Free Tools to Create Wireframes – One of the most significant parts in designing a website in a very important aspect. Wireframe in web design is a simple framework or blueprint for a web page, which includes the layout, structure and organization of content.
If you’re looking to wireframe your next project this post is just for you!
Wireframe.CC
User-review rating: 3.8/5
Type: Web-based, Freemium
Overview: Wireframe.cc is a browser-based free wireframing solution for designers on the go. Accessible anywhere through a browser, it’s a simple and cluster free tool with a sleek UI. The free version allows for users to create one simple wireframe at a time and is equipped with tools to customize the grid layout, typography, canvas size, and more.
The next level for premium pricing is $16/mo per user and allows for unlimited projects and revisions, custom branding, and exporting directly into PNG format.
Naview
Naview is an online service that allows you to design and build navigation prototypes and test navigation usability with your users. You can create an amazing state of the art navigations using this prototyping tool. I suppose the feature that everyone is going to enjoy the most is the ability to make the menu as deep as technically possible, saving quite a lot of time for drawing sketches and mind maps.
Creately
Creately is not a specific platform built for solving the issue with wireframes, rather it is a set of tools built within a single desktop application; tools that can help with things like prototyping, diagramming, and building demos for clients. It is not the cheapest option out there, but the beginner plans are cheap enough to be given a try straight away. I’d love to see some case study reports for this particular tool, are you able to provide any?
FlairBuilder
You’ll be happy to learn that the FlairBuilder team is all about simplicity, it is their motto for their own products. The FlairBuilder focuses on building wireframes, and nothing else. With that in mind, once you install the tool you’re given access to hundreds of components, widgets, and tools to build with. I’m liking the feel of this particular wireframe tool, what about you?
Mockabilly
What about those poor iOS developers, don’t they deserve some wireframe love too? I guess they do, so here is a nice little tool that will help you build wireframes and mockups for your iPhone devices. What is more, you can actually download this app from the App Store, which means that you can instantly get all the necessary prototyping power at your disposal. I’m hoping to see more of the same type of tools (mobile wireframing) enter the market soon.
Savah
The guys behind Savah want you to feel productive, creative and inspired when you’re building something new, like a new wireframe using the Savah wireframe creation platform. It looks like it works for both desktop and mobile wireframes, and there is also built-in support for collaboration and client reviews. A very good set of features, the application is free at the time of writing this.
SnapUp
I was recommended this tool through the comment section, and after doing a little bit of research and inspection, I feel that this tool can qualify for this post. SnapUp is a SaaS built platform that wants to help designers and developers to forget about difficulties encountered when building mockups, and rather wants to give them the freedom to build whatever wireframes they like. See the features, and also check out the comment section for additional information.
iPlotz
With iPlotz, you can create clickable wireframes, and it even helps you in creating navigation. This helps you in getting an experience of a live software application or website. iPlotz’s free version offers you one project with a total of five pages. The tools have amazing functionality even though they are free. Their free plan allows the designers to test drive the program.
MockingBird Wireframe Online Tool
This is a free online application that offers wireframing tools as a SaaS application. MockingBird’s free plan includes one project with up to 10 pages. One can even share their projects in PNG or PSD format. The entire application is quite simple and effective, making it a perfect tool for beginner to intermediate level designers.
MockFlow
User-review rating: 3.4/5
Type: Web-based or On-premise, Freemium
Overview: MockFlow is an all-in-one UI tool that offers free mockup and wireframing features in its forever free plan. Its free offering allows for one active UI project at anytime, two reviewers per project for collaboration, feedback, and sharing, and basic wireframing and mockup features.
MockFlow’s entry-level paid package starts at $14/mo per user and includes unlimited projects and reviewers, version history, and MockFlow’s UI asset library.
Adobe XD
For macOS and Windows
Price:
- Starter Plan: $0
- Single App: $9.99 per month
- All Apps: $52.99 per month
Hot Features in Adobe XD:
- Create wireframes, mockups, and prototypes in the same project file
- No need to integrate multiple tools
- 2GB free storage with Adobe XD’s free plan
Adobe XD is Adobe’s UX design app. It allows you to see your product in the prototype stage and can do everything from wireframing to basic prototyping. Its interface has a minimalist feel in comparison to other Adobe tools and new-user onboarding is relatively straightforward.
