Best UX/UI design tools in 2025

If you’re going to kick start your career in 2025 as a designer, you might be asking yourself.

What is the best tool I can use?

Let’s review if Figma is still the go-to for designers and what are the alternatives. The field has changed quite a lot in the last two years and some tools aren’t what they used to be.

I’ve been using Sketch for the past year and a half, but I’ve also used Figma before or even Adobe XD and a little bit of Penpot.

So today let’s have a look at all the tools out there, their pros and cons, and my objective opinion about them.

Full disclosure — they all do have their flaws and that’s what we’re going to talk about.

The current state of design tools in 2025

These days there are way more choices for designers to pick up and learn than back when I was starting. It all depends on what you want your focus on.

I won’t be talking about tools like Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, or Affinity Suite. Since I think these are for graphic designers nowadays more than UX/UI focused.

The days when the OG designers were building the mobile apps and websites in PS are over…

Even tho I myself use Affinity for photo editing and some more complex vector work if it’s needed for a client project. That can all come after you feel comfortable and want to expand your skill set.

So let’s have a look at the tools that are strictly UI/UX based and at the end let’s tackle one or two more options that are a bit hybrid.

The 5 popular UX/UI design tools

1. Adobe XD

This one will be quite short since Adobe said a while ago they’re just keeping it “alive”. More about it here

There are no more updates to the XD tool, it’s there just to be there and for current users so they can still use it… if needed I suppose.

Nevertheless, XD is very user-friendly when it comes to interface with plenty of tutorials and resources for designers.

They may be a little bit outdated though, given the current state of it. One huge pain is that Adobe XD is part of the Creative Cloud Suite, which might be a tiny bit expensive if you’re not already inside the Adobe web of tools.

I wouldn’t recommend going into Adobe unless you really dislike the other tools we’ll cover. Given its state and pricing.

2. Figma

I’ve been using Figma since I’ve started out and kept on using it for 3–4 years. I got really good at the tool and am familiar even with their most complex features.

Figma is most likely one of the easiest tools to learn. They have their own YouTube channel where you can find complete playlists from Figma 101 to Desing Systems. Their social game is very strong.

On top of it, they provide the user with a Figma basics file, which you can check here.

This is especially helpful for beginners, on top of that the videos won’t be outdated since they produce videos weekly.

One of the strongest features Figma offers is its component library. I haven’t seen a better way to show and work with components than in Figma so far.

It’s very easy to use, because of how they show it. Just click on the “Assets” tab at the top left in any file that has components and you can clearly see what each one of them looks like, group or sort them. This is a feature that has yet to be matched.

On top of that, there are a lot of other complex features like complex prototyping options, variables, and much more.

These are nice, but in 99% of cases, you won’t ever use them. Rarely does a client want a fully working animated prototype. In most cases, a simple tap anywhere to show the flow will do for most of the clients.

The same goes with variables and this whole complex stuff that Figma added recently. It is nice for designers working with robust design systems along with a little bit of coding knowledge.

However, only 1% of clients really need this and have the kind of money to build robust design systems. It’s a nice feature to promote the tool and get more sales for sure, but useless for designers just starting out.

I myself never really had to touch it, I had fun in prototyping and showing off but that’s it. In the past 7 years, I haven’t had a client who needed a complex system full of variables and tons of components or complex prototypes.

So unless you want to specialize in design systems, tokens, or variables, which by the way you really shouldn’t if you’re just starting, just leave these be.

One of the last things I want to point out is Figma’s Autolayout. It’s been praised and talked about a lot between designers. The thing is, it’s not as good as it might seem to be.

You really have to know your stuff and how to set up the auto layout, it’s not just simple Shift + A and done. Figma doesn’t optically align the elements for you, so a lot of stuff you build with auto layout can be misaligned.

Sure it might be just 0.5–1pt but I can see that difference and most good designers will too. I’d strongly suggest that you learn the basics first before going the lazy route.

Lastly, Figma has a huge community. There are tons and tons of files and learning sources from the community and the amount of plugins is big as well.

You might be asking, Adam this all sounds great! So what’s the catch? There must be one right?

Sadly, over the past few years, Figma didn’t make exactly the right choices. They might have been pushed by investors or the bigger guys upstairs who knows? A tool has to make money and be profitable.

You might also want to check your settings for AI being trained on your files .

So recently there’s been a lot of shady tactics alongside bad policies. The tool has become quite expensive and limiting. So people who switched from Sketch or XD to Figma are dealing with the decision to stay and pay huge amounts of money, even for small businesses, or migrate again.

A limitation to dev mode has been added as well alongside pay per seat in your file. That means if you share a file with a client, you pay for the client to be able to edit it.

Yes, there are workarounds but besides this is pain. You most likely don’t want any surprises on your bill

One last limitation I find when it comes to Figma is, that it doesn’t have a native app. It is a web-based tool.

Of course, this can be seen as a strength when it comes to new designers. There is no need to download an app. You simply work inside your browser and that’s great!

And yes… even the app is a website, it’s a scale web view . Not a native app.

