These days we are working on new ORM Designer websites and with it comes a problem: find ideal wireframing tool which will help us with designing the structure of new web. Our requirements were an intuitive multiplatform system that is freeware or low cost. So we’ve done a researche and made a list of 42 wireframing tools.
What are actually the wireframes? Wireframes are basic illustrations of the structure and components of web site or application and they are also called blueprints or skeletons. If you are creating some web project, you need to attract users not only by design, but also with intuitive functionality and user-friendly solution.
Wireframes also improve communication between developers and clients, because clients can be provided with a series of sketched screenshots or a mock interface they can try before they’re coded so it eliminates misunderstandings on both sides.
You can create wireframes by hand on real paper, but there are plenty of tools for creating them. Here is list of 42 interesting tools for wireframing:
Axure RP
www.axure.com
Axure RP gives you the wireframing, prototyping and specification tools needed to make informed design choices, persuade any skeptics, get your design built to spec… and maybe win a few fans along the way. Choose the Standard edition for prototyping or go Pro to add documentation and collaboration features.
Available for platforms: Windows, Mac OS X
Price: from $289
Free Version: 30 day free trial
Balsamiq
www.balsamiq.com
Balsamiq is a wireframing and mock up tool with a high focus on usability. You can quickly come up with mock ups and easily share them with your clients.
Available for platforms: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, On-line, plugin for Google Drive
Price: Desktop $79, On-line $12/Month, Google Drive plugin $5/Month
Free Version: Desktop 7 day free trial, on-line 30 day free trial, Google Drive 30 day free trial
Cacoo
www.cacoo.com
Free and user friendly online drawing tool that allows you to create a variety of diagrams such as site map, flowchart, mind map, wire frame, UML diagram and network diagram
Available for platforms: On-line, Google Chrome extension
Price: from $4.95/Month, $49/Year
Free Version: Free limited version (only 3 PNG exports, only 25lists)
FlairBuilder
www.flairbuilder.com
FlairBuilder is a prototyping tool that lets you create interactive wireframes for websites and mobile applications. It’s easy to learn and use, and comes with lots of options.
Available for platforms: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux (requires Adobe AIR)
Price: $99
Free Version: 15 day free trial
ForeUI
www.foreui.com
ForeUI is an easy-to-use UI prototyping tool, designed to create mockup / wireframe / prototypes for any application or website you have in mind. With ForeUI, your prototype project will be skinnable, since you can easily change the style of your prototype by simply switching the UI theme. You can even design the behavior of prototypes by defining intuitive flow charts to handle specific events. Your prototype can then be exported to wireframe images, PDF documents or HTML5 simulation.
Available for platforms: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Solaris
Price: $150
Free Version: 15 day free trial, on-line demo
FrameBox
framebox.org
Lightweight online tool for creating and sharing mockups (wireframes). Easy, fast and free to use.
Available for platforms: On-line
Price: FREE
Gliffy
www.gliffy.com
Professional-quality flowcharts, org charts, UML diagrams, network diagrams, wireframes, technical drawings and more. Gliffy is an online application that makes it easy for you to create, share, and collaborate with diagrams. It looks and feels like a desktop application, but it works through your web browser, so there is nothing to install or maintain.
Available for platforms: On-line, Google Chrome extension
Price: from $4.95/Month or $47.88/Year
Free Version: Free limited version (5 diagrams, 2 MB storage space, no Visio Import, no Google Drive Integration, no private diagrams)
HotGloo
www.hotgloo.com
HotGloo is an online, interactive wireframing & prototyping tool. HotGloo makes it easy to wireframe web and mobile sites and to cooperate with team members. HotGloo is web-based and therefore platform and terminal independent. The program has a user-friendly style and a high standard of interactivity.
Available for platforms: On-line
Price: from $7/Month
Free Version: 15 day free trial
iMockups for iPad
www.endloop.ca/imockups
iMockups for iPad is the premiere mobile wireframing and mockup app for your web, iPhone and iPad projects. The ease and mobility of an iPad app with the power of a desktop app at your fingertips.
Available for platforms: iOS
Price: $6.99
Free Version: –
Indigo studio
www.infragistics.com/products/indigo-studio
Indigo Studio – the fastest UI prototyping and interaction design tool – helps you quickly and simply explore and create functional, animated UI prototypes while maintaining the focus on user experience at every step. With Indigo Studio you can create storyboards with over 100 different scenes, wireframes with built-in interactive controls, and prototypes for your desktop, web, and mobile apps – all with no coding necessary!
Available for platforms: Windows, Mac OS X
Price: from $495
Free Version: 30 day free trial
InVisionApp
www.invisionapp.com
InVision lets you transform your designs into beautiful, interactive web & mobile mockups and prototypes
Available for platforms: On-line
Price: from $15/Month
Free Version: Free limited version (1 project)
iPlotz
iplotz.com
iPlotz allows you to rapidly create clickable, navigable mockups and wireframes for prototyping websites and software applications. Create a project, add wireframe pages with design components and discuss your creations with others.
