A wireframe for apps will also help in making the relevant changes in the design before beginning the development phase. You can try and work with the image in your head, but it's better to put pen on paper and design the mockups.
Wireframing tools are the developers’ most significant assets. They increase the efficiency of the development processes and help in avoiding mistakes.
How to Pick the best free wireframing tool?
Now you have compared the best free wireframe software, and it's time to decide on your design needs. So, let’s explore some of the best free wireframing tools to use in 2022:
1. Cacoo
Cacoo is an online software to design mobile app wireframes. It can be used to create mockups for Android, iOS, and Windows. The platform is convenient for the developers looking to expand on their ideas and flex their creativity. It offers an extensive set of built-in features that let you plan, organize, share, and optimize the design for multiple platforms.
Additionally, Cacoo allows developers to collaborate in real-time. A variety of templates and shapes is readily available to create diagrams instantly. Its built-in, intuitive editor provides the freedom to design and customize flowcharts, mind maps, wireframes, and network diagrams.
The drawback, however, is that the free plan limits the exporting of the project in PNG format only.
2. Adobe XD
Adobe XD is a multipurpose tool that offers many Android or iPhone wireframing features. Its toolkit includes an asset panel for consistency, allows easy replication of characteristics, the responsive orientation of content, and opportunities to collaborate with the team. It also hosts chat features, tooling, and APIs for native integration.
Designed by the best creative technologies, Adobe XD provides the freedom to create layouts, add UI elements, define user flowcharts, easy-to-use navigations, and the information structure of the app. additionally, developers can add graphics, videos, and texts in the mockups to test the user experience of the app before development.
Developers can use the platform to create low-level mockups or high-quality, interactive interfaces for websites, web apps, mobile apps, and wearables. Then, when the design is ready, developers can provide their clients with shareable links and receive feedback as comments directly.
3. JustinMind
Justin Mind offers both free and premium plans for developers. With free UI kits and the best free wireframing tools, designers can design, style, and adjust the size of the layout of the product to fit any screen type.
The tool provides the freedom and flexibility to create lifelike, interactive prototypes for iOS and Android. Additionally, by integrating with apps like Sketch and JIRA, the designers can access UI kits with around 4000 elements and more.
As a versatile tool, JustInMind allows the creation of website and app wireframes and upgrades them to mockups and prototypes. Developers can add texts, drop-down features, combo boxes, carousels, and more to the drawings. Plus, it includes resources like the font widget library and mobile wireframing library.
It needs a bit of learning, but once the concepts are clear, JustInMind is pretty straightforward with convenient navigation. Furthermore, it offers video tutorials for inexperienced developers to understand and use the platform.
4. Axure
Axure is another multipurpose tool that allows designers to create flowcharts, wireframes, mockups, prototypes, and user journeys. Developers can add functionality and design interactive diagrams with sitemaps, UIs, and HTML. Additionally, the platform allows collaborating with other team members and annotating projects.
The platform is a blank canvas to flex your creative muscles and design wireframes for iOS, Android, and Web. Developers can add animation effects, adaptive product reviews, apply conditional logic, code export functionality, cloud storage, and more. Its convenient sharing options also allow testing a website on mobile phones.
5. Frame box
Frame Box is another free and easiest wireframing design tool. It offers limited creativity with only the primary designing and editing features. While many platforms provide advanced features with their free plans, Frame Box is still the best for the developers looking for simplicity in their mockups.
The platform is convenient to use with simple drag-and-drop. Developers can include texts and images, resize the diagram, and more. Additionally, with a shareable link to the saved copy, the clients can have a visual of the final product.
6. MockPlus
MockPlus is one of app developers' most widely preferred and one of the best free wireframing tools for iOS and Android. It offers the luxury of creating interactive designs for both the UI and UX with the best free wireframe tool for mobile apps. The platform is fast and efficient, with free templates and pages.
With drag-and-drop elements, over 200 components, and around 3000 icons, MockPlus offers customization of mockups as needed over an intuitive canvas and spacious interface. Additionally, developers can take the prototype for a test run on an actual device by scanning the QR code.
Furthermore, the design is shareable with the clients via cloud storage and a shareable link. Alternatively, the prototype can be shared via email and project code.
7. Wireframe.cc
Sometimes having various choices can also be cumbersome. Wireframe.cc is an ideal tool to design wireframe apps for developers who can’t make up their minds. Its limited features and minimalist UI simplifies the designing process and speed up the overall development.
Wireframe.cc is a free, open-sourced web-based software that offers basic functionality with drag-and-drop elements, built-in templates, and a color palette to set the theme. Additionally, it has various sharing options so that the clients and other team members can view the diagrams and offer feedback.
The one drawback of using Wireframe.cc is that it doesn’t support interactive wireframes.
