include advanced collaboration tools, vector networks, components, prototyping, design system management, version control, version history, audio conversations, team libraries, content management, overlays, automated provisioning, on-canvas commenting, plugins, and cross-platform compatibility.
Integrations include Axure, Bubble, Confluence, Flinto, Maze, Microsoft Teams, Pendo, Principle, ProtoPie, Sprig, and Zeplin.
Pros
- Cross-platform support
- Drag-and-drop prototyping
- Quality plugins
Cons
- Commenting can be confusing
- Steep learning curve
Proto.io
Best UX design tool for drag-and-drop prototyping
Proto.io is a prototyping solution for UX designers, entrepreneurs, product managers, and marketers.
Why I picked Proto.io: The intuitive drag & drop interface gives you the building blocks you need to produce prototypes quickly. You can also leverage the pre-built user interface libraries, deploying UI components that mimic the look and behavior of their original native counterparts.
The platform also includes various customizable templates for web and mobile, with popular blocks and elements built-in. In addition, you will find a huge selection of static icons, animated icons, stock images, and sound effects.
Proto.io Standout Features and Integrations
Features include UI component libraries, templates, patterns, icons library, sound effects, audio tracks, and video clips.
Integrations include Adobe Fonts, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe XD, Figma, Google Fonts, and Sketch.
Pros
- Excellent simulations
- Powerful visualizations
- Beginner friendly
Cons
- Confusing interface
- Unreliable import features
The 10 Best UX Design Tools Comparison Chart
Here’s a comparison chart that summarizes basic details about each of the top UX design tools I selected. You can view pricing details and the availability of free trials or demos side-by-side to help you find the best tools for your budget.
Tool | Free Option | Price | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | UXCam Best UX design tool for mobile app experience analytics | 14-day free trial + free plan available | Pricing upon request | Visit Website |
2 | Marvel Best UX design tool for rapid design handoff | 7-day free trial + free plan available | From $16/user/month | Visit Website |
3 | UXPin Best UX design tool for gathering user insights | 14-day free trial + free plan available | From $24/user/month | Visit Website |
4 | Justinmind Best UX design tool for clickable prototype | Free plan available | From $19/user/month | Visit Website |
5 | Treejack Best UX design tool for content design | Free plan available | From $249/user/month | Visit Website |
6 | Freehand by Invision Best UX design tool with a collaborative design whiteboard | Free plan available | From $4.95/user/month | Visit Website |
7 | Wondershare Mockitt Best UX design tool for creating animated prototypes | Free trial available | From $99/team (annually) | Visit Website |
8 | Framer Best UX design tool for interaction design | Free plan available | From $30/user/month (Team package) | Visit Website |
9 | Figma Best UX design tool for ease of collaboration | Free plan available | From $15/user/month | Visit Website |
10 | Proto.io Best UX design tool for drag-and-drop prototyping | 15-day free trial | From $29/user/month | Visit Website |
Other Options
Here are a few more worthwhile options that didn’t make the best UX design tools list:
- VisualSitemaps
Best UX design tool for auto-generating visual sitemaps
- Sketch
Best UX design tool for Mac-based design team
- UXtweak
Best UX design tool for UX research
- Balsamiq
Best UX design tool for advanced wireframing
- Visily
Best UX design tool for fast app wireframing
- Adobe XD
Best UX design tool for the Adobe ecosystem
- Flowmapp
Best UX design tool for website design
- Axure
Best UX design tool for building functional prototypes
- Antetype
Best UX design tool for fully-interactive prototype
- Origami Studio
Best UX design tool for tapping into native hardware APIs
UX Design Tools: Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some answers to the questions I’m most often asked about UX design tools:
What do UX design tools do?
What features are included in UX design tools?
When should I use a UX design tool?
What’s the difference between UX and UI tools?
What’s the difference between UX and CX?
How to Learn More
If you found this article helpful, you might also like to check out our articles on the best product design software for 3D/2D rendering and the best wireframing tools for designing apps and websites.
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Good UX design makes all the difference in helping apps succeed. With the help of the right tool from my shortlist, you can ensure your app or website truly delights customers.