Narendra Keshkar

12 Most Effective Prototyping Tools Which You Should Not Miss

Prototyping or wire framing is most important part in the web designing process, which delivers the initial ideas to the clients without going for final designing. This saves a lot of time which can be invested in other projects hence reducing the turnaround time as well as cost of the project. There are several prototyping tools are popular in the industry, which are effective as well as user-friendly. Based on my user experience, I have listed some best prototyping tools here.

Mockflow

• Price – Free.
• Availability – Online / Download.

Mockflow is a hybrid prototyping tool, which is available online as well as for download. It is the best in my list and has equipped with a lot of features as well as elements for fast prototyping. You can make revision online and client can see it immediately on his screen which can save your time. The most important feature of it is the rulers, 960 grids and graphs, which is bonus in this tool. Mockflow is available at free of cost, if you want more, then you can get its license in just $59/year.

Cacoo

• Price-Free.
• Availability – Online.

Cacoo is an online, drag and drop prototyping tool which offers a lot of options with it. You can prototype your website for iPad, iPhone and android too so that client will have more understanding on your concept. You can chat while prototyping, share your sheet to your clients, if you like freehand sketch style prototype, then it is also available in it and the good news is that it is absolutely free of cost. If you want unlimited prototyping features, then it is also available at just $4.95 per month.

Pencil Project

• Absolutely Free.
• Available for download.

Pencil project is a unique prototyping tool available for download. It has many features which make it more effective so that prototyping become fun. With this tool you can create high quality prototypes to give the client better understanding, hence quick approval. No trial, no demo, but just a full version with all features and all this absolutely free.

Flairbuilder

• Price – $24/month & $99/life.
• Availability – Download.

Flairbuilder is a cross-platform prototyping tool that helps you create interactive wire frames & prototypes faster, easier and with better results. This one is my favorite one because it has many additional features along with other features that give more flexibility while prototyping. FlairBuilder lets you do page to page navigation as well as more complex, AJAX like interactions in just few seconds, also it offers very flexible purchase option that is if you want to try it out for few months, then go for $24/month subscription and if you are fully satisfied with it and want it forever, then buy license for lifetime at just $99 and it’s all yours.

Balsamiq

• Price – $79.
• Availability – Download.

Balsamiq is an easy to use, drag and drop prototyping tool, equipped with a lot of features. One of its most important feature is that prototypes are in sketch mode that gives a natural feel of prototyping on paper and due to this client don’t get distracted in details and focus on what is more important. It’s just in $79; a demo version is also available to try out.

HotGloo

• Price – $17/month.
• Availability – Online.

HotGloo is a powerful online prototyping tool provides a precise framework to designers and gives a lot of freedom to designers while prototyping. It’s an online tool hence no need for download and you can start prototype from anywhere. This tool is available only at $17 per month as well as 30 day trial period is offered with all plans to check it out.

Pidoco

• Price – $9 per month.
• Availability – Online.

Pidoco is an online prototyping tool offering a lot of features to make prototyping fun. The best thing about pidoco is that gives you ability to link pages and videos so that you can present your mock ups with full interactivity to client. Client can review mock up and add unlimited comments to request revision and all this can be done within a very short time, also it has enhanced sharing feature with clients and friends so that you can decide who will see your mock up and what amount of freedom to be given to modify mock up.

Iplotz

• Price – Free & $15/month.
• Availability – Online.

Iplotz is an excellent prototyping tool, available in online as well as for download. With Iplotz, not only you can create amazing mock ups, graphs, but also can add interactive navigation. It has many unique features like ability export to HTML, 960 grid systems, exports to PDF etc., which you don’t find in other tools easily. You can also create mock ups for iphone, ipad and android which are bonus with it and all features are for free. You can also upgrade your plan to create unlimited number of projects in $15 per month.

Protoshare

• Price – $29/month.
• Availability – Online.

The best thing about protoshare is that you can export and share prototypes as fully interactive websites (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) or generate comprehensive, printable spec documents. It is a web based wire framing tool, hence you can start your work from any computer.

Wireframesketcher

• Price – $75.
• Available for download.

WireframeSketcher is a prototyping software tool that helps you quickly create wire frames, mock ups and prototypes for desktop. A comprehensive palette of widgets lets you design anything from simple screen mock ups to entire websites and desktop applications. If you are developing using SWT toolkit, then you will appreciate the possibility to import your UI into an editable wire frame. All this is available at just $75 for single user.

Inpreso

• Price – Free & $79/year.
• Availability – Online / Download.

Inpresco is another hybrid prototyping tool, which is available online as well as for download. It is a very effective tool for creating instant mock ups for clients and gets their feedback online. It has a lot of unique features like various themes to present your idea in better way. This tool is absolutely free with limited features and you can buy it at $79 per year per person.

Justinmind

• Price – $495.
• Available for download.

Justinmind prototyper 3.0 is a powerful prototyping tool designed to build fully functional dynamic prototypes without any coding, both on Windows and Mac. Despite its comprehensive features, it is pretty expansive tool with some additional features which doesn’t make any substantial difference while prototyping. You will have to pay $495 to use this tool hence, it’s better to move for another tool.

However, there are lots of prototyping tools which I haven’t listed here because my intention was to list best tools which are effective, fast and easy to use. Hope you enjoyed this post.