What’s going on, Sumo-lings?
Today we’re going to explore all of the essential paid and free web design tools available
in the market today.
When it comes to web design, things can change rapidly, and you certainly don’t need to
search too hard in the year 2020 for examples of how things can change quickly and unexpectedly.
And not only do design trends change seemingly overnight, but the software we use also comes
and goes like sneaker fashion.
The only thing for sure is that web development and design aren’t going anywhere.
With the rise of the no-code movement to and drag-and-drop everything, today’s web design
scene can best be described as a PACE RACE: who will provide the most flexible, all-in-one
design-to-code solution for developers, designers, and small business owners who wear all the
hats the fastest?
That’s why, here at AppSumo, we’ve put together a comprehensive list of the best
professional web design software and resources available today, and we’re looking at THIRTY
of them, so get comfy.
Before we get into the good stuff, remember to hit that subscribe button and ring the
bell so you get notified when we drop new videos like this one!
Alright, to help you through all of the software, we’ve sorted this list into 5 categories:
Best web design software and resources for marketers and advertisers
Best no-code web design tools and software Best web design software for HTML sites
Best web design software for eCommerce Best web design software and page builders
for WordPress
So stay along for the whole ride, or just jump to the sections that will help you out
the most.
Alright, now onto the good stuff, let’s get started with:
The 6 Best Web Design Software Resources For Marketers and Advertisers
1. RelayThat
RelayThat helps you quickly resize and remix
brand assets into agency-level designs.
This tool’s magic lies in its ease of use and automation.
Once you upload your brand colors, fonts, pictures, and other assets, RelayThat will
automatically generate dozens of pre-made designs to choose from.
You can even magic-import assets from a URL.
RelayThat’s easy drag-and-drop interface helps you quickly finalize branded designs
that look incredible.
If we had you at RelayThat, good news!
You can Grab a $49 lifetime deal on RelayThat for a limited time in the AppSumo store.
So you might want to pause this video and jump on that.
2. JumpStory
Speaking of jumping, JumpStory is a photo
repository of 15 million+ images, videos, vectors, and illustrations.
But JumpStory doesn’t just give you access to use these photos for commercial use: it’s
got a whole suite of tools to help you find and edit the right image.
The AI-powered TextMatch tool helps you quickly find the best images based on search terms.
In addition, you can use the HighJumper feature to get data-powered suggestions for top-performing
images on social.
And when you join JumpStory you also get a free blu-ray disc of Samuel L. Jackson and
Hayden Christensen in Jumper, just kidding, don’t watch that movie.
3. StockUnlimited
Next up, StockUnlimited, you get 1 million+
royalty-free assets that include graphics, photos, fonts, icons, and audio files.
You can search audio files by genre, mood, instrument, and sound effect.
With no download limits and an SVG and JPG present canvas editing tool, StockUnlimited
gives you all the assets you need to run a business for the digital age.
4. Canva
If you’re making graphics for the
web or social media today, you’ve likely used Canva.
With easy drag-and-drop layouts, you can build everything from branded Instagram story graphics
to book covers for that ground-breaking self-help memoir you’ve been cooking up.
Canva is a graphic design goldmine with millions of stock images, vectors, illustrations, photo
filters, and hundreds of free fonts, icons, and shapes.
Canva also has a free version, and paid plans start at $9.95 per month.
We’ve also got a video on Canva alternatives, so be sure to subscribe to our channel and
you can watch videos like that one to get all the tools you need.
5. Google Web Designer
What doesn’t Google have?
Google Web Designer helps you make interactive HTML5-based ads, designs, and animations.
From static cue cards to 3D images, Google Web Designer is the go-to tool for creating
motion graphics for today’s digital advertising and marketing collateral.
Plus, it’s free to download and use.
6. Pixpa
Last in this category, we have Pixpa: the
ultimate all-in-one website platform for photographers and creatives to showcase, share, and sell
their work online.
Pixpa lets you create a beautiful portfolio website in minutes, complete with built-in
client galleries, an online store, and blog functionality.
With Pixpa, you can sell your images as prints and downloads with mobile gallery apps, zero
commission, watermarking, and more!
Plans start at just $6 a month!
OK now let’s get into: The 7 Best No-Code Web Design Tools
1. EpixPxls
Epicpxls gives you a quick mockup superpower
with easy, downloadable premium design assets.
You can choose from a well-curated selection of beautiful UI kits and website design templates
in various common file formats.
You can also download from a library of fonts, graphics, and icons.
But just make sure you preview the zip files to make sure your design is in the right format.
After you download the zip, you can get straight into creating your own customized site or
app.
Even though they don’t like vowels, we still like them, so you can Grab a $39 Epicpxls
lifetime deal, available for a limited time in the AppSumo store.
2. Sketch
Sketch is a leader in the web design world,
known as a “digital design toolkit” with interactive prototyping, smart layouts, and
a vast library of integrations and plugins.
