You don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars on design software to put together a high-quality website mockup. And no, we’re not suggesting you draft out everything by hand. In this list, we’ll highlight nine website mockup tools that you won’t have to spend a dime on — whether they’re completely free or just come with a free plan.

What is a website mockup?

A website mockup is an early-stage visualization of what a finished site, app, or software tool might look like. These typically convey design aesthetics in detail, from branding to layout, prior to engineering development. 

It's also important to note that low-fidelity wireframes, focused purely on content structure and basic interface elements, form the foundation for mockups. In other words, the purpose of a mockup is to show how webpages will look, feel, and function.

How do you make a website mockup?

You don’t need to be a seasoned designer to create a website mockup, but you should at least have a plan. These are the steps you should follow if you’re looking to create a mockup for your website:

• Step 1: Start with a wireframe or sketch to outline the basic structure of the website. Map out key pages and critical zones on each, such as headers, body content, sidebars, footers, and calls to action.
• Step 2: Have a stakeholder review the initial mockup for quality assurance. Gather feedback early on the structure, clarity, consistency, and accuracy to goals.
• Step 3: Choose a mockup tool that fits your design needs based on features and sophistication levels. Then assess how the tool integrates with your existing tech stack or level of experience as a designer.
• Step 4: Choose or apply your existing design elements, such as color schemes, typography, images, and content, to add visual flair and depth per your site’s brand standards.
• Step 5: Customize the mockup to fit your branding and user experience goals by accentuating hero sections with animations, parallax scrolling, or embedded media.
• Step 6: Review and refine the mockup based on feedback from any key stakeholders. From there, you can make iterative improvements to your mockup by accounting for its aesthetics, potential conversion opportunities, and user accessibility.

Why do you need to make website mockups?

If you’re pressed for time, nothing is stopping you from going straight into production and publishing your site. But for established companies, ambitious startups, or more serious personal projects, this isn’t the best option. Instead, mockups bring website designs to life before engineering builds out the final product. They also make it much easier for other designers, clients, product managers, and other key players to envision what the finished site will look like.

The 9 best free website mockup tools

And now, here are nine free website mockup and wireframing tools to help you create high-quality website mockups at zero cost.

1. Creatie

This wouldn’t be a complete list if we didn't include our own tool — Creatie.

Unlike other design tools that rely on AI through third-party plug-ins and integrations, Creatie features native AI capabilities directly within the platform. With the Creatie Wizard feature, you can rapidly generate high-fidelity website mockups with minimal effort. 

The Wizard’s intuitive interface allows users to create professional-grade website mockups in just a few clicks by automating much of the design process. Whether you're customizing page layouts, selecting design elements, or incorporating brand-specific assets, Creatie Wizard ensures that every mockup meets your design standards. 

Key features

Creatie offers a range of AI-powered tools that make it easy to quickly generate high-quality website mockups, but at the heart of its capabilities is Creatie Wizard. This tool helps users overcome their creative block by providing instant design ideas based on simple prompts. It allows you to rapidly create high-fidelity mockups by generating layouts, complete with custom UI elements, like icons and navigation bars, all while ensuring your designs meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

Use cases

With Creatie’s real-time collaboration features, remote teams can work together from anywhere. Creatie makes it easy to import your designs from other popular design platforms like Figma or Adobe XD. So if you're looking for a user-friendly way to establish a consistent design language across your projects, Creatie is an ideal choice. Plus, its built-in AI and automation features help accelerate the UI design process significantly.

2. Figma

The second entry on our list is Figma, one of the most popular tools in the UI/UX design space.

Key features

Figma provides a wide array of tools for generating high-quality website mockups, including its vector editing, too, which allows designers to create detailed and scalable designs — from intricate UI components to entire page layouts. 

One of Figma's standout features is Auto Layout, which automatically adjusts the size of elements depending on the screen size, ensuring responsiveness across devices. This feature is essential for creating mockups that look great on both desktop and mobile. Figma users can also take advantage of the platform’s component libraries — reusable design elements such as buttons and icons that can be applied consistently throughout a project. 

There’s even functionality to support interactive prototyping, enabling designers to turn static mockups into interactive prototypes by adding clickable hotspots and transitions. 

Think Figma might be the tool for you? If so, it’s worth mentioning that Creatie comes with all of these features, too. You can even get started for free to try these features out for yourself.

Use cases

Whether you operate in a distributed team or simply need robust design tools that allow you to focus on more creative tasks, Figma delivers. Its extensive capabilities combine with smooth multi-user editing to enhance productivity and streamline workflows. For UI/UX professionals and amateurs alike, Figma is an excellent choice for mockup and prototyping needs.

3. Sketch

Next up is Sketch, a vector graphics editor that is exclusive to macOS. This design prototyping tool stands out for its user-friendly interface and robust capabilities tailored specifically to experienced UI/UX designers.

Key features

Interested in creating mockups with Sketch? Sketch's vector editing tools allow designers to create detailed and scalable UI components, ensuring sharp, high-quality visuals at any size. These tools also make it easy to design logos, icons, and complex UI elements based on a designer’s exact specifications. Additionally, Sketch’s smart layouts and symbols features streamline the mockup design process by automatically adjusting the size of your design elements as needed for mobile or desktop devices.

Use cases

From beginners who are just getting started to experts who handle complex projects, Sketch offers an intuitive editor that empowers UI and UX professionals to translate ideas into prototypes rapidly. The combination of ease of use and advanced functionality makes Sketch a leading choice for macOS users focused on crafting mockups or launching websites.

