Are you building a prototype for your mobile app, but don’t want to spend money on premium software like Axure or Justinmind?
You can try out these free prototyping tools for Windows which make it easy to create prototypes.
Figma
Figma provides an easy-to-use drag-and-drop editor to create wireframes and practical prototypes. It also has many immersive elements to animate prototypes.
Most designers already know this famous web-based UI design tool. While Figma is widely referred to as the UX design app, it also has software for rapid prototyping. Additional features include plugins such as Figmotion and Autoflow plus the availability of Arc Tool and Vector Networks.
Webflow
Webflow is becoming really popular as it speeds up developers’ work by providing clean, semantic code and designs. This program is a well-known prototyping method for developing zero-coding sensitive websites. Designers can use its pre-built features to create high-fidelity designs that Webflow transforms into a production-ready website. In other words: Webflow allows you to prototype while simultaneously building a live website.
Sketch
Sketch is one of the best applications available today to create all forms of user interfaces such as mobile, web and code help, which is why millions of programmers around the world use it. Sketch supports a smooth production process where designers can produce high-quality designs. You might think of it like a more sophisticated and widely supported version of Figma (although it’s only available on iOS).
Balsamiq Mockups
With a free trial of 30 days and a basic plan starting from $12 per month, Balsamiq offers a browser-based Web UI mockup tool. It has everything you need to create a simple prototype like a collection of icons, buttons, frames, text generator and other elements. There is also a toggle button that lets you switch between a sketch like a layout and the real interface.
Protopie
Just like Proto.io, this tool allows interactive prototyping without any coding knowledge. Apart from applying all the latest styling features in your design, you can also control the sensor of smart handheld devices like tilt, touch sensors, sound etc. in your prototypes.
Apart from the free trial version, the basic edition starts from $79.20 for only 1 user. If you are planning to purchase multiple licenses, the pricing starts at $99.
Mockplus – Create fully interactive web/app prototypes easier and faster
Price: 7-day free trial; $199 for a one-year license
Platform: Windows & Mac
Make prototypes for: Mobiles & Websites
Mockplus is another software that operates with a focus on prototyping and is great for cross-team collaboration. Mockplus, one of the fastest-rising, prototyping tools on the market, allows for quick design and changes to that design. It also allows the designer to organize their workflow while developers gather snippets of code. This all creates a much more streamlined project collaboration process.
Mockplus has plugins for Axure, Sketch, Adobe Photoshop, Figma and Adobe XD so you can prototype any project from different platforms. It also has desktop applications on Windows and Mac and mobile applications on iOS and Android with all projects synced to the Mock PlusCloud so collaboration isn’t limited to folks who share your operating system.
Mockplus is a rapid prototyping tool that allows you to translate your design ideas into fully interactive prototypes, test, share and iterate within minutes. It offers both personal and collaboration projects to create all possible web/app prototypes based on different purposes.
My favorite aspect of this tool is its easy-to-use interface. Everything can be done with simple clicks or drag-and-drop.
Pros:
- Clean and easy-to-use interface
- Powerful web/app component, component style, icon and template libraries
- Rich UI animation, transition and interaction options
- Support team collaboration and management
- Integrate with Sketch and iDoc (an online design collaboration platform)
- 8 ways to preview, share and test prototypes on computers and mobiles
Cons:
- Some users think it is a little bit laggy while in use
If you want to visualize your design ideas quickly and work with your team to test, share, get feedback and iterate in one tool, Mockplus is ideal for you to streamline your entire prototyping process.
Flinto – Create clickable prototypes on Mac
Price: 14-day free trial; $99 for a one-year license
Platform: Mac
Make prototypes for: Mobiles & Websites
Flinto is a Mac app that allows designers to create animated and clickable web/app prototypes quickly. With rich transitions, animations, gestures, it is good to create a fully interactive prototype.
Pros:
- Support 3D transformation
- Provide rich transitions, animations and gestures
- Support creating scrolling area with clicks
- Offer powerful drawing tools to create simple prototype with ease
- Allow you to import design from Sketch and Figma
- Export prototypes as videos or GIF for sharing
Cons:
- Mac only
Figma
Figma is an all-in-one tool that makes collaboration and accessibility easy for UX designers, developers, and anyone else on a team with a browser-based, cloud-hosted platform. If you’ve worked with Sketch before, you’ll find that Figma has a similar feel that makes it easy to get started with.
