Are you looking for a way to up your web design game but confused about which is the better choice between Figma vs Sketch vs Adobe XD? Worry no more! This blog compares these three web design tools and tells you which is the best choice for you and why.
Your website’s design plays a vital role in strengthening and beautifying your online presence. A web design sets the first impression and impacts how your audience perceives your brand. 48% of people said that website design is the no.1 factor in determining a business’s credibility. If given 15 minutes, 66% of people will read or browse through something beautifully designed rather than something plain and boring.
A website reflects the business in front of the customer, and that’s why it needs to be aesthetically pleasing to persuade your potential visitors. To do so, you need to hire a professional web designer, adopt the right web design strategies and tools. There is no denying that we have seen tremendous growth in UI design tools’ availability in recent past years. Earlier, Sketch has been the first application of choice for UX and UI designers, but now, there are hoards of options for the best design software.
It seems that for Sketch, the biggest bottleneck is the Mac-only software approach. Whereas Figma and Adobe XD can be used on Windows and even Linux systems. Without any further ado, let’s take a closer look to find out how Figma vs Sketch vs Adobe compare to one another, and let’s tackle this issue once and for all.
What Is Figma?
Figma is one of the most revolutionary graphics editing apps taking over the design world by storm. What makes it so attractive is the fact that it’s free to use. Figma is a collaborative interface design tool for creating websites, applications, CRM systems, and other UX/UI design.
Basically, Figma takes care of all types of design. It’s a browser-based UI and UX design application with excellent design, prototyping, and code options. It has all the functionality that UX/UI designers need and even much more.
Pros of Figma
- Figma is built for the browser. The tool provides several solutions integrated into one UI: UI and UX design, prototyping, graphic design, wireframing, and templates.
- Figma is cloud-based. The entire system is automated and considered efficient by all web designers. All the major OS and internet browsers give access to this software.
- Web designers need not search externally for a useful plugin; it’s already there in Figma. Some of the best plugins are Unsplash, Iconify, and more.
- The Figma Mirror feature helps designers do a self-checking while designing a website and aids the designing professional in analyzing his work in the best way possible.
- Figma is an all-in-one design tool, comes with shareable prototype features, embedded comments, and more that make web design seamless.
Cons of Figma
- Because of being cloud-based, Figma cannot be used offline, and that’s why most designers refrain from switching on to Figma.
- Colors play a huge role in website designing. Figma doesn’t have global colors in its module, and that’s why it becomes difficult to customize a file.
- Figma can’t run on a RAM system below 4GB and a graphics card of high quality. This is not a very simple demand that every website designer can afford.
What Is Sketch?
Sketch is an easy-to-use tool and the perfect place for designers to design, create, test, and iterate. It takes care of everything from pixel-perfect icons and scalable vector graphics to full user flows and interactive prototypes. This vector graphics editor developed for macOS is compelling for its plugin functionality and quick updates.
Pros of Sketch
- This web design tool is built for digital design with a vector, pixel-perfect tool that comes with a clear and robust interface with smart layouts that automatically resize elements within the design.
- The tool is notoriously popular for its plugin functionality. Plugins and components help in jumpstarting web design projects and design better and faster.
- With a shared cloud workspace, everyone you work with gets instant access to your designs. With Sketch, inviting clients and external collaborators to individual documents becomes easy.
- PDF import is flawless at times and can make touching up a PDF or editing its contents incredibly easy.
- Sketch works offline on any files that are stored locally, either as a cache of the Sketch Cloud file or purely local.
- Real dark mode and a macOS UI aesthetic for the design tool itself. The Git-like design collaboration abstract is the unique feature of Sketch.
Cons of Sketch
- Sketch is a heavy tool and can slow down other machines pretty considerably. As a result, the Sketch tool has to be run only on Mac desktops to gain its optimum efficiency.
- Plugins seem compulsory in Sketch. However, as good as the plugins can be, the core product shouldn’t rely on them, resulting in a pretty fragmented experience.
- Inflexible styles make redesigns, rebranding, or just setting styles up an awful, lengthy experience sometimes.
- Prototyping may feel a little uninspiring and lackluster in comparison to other tools out there.
What Is Adobe XD?
Adobe XD is an all-in-one UX/UI design and collaboration tool that works seamlessly across everything. Wireframe, animate, prototype, collaborate, and more with Adobe XD effortlessly. The tool is powerful and lets you turn your ideas into stunning reality faster. XD is packed with tools to help you effortlessly design websites, apps, voice, and so much more.
Pros of Adobe XD
- It has a simpler and cleaner interface compared to Photoshop and Illustrator. It’s perfect for UI designers and has almost everything that one needs to design an intuitive website.
- Adobe XD helps in scale it up with reusable design elements. The tool lets you create it just once and reuse it where you like, across design systems.
- Just drag one grid with a repeat grid command on it, and it will automatically place the other dragged grid after that. This one feature attracts many web designers.
- Because of its prototyping feature, this tool is an absolute yes for any UI/UX designer. Without coding, one could know how the elements in their website will react to the different events.
- Resizing text works similar to Photoshop and Illustrator. Just select a text object and resize it like you will resize images or any vector objects.
Cons of Adobe XD
- Repeating objects doesn’t work as it should. It feels like copying something like it is done in other vector-based software.
- Prototyping also has a downside. If you want to see the prototyping live of smartphones on real devices, it will only work with macOS and not with others.
- It allows an elegant design, but there’s no software yet or any feature in Adobe XD itself to get the CSS exported from the created design.
The Verdict: Figma vs Sketch vs Adobe XD
The Verdict: FiWe’ve reached the conclusion of Figma vs Sketch vs Adobe XD. All three tools are free and extremely well-suited for modern website design. If asked, we would say that Figma has an upper-hand over others; it’s Figma that gets all the praise amongst designers due to its unique offerings. However, depending on your web design needs and types, you can find the perfect match for you.gma vs Sketch vs Adobe XD