4. Mockplus

Want a tool that’s similar to AdobeXD and more beginner-friendly? If that’s the case, you might want to try Mockplus. This web-based platform focuses on simplicity and collaboration to accelerate the product design workflow for UI and UX teams.

Key features

Mockplus’s drag-and-drop interface allows designers to build layouts quickly without needing to write a single line of code. It also offers over 3,000 vector icons and 200+ pre-built components, enabling teams to customize and reuse their design elements efficiently. However, with AI-powered tools like Creatie, it’s become even easier to build your UI/UX layouts when compared to older tools like Mockplus.

The Mockplus platform also supports creating interactive mockups with dynamic overlays, animations, and rich interactions.

Use cases

Whether you need to pull a proof of concept together quickly or refine an existing prototype based on team collaboration, Mockplus simplifies the process considerably. The combination of simplicity and customization makes it possible to create professional mockups and clickable prototypes with minimal time investment.

5. Balsamiq

If you need to create website mockup concepts quickly, then you should consider using Balsamiq. This UI/UX tool offers drag-and-drop functionality ideal for low-fidelity wireframing and basic mockups.

Key features

Balsamiq allows designers to create low-fidelity wireframes and mockups, allowing teams to focus on a design’s most basic elements. The platform’s drag-and-drop interface also allows users to easily assemble layouts from a library of pre-built UI components, helping speed up the design process. Balsamiq even comes with click-through and hotspot capabilities, enabling designers to add basic interactivity to their mockups and simulate user flows for stakeholder feedback.

Use cases

While it’s best suited for early brainstorming rather than mockups, the simplicity and flexibility of Balsamiq make it a great tool for design teams that are still in the ideation phase of web development.

6. Moqups

Moqups allows you to create wireframes, mockup designs, and interactive prototypes within a digital whiteboard.

Key features

Moqups offers a drag-and-drop interface and customizable templates that cover common mockup use cases like customer journey mapping, dashboards, and business model canvases. And similar to Creatie, this digital whiteboard tool also allows you to activate a presentation mode for a more polished experience when demonstrating concepts to stakeholders.

Use cases

While the tool may prove too basic for more complex mockups, its responsiveness and simplicity make it a great tool for gathering feedback and generating new designs during initial brainstorming phases.

7. Justinmind

Justinmind is an appropriately named tool that allows UI and UX teams to design high-fidelity mockups — from clickable prototypes to functional simulations.

Key features

One of Justinmind's biggest strengths is its expansive UI libraries, which include pre-built components for web and mobile interfaces. This platform is also a great choice for designers who want to create interactive prototypes. That’s because, similar to Creatie and Figma, Justinmind comes with features like custom transitions, animations, and gestures when interacting with mockups.

Use cases

Justinmind is easily one of the best tools for designers who want prototyping and simulation features to test their mockups. While this means that the platform comes with a steep learning curve, it’s the obvious choice for skilled user interface designers who want to create interactive demos of their websites before development.

8. Canva

Living up to its reputation for drag-and-drop simplicity, Canva is one of the best free website mockup tools for non-designers.

Key features

While most users know Canva as a casual graphic design tool meant for projects like bake sale posters or wedding invitations, the platform also integrates with Smartmockups — a tool that offers a wide range of mockup templates for desktop and mobile. This integration allows users to create realistic, professional-looking website mockups using one of the most user-friendly design tools on the market. 

However, it’s also worth noting that Canva was not built with this specific use case in mind. So if you’re looking for a mockup tool, we only recommend Canva if you need something with little to no learning curve.

Use cases

For anyone looking to pull together website mockups quickly, Canva can be used to put together visually appealing mockups, without investing heavily in complex design software. While it lacks the advanced functionality of a dedicated wireframing or UI/UX tool, non-designers can use it to quickly mockup individual pages on their site or create a rough draft before handing it off to a more experienced designer.

9. Wireframe.cc

Rounding out our list is Wireframe.cc, which lives up to its name as a simplified wireframing solution.

Key features

Wireframe.cc is ideal for quick, low-fidelity mockups. Its simple interface allows users to focus on basic layout and functionality without distractions, making it easy to create wireframes for web and mobile projects. The tool also offers features like clickable wireframes and multi-device support but lacks advanced prototyping capabilities, which limits its use for more complex or polished designs. 

In short, while Wireframe.cc lacks more advanced prototyping capabilities, its low-fidelity design elements are perfect if creating basic wireframes is your goal.

Use cases

Ultimately, Wireframe.cc cuts out the complexity of UX and UI design. So when your projects require quick concept mapping by a non-designer, Wireframe.cc is a great choice.

How AI can improve your website mockups

Your standard design mockup typically involves one designer sitting down, plotting out various design elements, and manually working through each part of the outline, section by section. But if you want to streamline your design workflow, AI tools can automate this entire process in just a few clicks.

This doesn't mean AI tools are just a cheap way to speed through the design process. Instead, designers can use these tools to generate multiple mockup variations to choose from and incorporate components like navigation bars, headers, imagery, and complete body sections. And in terms of UX, most AI tools are smart enough to meet standardized guidelines like digital accessibility and usability best practices established in the WCAG standards.

Generate a high-quality mockup in minutes with Creatie

Instead of spending weeks (or months) on revisions for a single website mockup, it’s easier to create several mockups at once and iterate with the help of AI.

With Creatie, it’s easy to generate new designs and iterate on existing mockups with just a few clicks. All you have to do is prompt your design via AI, scroll through your mockup options, and piece together your finished product.

Ready to create your website mockup? Get started for free with Creatie.