Available for platforms: On-line, Desktop (requires flash)
Price: On-line from $15/Month, $99/Year; Desktop $75
Free Version: Free limited version (Online use of 1 project, limited to 5 wireframe pages)
JustInMind
www.justinmind.com
Justinmind Prototyper is an authoring tool for software prototypes and high-fidelity website wireframes.
Available for platforms: Windows, Mac OS X
Price: $29/Month
Free Version: Free limited version (Export to interactive HTML is not allowed), 30 day free trial
Lovely charts
lovelycharts.com
Online diagramming application that allows to create professional looking diagrams, such as flowcharts, sitemaps, organisation charts, …
Available for platforms: On-line, Windows, Linux, iOS, Google Chrome extension
Price: Desktop: 59€, On-line: 29€/Year, iOS: 4.99€
Free Version: Desktop demo (saving and opening options are disabled), On-line demo (save one editable diagram at the time within your account, create and export as many diagrams as you need)
Mockflow
www.mockflow.com
MockFlow WireframePro is a web-based tool to design and collaborate user interface blueprints for websites and software. Its helps to visualize the website’s interface, navigation and structure in short time.
Available for platforms: On-line, Mac OS X, Windows (requires Adobe AIR)
Price: from $69/Year (for all apps)
Free Version: Free limited version (1 Designer License, 1 Project in each App, 2 Co-Editors per Project, 1 GB of Cloud Storage, Project Restrictions)
Mocking pal
play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sharkear.penmockups
Mocking Pal is a mobile app that allows you to create mockups/wireframes of a website or an application. You can create wireframes on the run, share them with colleagues and get early feedback. It saves you a lot of time, so you can iterate even faster and try new concepts before committing to a design.
Available for platforms: Android
Price: FREE
Mockingbird
gomockingbird.com
Online tool that makes it easy for you to create, link together, preview, and share mockups of your website or application
Available for platforms: On-line
Price: from $ 9/Month
Free Version: Free limited version (1 project with 10 pages; 2 users; no archived project)
Mockup Builder
mockupbuilder.com
Mockup Builder is a prototyping solution that helps design software or websites while reducing the time and cost spent on the negotiation stage. Identify your requirements and get the job done right!
Available for platforms: Windows, Google Chrome extension
Price: $7/Month
Free Version: On-line demo
Mockup Designer
fatiherikli.github.io/mockup-designer
The mockup tool that uses your local storage as backend.
Available for platforms: On-line
Price: FREE
Mockups for Android
play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.welant.mockups
Mockups for Android is a vector-based sketch wireframing tool for website prototyping and creating UI design concepts. With Mockups for Android editor you can experiment with concepts and sketch visual prototypes in minutes on your Android tablet or phone! Share mockups with your team, development community or clents.
Available for platforms: Android
Price: $4.99
Free Version: Free Lite version
Mockups.me
mockups.me
A collaborative, interactive UI wireframing application for any device and platform. Mockups.Me enables you to sketch, review, and iterate your application user interfaces – fast.
Available for platforms: On-line, Mac OS X, Windows, Linux, Android, iOS
Price: Desktop $49, On-line from $99/Year, Android $19.99, iOS $19.99
Free Version: Desktop 30 day free trial; On-line live web demo (cannot create files but can view and edit files shared with you by others); Android free lite version (no save and export functionality)
MockupScreens
www.mockupscreens.com
Easy mockup tool. Create five screens in ten minutes without any programming knowledge or prior training!
Available for platforms: Windows, Mac OS X
Price: $99.95
Free Version: 30 day free trial
Moqups
moqups.com
On-line HTML5 App for creating high fidelity, resolution independent SVG mockups and wireframes. Realtime Collaboration, PDF/PNG Export, …
Available for platforms: On-line, Google Chrome extension
Price: from 9€/Month, 99€/Year
Free Version: Free on-line version (2 active projects and 5 MB of image storage)
MS Visio
visio.microsoft.com
Microsoft Visio is a diagramming and vector graphics application and is part of the Microsoft Office suite. The main focus aren’t wireframes, it is a universal tool.
Available for platforms: Windows
Price: from $599.95
Free Version: 30 day free trial
OmniGraffle
www.omnigroup.com/omnigraffle
OmniGraffle can help you make eye-popping graphic documents quickly by keeping lines connected to shapes even when they’re moved, providing powerful styling tools, importing and exporting Microsoft Visio files, and magically organizing diagrams with just one click. Whether you need a quick sketch or an epic technical figure, OmniGraffle keeps it gorgeously understandable.
Available for platforms: Mac OS X, iOS
Price: Mac OS X $99.99, iOS $49.99
Free Version: –
Pencil Project
pencil.evolus.vn
Pencil is built for the purpose of providing a free and open-source GUI prototyping tool that people can easily install and use to create mockups in popular desktop platforms.
Available for platforms: Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, Firefox extension
Price: FREE
Pidoco
pidoco.com
Web-based prototyping software for rapidly creating clickable wireframes and UI prototypes for web, mobile and enterprise applications. It’s easy to use with smart sharing and collaboration features, a convenient specification generator, exports and much more.
