The 80/20 of Design
Tools for designing interfaces, brands, and visual assets. A near-monopoly at the top, real choice underneath.
Figma won the interface design category so completely that switching cost is now the category’s main story. At $15–45/editor/month, the pricing is honest for professional teams; the lock-in is less so. Below the top layer, there’s genuine competition: Canva owns non-designers, Affinity owns print, and a handful of open-source tools are catching up on component workflows.
Pick based on who’s doing the work. If your designers are professionals building with components and handing off to engineers, Figma is the answer and the price is worth it. If your marketing team is producing social graphics and slide decks, Canva at $13/month is a better match and you won’t spend three hours learning frame behavior.
Core picks
Common questions
What are the best design tools?
Our top picks are Figma. See the full list below for our 80/20 verdict on each.
How do you pick the best design tool?
We sort every tool into core (use unless you have a reason not to), situational (great for a specific use case), or skip. The choice usually comes down to your team size, collaboration model, and existing toolchain. See our methodology page for the full evaluation criteria.
Are there free design tools?
Yes. Figma have a free tier or are open-source.