11 best prototyping tools for UI/UX designers — how to choose the right one

Creating a prototype is one of the most useful steps you can take when collaborating with a client during the design process of any project. 

When your client can see a visual representation of the design you’re creating for them, it allows them to either approve of where you’re going with the project or pinpoint any changes they’d like you to make. It takes away the hassle and the additional step of having to make more changes after the final project is presented. 

So, what's the best design tool for UI/UX designers to make your client’s vision a reality? We’re going to give you a quick rundown of the 11 best prototyping tools out there so you can choose the best one for you.

Note: To compile this list, we reviewed over 30 prototyping tools, compared features, tested cross-platform compatibility, and gathered feedback from UI/UX designers across industries — including product design, SaaS, and eCommerce. Tools were ranked based on usability, collaboration features, integration options, and pricing flexibility. Stay with us till the end to see a bonus suggestion! 

1. Adobe XD

Adobe XD prides itself on being built from the ground up to address the needs of today’s UX designers. It eliminates speed bumps and creates a high-quality, seamless performance when it comes to designing a prototype or wireframe.

Benefits:

• Clients can view designs in real-time on various devices.
• You can easily switch from design to prototype mode.
• It’s possible to add interactions and transitions.
• Easily share projects with clients and other members of your team to receive quick feedback.
• Create wireframes, interactive prototypes, and screen layouts in one app.
• It integrates seamlessly with Adobe Photoshop and After Effects.

2. Sketch

Sketch is designed to provide the tools you need to help you work faster and more efficiently when it comes to prototype design. It works as a vector-based design tool renowned mainly for its intuitive interface and powerful features that make it easier to build high-fidelity prototypes and collaborative workflows.

Benefits:

• Fully vector-based design.
• You can easily create high-quality graphics and artwork.
• Edit and manipulate photos similar to Photoshop.
• Repeating elements such as buttons, bars, and bubbles are easily copied and pasted.
• Vector shapes are easily tweaked to exact sizes and styles.

3. InVision

InVision is the most popular prototyping tool in the world for UI design, used by top companies such as Netflix, Amazon, Airbnb, and HBO to create game-changing prototypes. It stands out with its excellent collaboration features that help designers gather feedback through real-time comments and annotations.

Benefits:

• New features are added constantly.
• Organize by setting columns, including to-do lists, in progress, needs review, and approval.
• Easy to use drag and drop design feature.
• Make static images more interesting by adding animations and interactions.
• It’s compatible with multiple file types, which include JPG, PNG, GIF, AI, and PSD.
• It can be integrated with apps such as Dropbox, Box, JIRA and Trello.

4. Origami Studio

This awesome prototyping tool was actually created by Facebook to help their teams create and design projects. Origami Studio lets you play with freeform drawing tools and visual elements to create the best prototype for your client.

Benefits:

• Prototype can be previewed via mobile in real-time using Origami Live.
• Show off designs in full screen on a number of different devices.
• Sketch and Photoshop designs can be fully imported into Origami, including preserving project layers.
• Export all of your prototype components, including layers and animations for real-time collaboration.

5. Framer

Framer creators like to say their platform is the “best prototyping tool for every level”. We believe no software should make such bold self-centered statements, but Framer is definitely easy to figure out for all types of users, including newbies and industry veterans.

Benefits:

• Make beautiful designs with rich media elements.
• There’s a drag and drop feature for animations, data, and media elements.
• All components backed by code which makes final step processes much smoother.
• It has a seamless workflow.
• Offers device previewing and version control.
• Facilitates easy sharing with clients and collaborators for real-time feedback.
• Import graphics directly from Sketch, Photoshop or Figma.

6. Axure

Axure provides powerful UX and UI prototyping and allows you to create dynamic, interactive prototypes to hand off to developers without the need for code. Many designers praise Axure for its ability to create highly interactive and detailed wireframes with dynamic content, conditional logic, and adaptive views.

Benefits:

• Uses data-driven sorting.
• It has adaptive views for sizing the screen depending on the screen size.
• Animations on the prototype can also be catered.
• Prototypes can be easily viewed by collaborators or clients with the click of a button for easy handoff.
• Receive notifications about the latest changes and discussions about your project via email, Slack or Microsoft Teams for real-time collaboration.
• Offers drag and drop placement, resizing, and formatting of widgets.

