Are you wondering what the best software is for web design? Maybe you’re obsessed with web design, or want to learn more about it. This list is for you. You’ll find the best retouching software, design applications, design programs, and graphic designers software/apps here!
Web design has come a long way over the years. The variety of software products that are available to web designers, photographers, artists, etc… is pretty eye opening. I put together a list of some of the best software for web design currently available. Using these can help you save time and money as you build your site.
Webflow
Cloud-based offering that needs no coding knowledge
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REASONS TO BUY
+Drag and drop GUI+Truly cross-platform
REASONS TO AVOID
-Interface takes time to master
Webflow is a cloud-based service which has been created specifically to allow people with no coding knowledge to get started with web design.Advertisement
Aside from being truly cross-platform, as it’s web-based, Webflow emphasizes the concept of ‘smart codelessness’. In the first instance this means a crisp drag and drop interface allowing you to drop elements such as text and images seamlessly onto a page using one of the freely available templates.
Unlike many WYSIWYG editors, the code produced is very clean and well-written even if you choose the ‘I have no coding experience’ option during setup. Webflow’s automation tool will create the necessary HTML/CSS code for you. You can make granular changes to individual elements using the panels on the right.
Webflow offers a free demonstration of its features via the website, and you can also subscribe for a free Starter package which allows you to create up to two projects.
Visual Studio Code
A text editor from Microsoft
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REASONS TO BUY
+Customizable+Loads of integrations+Source control tools
Visual Studio Code (or VScode) has become popular among developers – the ones who aren’t put off by the fact that it’s a Microsoft product, anyway. It offers a variety of packages and free extensions that can be downloaded from its marketplace to add additional features – and the code editor itself can be customized.
While a lot of people may be intimated by the idea of coding if they have no programming experience, at some point in the web design process it can be important to be able to edit code directly. This is particularly helpful if you want to customize code for existing software add-ons in order to get the features you want for your website. Visual Studio Code can help make the process less painful by providing a dedicated platform for coding.
Visual Studio Code sports its own terminal and debugger, supports linting, and has integration with all manner of source control tools. It especially offers good support for Javascript and Python, making it potentially useful not just for coding the frontend of a website but also potentially some backend functions as well.
Bootstrap – The most popular HTML, CSS, and JS library in the world
Pricing: Free, Pro – $15/mo, Enterprise – $29
Editorial ratings: ★★★★
Bootstrap is a free and open-source CSS framework directed at responsive, mobile-first front-end web development. It contains CSS-based and JavaScript-based design templates for typography, forms, buttons, navigation, and other interface components.
As a popular and powerful framework, Bootstrap is designed for front-end developers to make beautiful designs for websites with HTML, CSS, and JS. With the most advanced development features, Boostrap is well-received by discerning technical users around the world.
Main features:
- A great example library of free Bootstrap form templates & examples available, including custom components, frameworks, navbars, and experiments.
- It’s built with default Bootstrap components and utilities with little customization.
- Team features and multiple support options provided.
MAMP – A local web development solution for macOS and Windows
Pricing: Free, MAMP Pro – ¥229-469
Editorial ratings: ★★★★
MAMP is a good open-source integration software that can be installed in macOS and Windows. It provides three main products, including MAMP Pro 5, MAMAP, and NAMO. MAMP is a free local server, MAMP Pro 5 is a commercial, professional frontend utility that enables Mac OS X users to install Apache server, MySQL, PHP, accelerator and PHPMyAdmin with ease.
Main features:
- Enables professional web developers to manage the development environment easily.
- Simulates real test environment to test PHP script by opening the local mail server.
- A powerful configuration for local debugging.
- Low learning curve.
Photoshop – Best photo, image, and design editing software
Pricing: Free
Editorial ratings: ★★★★★
Because Photoshop is an essential web development tool these days, more people are being enticed to master this software. With its powerful features, it has become an integral part of website building.
Main features:
- Create and enhance photographs, illustrations, and 3D artwork.
- Design websites and mobile apps.
- Edit videos simulate real-life paintings and more.
Statamic
Say hello to Statamic, the CMS of the future. Built by developers for developers, this laravel-based and open-sourced CMS handles everything without any plugins. And by everything, we mean everything. Custom fields, navigation builder, search, you name it. Compared to other CMS, it’s easy to customize Statamic from the frontend. Its flat-file mode reduces complexity and makes maintenance a piece of cake. This is one cool web builder.
It’s free to use Statamic. Paid plans start at $259/site with an additional $59 for updates (free for the first year).
Adobe Dreamweaver
Dreamweaver is a simplified coding engine allowing a real-time preview of your content as you made edits to the code. Start your next responsive website project from a template or build from scratch. With Git support and code hints, you can custom-build all kinds of HTML assets like emails, eCommerce sites, portfolios, blogs, and more.
Start with a 30-day free trial. Plans start at $20.99/month or $52.99/month for the entire Adobe Creative Cloud when billed annually. (Prices vary for students, teachers, and businesses.)
Conclusion
There’s a lot to know about web design and development, and if you wanted to learn all of it you’d be busy for the rest of your life (I think). But if you’re busy and want to get the most out of your website, this guide is for you. The best software isn’t always the newest or most expensive; this list is designed to help you master the art of web design quickly, with something that will either meet (or exceed) your expectations.