Wireframe tools can help you to showcase how your website will look like easily and fast, but the problem is that there are hundreds of them online. That is why it would be nice to have some kind of top list with criteria on which you can evaluate the best tool for yourself. That is what you get below.
As web designers, we use wireframe tools to make our clients’ lives much easier when it comes to discussing the navigation structure, content or simply when it comes to understanding what their website should look like. A good tool will provide you with the basic components necessary in order to create a true to scale prototype of your future online application.
Wireframe.CC
A simple, minimalistic wireframing tool for mobile apps and websites that’s easy to learn.
Price breakdown
- Basic: free
- Premium: 7-day free trial, $16 per month (single-user)
What does Wireframe.cc offer?
If you need a quick and efficient tool for putting together some simple wireframes then Wireframe.cc is your best choice.
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. Wireframe.cc made it very easy to turn your mouse into a multipurpose tool. Simply draw your shape on a blank canvas and select what you want it to be from the 9 options on the appearing toolbar.
Wireframe.cc’s design templates are simple with the ability to choose from the mobile landscape, mobile vertical, and webpage. This focus on the basics makes Wireframe.cc a great option when you just need something rudimentary done quickly.
What doesn’t it offer?
Some see the simple nature of Wireframe.cc to be a downside—especially if you are looking to create anything mid-fidelity and up. No animation or interaction options are provided and it also lacks mockup creation, presentation tools, prototyping, screen capture, and feedback management.
It also doesn’t allow for the creation of more than one wireframe at a time so comparing various iterations side-by-side can be difficult. So while this wireframing tool is quick and easy to use, it is a bit limited in features and complexity.
What people are saying about Wireframe.cc
- “I suck at designing. This dead-simple tool allows me to get my web design ideas out.”
- “Quick to start. No installation needed. Minimalistic. Easy to understand for everyone.”
Pencil Project
An open-source graphical user interface tool great for wireframing, mockup creation, and prototyping by both solitary designers and big businesses alike.
Price breakdown
Totally free!
What is Pencil Project good for?
Pencil Project is a downloadable wireframing tool for both Mac and Windows and is also available as a Firefox add-on. Pencil Project has loads of templates to choose from for both mobile and web so you can create many different low-fidelity wires of your interface.
This diverse UX tool has a good amount of interactive elements and is especially noted for its diagramming capabilities. Linking shapes, wireflows, and other flowcharts is made quick and easy with Pencil Project’s “connector” tool and page linking.
Free of charge and intuitive to use, Pencil Project is a great choice for basic wires or beginner designers.
What does Pencil Project lack?
Pencil Project is not the best wireframing tool for big design teams as collaboration features are a bit limited. Users have also noted that the variety of available shapes is a bit light and many designers are left needing to hook up to a more extensive online shapes library.
Other users have noted that Pencil Project feels a bit out of date and could use better-looking features. Furthermore, designers looking for mid- to high-fidelity wireframing capabilities will most likely want to use a different software.
What users are saying
- “I love using Pencil for the initial mock-up of a project. I can work quickly and get the printout to all of my coworkers for input.”
- “Pencil is a little limited in what you can add to your design. They have great options, but sometimes you wish they had more to offer.”
FluidUI
An intuitive wireframing tool for supported on a wide variety of platforms including mobile Android and iOS.
Price breakdown
- Free version (one project, single-user, 10 pages max)
- Solo (three projects, single-user): monthly, $15/month; yearly, $8.25/month
How FluidUI can help you make great wireframes
FluidUI is all about making great-looking high-fidelity wireframes. The free version offers up to 10 pages of workspace and even allows transitions and gestures between them.
FluidUI is unique among most other wireframing softwares in that it offers a wide variety of interaction elements and animations. Not only that, but it also comes equipped with over 2000 icons, widgets, and design elements that you can customize and drag-and-drop onto your page. Fluid UI puts everything you need for an awesome wireframe right at your fingertips.