Right now, the software just launched “Sketch for Teams,” which allows user experience
designers to share and collaborate on workspaces.
Unfortunately, as a native Mac app, you’ll need to be Team Apple to enjoy all the ease
of use and functionality Sketch has to offer.
So there’s that well-designed hurdle standing in front of you if you’re not, but if you
are, you can get Sketch for $99, and you’ll need to renew your license every year to continue
to receive updates.
3. Figma
There is a ton of buzz around Figma right
now.
Figma’s strength is that it’s a web-based app with auto layout, asset libraries, and
shareable prototyping features, so you never have to worry about losing a thing with auto-save.
You can add as many team members as you want as free “viewers” to get stakeholder feedback
via comments on your design.
Sketch and Figma also share some plugins and integrations, so you can often find that additional
functionality—or even build it yourself—if you need it.
Pricing starts free for 3 projects with 2 editors and scales up to $12 and $45 per editor
from there.
4. Adobe XD
Adobe XD is the standard in UX/UI design that
allows collaborative design and prototyping of intuitive web pages, apps, and much more—including
voice interfaces!
You can add animations, build design systems, and build responsive web designs with content-aware
layouts, responsive resize, and set reusable states for various components.
Adobe has a free starter plan and pricing starts at $9.99 per month per user.
5. Webflow
Webflow is an all-in-one responsive web design
tool that folds a CMS, managed web hosting, and free SSL certificate all in one no-code
platform.
It’s a triple threat, like Donald Glover.
You can build interactions and animations into your own website, drag-and-drop unstyled
HTML elements, or make use of pre-built elements like sliders, tabs, and background videos.
The tool features a master component library of core layouts, components, and patterns,
plus Webflow gives you the ability to prototype and export code to hand off to developers
if you don’t want to launch a site on its native subdomain.
Webflow starts free, with plans going up from $12 per month.
6. Vev
Vev is a collaborative, design-oriented “What
You See Is What You Get” responsive website builder made for the not-so-roaring-yet 2020s.
You can browse the Vev Store for interactive components and animations you need… or code
your own in React and CSS if you’re into that sort of thing.
You can store template sections to reuse again and again, and Vev has great collaboration
tools built for designers, developers, and content editors.
Vev starts at $29 per user monthly.
7. RapidWeaver
RapidWeaver is a native web design software
exclusively on and for Mac.
You can choose from 50 built-in or over 100 community-built themes, and instantly see
how your designs will look on various Apple devices.
The software integrates with Unsplash and has a big focus on giving you SEO-friendly
code.
RapidWeaver has a free trial and you can download it for $84.99.
And now it’s time to get into: The 7 Best Web Design Software For HTML Sites
1. Adobe Dreamweaver
A simplified coding engine
that allows real-time previews of your content as you make edits to the code.
Pretty nifty.
You can start your next responsive website project from a template or build from scratch,
and with Git support and code hints, you can custom-build all kinds of HTML assets like
emails, eCommerce sites, portfolios, blogs, and more.
Start with a free trial.
Plans start at $20.99 per month or $52.99 per month for the entire Adobe Creative Cloud.
(Prices vary for students, teachers, and businesses.)
2. openElement
openElement is a free “What You See Is What
You Get” web editor with a whole host of editing features that support tons of different
page elements like text, images, tables, and lines.
Some web elements are even drag-and-drop, and users praise it for being lightweight
and SEO friendly.
And again… openElement is free.
3. Atom Text Editor
Atom is an open-source, hackable desktop code
editor from GitHub.
You can use this tool to access thousands of open source packages, explore text editor
themes built by the Atom community, and work in CSS, HTML, and JavaScript.
You can also run Teletype for Atom to share workspaces for synchronous code editing.
Plus, Atom is free.
4. Quill
Quill is an open-source API-driven text editor
trusted by some of the biggest companies in the world.
As a cross-platform editor, you can code in HTML without worrying about inconsistent production,
and Quill is free.
5. Froala Editor
Froala is a Javascript web “What You See
Is What You Get” HTML editor.
As a lightweight yet rapidly-expandable editor, Froala is simple and easy to use and it still
provides depth of functionality and powerful API that has attracted some of the world’s
largest companies.
It also has over 30 plugins.
You can get a license with 1 year of updates starting at $239 (including unlimited users
and developers).
6. CoffeeCup HTML Editor
CoffeeCup HTML Editor was built for WYSIWYG
precision and excellence.
You can work from scratch in HTML, CSS, and PHP or choose from an existing theme.
You can use the “Open from Web” option to take any website as a starting point for
your new design, and with a components library, code validation tool, and live preview, you’ll
have your next web design up and running quickly.
You can Try for free or buy it for $29.
7. Flutter
And last in this category, we have Flutter,
which allows you to build “write-once deploy-everywhere” native apps.
