Web design software gives you the power to translate ideas into live products, test and iterate with your team without any coding. We’ve piled 10 of the best 10 best website design tools to help you create the next killer with ease.
‘An apprentice carpenter may want only ahammer and saw, but a master craftsman employs many precision tools.’
- Robert L. Kruse, Data Structures andProgram Design
Talking about Web design in 2020, it is not only just ideas and brainstorming, but the major part is choosing the right tool to turn your ideas into products. Beside, the crisis brought by Covid-19 has warned all the designer: the new era of remote work has come. COVID-19 is changing, or has changed the way we live, work, and communicate for the foreseeable future, forcing teams and enterprises to embrace remote working as the essential.
Therefore, how to increase our efficiency and collaborate faster & better while we are working from home is important for everyone. To solve this problem, we need to use the right tools to increase our efficiency.
In this article, I will review 10 best software from my perspective for Web designers that you could use to create your masterpieces during this special time.
1. Adobe XD
Adobe XD is a vector-based user experience design tool developed and released by Adobe for web and mobile applications. XD also supports opening and editing files from Sketch, making it a popular choice for Windows users who need to collaborate with other designers who use Sketch.
However, XD also has its weakness. For example, beginners may find that the learning requirements for XD are pretty high. However, as a user experience design tool under the Adobe system, it has strong technical support. For those web design projects without complex interaction, XD is still worth a try.
Pricing：
- $9.99/ month
2. Mockplus
Mockplus is the most robust all-in-one software powering product design and collaboration. It helps connect your entire product design workflow in one place and brings designers, PMs and developers, even from different countries and regions, on the same project.
With Mockplus, your entire team can not only make hi-fi prototype with various interactions by easily drag-and-drop, but also brainstorm, leave comments and collaborate designs based on different roles and permissions. To streamline the entire design handoff process, you can also import designs from Sketch, Adobe XD, PS, Axure and Figma then handoff them to developers with auto specs, assets and code snippets. With a simple drag-and-drop, you and your team can easily build perfect prototypes with incredible interactions. Everything is done in one place. There is no need to switch tools frequently as before.
Pricing：
- Basic — Free
- Pro — $9 per user/month or $99 per user/year
- Ultimate — $19 per user/month or $ 199 per user/year
3. Adobe Photoshop
In web design, you will always deal with image processing, and many designers will choose to use Adobe Photoshop.
Adobe Photoshop, referred to as “PS”, is an image processing software developed and distributed by Adobe Systems.
Photoshop mainly deals with digital images composed of pixels. Using its numerous editing and drawing tools, you can effectively edit pictures. PS has many functions, covering various aspects such as images, graphics, text, video, and publishing.
At present, PS is the most comprehensive and powerful image processing software in the world. Therefore, the requirements for entry are high, but because PS is an old design software, various high-quality tutorials for different design needs, and videos are all over the Internet, so users do not need to worry.
4. Canva
Technically Canva is not a web design software, but it can help you design better as a little helper.
If you are going to produce content for social media, Canva will be your helper. With a simple drag and drop layout, you can create everything from Instagram stories to book covers. Canva also provides a library of graphic designs with millions of pictures, vectors and illustrations, photo filters, and hundreds of free fonts, icons and shapes.
Pricing：
- Basic — Free
- Pro — From $2.59
- Ultimate — $19 per user/month or $ 199 per user/year
5. Vectr
Vectr is a free web-based vector tool with functions similar to Sketch and Adobe Illustrator.
Whether you want to create complex vector graphics, or design a website or mobile application, Vectr provides everything you need to get started.
Compared with Sketch and Adobe Illustrator, the highlight of Vectr lies in its simple operation, and beginners don’t need to spend a lot of time to learn.
At the same time, Vectr is web-based, so you can easily share the design with others for feedback and real-time collaboration with a URL.
Pricing： Free
6. WordPress
WordPress is a altinative method of designing a website, and it is defined as a method here because it is a content management system (CMS). WordPress provides a easy way to build a website within a few minutes, and WordPress is also very easy to install, it is a software suitable for both novice and experienced web designer.
Beside using frameworks and templates that are ready-to-use, you can also apply your own ideas. This can be done by using drag-and-drop from the downloaded design with built-in frameworks. In this way, you can create your own website without learning professional web development skills.
In additional, WordPress also has a huge library of the designs and templates shared by web designers around the world. Also if you are looking for something more, millions of paid resources from the third parties are waiting for you.
Pricing： Free to use
7. Weebly
Weebly is another online CMS aimed at people with little or no coding experience. Weebly also has an online store providing users with existing templates to create their simple website, this feature can save much time from searching templates.
Although the number of themes that can be used in Weebly is limited, they all have a professional appearance and simple design, and they can be personalized as your needs. In addition, Weebly has a built-in SEO system and analysis functions, and even has the function of posting ads directly to Facebook. This feature can greatly help users with building e-commerce website.
Pricing：
- Basic — Free
- Starter — $5/month
- Pro — $12/month
- Business — $25/month
8. Wix
Wix is one of the most popular web-based website design tools nowadays, featuring a library with hundreds templates to help you quickly start the web design process. The drag-and-drop editor with a variety of useful tools and functions includes a Image editor, video background, animations, social buttons and more.
The interface design of all the editing functions of Wix is very user-friendly. Compared with other website building software, its operation is more like a native application. In general, Wix is a website building software which is for web design beginner.
Pricing：
- Connect Domain — $3.54/month
- Combo — $13/mpnth
- Unlimited — $17/month
9. Adobe Dreamweaver
Adobe Dreamweaver is a long-established web design software. The software creates web construction through the combination of visual editing and HTML editing, which means that it needs to have a basic understanding of coding and web design knowledge. However, a website implemented by code means it is unique, because not like those design from simple drag-and-drop or templates, all visual effects and functions are reflected in the internal code. In other words, the starting point of Adobe Dreamweaver is not so low, but the upper limit it features is very high.
A particularly nice feature of Dreamweaver is that it allows you to design and build responsive website, which means your website can be optimized for display on desktop and mobile devices.
In additional, if you are an advanced developer, you might be excited to notice that Dreamweaver provides multi-monitor support for Windows. It also supports the Chromium Embedded Framework (CEF) for use with HTML5 elements and CSS grids.
Pricing：
- From $20.99/ month
10. Bootstrap
If you have a certain understanding of web page coding, you can use Bootstrap to simplify the process of website coding. Bootstrap was originally created by Twitter’s engineering team and has now become the most popular framework in the world, mainly for building responsive, mobile-first websites.
In other words, Bootstrap is a free library of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Bootstrap provides many functions, such as a grid system, response breakpoints, and a huge component library. Using these components will greatly simplify the process of web page coding. The component library includes titles, navigation, buttons, forms, alerts, etc. The Bootstrap team has fully documented each feature through examples and customization suggestions.
You only need to download the latest version of the Bootstrap framework, copy the sample template, and start coding.
Pricing： Free to use
Conclusion
No matter you are a just a beginner or an expert, web design tools are important for your work. In the meantime, all the software has their alternative, but which one is the one you really need? Choose wisely.
