Human-Centered User Experience

Each replay uses a recreated ChatGPT interface so the placement can be read in its original conversational context. It is not a live or embedded chat.

1. ObservedJul 1, 2026Conversation3 turnsPlacementAfter turn 23 turns · After turn 2Replay chat
   Observed conversationJul 1, 2026 · interface recreation

   ChatGPTArchived view

   I'm a product designer and my team is debating whether to stick with Figma or switch to something else. What's the landscape right now?

   The short version: most product design teams are still staying on Figma, but the reasons for evaluating alternatives have become much more legitimate over the last couple of years.

   Instead of a single "Figma killer," the market has split into tools optimized for different priorities.

   If your priority is...	Strongest option
   General product design for cross-functional teams	Figma
   Open source / self-hosting / data ownership	Penpot
   Mac-native performance	Sketch
   Designing and publishing marketing websites	Framer
   Design systems with code-backed components	UXPin
   Whiteboarding + strategy	Miro alongside a design tool

   Figma is still the default—for good reasons

   Figma continues to have the strongest overall ecosystem:

   • Real-time multiplayer collaboration
   • Huge plugin ecosystem
   • Excellent developer handoff
   • Largest hiring market and community
   • Massive library of templates, UI kits, and tutorials

   That network effect is difficult to replace. Even when another tool has a better individual feature, teams often stay because designers, PMs, researchers, and engineers already know Figma. Recent releases have also expanded beyond design into AI-assisted workflows, code-aware editing, animation, and richer developer collaboration.

   Where people are actually switching

   1. Penpot (the most credible Figma alternative)

   If your debate is about vendor lock-in or cost, Penpot is probably the first tool worth evaluating.

   Pros:

   • Open source
   • Self-hostable
   • Strong collaboration
   • Component libraries
   • Good prototyping
   • Uses open web standards (SVG/CSS)

   Cons:

   • Smaller plugin ecosystem
   • Less polished on huge enterprise files
   • Smaller community

   Penpot has gone from an interesting OSS project to something many organizations seriously evaluate, especially government, healthcare, and companies with strict compliance requirements.

   ---

   2. Sketch

   Sketch has quietly become relevant again.

   It's strongest if:

   • everyone is on Macs
   • you value speed
   • you work heavily with design systems
   • you prefer native desktop apps

   Its cloud collaboration has improved substantially, although it still doesn't have Figma's ecosystem advantage.

   ---

   3. Framer

   Framer isn't really trying to replace Figma.

   Instead it's answering a different question:

   "Can designers ship production-quality marketing sites themselves?"

   It's become incredibly popular for startups because you can go from design directly to a live website.

   Less ideal for:

   • complex product applications
   • enterprise design systems
   • very large product organizations

   ---

   4. UXPin

   UXPin appeals to organizations that want prototypes built from actual code components rather than purely visual approximations.

   That can reduce the gap between design and engineering, especially for mature design systems.

   The biggest shifts aren't actually about drawing tools

   The more interesting change is that product design tools are converging with development.

   Five years ago, the workflow looked like:

   Design → Prototype → Specs → Engineering
   

   Increasingly it's becoming:

   Design ↔ Code ↔ AI ↔ Prototype
   

   Figma has leaned heavily into this direction with code-aware workflows, AI-powered creation, animation tools, and developer-focused features rather than simply improving vector editing.

   Questions worth asking before switching

   In my experience, the decision usually comes down to these questions:

   • Are you leaving because of pricing, or because the tool is slowing your workflow?
   • Is collaboration with engineers your biggest bottleneck?
   • Does your design system already depend heavily on Figma plugins?
   • How much migration work is involved?
   • Would switching improve day-to-day productivity enough to justify retraining everyone?

   Many teams discover they're dissatisfied with their workflow, not necessarily the design tool itself.