As Google’s free, open source UI toolkit, Flutter allows you to use a single codebase
to build native apps for mobile, web, and desktop.
Layers allow for complex and expressive interface design, and its Hot Reload feature helps you
see design elements as you refine them in the code.
With both Material Design and Cupertino widgets, you get the best of both Android and iOS.
And Flutter is free.
Next up, we have: The 5 Best Web Design Software Choices For eCommmerce
1. Shopify
Shopify is quickly becoming the go-to digital
storefront platform.
Every Shopify store comes with an SSL certificate and you can buy domain names directly from
them.
The team is continually revising the shopping cart experience, so that they can reduce cart
abandonment and give store owners and dropshippers the flexibility they need to dynamically determine
shipping rates, taxes, and more.
Shopify also has a suite of marketing tools as a mature, third-party integration ecosystem
to help you sell more.
After a free 14-day trial, Shopify starts from $29 per month.
(There’s also Shopify Lite for $9 per month for pre-existing websites.)
2. Weebly
With over 40M sites, Weebly is Square’s
powerful drag-and-drop website builder that’s doubled down on eCommerce features in recent
years.
You can choose from template designs and get all the brand assets you need to launch your
site quickly.
Weebly also has abandoned cart and welcome email features, dynamic shipping pricing,
and inventory tracking.
It’s a website builder at heart, so you’ll have access to more themes and a lot of easy,
user-friendly design functionality for putting your site together as you want it.
Weebly starts free and moves up from $6 per month (billed annually).
3. Squarespace
Squarespace is a feature-packed website builder
with over 90 flexible designer website templates.
It offers customer account functionality for online stores as well as inventory management,
discount codes, and abandoned cart recovery.
This site builder is gorgeous, so if you’re looking for flawless layouts and bleeding-edge
artistic vibes, Squarespace may be the right eCommerce site option for you.
Squarespace starts with a free trial and moves up from $12 per month from there.
4. BigCommerce
BigCommerce is an enterprise eCommerce solution.
For smaller businesses, there’s BigCommerce Essentials, which offers 80 responsive designs,
a no-code editor, advanced product search, and CRO tools – which include an abandoned
cart saver feature.
Plus, you can choose from a really wide variety of payment gateways.
BigCommerce Essentials starts with a 15-day trial and goes up from $29 per month.
5. Constant Contact Builder
Lastly we have Constant Contact Builder is
a free website builder that allows you to build a free mobile-responsive website.
Powered by AI, Constant Contact Builder’s drag-and-drop builder and layout options are
very easy to use.
Though it doesn’t have the high-powered eCom features other tools on this list may
have, it does provide analytics, inventory and order management, and secure checkout
with discounts and free shipping.
Plus, it offers SSL encryption, unlimited bandwidth, free CDN, and free web hosting.
Constant Contact Builder is free to start, but if you want to attach a custom domain
or sell more than three products, plans begin at $10 per month.
Alright and now we’re onto our last category, before we give you some fun bonus pieces of
information at the end.
Let’s get to the: 5 Best Web Design Tools and Page Builders For WordPress
As the world’s largest open-source Content
Management System, WordPress has a wide variety of solutions for all your web design needs,
including WooCommerce, a top eCommerce platform.
As of 2020, WordPress powers 36% of the internet.
1. SecondLineThemes
SecondLineThemes features WordPress themes
built for podcasters, with all the plugins you need to grow your following.
2. Elementor
Elementor is a drag-and-drop WordPress page
builder used by over 4M people.
This tool is free, but paid plans start at $49 per year.
3. ProteusThemes
ProteusThemes offers 20+ SEO-optimized WordPress
and WooCommerce themes with a lightweight page builder, so you can create unlimited
websites.
4. Divi
Divi is a powerful “What You See Is What
You Get” WordPress theme and responsive page builder.
Try it free for 30 days.
Plans start at $89 per year.
5. Oxygen
Oxygen is an advanced drag-and-drop WordPress
and WooCommerce visual editor that’s really popular among Sumo-lings aka agency and small
business owners!
The site build starts at a one-time fee of $99.
(No free trial, but they do offer a 60-day money-back guarantee.)
Alright!
That should give you PLENTY to think about when choosing your web design software, and
since you’ve stayed along for the ride, you now get some bonus tips and freebies!
Bonuses: Best Free Web Design Tools
As web designers, we’re constantly looking
for free tools and resources that help us design smarter.
Tools like Browser Size speed up workflows and power up our design capabilities.
And for a limited time you can check out the FREE Brizy UI Design Kit in the AppSumo store
for over 250 different UI site blocks for Sketch, InVision Studio, or Figma.
Finally, we have created some pretty sweet bonus lists that include color palette tools
and font-picker tools.
Check out the whole list on the AppSumo blog linked in the description below.
And as always, be sure to click that subscribe button to get all the information you need
to grow your business or agency.
AppSumo’s got you covered.
Catch ya next time Sumo-lings!