Wireframing is a critical step in the design cycle. It helps you validate assumptions about design feasibility, gain buy-in from stakeholders, and conduct basic user testing to improve the final user experience.

Thankfully, we’re past the days when you had to draw up wireframes manually in a sketch-based design tool or using pen and paper. Today, there is a wide range of wireframing tools to choose from, but the question now is which one should you choose.

In this article, we’ll explore the seven best wireframe tools that professional designers use as part of their design tech stack. For each, we’ll discuss key features, benefits and drawbacks, and pricing, so you can determine which solution is the right fit for your needs.

Our 7 top wireframe tools 

Below, we’ll dive into seven great software tools you can use for wireframing. Not all of them are built solely for wireframing, but they all offer this feature.

Sketch, for example, is more of a design tool, but we’ve included it because designers often use it for wireframing, even if it’s not strictly built for that. Take Creatie, for example, our AI design suite. AI-powered wireframing is just one of many features you’ll find in Creatie, in addition to 3D icon creation and AI image upscaling.

Now, let’s explore the seven best wireframe tools:

1. Creatie 

Creatie is our AI design platform, built to help modern designers create professional designs faster and easier.

With Creatie Wizard, you can quickly transform your wireframe design ideas into high-fidelity mockups using AI prompts and drag-and-click functionality.

Features:

• Layout suggestions: Simply highlight design areas you’re having trouble with and ask Creatie Wizard to generate layout ideas based on your specifications.
• Responsive mobile modules: Create and save UI modules, then drag and drop them into your designs. They will automatically scale to fit any screen size.
• AI-generated icons: Make your wireframe pop with professional-looking icons, which our AI generates instantly.

Pros:

• We designed Creatie to have no complex learning curve. You can jump right in and start creating immersive wireframes, no matter your experience level.
• AI-powered wireframing is just one of the many powerful features you’ll find in Creatie.
• Creatie has a number of great free templates for wireframing.

Cons:

• Creatie has yet to implement some enterprise-level features that other wireframe tools might offer, such as single sign-on and multi-factor authentication.
• We don’t currently offer a mobile app.

Pricing:

Creatie has a free starter plan, and paid plans start at just $10 per month. Try it for yourself.

2. Figma 

Figma is one of the most popular software platforms in the design world. It offers a variety of tools for professional designers, one of which is wireframing.

Compared to other solutions, though, Figma is on the expensive side.

Features:

• iPad app: You can use Figma either on a desktop or with its iPad app.
• Existing components: Figma has an easy drag-and-drop functionality that allows you to bring in existing components to speed up wireframe development.

Pros:

• Figma focuses on collaborative features, making it a good option for design teams who wish to work together in real time.
• The platform comes with some basic but usable wireframe templates.

Cons:

• Figma is becoming increasingly more expensive and charges more and more for additional features.
• Many designers feel that Figma is taking advantage of their monopoly by continuously increasing the price and charging extra for additional features.

Pricing:

Figma has a basic free plan available, and paid options range from $15 – $75 per user, per month.

3. Mockplus 

Mockplus offers a variety of prototyping and UI design tools, including a wireframing tool and user flow mapping solution.

Features:

• Templates and elements: Mockplus comes pre-loaded with a number of templates for iOS, Android, and desktop sites.
• User flow mapping: The platform comes with a simplified user flow diagramming tool to help designers map out how they expect users to interact with their wireframes.
• User feedback: Mockplus has a built-in feature for capturing user feedback on wireframe drafts.

Pros:

• You can add interactions, transitions, and animations to the wireframes you create on the platform.
• Mockplus also offers some helpful features for improving the design-to-development handoff process.

Cons:

• Mockplus is a rapid prototyping tool. It misses some advanced features that other alternatives like Sketch, Creatie, and Figma have.
• Some users note that Mockplus is limited in terms of integrations with other software tools.

Pricing:

Mockplus has both a free plan and a paid option that costs $29.50 per user, per month.

4. Uizard 

Uizard is a software tool from the same company that developed the popular collaborative whiteboarding tool Miro.

The platform has a broad feature set, including AI-powered UI design, digital product mockups, and a wireframe tool.

Features:

• AI sketch to wireframe: You can take a photo of a hand-drawn sketch, and Uizard will convert it into a digital wireframe using AI.
• Wireframe mode: You can switch between the design and wireframe modes instantly to work seamlessly in two different fidelity levels.

Pros:

• Uizard is a collaborative platform with several features that support real-time teamwork.
• This wireframe tool takes a browser-based approach, meaning no installation is necessary when sharing designs with outside collaborators or stakeholders.

Cons:

• Some users complain about speed issues when using Uizard on large projects.
• Uizard doesn’t offer enough support for UI design, meaning an additional tool is required to build out wireframes into full interfaces.
• Compared to other wireframe tools, Uizard is a little lacking when it comes to export and sharing options.

Pricing:

Uizard has a free plan, and paid options start at $19 per user, per month.

5. Axure

Axure is a simple yet popular wireframing tool with basic features like the ability to draw custom shapes or create flow diagrams.