This tool lets you create a wireframe, mockup, and prototype within the same project file. There’s no need to integrate multiple tools or export after every iteration.
Adobe XD is free for one shareable prototype and up to 2GB of storage. Adobe’s Single App plan starts at $9.99/month and includes unlimited prototypes and 100GB of cloud storage space.
Other popular Adobe programs that you can also use for wireframing include Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop.
InVision Studio
For macOS
Price:
- Starter Plan: $0
- Pro: $7.95 per month, paid annually
Hot Features in Invision Studio:
- Invision Specs makes team-wide handoffs smoother
- A centralized design, development, and product hub that makes moving code quick and easy
- Jira integration for better project management
InVision Studio is quickly gaining popularity in the design community. Before it was released in 2018, UI designers using the InVision prototyping tool had to use a third-party wireframe tool. Now both tasks can be done with the InVision suite.
The free version of InVision Studio allows up to three active users and three documents and works best for individuals and small design teams. For $7.95/month (on the annual plan), the Pro plan includes unlimited documents and archiving for up to 15 collaborators.
Another wireframe tool by InVision is InVision Freehand.
Sketch
For macOS
Price:
- $9 per month or $99 per year
Hot Features in Sketch:
- Intuitive vector editing tools
- Iterate your work with non-destructive Boolean operations
- A variety of exporting options, including drag-and-share
Sketch was first released in 2010 and has made a name for itself as a lightweight vector design tool. While it’s a fairly basic tool for modern UI and icon vector design, it integrates with other design tools and promotes the building of integration plugins.
Sketch costs $99/year for an individual license. If you don’t renew your subscription, you can continue to use the tool, but you won’t receive software updates or be able to save files to the cloud.
Canva
For web
Price:
- Starter Plan: $0
- Pro: $119.99 per year
- Enterprise: $30 per person, per month
Hot Features in Canva:
- Canva teams lets groups design mockups together in real time
- Create precise compositions with Canva’s crop tool
- Create charts easily with numerical and percentage-based editable charts and graphs
Canva helps non-designers create simple, high-quality graphics — and you can also use it to create wireframes. It features drag-and-drop illustrations, photos, charts, and other ready-made templates and shapes for quick mockups.
Proto.io
For web
Price:
- Solo: $12
- Freelancer: $24 per month
- Startup: $40 per month
- Agency: $80 per month
Hot Features for Proto.io:
- More than 250 UI components to mimic the behavior of their native counterparts
- Design virtually any web or mobile event or action
- Preview, share, and get feedback on designs with user testing integrations
Proto.io is popular for its prototyping and wireframing capabilities, and it’s especially useful for user experience (UX) testing. You can gather data from users before sending your final design to developers, which helps everyone make informed design decisions.
Proto.io is cloud-based and allows multiple users to access the same document simultaneously, making collaboration not only possible but easy.
Moqups
For web
Price:
- Pro: $16 per 3 users, per month, paid annually
- Unlimited: $49 per month, paid annually
Hot Features in Moqups:
- Free plan comes with 5MB of storage
- Drag-and-drop user interface
- Integrates seamlessly with Dropbox, Google Drive, and Slack
Moqups is a web-based tool that allows you to build wireframes, mockups, and prototypes within the same environment. You can make designs such as wireframes, diagrams, flowcharts, sitemaps, mockups, graphs, and charts.
It has a built-in library with thousands of design elements and it’s easy to organize your projects with search and drag-and-drop features. It also permits integrations and facilitates collaboration with tools such as Dropbox, Google Drive, and Slack.
Moqups offers a free plan with 1 project and 5MB of storage. Upgrading to the Pro plan for $16/month (billed annually) gets you unlimited projects for a single user.
Conclusion
A wireframe is a visual structure for your app or website. With wireframes, you can communicate your ideas, design layouts and test usability easily. Wireframes are generally used to create, edit or share website mockups that will be tested using website usability testing methodologies. They are also used in software creation. They are also generally for websites, internal documentation and presentations of new products.