Mockup tools: frame your projects easily and quickly
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Mockup tools are valid methods to transform your ideas into reality during the first phase of designing projects. In fact, even before attempting the actual technical implementation, these tools help to concretize ideas and thoughts.
The main advantage of these tools is that they ensure efficient work at all stages of development. Not only is it easier to create the first draft, but after that you also have more chances to directly apply the suggestions received from customer feedbacks.
Are you curious to find out what are mockup tools, and which are the best ones? Keep reading!
What are mockup tools?
Mockups are a preview of what a project or product should look like when it is finished. Initially, it was mostly about scale reproductions of objects, but with the development of the web and its applications, we moved on to virtual mockups, cheaper and faster to create.
The best way to create visual mockups is using mockup tools. There are a lot of them on the market and they allow to create projects in just a few clicks, sometimes even for free. Let’s discover the best ones!
Our shortlist of the best mockup tools
Providing mockups and prototypes with interactive design can help the company understand and validate the solutions that emerged during the co-design and planning phases or also help you create innovative contents to publish on your website or social media channels.
Below, you will find a list and an overview of the best 10 mockup tools!
Adobe XD
Among mockup tools, Adobe XD stands out as a tool for designers to add animations, create prototypes, and collect feedback in real-time. It can also be used to create, resize, and use the drag-and-drop functionality to align content-based layouts.
Advantages:
- Animations & Transitions
- Digital Asset Management
- Drag & Drop
- For Mobile and Websites
- Media Import
- Pre-built Templates
- Prototype Creation
It has a free trial or a subscription plan starting from $13.14 per month.
Cacoo
Cacoo’s peculiarity is the library of templates and shapes, which provides the pieces you need to create flowcharts, mockups, network diagrams, org charts, and more. You can also import images and screenshots to refine your designs.
Advantages:
- Data Import/Export
- Diagramming
- Drag & Drop
- Feedback Management
- Flowchart
- Mind Maps
- Mobile Interface
- Mockup Creation
- Organizational Charting
It has a free trial or a subscription plan starting from $6 per month.
Canva to design your mockup tools
Canva can be placed among mockup tools, but it is much more than this. In fact, here you can find any kind of template to create beautiful designs and set your creativity free thanks to the drag-and-drop system and the intuitiveness of the platform.
Advantages:
- Animations
- Collaboration Tools
- Content Import/Export
- Content Library
- Content Management
- Content Sharing
- Custom Fonts
- Customizable Branding
You can choose among a free plan and 2 subscription plans:
- Pro: €11.99 per month
- Enterprise: €27 per month
Figma, very popular for mockup tools
Figma can be considered one of the best mockup tools, especially for teams that need a space to work together on their projects and mockups. In fact, it is an all-in-one design platform to create anything you need in just a few steps.
Advantages:
- Collaboration Tools
- Design Management
- Drag & Drop
- Software Prototyping
- Templates
- UI Prototyping
- UX Prototyping
You can choose among a free version or 2 subscription plans:
- Figma Professional: $12 per editor per month
- Figma Organization: $45 per editor per month
HotGloo
HotGloo is one of the most ambitious mockup tools designed to build mockups for web, mobile and wearables. It is easy to use, mobile optimized and made for teams. In addition, it counts over 2000 elements, icons, and UI widgets in the library.
Advantages:
- Collaboration Tools
- Drag & Drop Editor
- Feedback Management
- Interactive Elements
- Mockup Creation
- Prototype Creation
- Screen Capture
- Wireframe Creation
You can choose among a free trial of 7 days and 4 subscription plans:
- Group: $15 per month
- Team: $30 per month
- Agency: $60 per month
- Enterprise: price is to be requested
Justinmind
Justinmind is the best choice to create anything from clickable prototypes to functional simulations without having to type code. In this way, you can focus on your creativity and on creating beautiful mockups while also testing what you create.
Advantages:
- Collaboration Tools
- Drag & Drop
- Mobile Development
- Software Development
- Software Prototyping
- Templates
- Web App Development
It can be downloaded for free, or you can buy it to have access to more features. In this case, you can choose among 3 plans:
- Standard: $9 per user per month
- Professional: $19 per user per month
- Enterprise: price is to be requested
Miro
Miro’s canvas and web whiteboard enables you to work the way you want to, making it one of the most comprehensive mockup tools. Unleash your creativity, plan projects from all angles, and create centralized hubs of information to keep everyone in the loop.
Advantages:
- Agile Methodologies
- Assignment Management
- Brainstorming
- Business Process Automation
- Calendar Management
- Collaboration Tools
- Communication Management
You can choose among a free version and 3 subscription plans:
- Team: $10 per member per month
- Business: $20 per member per month
- Enterprise: price is to be requested
NinjaMock
With NinjaMock, in only a few minutes you can make your first mockup, collaborate with your team in real-time and invite people to try your design on their own device. It offers many features that make it part of the all-in-one mockup tools.
Advantages:
- Collaboration Tools
- Desktop Interface
- Drag & Drop Editor
- Feedback Management
- Interactive Elements
- Mobile Interface
- Mockup Creation
- Wireframe Creation
It has a free version and a subscription plan starting from $8 per member per month.
Renderforest, useful for mockup tools
Renderforest offers the best tools and templates to create high-quality videos, logos, graphics, and mockups in a few minutes and with minimal effort. So, if you are looking for mockup tools that allow you to create mockup videos, this is the tool for you.
Advantages:
- Animations & Transitions
- Collaboration Tools
- Content Library
- Customizable Branding
- Customizable Templates
- Drag & Drop
- Media Import
- Media Library
You can choose among a free plan or 4 subscription plans:
- Lite: $11.99 per month
- Amateur: $17.99 per month
- Pro: $34.99 per month
- Agency: $49.99 per month billed annually
Sketch
Sketch is a mockup tool and a digital design toolkit for app building with broad choice of design symbols that can be reused and shared with the design community. It offers many resources, including extensions that let you do everything from animating interactions to making your designs more accessible.
Advantages:
- Content Library
- Customizable Templates
- Design Management
- Drag & Drop
- Preview Functionality
- Prototype Creation
There is a free version or 2 subscription plans:
- Standard: $9 per editor per month
- Business: price is to be requested
The full list of the best mockup tools
If you are not fully satisfied with our shortlist and you want to discover more mockup tools, keep reading! Below, you will find the full list of the best tools selected by us for you.
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Conclusions on mockup tools
As you can see, mockup tools can be very useful for testing the functionality of a product (new label, new shape, new layout, etc.) and can be applied to almost anything. Therefore, they are extremely useful if you want to do a new website, a new product, or a new text composition.
Be curious! Do not limit yourself and do not stop at our proposal of tools! Check out our article Software Discovery platforms: the top 9 for us to find the one that best suits your needs.