Clique – Bukisweb Blog

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This post was originally published October, 2019. It has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

For UX/UI designers, wireframing a new app or website is the foundation when starting a new project.

Wireframing tools allow designers to mockup professional-level, new product designs and workflows, without the need for high-investment prototypes. They help teams by finding problem areas and user experience issues within a new app before it’s launched, help explain and share with key stakeholders within an organization, and act as a repo for all feedback on a new product.

Best Free Wireframe Tools in 2022

Figma 👈 Clique favorite
InVision 👈 Clique favorite
Draw.io
Pencil Project
Miro 👈 Clique favorite
Wireframe.CC
MockFlow
Jumpchart
Framebox
Mydraft.CC
Wirefy

Wireframing tools have become crucial for those who work in fast-paced development teams and need to have rapid-product iteration.

However, many of the most-popular wireframing software products – think Axure RP, the Adobe Suite, Marvel, Lucidchart – are expensive and are focused on higher-detailed UX/UI features such as advanced prototyping.

Luckily there are many free wireframing tools available to UX/UI designers who are freelancing, own their own business, work for a startup, or have little budget available for their tech stack – and for non-designers mapping out workflows for things such as onboarding and training, email lifecycles, and organization charts.

The Best Free Wireframing Software in 2022

Here are the free wireframing software apps that give design and non-design professionals the tools to create free wireframes.

All the tools in this list have an offering that is free forever, meaning those tools offering free trials were left off the list – although we do mention those wireframing options after our ranking.

These tools are ranked according to user-review ratings on satisfaction from the software-review website G2.com:

1. Figma 👈 Clique favorite

User-review rating: 4.5/5

Type: Web-based, Freemium

Overview: Figma is an all-in-one design platform for UX/UI pros and offers a robust free offering for creating wireframes. It’s starter package is completely free and is one of the most robust free offerings on this list – 3 active projects, 30 day revision history, 2 editors at any time, and unlimited cloud storage.

The first paid tier (which is free for students with a valid school email address) is $12/mo per editor and includes an upgrade to unlimited active projects and version history, custom permissions, private boards, and team collaboration features.

figma-screenshot

2. InVision 👈 Clique favorite

User-review rating: 4.4.5

Type: Web-based, Freemium

Overview: InVision is an all-in-one wireframing, prototyping, and mockup tool for designers and is one of the most well-known brands in all of wireframing software.

Invision came out of applications, specifically Photoshop (at the time) not having screens that could interact with each other (also why many moved to Sketch). It filled the void of

It does require some sort of external application (we like Sketch) to create the screens to be bought into InVision.

InVision’s free wireframing plan gives individual UX/UI designers the tools create one active prototype or wireframe at anytime. It’s a basic plan designed mostly for freelancers and those not working collaboratively.

The next level of pricing for InVision is $15/mo per user and gives design teams the ability to create up to three projects that can remain active at any time – with full feature access to the InVision app.

invision-screenshot

3. Draw.io

User-review rating: 4.3/5

Type: Web-based, Open source

Overview: Draw.io is a completely free and open-source wireframing software that feels similar in UI to Google Docs. It’s a simple layout with powerful features. Simply put, it may be the most robust free offering of any of the free wireframing tools on this list.

Users can export designs to their Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, their desktop, or directly supported integrations including Gliffy, Lucidchart and more. An added benefit is it’s active open-source community that works to fix product bugs and issues, and add new features.

drawio-screenshot

4. Pencil Project

User-review rating: 4.1/5

Type: On-premise, Open source

Overview: Project Pencil is a completely open-source and free wireframing and prototyping tool. It has an unlimited amount of designs for UX/UI pros to utilize and all of its features come completely free.

The open-source community is another perk, meaning developers are constantly keeping the tool updated with new features and security.

pencil-project-screenshot

5. Miro 👈 Clique favorite

User-review rating: 4.7/5

Type: Web-based, Freemium

Overview: Miro, which previously operated under the name RealTimeBoard, is an online whiteboarding tool for distribution product and UX teams. A nimble tool for fast prototyping, Miro is extremely collaborative and akin to using an extremely light version of figma.

Miro isn’t as robust as other dedicated prototyping tools, which sounds like a negative, but actually serves as one of its strengths, since its limitations help facilitate faster prototyping, with an experience that feels like sketching on a whiteboard in a virtual room with the rest of your team.

Miro is free for your first three boards, at which point each board costs $3 per-day-logged-in, or you can build unlimited boards for $15 per month per user.