It also means it can be slower and sometimes I’ve had a very hard time working inside Figma with big files on a free plan. Those on paid might have a different view, who knows.

I’ve also noticed that when I’ve recently tried to convert Sketch files to Figma, it broke way more than I was used to. I suspect something is going on when it comes to importing different formats from other tools, which may result in locking you in like Photoshop does. This is only an assumption and it’s not backed by anything, there’s no way to prove that.

What you should consider when it comes to Figma is, that it’s become a stable tool in the design field. Some companies won’t hire you if you don’t work in Figma, some work only in it.

So if you’re trying to apply for a job, be aware of these limitations. The tools aren’t so different and if you know one, you can quickly learn the other.

Side note:

When it comes to my experience, we’ve never had any problem with clients telling them we work in Sketch when they send us a Figma link. However that’s different from being employed and working for someone.

All in all, do some research before choosing Figma as your main design tool, it may be great at the start when you’re just learning stuff. Later on, you may find that those dark patterns and surprises might not be the best feeling.

3. Sketch

I switched from Figma to Sketch a while ago. We might say I was forced to by Michal Malewicz, however, I’ve been considering the switch for quite a while before Michal made the final push.

I’ll try to stay as objective as possible, but I do love Sketch and use it on a daily basis, just so you know.

We’ll compare Sketch to Figma, as this is what most people will want to know when starting out.

Right off the bat Sketch is MacOS only. Yes, you can run Sketch on Windows if you dual boot your computer, but it may be easier just to buy a MacBook Air . So this might be a bit of a limitation.

No, they do not plan a windows version as well

As far as client work goes. They can work with Sketch and the files in a web browser, so there isn’t really a downside when it comes to clients and their files.

Sketch is not free, there’s a free trial of 29 days, but after that, you have to pay. It’s not expensive at all and there are no surprises on your bill for other people after.

There’s also an option to buy a one-off license if you do not like the subscription-based model. I believe right now it’s $10/month.

Sketch does have a native app. This allows for some pretty good features like color picking from anywhere on your screen. You can’t do that with Figma. It may sound like a little thing, but…

Once I had to go back to Figma for some stuff, and not having that feature was a little annoying.

A native app doesn’t mean it can’t be laggy. I spoke about Figma being laggy, Sketch can be as well. Large files can do this to you, no matter what. As far as I know, both Figma and Sketch are working on these “lags”, but these things never tend to be fully fixed.

Another one of those nice-to-have features is that you can just drag and drop files in or out. You click the export tab and drag it out to your desktop and it’s there.

No need to name it, choose where to save it, and so on. This speeds up the workflow very well.

When it comes to AI, there have been some rumors about Figma learning from your designs, nothing that I know of like this in Sketch. You can read their statement.

This brings me to the last strong point for Sketch, the privacy is there. Nobody is training anything on your designs and you’re in full control.

The auto layout in Sketch isn’t as good as in Figma, at least not as seamless and it might not be worth calling auto layout. Not just yet…

That being said, Sketch is actively working on this part, since they know they’re behind here. They say that the upcoming version will work side by side with how developers work. I suppose we’ll see it in 2025.

When it comes to components, they’re called symbols in Sketch. As I said, Figma’s way of doing it is superb. Sketch does not have an intuitive way of working with libraries or symbols.

Yes, there is a “secondary window” you can bring upfront and see all your components so this makes up for it… but it still goes away once you click elsewhere. So you have to shrink your windows a bit to make it work.

The libraries are bad. You have to pick the components from external libraries from drop-down and they are usually hard to see.

I mean… there’s a lot of room for improvement there let me tell you.

That being said, we at three.design rarely work with libraries. We prefer our work to be tailored to the client and not a template based stuff, but yes… I can see this being a little bit of a hassle for new designers.

When it comes to the community, it’s not as active as in Figma I’d say. Again, I barely had any need to check any community files since switching to Sketch, it may be just a phase in a designer's life who knows.

There are still plenty of sources and plugins for Sketch, but I would say the community is a bit bigger on the Figma side.

Sketch also has a YouTube channel, however, they're not as active as Figma. There’s still a lot of videos but their social game could be better.

That’s pretty much all the bad I could find, there’s not as much compared to the previous tool. I really tried to search for some dirt, but couldn’t find any.

All in all, I’m having a great time in Sketch. It took a bit of being used to switching from Figma, a week or two… but after that, I’d say I work faster than in Figma, mainly due to the color picking and exporting. It’s a deal breaker nowadays for me when it comes to new tools.

On top of it, they have amazing people behind support. I’ve even had an offer for a short call to show me some things regarding how the symbols work from their side. A thing you rarely see these days.

4. Penpot

Penpot is fairly new in the game if we are comparing it to Sketch or Figma. I used Penpot a tiny bit before switching to Sketch and at that time it was not there for me. That has changed since it was a little over 2 years ago.

Penpot is an open-source software. It is web-based like Figma is, so no need to download any apps and you can work freely from your browser. There’s also an option to self-host your own cloud-based instance which allows it to act more like a native app. So it offers both of these two worlds.