7. Webflow

Webflow allows you to design, prototype, and launch dynamic, responsive websites within your browser. Webflow sets itself apart by combining visual design and web development. That way, the platform enables you to make production-ready websites with a drag-and-drop interface and clean, semantic code export.

Benefits:

• Create web animations, interactions, and responsive web design.
• Once you’ve created your prototype, you can publish your website with the click of a button.
• Eliminates the need to export the prototype with developer help which is great for independent designers.
• Prototypes can be hosted with Webflow or the code can be exported into HTML, CSS, and/or JavaScript.
• Build your canvas from the ground up or choose one of hundreds of ready to go templates.

8. Balsamiq Mockups

Balsamiq Mockups is meant to replicate both the ease and speed of creating mockups on paper but in an online format. With this platform, it’s easy to provide clients with a quick sketch-like interface that keeps everyone focused on structure and content without getting bogged down by design details.

Benefits:

• Draw your own components or choose from more than 500 pre-made icons and items.
• Simple and straightforward to use making it easy for prototyping beginners to create.
• This is a great tool for creating rough sketches of the prototype for clients to view.
• Includes fast and easy keyboard shortcuts to increase productivity and speed.
• Although Balsamiq Mockups can be used as a prototyping tool, it’s ideal for creating static wireframes.

9. Just in Mind

Just in Mind is fantastic for creating anything from wireframes to highly detailed prototypes. However, we mostly appreciate the fact that it’s a fairly good free prototyping tool — though it features paid plans as well. 

Benefits:

• It’s known for its ability to create high-quality work.
• This one does not require the internet and can work offline from any location.
• It includes tutorials and guided videos, making it an ideal program for any skill level.
• Prototypes can be exported into a fully functional HTML document, viewable in any web browser.
• Just in Mind includes a large library of templates available for use, along with the ability to download numerous add-ons.

10. Principle

Principle is strictly a prototyping tool which makes it fast and easy to design high-quality, interactive prototypes filled with animation. We are mainly impressed by its intuitive timeline-based interface that lets designers build and refine complex animations and transitions.

Benefits:

• This design is a mirror image of Sketch.
• It’s built for Mac users and comes with a downloadable iOS app to view your prototypes on any Apple device.
• Designs look and feel high-quality and complex.
• Allows artboard creation, screen connections, and real-time previews.
• It offers a work offline option, creating flexibility to work from anywhere.
• This tool includes a live preview window with no annoying delays.

11. Mockplus

Mockplus Cloud helps you connect your entire product design workflow and make design collaboration easier. It lets you export designs from Sketch, Figma, Axure, Adobe XD and Adobe Photoshop, handoff designs with accurate specs, assets, code snippets.

Benefits:

• Connect and show relations between each page using a full-view storyboard.
• Add comments in the context of your design, gather instant feedback, and move projects forward.
• Categorize tasks by color and resolve them when you're done to keep things organized.
• Build hi-fi interactive prototypes using your real design files, bake-in various animation effects.
• Upload various types of product documents and preview them online.
• Collect and organize style guides automatically to build your team’s design repository.

Bonus tip: Collect the right information upfront with Content Snare

Prototyping is much easier if you understand what your clients want upfront. Most designers achieve this very successfully with Content Snare.

Our platform gives you dozens of ready-made client intake form templates, including web design questionnaires. This helps you learn about your client’s needs in great detail before you even start working on their website:

Another major benefit is that Content Snare automatically reminds your clients to fill out your forms — no need for manual work or endless email threads. More than 20 field types help you ask the right questions so clients can instantly figure out what you want.

In addition, automated request reminders and clear instructions make the onboarding process even smoother. That's exactly how Content Snare saves at least 4 to 5 hours per client, which equates to 40 or 50 hours per month, according to Ranksey.

Related: How this web design agency boosted their productivity and cut down content collection delays

But do you want to know the best part? You can try these (and lots of other) features for free — simply sign up for a two-week trial to learn how Content Snare can assist you with client onboarding.