   If I were evaluating today

   I'd frame it like this:

   • Stay with Figma if you're a typical SaaS product company with designers, PMs, researchers, and engineers collaborating daily.
   • Pilot Penpot if open source, self-hosting, procurement, or vendor independence is strategically important.
   • Consider Sketch if your team is entirely Mac-based and values native performance over ecosystem size.
   • Use Framer alongside Figma, rather than instead of it, if marketing sites are a major part of your output.

   I'm also seeing more mature organizations settle on a two-tool strategy: one tool for core product UI (often Figma or Penpot) and another for shipping websites or code-connected experiences (such as Framer), instead of expecting one application to handle every stage of the design process.

   

   OOutSystemsAd

   Build Governed AI Agents at Enterprise ScaleAgent Workbench + Mentor on one platform. Connect 400+ systems. Free Gartner report.

   We need strong prototyping, real-time collaboration, and good developer handoff. What tools actually deliver all three?

   If those are your three non-negotiables—strong prototyping, real-time collaboration, and developer handoff—the field narrows quite a bit.

   Tool	Advanced prototyping	Real-time collaboration	Developer handoff	Overall
   Figma	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	Best all-around
   Penpot	⭐⭐⭐⭐☆	⭐⭐⭐⭐☆	⭐⭐⭐⭐☆	Best open-source choice
   UXPin	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐☆	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	Strong for design systems
   Sketch	⭐⭐⭐⭐☆	⭐⭐⭐☆☆	⭐⭐⭐⭐☆	Great for Mac teams
   Framer	⭐⭐⭐⭐☆	⭐⭐⭐⭐☆	⭐⭐⭐☆☆	Better for websites than product apps

   1. Figma: still the benchmark

   For product teams, Figma remains the only platform that's consistently strong across all three areas.

   Prototyping

   • Variables and conditional interactions
   • Multi-flow prototypes
   • Interactive components
   • Responsive layouts
   • Reasonably sophisticated app simulations

   It's not a full application simulator, but it's capable enough for most SaaS products.

   Collaboration

   • Live multiplayer editing
   • Shared libraries
   • Branching and merging
   • Comments tied directly to designs
   • Design reviews with stakeholders

   This is still where Figma has the biggest advantage.

   Developer handoff

   • Dev Mode
   • Inspectable CSS and measurements
   • Asset export
   • Component documentation
   • Design tokens
   • API integrations with engineering workflows

   For most React, iOS, and Android teams, developers are already comfortable working from Figma.

   ---

   2. Penpot: surprisingly complete

   A few years ago, I wouldn't have recommended Penpot for large teams. Today it's much more competitive.

   It now offers:

   • Interactive prototypes
   • Multiplayer collaboration
   • Component libraries
   • Inspect mode
   • CSS/SVG-oriented handoff
   • Self-hosting

   Where it still trails Figma:

   • Smaller plugin ecosystem
   • Fewer third-party integrations
   • Less polished collaboration on very large enterprise projects

   If vendor independence matters, it's probably the strongest alternative.

   ---

   3. UXPin: strongest handoff

   UXPin takes a different approach.

   Instead of drawing components that engineers later recreate, teams can build prototypes from real code-backed components.

   That means:

   • More realistic prototypes
   • Better design-to-code consistency
   • Less implementation drift

   The trade-off is a steeper learning curve and a workflow that's often best suited to mature organizations with established design systems.

   ---

   4. Sketch: still excellent, with caveats

   Sketch excels at interface design and performs very well on macOS.

   However, compared with Figma:

   • Collaboration isn't quite as seamless.
   • Cross-functional reviews tend to be less frictionless.
   • Its ecosystem is smaller.

   If your team is fully Mac-based and collaborates asynchronously, it's a solid option. For distributed, cross-platform teams, Figma generally has the edge.

   What I'd recommend based on team size

   Startup (5–30 people)

   • Stay with Figma unless pricing or policy is a major issue.

