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We are bringing you the best UI design tools comparison in 2021 right here! Everyone is well aware that different interface design tools can help designers make their work easier and more productive, but what you may not know is what your perfect choice would be. That's exactly why we'll talk about the differences between Figma and Invision here.
Both of the mentioned tools are definitely popular when it comes to designers' choice of tools, but what are some main differences that may make you choose one instead of the other?
Let's explain what are UI design tools in the first place. These tools are made with the purpose to help designers prepare designs, animations, wireframes, interfaces, prototypes, and much more. If you're still not familiar with the benefits of UI design tools, let us represent you what they're capable to do.
First of all, you can create visual touchpoints, also known as UI navigation patterns. The second thing you should try would definitely be preparing design handoffs. This will help you to collaborate with other developers you work with. Prototyping is another thing you can achieve with UI design tools, as well as improving already existing designs and gathering feedback from those you want or need.
Okay, now when that's clear, let's get straight to the point.
When we take a look at what these two tools have in common, it's easy to come to the conclusion that bort Figma and InVision provide nested components support, have the same visuality of structuring pages and layers, and use CSS values, are able to set responsive layouts, create static UI screen designs, and have a free basic plan. Another thing that's in common between these two tools is third-party integrations. They can be found within popular platforms and different applications.
When we make a research about ''who was here first'', we can find out that InVision was launched in 2011, while Figma is alive since 2016. But, to be completely honest with you, it turned out that Figma is used most by different users. Is that only because it was made after InVision and people believe the latest technologies the most, or are there some hidden reasons for such a decision?
InVision allows designers to create their personal and unique design screens. Of course, it's not a surprise that many think of InVision as a holistic solution for designers worldwide. What does InVision's ecosystem look like? It is definitely vast, we cannot doubt that. It offers a wide range of task-specific tools. Of course, as mentioned, it also comes with many third-party integrations.
But, when we take a look at Figma and the solutions it offers, we can easily find a difference probably many designers worldwide love. Figma already offers all the options InVision has, but it also makes those options accessible from just one place - web-based app.
What people want to say is that with InVision, you will have more work to do to achieve the same results as you would get with Figma. Yet, with Figma, you'll be capable to save more time and energy.
Therefore, Figma's workflow is 100% streamlined. Besides that, when we think of the tool itself, it is also platform-independent, which is different from InVision.
There's another little difference between these two tools that make users love Figma more than InVision. It simply comes with a desktop app that is both available for Windows and macOS. That's not the case with InVision...
What about animations? When talking about InVision Studio, we can see that it offers decent timeline animation features. For Figma, animation features are available for macOS only. Here, you'll have to create your own conclusion based on your needs.
Let's talk about collaboration for a bit. For Figma, we should definitely compare it to Google Docs and how it works. When it comes to InVision and its commenting options, you'll very soon find out that it doesn't offer such multiplayer collaboration systems. Also, InVision doesn't offer a Version Control option.
Performance. Okay, this definitely interests us the most. Unfortunately, we have nothing against InVision, but it definitely has some issues related to prototypes and user experience. Figma was created after InVision, as we've mentioned already, and the team has probably realized what the issues were and they have improved them with just a few updates.
What should you choose then? Think of the size of your team and projects. Serious projects and big teams should definitely opt for Figma. Of course, we haven't said that InVision is made for small teams and projects only, but it would definitely be a better start for beginners or for those who just want to explore.
Overall, Figma has definitely won this battle. We hope you found this article informative and useful.
Feel free to share your experiences and opinions related to this topic.
