We all know that free tools to speed up / facilitate the website design process – these are things that are never too much. And because new advanced technologies appear like mushrooms after rain, everyday programmers and designers find something interesting and innovative. But searching for the right content on the Internet takes time.
We will help you save your time and strength! We’ve put together the best free website design tools and services on this list that can help web designers and programmers at work! I bet some of these free tools will really simplify your life!
All the tools, articles, tutorials, plug-ins, tips and hacks described in this article are available for free. If a tool is not completely free, it always has a free trial period, during which you can decide whether you really need it and whether it is worth your money. Some products have both paid and free plans that also allow you to view them for free.
During the conceptual work on the website, the prototyping method in the form of creating website design is more and more often used. Nobody needs to be convinced of the usefulness of such a solution. Web design can theoretically be created even on a sheet of paper … but why do we have a lot of useful and functional tools for modeling? In this article, we will try to bring closer the selection of programs used to create web design that we have selected to present a cross-section of interesting functionalities provided by these programs.
Top Free Website Design Tools
Axure RP
Axure RP is probably the first program that comes to mind when we are thinking about choosing a tool for creating web design. Indeed, this program is a standard in the UX industry and knowledge of its use is even mentioned as a requirement in various job offers. In any case, it is appropriate to know him.
What are the advantages of Axure RP? First of all, it is an extensive program that intuitively helps you create sketchy designs for web interfaces. Also, Axure is a very popular program, so we can easily find various tutorials and step by step tutorials that will guide us through the design process. The undoubted advantage of this program is also the multitude of interface elements that we have literally at your fingertips.
Axure RP is a desktop application, so to use it we must install it on our computer. This solution makes sharing work a bit difficult, but AxShare is now available, which allows us to present prototypes online. “Unfortunately” both Axure and AxShare are paid. If we want to see how the program works, we can, of course, use the free trial period.
Moqups
Moqups is a full-featured (largely) free online mockup program. The application provides a large number of functions completely free, and the only requirement is registration. The free part of moqups.com can be used any amount of time, and if we want to expand, e.g. the number of available projects, we can always opt for a paid subscription.
I think Moqups is one of the most interesting programs for creating web design not only because it is largely free, but also because it has a rich set of tools that allows you to create interface designs. The price-quality ratio is therefore very attractive;)
An additional advantage of this application is its transparency and intuitiveness. Thanks to this, we can immediately fall into the vortex of work and we do not have to worry about the complexities of the application itself.
UXPin
Good because Polish 😉 And this is not a patriotic statement. UXPin is an online application that contains many useful options, has a friendly and easy-to-use interface, and allows you to share the results of our work via the internet. We can easily invite other people to cooperate on the project, and what’s more, comments on the project can be posted directly on it in the form of comments.
UXPin is a paid application that has a short trial period, but if you like UXPin on Facebook, you can count on extending the free trial. The price of the application is low considering the functionalities and tools it provides.
In my opinion, UXPin is one of the most interesting projects in the field of an interface prototype design that has appeared recently. It’s worth a try!
Pencil Project
Pencil Project is another program that may surprise us with a wide range of functionalities. Not only is it a fully functional tool, but it is also free and available as a desktop application and add-on for Firefox (unfortunately, the maximum support is the FF16 version).
The Pencil Project contains a lot of UI elements characteristic e.g. for Android or iOS. Also, there are many other curiosities that we can download and “add” to the program.
Given this, it is not difficult to notice that Pencil is a very interesting product that can meet our needs even when working on large projects.
WebZap
WebZap is neither an online application nor a desktop application (not entirely). WebZap is a Photoshop plugin that extends PS with the functions of a mockup program. Of course, in the PS tool, you could easily create web design, but WebZap makes it much easier for us by turning the PS into a mockup creation tool.
I don’t know WebZap well enough to talk about the convenience of work or even the usability of the application itself, but I have the impression that people designing graphics for websites and at the same time creating web design of pages will be delighted with this solution. I also think that WebZap would be ideal for creating “high fidelity” web design somewhere on the border of a prototype graphic interface design.
Jumpstart
umpchart is a rather specific program because it is not only a tool for designing web design but an application that, in addition to designing web design, allows us to take notes, write texts, organize information architecture and has some other goodies in it;) That’s at least advertised by the creators, although it does not stand out significantly from the competition here. Still, it is possible that in Jumpchart it is all “better ordered”. Interesting, however, is the planning part of Jumpstart, which is indeed original and noteworthy.
Pidoco
Pidoco is another program that I wanted to introduce to you. What distinguishes Pidoco from the competition is the application module dedicated to conducting online tests with users. Also, of course, Pidoco provides us with everything we could expect from a program of this type.
Again, we are dealing with an online application, so not only that we have access to it from anywhere in the world (where the Internet is), we can also enjoy the charms of working remotely with users who are testing prototypes of our interfaces.
Creately
Creately is a tool that was created not only for creating web design, but also diagrams or UML charts. Of course, in any other tool for creating web design, we can also create a so-called flow chart, but how much easier is it when you have an application module created to give us this opportunity?
Also, Creately contains a very large base of UI components, which can be useful to us when creating web design visually similar to the appearance of the page. By adding the free account option and the relatively low prices of paid options Creately is one of the most interesting tools on the market.
Balsamiq
Just as Axure Balsamiq is a program which, although hearsay knows everyone. This is a very popular tool that has earned its fame. Balsamiq is available in desktop and online versions as well as a plugin e.g. Google Drive or JIRA applications.
I think Balsamiq is worth checking if you are looking for a mockup tool, but I also have the impression that it’s biggest plus is its integration with JIRA or XWiki.
HotGloo
HotGloo is nice. I will start with such a trivial statement. Indeed, using HotGloo we can create extremely aesthetic web design of websites and this is a definite plus of this application. Also, HotGloo does not stand out from the competition, is online and has a free version which also positively affects its reception.
When it comes to prices, I think they are a bit high, but they are also not horendal, so I leave the choice to you. Simply put, HotGloo is a solid application, but you may look around before we decide to subscribe.
Summary
Finally, I would like to encourage you to experiment and check for yourself which application is best for you. You may find more in them than the ads say
Al these applications largely overlap with the scope of functionality and most often it is inconspicuous details that will determine the real differences between them. That is why it is even more worth checking and looking for a tool that will best suit your needs and expectations.