Available for platforms: On-line
Price: from $4.49/Month
Free Version: 31 day free trial
POP (Prototyping on paper)
popapp.in
Hand-drawn wireframes to tappable app prototypes! POP helps you make interactive prototype with ease. If you can draw, you can design apps.
Available for platforms: Android, iOS
Price: FREE
Power Mockup
www.powermockup.com
PowerMockup provides templates and tools for building wireframes right in PowerPoint.
Available for platforms: Powerpoint extension
Price: from $59.95
Free Version: Free trial version
PowerWIREFRAME
power-story.com/create-wireframes-in-powerpoint-with-powerwireframe
PowerWIREFRAME is a plugin for PowerPoint that makes it easy to create UI Wireframes in PowerPoint, by dragging and dropping UI Controls from a robust searchable library onto your slides.
Available for platforms: Powerpoint extension
Price: $59.99
Free Version: Free trial version
Proto.io
Proto.io
Proto.io is a UI prototyping tool specifically tailored for mobile and tablet applications. The web based environment allows you to start off by creating a project for iPhone, iPad, Android phones or tablets.
Available for platforms: On-line
Price: from $24/Month
Free Version: 15 day free trial
ProtoShare
www.protoshare.com
ProtoShare is an easy-to-use, collaborative prototyping tool that helps teams visualize requirements with website wireframes and interactive prototypes while working together in real-time.
Available for platforms: On-line
Price: from $29/Month
Free Version: 30 day free trial (without export functionality)
QuirkTools – Wires
quirktools.com/wires
Wires lets you build interactive wireframes right in your web browser
Available for platforms: On-line
Price: $10/Month, $84/Year
Free Version: Free limited version (3 total projects across all Quirk apps)
Realizer
realizerapp.com
The Realizer lets you easily create interactive presentation prototypes of iPhone and iPad apps. By transforming the traditional app presentation into an interactive one, you can better communicate your vision with a rewarding user experience.
Available for platforms: iOS
Price: FREE
RWD Wireframes
www.lifeishao.com/rwdwire
This tool is made so designers can more easily design for responsive web pages. You can save and share your wireframe, or export it to html and css. It’s completely free and open source.
Available for platforms: On-line
Price: FREE
SketchyPad
sketchyapp.com
App for website sketching and apps interface making, including iPhone and iPad apps. This app will make designers, programmers and interface designers life much easier. Easy-to-use interface and a lot of various stencils will help you to mockup any web sites and soft interfaces.
Available for platforms: iOS
Price: $4.99
Free Version: –
Solidify
www.solidifyapp.com
Solidify lets you create clickable prototypes from sketches, wireframe, or mockup. Validate user flows on any device by performing user tests in person, remotely or on your testers own time to get the feedback you need.
Available for platforms: On-line
Price: from $19/Month
Free Version: 30 day free trial
UXpin
uxpin.com
Complex tools for UX designers – Notepads full of sticky notes for rapid paper prototyping. Wireframing App able to auto-convert paper prototypes into digital wireframes.
Available for platforms: On-line
Price: $14.99/Month
Free Version: 30 day free trial
UXToolbox
www.softandgui.co.uk
The all-in-one rapid Wireframing and Application Prototyping solution. Designed for beginners and experts alike, UXToolbox has all the tools and features you need to create great looking and fully functional Wireframes and Mock-ups all within one easy-to-use solution.
Available for platforms: Windows
Price: L159
Free Version: 14 day free trial
Wireframe.cc
wireframe.cc
Smart, swift and minimal app, extremely easy to use. All created wireframes get a unique URL, that you can easily bookmark, share and edit later.
Available for platforms: On-line, Google Chrome extension
Price: from $12/Month or $120/Year
Free Version: Free limited version (can save, but can’t export; without multi-page wireframes and some other features); 7 day trial of full version
WireframeSketcher
wireframesketcher.com
WireframeSketcher is a wireframing tool that helps designers, developers and product managers quickly create wireframes, mockups and prototypes for desktop, web and mobile applications. It’s a desktop app and a plug-in for any Eclipse IDE.
Available for platforms: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Plugin for Eclipse IDE
Price: $99
Free Version: 14 day free trial
Wirify
www.wirify.com
Wirify is a bookmarklet that lets you turn any web page into a wireframe in one click.
Available for platforms: On-line
Price: $7/1 credit
Free Version: Free limited version (Export and edit wireframes not allowed)
The end result
Every tool is useful for something and someone else. For cooperation with global project manager you will choose different tool than for individual work of UX specialist freelancer. Also each of us have different personal preferences as operating system, price, appearance and more. So the best choice is yours.
None of the above listed tools fit our requirements. Only Mockups.me is multiplatfom tool, but costs a lot (especially if you want to use it for Android, Windows and OS X at the same time). So, we decided to lower our requirements and now we are testing some free online tools.
Do you use wireframes or think that work is easier without them? Which tools do you recommend? Do you know another interesting tool that missing?