Penpot is free to start with and then they offer a variety of plans for teams and bigger companies. As everyone, they have to make money as well

With the release of Penpot 2.0 and up a lot has changed and it’s now becoming more of a competitor to Figma. Pablo and his team have been making good decisions so far, so we’ll see where that gets them.

When it comes to auto layout, it is the closest a designer can get to how things work in real life and how devs work with it. This is good, you do want to be as close as possible to devs to enable seamless collaboration.

Everything is at the growing stage when it comes to libraries and the community. There’s certainly a big potential and even now you can browse their libraries and see for yourself. What makes Penpot have an advantage is the “open-source” tag. It has an active development community.

The same goes for prototyping and symbols, they’re a bit behind Figma, but nothing that can’t be fixed.

They also have a YouTube channel with their newest releases and how to get started.

All in all, Penpot would be the go-to for me if I wouldn’t be able to use Sketch for some reason. They’re very transparent about everything they do and they keep growing day by day.

5. Lunacy

I’ve never used Lunacy, to be honest, so I’ll have to go purely from the thorough research I’ve done for the tool. We’ll be comparing it to Penpot since I think they’re at the same level nowadays.

Lunacy is owned by Icons8, which you may know if you’ve ever searched for any kind of icon.

Where Lunacy stands out is cross-platform availability. You can run it on Windows, macOS, and Linux. This is arguably the strongest feature they have.

Another one of the strongest features Lunacy offers is its AI-powered tools. They have a built-in Upscaler which is probably the best thing from the AI suite, text generation & background removal, and more.

The other two things aren’t as fancy as they used to be in the world of AI, but still, you do not have to leave the tool for it. I think Figma has introduced something like this as well with its latest update.

Being owned by Icons8, there’s a vast library of free icons, illustrations, and UI kits that are built-in. This can save you a lot of time in some cases.

When it comes to prototyping and such, they are at the same level as Penpot I’d say, not as advanced as Figma, but again these issues can be fixed.

One nice feature Lunacy has, it can open Sketch files with ease as far as they say. I cannot say, since I’ve never tried it, but in my experience, something always breaks. It all depends on how much. If it’s just a little it’s totally fine.

They also offer a free version like Penpot does and it is quite robust as well. Which is nice to hear.

When it comes to choosing Lunacy over Penpot, it’s mostly because of the cross-platform compatibility it has. Or if you’re already invested in the Icons8 packs, it offers a seamless way to use them.

However, if you’re focused more on open-source tools and looking for something where you might be able to contribute to the development in the future. Penpot should be the choice here.

The 6th tool

Yes, yes… I said 5 tools only so what’s the 5th? Let’s talk about Framer for a moment. Lately, there’s been a rise of people switching from Figma to Framer only. I wonder why…

So what is Framer? Framer is a no-code tool designed to allow designers to code websites without the knowledge of basic coding languages.

I’ve built a couple of websites in Framer including our website and it is very similar to Figma. The UI feels like Figma, the auto layout feels like Figma, and pretty much does the rest of the UI. Robust community and free to use.

You might find Framer difficult to work with when it comes to shadows and blurs and all these fancy things. Yes, they can be used and they can be done. No, it’s not as easy as clicking a button and setting blur to make it look nice.

I’m including Framer only because I’ve seen people switching to it lately and it feels a lot like Figma but it really isn’t. I myself can’t see why would someone use just Framer to design, but it may be the way I work.

I like my things to be nicely aligned and polished before taking them to a coding tool and pushing them live.

I wouldn’t recommend this for beginners. Some of the principles that should be there aren’t and it is really in my opinion a no-code tool for designers. Not a design tool.

On top of that, Framer is very limited on the free version .

My suggestions for 2025

Sketch

You can tell that my go-to is Sketch, its native features are a dealbreaker for my workflow nowadays. I value privacy and nothing shady going on behind a tool I use. On top of it, I do like to color-pick from references

Penpot

Second place for me is Penpot, if you can’t run Sketch due to the OS limitations or you just don’t want to pay for software, even if it’s a one-time payment, then this is a clear winner.

Yes, they’re not as robust as Figma is, but they do not need to be. You don’t need any of the fancy features when you’re starting anyway and once you’re more efficient you don’t use them much at all. As far as I know, there has been no drama around pricing, or training on AI, and even if so, you can self-host it and call it a day.

They’re moving in the right direction and that’s what matters.

I do not think we need a third tool here. If you’re still keen on using Figma go ahead. I’d strongly suggest doing research on pricing, AI learning, and shady practices. Fewer and fewer designers around me have been using Figma.

Yes, it’s still a great tool, and superb in some of the features compared to others, but the question is.

How much are you going to use those features anyway?

With all that being said above, talking about tools, which one to choose and why? Let me stress out one thing.

The focus here shouldn’t be on tools at all, at any point in your career. No matter what you choose you will do just fine. Tools don’t matter as much and nobody is going to hire you because you know extensive prototyping in one of them.

Strong basics and problem-solving should be the main focus. Bring value to your clients/employer. That is always the best path!

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