Top 5 Fast Prototyping Tool for App Developers

Prototyping isn’t something new in the app development business. Many organizations and individuals understand the immense benefits of prototyping, which explains why they invest a lot. Organizations require Fast Prototyping Tool for App Developers.

Developers need prototyping just as an engineer needs simulation. It gives developers a real picture of how their product would be in an actual deployment. Testers get the real feel of a product, and therefore, developers get the right information to help them align their strategic design decisions to the user needs.

For proper prototyping, developers require effective prototyping tools. These tools should provide a variety of features that make the prototyping process quite seamless. While there are plenty of prototyping tools out there, it isn’t easy to narrow them down to the right prototyping tools. Fortunately, we have compiled for you a list of top prototyping tools.

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Top 5 Fast Prototyping Tools for App Developers  

1.     Mockitt

Mockitt is a powerful easy to use prototyping and collaboration tool for developers, managers, and designers. The prototyping process is quite seamless, as it involves just three steps. Whether you want to design interactive or animated prototypes, be sure Mockitt will make it much easier for you. This way, you can clearly illustrate your ideas and take your client’s experience to another level. With libraries full of assets, Mockitt lets you avoid building designs and prototypes from scratch. Thanks to the array of templates, icons, and other UI elements. You can create your own library of templates and UI assets so that you can reuse them any time you need.

Features

• Mockitt has plenty of built-in UI assets and templates.
• Mockitt supports real-time collaboration, and thus teammates can co-edit and see the changes made in real-time.
• It supports the creation of both interaction and animated prototypes.
• Users can preview and share their designs with target friends.

Price: Trial/starter version- Free, Personal – $69, Enterprise – $99

Pros

• The prototyping process is simple and involves three steps.
• It supports real-time collaboration.
• It has plenty of prototyping resources.

Cons

• The free version only supports up to three projects.

System Requirements: Windows, Mac, Web, Ubuntu

2.     Adobe XD

Adobe XD is a popular design, prototyping, wireframing, and collaboration tool used by many people worldwide. This tool is fast and helps you create website designs, apps, and voice with ease. With a wide pool of design tools, you can create high-fidelity designs suitable for any screen. Being a collaborative tool, team members can collaborate in real-time. This means members can edit, comment, and receive feedback in real-time.

Features

• It has plenty of design resources that are also reusable.
• It supports 3D transforms.
• Users can auto-animate their designs by adding artboards, animations, micro-interactions, and parallax effects.
• It supports real-time collaboration.
• Users can share their prototypes and receive feedback for ease of iteration.

Price: Monthly plan-$9.99 per month, Annual plan/Prepaid- $119.88 per year

Pros

• It has several design resources that are also reusable.
• It is easy to collaborate with team members and iterate the prototype.
• It is always evolving with the addition of more features.

Cons

• The trial version is limited, while the premium versions are pricey.
• The interface is not that straightforward.

Supported Systems: Windows, Mac

3.     Axure

Axure is no doubt one of the big names in the product prototype industry. This powerful platform makes it easy for users to prototype and hand over their projects to developers. With adaptive views, conditional logic, and dynamic content, Axure enables you to create prototypes that fit any project. One of the major highlights of Axure is its support for integration with other prototyping and design tools. This way, you can take advantage of other features not available in Axure to create stunning prototypes.

Features

• Axure allows users to create interactions from Sketch, Adobe XD, and Figma assets.
• Users can directly publish their Axure prototypes to Axure Cloud with automated redlines and code export.
• It supports team collaboration.

Price

• Axure RP 9 Pro -$25/month/user, Axure RP 9 Team-$42 per user/ per month, Axure for Enterprise (contact Axure for pricing)

Pros

• It creates highly interactive prototypes.
• Users can export and import designs from other design tools such as Sketch and Figma.

Cons

• Plenty of users have complained about the steep learning curve.
• The complexity of the designed interactions makes it hard to transfer files if designers get moved between projects.
• There are no templates to create prototypes from scratch.

Supported Systems: Mac, PC

4.     Protopie

Protopie is a popular platform for seamless and interactive prototypes using conceptual models. With the object, trigger, and response, you can create a prototype on Protopie like never before. Use libraries to access and share your team’s interactions, thus keeping consistency throughout the design experience.

Here, there is no code creation. You can create prototypes using the native camera, native keyboard, and multi-touch, among others. Also, users can use powerful interactions ranging from the basic Excel-grade formulas to advanced interactions like the chain, detect, formula, and variable.

Features

• It allows users to create interactions through the native keyboard, camera, multitouch, SVG, vibration, and tilt.
• It supports both basic and mind-blowing interactions without writing a code.
• It supports collaboration with team members via interaction libraries, interaction recipes, secure cloud, and project histories.

Price: Individual Plan-$11 per month and $129 per year, Team Plan- $42 per month/editor and $499 billed yearly, Enterprise-(call Protopie for negotiation)

Pros

• It is easy to use.
• It is fast.
• It offers advanced interaction features.

Cons

• It offers limited online learning materials.

Supported Systems: Mac, Windows

5.     Proto.io

Proto.io is another great web-based prototyping tool used by scores of people across the globe. This tool is suitable for UX designers, entrepreneurs, product managers, and marketers, among others. The interface provides you with the necessary building blocks for your prototype to help you get started in no time. With over 250 UI components, 6000+ digital assets, and 1000+ templates, be sure to create stunning prototypes with ease.

Features

• It has over 1000+ templates, 250+ UI components, and over 6000 digital assets.
• It supports screen transition, timeline transition, and advanced animations.
• Users can preview their prototypes on the web or a mobile browser then share with single or multiple receivers.
• It supports collaboration.

Price: Basic –free, Plus-$24/month, Pro- $49/month. The pro versions have a 15 day trial with no credit card required.

Pros

• Users can integrate with other design tools.
• With plenty of design resources, users don’t have to start prototypes from scratch.
• Users can create interesting micro-interactions.

Cons

• Since it is web-based, it heavily relies on imported data from local files.
• It is a bit pricey.
• The interface is a bit clumsy.

Supported Systems: Web.

Conclusion

When selecting a suitable prototyping tool for app development, you ought to be cautious because working with under-par tools will give you the experience to forget. Fortunately, this article has compiled the top-rated prototyping tools for app developers that you should use. Try a standout tool from this list and get your prototyping to another level.