Consistency is a priority in web design, and you can use Figma’s flexible styles to control the appearance of text, grids, and other elements across a project. And a variety of useful plugins, like Autoflow for illustrating user flows, Figmotion for creating animations, and many others, enhance Figma’s functionality.
InVision Studio
It is one of the most popular mobile app prototyping tools in the world. It enables you to organize design components into the status workflow, set columns for to-do, drag and drop design components in an appropriate column, add interactions and animations, and upload multiple file types. InVision simplifies every aspect of workflow enabling you to design better, faster, and more collaboratively in real-time.
Released in 2011, InVision has a well-established reputation, and their dedication to rolling out new functionality and adding to their design platform makes them a favorite among many designers.
With a host of well-designed tools, InVision gives designers the power to put together functional prototypes quickly and to share them with others. It offers so many nice features, including a handy vector drawing tool, repeatable components that can be changed sitewide, and tools for creating animations and other dynamic visual effects.
Collaboration and communication are also strengths of InVision. Freehand lets team members draw, add notes, and offer feedback. And through LiveShare, a prototype can be demonstrated with full interactivity. InVision makes it easy for team members to stay connected and work together throughout the course of a project.
Pros
Seamless collaboration
Simple and easy to use
Various features
Cons
Feature-set a bit difficult to use
Compatibility
macOS and Windows
Webflow
As you may have noticed, we are Webflow. We know that you want a smoother and faster design process, and we’re here to help you out.
Webflow takes care of two jobs at once. While you’re designing and building a high-fidelity prototype, you’re creating a live website that’s complete with all of the HTML, CSS, and associated JavaScript. You don’t end up with just a mockup — you’ll have the real deal.
With an intuitive drag-and-drop interface, a powerful CMS, and the capability to create advanced animations, transitions, and microinteractions, Webflow makes it possible to create any type of professional-level website.
If you want a speedy way to design and prototype, Webflow gives you what you need, all without knowing how to code, making it one of the best prototyping tools whatever your skill level. Designers and marketers can easily collaborate in Webflow as well.
You can also check out Webflow University for a wide range of tutorials on how to get started with prototyping in Webflow.
Justinmind
Justinmind is a Web UI mockup tool that allows you to create a clickable and functional prototype or wireframe. It offers downloadable software which is free for 30 days. After which you have to pay $19 per month for the basic plan. You can create every UI aspect that you need in your site, like dropdowns, toggle animations, add shadows and other effects in your web elements and create a prototype for desktop as well as handheld devices.
Flinto
This is a Mac-based WebUI mockup tool popular among designers worldwide. You can create dynamic prototypes having animated transitions, customized scrolling, sound effects, and other features. You can also export the prototype as a recorded video or GIF and present it to your stakeholders.
Apart from the free trial, the pricing starts from $99 for a single user with a year of free updates.
Adobe XD
Adobe XD is another one of the best app prototyping tools available on the market. It allows you to draw, reuse, and remix vector and build artwork to create interactive prototypes. One can easily switch from design to prototype, add interactions and transitions, and share with teammates to test the look and feel of the design. It allows integrations with several other Adobe products like Photoshop and After Effects.
Adobe XD offers a vector-based system for putting together prototypes, including tools for creating interactions, transitions, and other types of dynamic functionality. Because it’s vector based, scaling and resizing elements is no problem.
Adobe XD work well alongside other Adobe family apps like Illustrator and Photoshop. It’s nice to be able to edit Adobe images, like a .psd, right in the application.
From UI design to UX design, Adobe XD covers all the tools a designer needs from conceptualization through high-resolution prototypes. And they’re continually adding to this product with monthly updates that expand its functionality.
Pros
Everything you need is available
Integration with other Adobe products
Cons
Plug-in workflow non-existent
Compatibility
macOS and Windows
Conclusion
There are plenty of prototyping tools out there for designing mobile apps, webpages or prototyping. It’s quite hard to choose one that suits your project needs without wasting costly hours of trial and error. I have used some wireframe tools myself, but I have decided to put together this list of useful wireframe tools which can be useful for our readers.