8. MockFlow
MockFlow is another free and easiest wireframing design tool at your service based on the Adobe Flash platform. It offers tons of features, including preset buttons, images, graphs, and pre-made templates for your convenience. Plus, it has a built-in revision control and team chat to collaborate with other developers on the team.
The tool provides complete freedom of creativity in designing mockups for iOS, Android, Web, and wearables. In a matter of minutes, developers will have finished wireframes for websites or apps in various themes shareable as PNG, HTML, PDF, or PowerPoint.
Additionally, WireframePro is a product of Mock Flow that allows the designing of interactive wireframes and collaborating on projects. The developers can even create sitemaps for the pages created and export them in any format.
The free plan for the MockFlow wireframing tool offers one design license with one design project.
9. InVision
InVision is a designer's all-in-one wireframing, prototyping, and mockup tool that is one of the most well-known in the wireframing software industry. InVision arose from the lack of interactivity across displays in apps, particularly Photoshop (at the time) (also why many moved to Sketch). It fills the vacuum left by the death of developing the screens that will be imported into InVision. You'll need to use an external tool (we use Sketch). Individual UX/UI designers can use InVision's free wireframing plan to develop one live prototype or Wireframe at any time. It's a minimal package geared at freelancers and individuals who don't collaborate. The next level of InVision price is $15 per month per user, which allows design teams to establish up to three projects that may be active at any time, as well as full access to the InVision app.
10. Pencil Project
Project Pencil is an open-source and easiest wireframing design tool. It contains many designs for UX/UI professionals to use, and all of its features are available for free. Another benefit is the open-source community, which means that developers continually update the program with new features and security freely.
11. Jumpchart
Jumpchart is a web-based wireframing application that allows designers to sketch up and prepare a website wireframe for sharing with key stakeholders, clients, developers, and others. It comes with one active project at a time, 10MB of storage, 10 monthly pages, and two users per project. The initial premium tier of Jumpchart is $5 per month and includes 5 projects, 1 GB of storage, 25 monthly pages, and 5 users per project.
12. Mydraft.CC
Mydraft.CC is a totally free and open-source wireframing application that can be used from any computer with a browser. It offers a basic search bar with a clean and easy-to-use wireframing canvas. It also comes with hundreds of free shapes and icons. It's a powerful wireframe editing program that's kept up to date by their developer community.
13. Framebox
The second entirely free wireframing tool on this list is Framebox. All of Framebox's features are included directly on their website's easy-to-use web app, and there are no paid plans. It's a comprehensive drag-and-drop tool that lets designers create wireframes with UI components and allows users to sign in to save their work and see the revision history. UX/UI designers may also submit their work to their whole team or important stakeholders via a personalized link for quick online sharing and feedback.
14. Wirefy
Wirefy is an entirely free wireframing program that is open-source and can be downloaded as a desktop application.
Some basic HTML and CSS expertise is required. However, the platform is a powerful UX/UI tool with an extensive collection of atomic elements for creating complex and adaptable wireframes.
15. Balsamiq
Balsamiq is the best free wireframe tool for mobile apps with drag-and-drop capabilities that make it simple to use. It also offers a sketch mode for brainstorming and a tidy wireframe style for presentations, both of which can be switched effortlessly. Another great thing is that it provides a 30-day free trial for trying it out before committing. So if you are looking for a flexible, convenient, quick wireframe tool, this might just be it.
FAQS about Wireframing Tools for Mobile Apps
Which is the best free wireframe tool?
There are tools built expressly for this purpose, which may be used to create a fast sketch of a concept or make something closer to a completely functional prototype. Wireframes may also be created using general-purpose design software like Adobe's applications. This has the benefit of allowing you to make the whole design process on a single platform. An Android wireframing tool is among the most powerful and popular tools out there for creating wireframes and prototypes for mobile applications. An Android wireframing tool is used to create prototypes quickly with a drag-and-drop interface.
How do I make a wireframe for mobile apps free?
Choosing the best free mobile app wireframe tool for mobile apps is the foundation of any project, and mobile app development is no different. Wireframes are a step between low-fidelity drawings and early interactive prototypes. Wireframing for mobile is a very different technique from wireframing for desktop.
The best free wireframe tool for mobile apps includes tools like Adobe XD, Figma, and Sketch. With these free wireframe tools for mobile apps, you can quickly map out the user experience of the mobile app and get a visual overview of the design. With these free wireframe tools for mobile apps, you can easily create interactive prototypes and user flows.
Steps for wireframing a mobile app
Which tools should you use?
The Best Free Wireframing tools help to realize your idea of an app or website. Wireframing provides a direction for the developers to follow during development regardless of platform type. It helps them stay on track and gives the clients a visual of how the product will look once completed.
No platform is superior to others. Each one offers distinct features, convenient navigation, and freedom of creativity. So, the choice of wireframe tool to use depends on the requirements of the app, the work processes, and the developer's convenience.
These eight tools are free to use, with premium plans also available. Share your idea with our developers, and we’ll give you an app that fits your business.