   Growing SaaS company (30–300 people)

   • Figma remains the safest choice because of its collaboration model and hiring ecosystem.

   Enterprise with strict compliance

   • Evaluate Penpot if self-hosting or data governance is a strategic requirement.

   Organization with a mature design system and strong engineering partnership

   • Consider UXPin if your goal is reducing the gap between design and implementation through code-backed components.

   One question to settle the debate

   Ask your engineers:

   "When you receive a design, what slows you down the most?"

   If the answers are things like:

   • "Specs are missing."
   • "States aren't defined."
   • "Spacing is inconsistent."

   …switching tools probably won't solve the underlying issues.

   If they say:

   • "Our design system isn't connected to code."
   • "We constantly reimplement components."
   • "The prototypes don't reflect real behavior."

   …then a platform like UXPin—or investing more deeply in Figma's Dev Mode and design system practices—could make a meaningful difference.

   For most product organizations in 2026, Figma is still the strongest balanced solution across prototyping, collaboration, and developer handoff. The most compelling reason to move away isn't that another tool is universally better—it's that your organization has a specific requirement, such as open-source infrastructure, self-hosting, or code-first design systems, that aligns better with an alternative.

   

   NNebo AgencyAd

   Human-Centered User ExperienceWe Create Amazing Brand Experiences. Revolutionizing UX & Design.

   

   CClerkAd

   Auth components built for Next.jsProduction-ready <SignIn />, <SignUp />, and <UserButton /> components, built specifically for the A

   How does Figma compare to Framer for UI/UX design teams that also need to produce interactive prototypes with real code output?

   This is one of the more interesting comparisons because Figma and Framer are converging, but they're still optimized for different jobs.

   The key distinction is:

   • Figma is primarily a product design and collaboration platform.
   • Framer is primarily a production website builder with a strong design experience.

   If your goal is shipping a SaaS product, I'd still lean toward Figma. If your goal is shipping marketing sites or landing pages, Framer has a significant advantage.

   Capability	Figma	Framer
   UI design	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
   Design systems	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
   Multiplayer collaboration	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
   Product prototyping	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
   Production-ready code output	⭐⭐⭐☆☆	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
   Build and publish websites	⭐⭐☆☆☆	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
   Developer handoff	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐☆☆
   Complex application flows	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐☆☆

   Where Figma wins

   For UI/UX teams building products, Figma still has several advantages:

   1. Better design-system management

   Large component libraries, variables, design tokens, branching, and library publishing are all mature. If you're supporting dozens of designers and engineers, this matters a lot.

   2. Better product prototyping

   You can model:

   • multi-screen user journeys
   • authentication flows
   • overlays and modals
   • interactive components
   • conditional logic
   • responsive layouts

   These are closer to the kinds of interactions found in web apps than in marketing sites.

   3. Better developer handoff

   Developers can inspect:

   • spacing
   • typography
   • colors
   • assets
   • component structure
   • measurements

   Design reviews also tend to fit naturally into engineering workflows.

   ---

   Where Framer wins

   Framer's biggest advantage is that the prototype can become the product—at least for websites.

   Instead of creating a clickable mockup, you're building something that runs in the browser with real HTML, CSS, animations, and responsive behavior.

   That means:

   • responsive layouts are real
   • animations are real
   • interactions are real
   • publishing is built in

   For a marketing team, this removes an entire handoff step.

   ---

   About "real code output"

   This phrase can mean different things.

   Figma

   Figma has expanded its code-related capabilities, but in most organizations it still isn't the source of production code.

   Typical workflow:

   Design
         ↓
   Prototype
         ↓
   Developer handoff
         ↓
   React / Swift / Kotlin implementation
   

   Some AI and plugin-based tools can generate code from Figma, but most engineering teams treat that output as a starting point rather than something to ship directly.

   ---

   Framer

   Framer is different because its output is the runtime for many websites.