A screenshot of a wireframe on a miro board

6. Wireframe.CC

User-review rating: 3.8/5

Type: Web-based, Freemium

Overview: Wireframe.cc is a browser-based free wireframing solution for designers on the go. Accessible anywhere through a browser, it’s a simple and cluster free tool with a sleek UI. The free version allows for users to create one simple wireframe at a time and is equipped with tools to customize the grid layout, typography, canvas size, and more.

The next level for premium pricing is $16/mo per user and allows for unlimited projects and revisions, custom branding, and exporting directly into PNG format.

wireframecc-screenshot

7. MockFlow

User-review rating: 3.4/5

Type: Web-based or On-premise, Freemium

Overview: MockFlow is an all-in-one UI tool that offers free mockup and wireframing features in its forever free plan. Its free offering allows for one active UI project at anytime, two reviewers per project for collaboration, feedback, and sharing, and basic wireframing and mockup features.

MockFlow’s entry-level paid package starts at $14/mo per user and includes unlimited projects and reviewers, version history, and MockFlow’s UI asset library.

MockFlow_screenshot

8. Jumpchart

User-review rating: 3.2/5

Type: Web-based, Freemium

Overview: Jumpchart is a browser-based wireframing tool that gives designers the ability to mockup and plan a website wireframe to share with key stakeholders, clients, developers, and more. It includes one active project at a time, 10mb of storage, 10 pages per month, and 2 users per project.

Jumpchart’s first paid tier starts at $5/mo and includes 5 projects, 1 gig of storage, 25 pages per month, and 5 users per project.

jumpchart-screenshot

9. Framebox

User-review rating: n/a

Type: Web-based, Freemium

Overview: Framebox is the second completely free wireframing tool on this list. With no paid plans, all the features of Framebox are included directly on their website’s easy to use web app. It’s a complete drag-and-drop tool that allows designers to sketch wireframes using UI elements and allows users to sign in to save progress and have revision history. The tool even allows for UX/UI designers to send their work with a custom link to their entire team or key stakeholders for easy online sharing and feedback.

framebox-screenshot

10. Mydraft.CC

User-review rating: n/a

Type: Web-based, Open source

Overview: Mydraft.cc is a completely open source and free wireframing tool that is accessible anywhere you can use a browser. It has a clean and easy-to-use wireframing canvas and comes packed with hundreds of free shapes and icons that have a simple to use search bar.

It’s quite a power wireframe editing app that is kept updated by their community of developers, with it being updated recently as two weeks ago as of the publish date of this article.

11. Wirefy

User-review rating: n/a

Type: Desktop, Open source

Overview: Wirefy is a completely free wireframing software that is open-source and comes available in a desktop download – in this case, downloading a Git repository. For those who have never done this, Wirefy examples how here.

The platform does require some basic HTML and CSS knowledge, but is a robust UX/UI tool with large collection of atomic elements to create advanced and flexible wireframes.

wirefy-screenshot

Wireframe Apps that Offer Free Trials

Many designers will point out that there are many well-known wireframing tools that are missing on this list.

Our roundup was exclusively free wireframing tools that have a “forever free” pricing tier, with the exclusion of Miro, which we included because it’s one of our favorites, and there’s no time limit to build your free initial boards. However there are many other wireframe apps that offer a free trial ranging from 7-30 days, including:

Axure RP
Balsamiq Mockups
Canva
Cacoo
Gliffy
Lucidchart
Miro
Mockplus iDocs
UXPin

How to Pick The Best Free Wireframing Tool for You

Now that you’ve compared the best free wireframe software, it’s time for you to make a decision for your design needs. Use the following to create a shortlist:

Feature set. Compare free features on the number of users, projects, and collaborators for each of the free wireframing tools.
Web-based vs. On-premise. Web-based, also known as browser-based apps, are tools that you login to from a browser. Many SaaS products have moved to this model that is hosted in the cloud and have automatic updates. On-premise solutions are downloaded directly to your system – which adds a higher level of security but requires additional storage and hosting from your system, as well as keeping up to date on upgrades.
Freemium vs. Open source. Freemium tools are made by software companies that look to acquire free users and convert those users to their more advanced paid versions later on. Open-source wireframing tools are completely free and created by a community of users who aren’t affiliated with the product itself.
Desktop vs. Mobile vs. Android vs. iOS. Be sure to consider what you are creating wireframes websites or apps for. Different wireframe and mockup tools provide design process features specifically for iOS, Android, and desktop environments and experiences.
Integrations. Consider your tech stack and what other software you’ll need to integrate with.
Paid versions. Understand the cost of upgrading to a paid version and what features premium wireframe software have.
Reviews. Read additional reviews and ask your network for testimonials before choosing a product.