Features:

• No-code interactive features: In Axure, you can create interactive wireframes (such as adding rollover styles) without diving into any code.
• Commenting: Axure offers a simple feature for capturing user feedback.
• User flow mapping: A simple diagramming tool allows Axure users to map out customer flows to improve the user experience.

Pros:

• Axure integrates with several popular platforms such as Jira, Microsoft Teams, and Slack.
• The platform has a number of pre-loaded shortcuts to help designers work faster and with fewer mouse clicks.

Cons:

• Axure does not offer a free version or a free trial.
• Many beginner users note that Axure has quite a steep learning curve.
• Axure is limited on design features, so an additional tool is required (tools like Creatie, however, can support imports from Axure).

Pricing:

Axure pricing starts at $29 per user, per month.

6. Sketch 

Sketch is much more of a UI design tool than a wireframing solution.

However, many designers use Sketch as a wireframe tool, so we’ve included it here.

Features:

• Minimap: You can easily zoom out and jump to anywhere on your wireframe design, much like in Figma.
• Custom templates: You can turn any artboard in Sketch into a template to reuse later, speeding up design workflows.
• Command bar: By hitting Command + K, you can quickly pull up all of your favorite tools and plug-ins for easy access.

Pros:

• Sketch has a dedicated macOS app, with full support for Retina and non-Retina Mac devices — it even offers a dark mode.
• As one of the only wireframe tools that offers a dedicated offline desktop app, Sketch is a great choice for those who wish to work even when they don’t have Internet access.

Cons:

• Though Sketch does have a browser option, the company focuses much more on its macOS app. As such, this tool might not be the best solution for Windows users.
• Sketch’s functionality can heavily depend on plug-ins, which can lead to a fragmented experience and an overall higher cost of design.

Pricing:

For Sketch’s Mac-only license, you’ll pay $120 per seat, with one year of updates included. Sketch also offers a subscription option at $12 per user, per month.

7. Justinmind 

Justinmind is a prototyping tool for creating no-code wireframes and app prototypes.

Features:

• Interactive prototypes: You can add simple interactivity features like clickable buttons and keyboard prompts to conduct more thorough user testing.
• Vector editing: Justinmind has a number of functional vector editing tools.
• User testing: The platform offers a number of helpful integrations with user testing tools to drive feedback-based UX design decisions.

Pros:

• Justinmind has desktop apps for both Windows and Mac devices.
• The platform comes with a rich library of UI elements and widgets.

Cons:

• While Justinmind has some powerful prototyping features, they may be difficult to implement for certain users, especially those working on more basic projects.
• Justinmind can be a resource-intensive solution, meaning you’ll need a reasonably powerful device for the tool to operate the program effectively.

Pricing:

Paid plans for Justinmind start at $19 per user, per month. The platform also offers a basic free plan and a perpetual license option for those who wish to pay upfront.

What features should you look for in a wireframe tool?

Not all design teams have the same needs and requirements for a wireframing tool. When choosing a solution, it’s good practice to list your priorities in order to create a software shortlist that fits your team’s needs.

That said, here are a few of the most common factors that designers consider when choosing from the best wireframe tools:

• Templates and elements: The ability to create and save your own templates speeds up design workflows.
• AI functionality: Wireframing tools with strong AI capabilities increase creativity and improve the speed at which your team can iterate on design ideas.
• Collaboration features: The best wireframe tools make it easy for both design and development teams to collaborate, with helpful handoff and design-to-code features.
• Integrations: It’s always a good idea to choose a wireframe tool that integrates smoothly with the rest of your design tech stack.
• User feedback collection: The most powerful wireframing software tools also aid in collecting feedback and conducting user testing. 

The right wireframe tool for your team 

When it comes to wireframe tools, every team has different needs.

Design teams at large enterprises might require specific features such as single sign-on and multi-factor authentication.

For mid-sized creative and design teams, a balance between affordability, functionality, and scalability is usually the sweet spot.

Smaller teams, on the other hand, might view cost as a primary concern and opt for a free tool like Creatie.

Creatie is built to help small and mid-sized design teams access the powerful features you’ll find in enterprise-grade tools — without the enterprise-facing price tag — from 3D icon generation to AI image enhancement.

Using Creatie to integrate AI into your wireframing 

Looking to use the powerful capabilities of modern AI to deliver more effective wireframes faster?

Creatie, our wireframe tool, has AI features to support the UI and product design process. You can generate high- and low-fidelity wireframes, with just a few AI prompts, to aid brainstorming or as your final plan.

If you’re stuck for ideas, you can simply drag a frame around a troublesome area and Creatie will automatically generate design ideas.

Plus, our powerful icon generator helps design team members produce 2D and 3D icon sets for app and web design, all within an intuitive user interface that even beginners find easy to navigate.

Creatie: The best AI-powered wireframe tool 

Are you looking for a powerful yet cost-effective solution for building and iterating on wireframes?

Creatie, our AI-driven design suite, removes creative roadblocks and allows you to create more wireframes faster.

Get started with Creatie today for free.