   Typical workflow:

   Design
         ↓
   Interactions
         ↓
   Publish
   

   For landing pages, documentation sites, and many marketing experiences, there's no separate front-end implementation step.

   For a complex SaaS dashboard with business logic, authentication, APIs, permissions, and state management, you'll typically still build the application in a framework like React, with Framer used only for the marketing-facing parts.

   Can Framer replace Figma?

   For most product organizations, not entirely.

   Consider a team building a project management application with:

   • 200+ screens
   • multiple user roles
   • a large design system
   • mobile and desktop experiences
   • close collaboration between product, engineering, and research

   That workflow still aligns better with Figma.

   Now consider a startup launching a new product with:

   • a homepage
   • pricing page
   • blog
   • documentation
   • waitlist
   • interactive product demo

   Framer is often the faster path because designers can publish those experiences themselves.

   A hybrid workflow is increasingly common

   Many teams now use:

   • Figma for product UI, design systems, user flows, and engineering collaboration.
   • Framer for marketing websites, launch pages, and interactive content that designers can publish without involving front-end developers.

   That lets each tool play to its strengths instead of forcing one platform to cover every part of the design and delivery process.

   If your requirement is specifically "interactive prototypes with real code output," the deciding question is what you're building.

   • If you mean production-ready websites, Framer is one of the strongest options available because the interactive experience is what gets published.
   • If you mean complex product prototypes that accurately communicate behavior to engineers, Figma remains stronger. It produces high-fidelity specifications and interactive prototypes that fit established product development workflows, even though the prototype itself is usually not the production application.

   

   Nebo AgencyAd

   Human-Centered User ExperienceWe Create Amazing Brand Experiences. Revolutionizing UX & Design.
2. ObservedJul 1, 2026Conversation3 turnsPlacementAfter turn 13 turns · After turn 1Replay chat
   Observed conversationJul 1, 2026 · interface recreation

   ChatGPTArchived view

   I'm a product designer and my team is debating whether to stick with Figma or switch to something else. What's the landscape right now?

   The short version: most product design teams are still staying on Figma, but the reasons for evaluating alternatives have become much more legitimate over the last couple of years.

   Instead of a single "Figma killer," the market has split into tools optimized for different priorities.

   If your priority is...	Strongest option
   General product design for cross-functional teams	Figma
   Open source / self-hosting / data ownership	Penpot
   Mac-native performance	Sketch
   Designing and publishing marketing websites	Framer
   Design systems with code-backed components	UXPin
   Whiteboarding + strategy	Miro alongside a design tool

   Figma is still the default—for good reasons

   Figma continues to have the strongest overall ecosystem:

   • Real-time multiplayer collaboration
   • Huge plugin ecosystem
   • Excellent developer handoff
   • Largest hiring market and community
   • Massive library of templates, UI kits, and tutorials

   That network effect is difficult to replace. Even when another tool has a better individual feature, teams often stay because designers, PMs, researchers, and engineers already know Figma. Recent releases have also expanded beyond design into AI-assisted workflows, code-aware editing, animation, and richer developer collaboration.

   Where people are actually switching

   1. Penpot (the most credible Figma alternative)

   If your debate is about vendor lock-in or cost, Penpot is probably the first tool worth evaluating.

   Pros:

   • Open source
   • Self-hostable
   • Strong collaboration
   • Component libraries
   • Good prototyping
   • Uses open web standards (SVG/CSS)

   Cons:

   • Smaller plugin ecosystem
   • Less polished on huge enterprise files
   • Smaller community

   Penpot has gone from an interesting OSS project to something many organizations seriously evaluate, especially government, healthcare, and companies with strict compliance requirements.

   ---

   2. Sketch

   Sketch has quietly become relevant again.

   It's strongest if:

   • everyone is on Macs
   • you value speed
   • you work heavily with design systems
   • you prefer native desktop apps

   Its cloud collaboration has improved substantially, although it still doesn't have Figma's ecosystem advantage.