What’s not so great about FluidUI
Although FluidUI does its best to give you great wireframing tools for free, their unpaid version is still a bit limited and many designers feel the need to upgrade. Another frustrating aspect to FluidUI is that multiple image upload is not supported, leaving you uploading images one-by-one.
What are FluidUI users saying?
- “I haven’t actually used any other software other than FluidUI but I truly have no reason to! It’s got everything you’d possibly need.”
- “Sometimes it can be a little awkward to position things…although it does get easier with practice.”
Cacoo
A diagramming software for designers, freelancers, and students to brainstorm flowcharts, mind maps, mockups, wireframes, and more.
Price breakdown
- Free 2-week trial
- $6 per user, per month (paid monthly); or $5 per user, per month (paid annually—2 months free!)
What’s great about Cacoo
Cacoo is a great wireframing tool for creating both low- and mid-fidelity wires. It’s cloud based and heavy on team collaboration with quality presentation tools and ways to share your ideas with colleagues. There’s a good amount of templates to choose from as well as other features for creating user flows, prototypes, and diagrams.
The free trial is on the shorter side but it offers unlimited users and up to 25 pages or projects— pretty generous! Especially since Cacoo can be a great tool for design tasks other than wireframes, such as flowcharts or user testing.
The downsides to using Cacoo to wireframe
The free version is a bit more limited than the subscription and you can only export projects as PNG files. You also can’t access your work once your free trial ends so you must back it up elsewhere in order to save it. Some users have reported its cloud-based nature to be a bit frustrating as it can lag or malfunction if they’re not using a very up-to-date computer.
Furthermore, there is a bit of a learning curve to using Cacoo as the keyboard shortcuts are not as intuitive as desired.
What are other designers saying about Cacoo
- “Easy to learn and use. Cacoo lets you make fast and great diagrams for many usages.”
- “Using a good computer is needed for flawless function.”
Figma 
Clique favorite
User-review rating: 4.5/5
Type: Web-based, Freemium
Overview: Figma is an all-in-one design platform for UX/UI pros and offers a robust free offering for creating wireframes. It’s starter package is completely free and is one of the most robust free offerings on this list – 3 active projects, 30 day revision history, 2 editors at any time, and unlimited cloud storage.
The first paid tier (which is free for students with a valid school email address) is $12/mo per editor and includes an upgrade to unlimited active projects and version history, custom permissions, private boards, and team collaboration features.
Draw.io
User-review rating: 4.3/5
Type: Web-based, Open source
Overview: Draw.io is a completely free and open-source wireframing software that feels similar in UI to Google Docs. It’s a simple layout with powerful features. Simply put, it may be the most robust free offering of any of the free wireframing tools on this list.
Users can export designs to their Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, their desktop, or directly supported integrations including Gliffy, Lucidchart and more. An added benefit is it’s active open-source community that works to fix product bugs and issues, and add new features.
Justinmind
The best wireframe and prototype tool for non-techies
SPECIFICATIONS
Platform: Mac OS, WindowsFree trial: No, but limited free versionPrice: From $9 per monthTODAY’S BEST DEALSVISIT SITE
REASONS TO BUY
+Build working prototypes +Suitable for beginners +Free version
REASONS TO AVOID
-Learning curve
Justinmind is another tool that lets you build everything from rough wireframes to working prototypes. However, this tool is much more suitable for non-techies than pro options like Axure RP. It includes a library of UI elements, from buttons and forms to generic shapes and a range of widgets for iOS, SAP and Android.
Custom styling is included, so you can add rounded corners, cropped images or colour gradients, or import graphics by dragging them into the browser. Prototypes can be exported as HTML. There’s even a limited free-forever version.
Conclusion
Wireframe is the structure of a website which is prepared before making design or building prototype. Wireframe can be made either manually or with the help of any software or your favorite drawing tool. A wireframe is an essential concept for web designer which will make him able to explore multiple designs easily. Analogies are considered very helpful for designing, especially for people who are new to design field.