The 10 best prototyping tools for UI/UX designers [2025 Update]

UI/UX designing is a specialized type of design in which we deal with the user interface and user experience of websites. Designers make them attractive and appealing for visitors. It's all like decorating one’s digital home (website) with beautiful elements and ornamental pieces. Now, in the process of UI/UX design, there are multiple steps. One of these steps is prototyping. 

Prototyping bridges the gap between an idea and its first real version in UX design. It helps turn your thoughts into something users can see, touch, and test. This process allows designers to refine and improve their work based on feedback. This blog is a complete guide to the 10 best prototyping tools for UI/UX designers in 2025.

What is Prototyping & Why is It Important?

A prototyping phase is when a sample site, app, or digital project becomes functional. It aims to help designers with a test-iteration-confirmation before the actual development process.

Let’s understand the concept of prototyping with an easy example. Imagine you want to build a house. Would you start construction right away? No! First, an architect creates a blueprint. A rough plan of what the house will look like. This way, you can check if the rooms are placed correctly, the doors and windows are in the right spots, and everything makes sense before actually building it.

Prototyping in UI/UX is like making a blueprint for a website or app before it's fully developed. UI/UX designers use tools to create these blueprints so they can test and improve before coding begins.

Why Prototyping is Important?

• Identify issues before development starts

• Early fixes save time and resources.

• Collaborative design for better outcomes.

• Live demos drive better decision-making.

10 Best Prototyping Tools for UI/UX Designers

Let’s enlist and discuss a few of the best prototyping tools for UI/UX designers.

1. Figma 

Figma is an integrated design platform in the cloud that supports wireframing, UI design, and prototyping. Real-time collaboration support makes it a favorite among remote teams from various locations. Interactive transitions and animations, along with Autoflow and Fig Motion features, make Figma one of the best prototyping tools for UI/UX designers.

Pros

• Real-time smooth collaboration

• Mac, Windows, and web compatibility
  
  

Cons

• Requires internet to work completely

• Offline partial functionality

2. InVision Studio

InVision Studio is a feature-rich product that's extremely popular because of its animation and dynamic effects. It supports vector drawing tools, reusable components, and team collaboration features like Freehand for brainstorming. It's ideal for teams who need rich, high-fidelity interactive prototypes.

Pros

• Advanced animation and UI interactions

• Developer handoff capabilities built-in
  
  

Cons

• Requires new user learning curve

• Only for one prototype within the free variant

3. Adobe XD 

Adobe XD is a vector-based prototyping software with decent Photoshop and Illustrator integration. It allows designers to create precise wireframes, interactive prototypes, and transitions without needing to go back and forth between platforms. The auto-animate feature is also very useful for creating smooth transitions between screens.

Pros

• Good integration with other Adobe tools

• Easy auto-animate feature for seamless transitions
  
  

Cons

• Requires paid subscription for full functionality

• Not as user-friendly as some of the competition

4. Framer 

Framer is perfect for high-fidelity prototyping with advanced animation and interactions. It supports real-time collaboration and allows designers to build real user experiences using 3D effects, live maps, and UI kits. It is perfect for user testing before the actual development.

Pros

• Advanced micro-interactions and animations

• Live features for user testing

Cons

• The steep learning curve for new users

• Cost is too pricey for small teams

5. Marvel

Marvel is an easy drag-and-drop prototyping tool suitable for beginners. It enables designers to quickly design wireframes, interactive prototypes, and animations without advanced coding. It even has a handoff for developers for a seamless transition from design to code.

Pros

• Easy to use, great for beginners

• Quick wireframing and prototyping

Cons

• Less feature-rich compared to advanced tools

• Great for less complicated projects

6. Webflow 

Webflow is a no-code application that enables designers to design fully functional websites without writing code. It differs from other prototyping tools in that it creates real, interactive websites instead of mockups. It's perfect for teams that require high-fidelity web experiences but lack developers.

Pros

• Enables real, functional website prototyping

• No coding needed
  
  

Cons

• A bit of an advanced tool for non-designers

• Not ideal for mobile app prototypes

7. Axure RP 

Axure RP is ideal for teams needing solid documentation, complex logic, and high-detail prototypes. It enables designers to create highly interactive prototypes using condition logic and variables, making it ideal for enterprise UX design.

Pros

• Most suitable for enterprise-scale UX design

• Documentation features are good
  
  

Cons

• Not as visually friendly compared to other tools

• More costly than competitors

8. Sketch 

Sketch is a Mac favorite vector design tool employed extensively in UI/UX design. It has a clean but flexible UI to create wireframes, prototypes, and visual designs. It even provides reusable symbols to make it easy to maintain design consistency.

Pros

• Clean design for UI/UX

• Ideal for vector-based designing
  
  

Cons

• Mac only, Windows unsupported

• Requires plugins to function well

9. Proto.io 

Proto.io is an easy platform for full-interactive prototyping without coding. It's perfect for UX teams that require realistic user flows with transitions, animations, and UI elements. It integrates well with Sketch, Figma, and Adobe XD.

Pros

• No coding for high-end prototypes

• Works well with Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD
  
  

Cons

• Very expensive for individuals

• Limited free trial

10. Balsamiq 

Balsamiq is a simple tool designed to create fast, sketchy wireframes. Ideal for early-stage brainstorming to enable teams to toss around UI concepts before moving toward detailed design.

Pros

• Simple, quick wireframing

• Ideal for early-stage brainstorming
  
  

Cons

• Not suited for high-fidelity prototypes

• Simple UI with minimal interactive elements
  
  

We, at Tangent Technologies provide top-quality prototyping services with premium tools for UI/UX design projects. We leverage the best prototyping tools to design your product before you start development. Our expertise lies in

• High-accuracy prototypes for smooth UX

• Wireframing that aligns with your product vision.

• Efficient teamwork for better development handoffs.
  
  

Let’s turn boring ideas into bold designs.
Reach out to Tangent Technologies today.

Conclusion

Prototyping is a UX/UI design game changer. In this guide, we have enlisted the best prototyping tools for UI/UX designers The ideal tool enables designers to test ideas, iterate user flows, and create interactive experiences before actual development.

In selecting a tool. 

• Ensure it suits your project requirements (low vs. high fidelity)

• Avoid overpaying for price, integrations, and collaboration options

• Use testing & feedback capabilities to improve your design
  
  

A good prototype is not a drawing but it's an awesome recipe for success. Create with clarity and design for delight.

FAQ’s

1. What prototyping tool is best suited for new users?

Marvel and Figma are ideal for beginners as they feature intuitive interfaces and drag-and-drop capabilities.

2. Do prototyping tools substitute coding?

No, but prototyping tools like Webflow allow for functional prototyping of websites without coding.

3. How is wireframing different from prototyping?

• Wireframes → Non-interactive blueprints of form & layout.

• Prototypes → Interactive models with real user-simulated experiences
  
  

4. Which tool is most well-suited to collaborative work?

The following UI/UX tools are good for live team collaboration.

1. Figma

2. InVision
3. Webflow