   ---

   3. Framer

   Framer isn't really trying to replace Figma.

   Instead it's answering a different question:

   "Can designers ship production-quality marketing sites themselves?"

   It's become incredibly popular for startups because you can go from design directly to a live website.

   Less ideal for:

   • complex product applications
   • enterprise design systems
   • very large product organizations

   ---

   4. UXPin

   UXPin appeals to organizations that want prototypes built from actual code components rather than purely visual approximations.

   That can reduce the gap between design and engineering, especially for mature design systems.

   The biggest shifts aren't actually about drawing tools

   The more interesting change is that product design tools are converging with development.

   Five years ago, the workflow looked like:

   Design → Prototype → Specs → Engineering
   

   Increasingly it's becoming:

   Design ↔ Code ↔ AI ↔ Prototype
   

   Figma has leaned heavily into this direction with code-aware workflows, AI-powered creation, animation tools, and developer-focused features rather than simply improving vector editing.

   Questions worth asking before switching

   In my experience, the decision usually comes down to these questions:

   • Are you leaving because of pricing, or because the tool is slowing your workflow?
   • Is collaboration with engineers your biggest bottleneck?
   • Does your design system already depend heavily on Figma plugins?
   • How much migration work is involved?
   • Would switching improve day-to-day productivity enough to justify retraining everyone?

   Many teams discover they're dissatisfied with their workflow, not necessarily the design tool itself.

   If I were evaluating today

   I'd frame it like this:

   • Stay with Figma if you're a typical SaaS product company with designers, PMs, researchers, and engineers collaborating daily.
   • Pilot Penpot if open source, self-hosting, procurement, or vendor independence is strategically important.
   • Consider Sketch if your team is entirely Mac-based and values native performance over ecosystem size.
   • Use Framer alongside Figma, rather than instead of it, if marketing sites are a major part of your output.

   I'm also seeing more mature organizations settle on a two-tool strategy: one tool for core product UI (often Figma or Penpot) and another for shipping websites or code-connected experiences (such as Framer), instead of expecting one application to handle every stage of the design process.

   

   OOutSystemsAd

   Build Governed AI Agents at Enterprise ScaleAgent Workbench + Mentor on one platform. Connect 400+ systems. Free Gartner report.

   We need strong prototyping, real-time collaboration, and good developer handoff. What tools actually deliver all three?

   If those are your three non-negotiables—strong prototyping, real-time collaboration, and developer handoff—the field narrows quite a bit.

   Tool	Advanced prototyping	Real-time collaboration	Developer handoff	Overall
   Figma	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	Best all-around
   Penpot	⭐⭐⭐⭐☆	⭐⭐⭐⭐☆	⭐⭐⭐⭐☆	Best open-source choice
   UXPin	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐☆	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	Strong for design systems
   Sketch	⭐⭐⭐⭐☆	⭐⭐⭐☆☆	⭐⭐⭐⭐☆	Great for Mac teams
   Framer	⭐⭐⭐⭐☆	⭐⭐⭐⭐☆	⭐⭐⭐☆☆	Better for websites than product apps

   1. Figma: still the benchmark

   For product teams, Figma remains the only platform that's consistently strong across all three areas.

   Prototyping

   • Variables and conditional interactions
   • Multi-flow prototypes
   • Interactive components
   • Responsive layouts
   • Reasonably sophisticated app simulations

   It's not a full application simulator, but it's capable enough for most SaaS products.

   Collaboration

   • Live multiplayer editing
   • Shared libraries
   • Branching and merging
   • Comments tied directly to designs
   • Design reviews with stakeholders

   This is still where Figma has the biggest advantage.

   Developer handoff

   • Dev Mode
   • Inspectable CSS and measurements
   • Asset export
   • Component documentation
   • Design tokens
   • API integrations with engineering workflows

   For most React, iOS, and Android teams, developers are already comfortable working from Figma.