And remember – this is a free tool! The ramifications of selecting the wrong product is lesser than going with a paid version, but you still need to be confident that you’re selecting the right tool for your use case.

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I write a lot. I write client emails. I write web copy. I write blog articles (oh hello there). It’s my job, and it’s my passion, so I’d like to think I’m pretty good at it.

But I want to get better.

So, I decided to interview ten writers I admire, from different roles, industries, and genres. Each offered their best writing tips, including a piece of wisdom too great not to share.

12 tips on how to become a better writer

1. Know your stuff

“Before you write a sentence, research. Writing is power. When you write you have a responsibility to read and research everything you can before you write one declarative sentence. People read and when they read, you have influence over how they think, feel, and act. You owe your readers to do the work.” — Margo Aaron, Writer & Creator

2. Find a mentor

“Get a mentor or find an editor that’s willing to show you their process. Having a good editor who didn’t just fix my pieces, but rather suggested changes and showed the reasoning behind it, made me a much better writer.” — Kaleigh Moore, Freelance Writer

3. Choose simple over smart

“No matter how intelligent you are, don’t try to sound smart. That shouldn’t be your goal. Write so everyone can understand what you’re saying. Write at the simplest level.” — Kristen Herhold, Content Developer and Marketer

4. Clients buy ownership

“You don’t own the words you give to the client. They might mangle the words you give them, but that’s their right. They’re paying you for the service and once you produce it, it’s theirs. Of course, if you believe in the words, fight. Take a stand. But at the end of the day, you don’t own them anymore. It’s a harsh reality, but coming to grips with it makes it easier to let your work go.” — Luke Trayser, Senior Copywriter

5. Embrace ambiguity

“Don’t force a tiny box to fit a bigger idea. It’s okay to describe an experience or tell a story without landing on one universal insight. Let the audience draw their own conclusions. Let them think for themselves.” — Carly Ho, Senior Engineer & Freelance Writer

6. Play around

“Learn to just have fun with language. Riff for a while without the intention of a presenting or fully developing anything. Great ideas are built on a lot of small, terrible ideas. If you’re having fun and playing around with what you’re writing, you can get creativity flowing more easily. Soon, you’ll see patterns develop around a concept that you can lean into and clean up.” — Bryant Harland, Senior Marketing Content Writer

7. Live a little

“Make friends and collect stories. Writing is lonely and tiresome. Get outside and see people, gather stories, and then go to the mines and excavate them.” — Callum Sharp, Freelance Writer

8. Just write

“Writer’s block is bullshit; it’s a story that we tell ourselves. Accountants don’t wait to account. It’s no different with writers. Don’t wait to get inspired. Just sit down and write. Most of the time it’s not good, but everybody’s first draft is a steaming pile of garbage. Creativity on demand is a muscle, and the more you build it, the easier it will come.” — Paul Jarvis, Designer, Author, and Creator

9. Show, don’t tell

“Quote don’t summarize. Show don’t tell. Describe what happened to you and the readers will feel what you felt. Transport the reader into your shoes. Put them in your motorcycle helmet, their hands on your bar. They will feel what you feel without you telling them.” — James Peterson, Former Senior Editor at Playboy

10. Write and repeat

“Practice. Over and over again. You develop a voice by just doing it. It’s like swinging a bat or shooting a freethrow. Experiment until you feel comfortable; that’s when you know you’ve found the right voice for you. Tune out people who say ‘you shouldn’t’ or ‘you can’t.’ With writing, you can do anything.” — James Gordon, Writer & Poet

11. Lose your ego

“We all have had ideas or have written something we thought was a winner, only to be told by others it simply doesn’t work. Stubbornly insisting ‘no it works’ doesn’t help—that’s just your pride getting in the way. Be willing to accept that you might have to scrap ideas you love, and do so without hesitancy. You literally have an infinite supply creation you can start instead.” — Jeff GoodSmith, Content Marketing Strategist

12. Put your audience first

“Many of us write because we have something to say. But if you want people to keep reading, the audience has to come first. I once heard someone say, ‘Never let what you want to say get in the way of what your audience wants to hear’. I think that’s advice worth bookmarking.” — Brent Trotter, Senior Strategist & Writer

Ready to step up your writing skills?

Throughout this project, I learned a lot. The biggest thing? Good writing isn’t math. It’s not formulaic.

Everyone I interviewed had different perspectives, processes, and rules on writing, with one thing in common: we are writers because we start writing.

Whether you’re a blogger pursuing, well.. blogging or creative writing attempting to become the next Hemingway, or even business and social media writing, like the work that I do every day, being a good writer comes down to one thing:

To be, you just need to do.

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