   ---

   2. Penpot: surprisingly complete

   A few years ago, I wouldn't have recommended Penpot for large teams. Today it's much more competitive.

   It now offers:

   • Interactive prototypes
   • Multiplayer collaboration
   • Component libraries
   • Inspect mode
   • CSS/SVG-oriented handoff
   • Self-hosting

   Where it still trails Figma:

   • Smaller plugin ecosystem
   • Fewer third-party integrations
   • Less polished collaboration on very large enterprise projects

   If vendor independence matters, it's probably the strongest alternative.

   ---

   3. UXPin: strongest handoff

   UXPin takes a different approach.

   Instead of drawing components that engineers later recreate, teams can build prototypes from real code-backed components.

   That means:

   • More realistic prototypes
   • Better design-to-code consistency
   • Less implementation drift

   The trade-off is a steeper learning curve and a workflow that's often best suited to mature organizations with established design systems.

   ---

   4. Sketch: still excellent, with caveats

   Sketch excels at interface design and performs very well on macOS.

   However, compared with Figma:

   • Collaboration isn't quite as seamless.
   • Cross-functional reviews tend to be less frictionless.
   • Its ecosystem is smaller.

   If your team is fully Mac-based and collaborates asynchronously, it's a solid option. For distributed, cross-platform teams, Figma generally has the edge.

   What I'd recommend based on team size

   Startup (5–30 people)

   • Stay with Figma unless pricing or policy is a major issue.

   Growing SaaS company (30–300 people)

   • Figma remains the safest choice because of its collaboration model and hiring ecosystem.

   Enterprise with strict compliance

   • Evaluate Penpot if self-hosting or data governance is a strategic requirement.

   Organization with a mature design system and strong engineering partnership

   • Consider UXPin if your goal is reducing the gap between design and implementation through code-backed components.

   One question to settle the debate

   Ask your engineers:

   "When you receive a design, what slows you down the most?"

   If the answers are things like:

   • "Specs are missing."
   • "States aren't defined."
   • "Spacing is inconsistent."

   …switching tools probably won't solve the underlying issues.

   If they say:

   • "Our design system isn't connected to code."
   • "We constantly reimplement components."
   • "The prototypes don't reflect real behavior."

   …then a platform like UXPin—or investing more deeply in Figma's Dev Mode and design system practices—could make a meaningful difference.

   For most product organizations in 2026, Figma is still the strongest balanced solution across prototyping, collaboration, and developer handoff. The most compelling reason to move away isn't that another tool is universally better—it's that your organization has a specific requirement, such as open-source infrastructure, self-hosting, or code-first design systems, that aligns better with an alternative.

   

   Nebo AgencyAd

   Human-Centered User ExperienceWe Create Amazing Brand Experiences. Revolutionizing UX & Design.

   

   CClerkAd

   Auth components built for Next.jsProduction-ready <SignIn />, <SignUp />, and <UserButton /> components, built specifically for the A

   How does Figma compare to Framer for UI/UX design teams that also need to produce interactive prototypes with real code output?

   This is one of the more interesting comparisons because Figma and Framer are converging, but they're still optimized for different jobs.

   The key distinction is:

   • Figma is primarily a product design and collaboration platform.
   • Framer is primarily a production website builder with a strong design experience.

   If your goal is shipping a SaaS product, I'd still lean toward Figma. If your goal is shipping marketing sites or landing pages, Framer has a significant advantage.

   Capability	Figma	Framer
   UI design	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
   Design systems	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
   Multiplayer collaboration	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
   Product prototyping	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
   Production-ready code output	⭐⭐⭐☆☆	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
   Build and publish websites	⭐⭐☆☆☆	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
   Developer handoff	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐☆☆
   Complex application flows	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐☆☆

   Where Figma wins

   For UI/UX teams building products, Figma still has several advantages:

   1. Better design-system management

   Large component libraries, variables, design tokens, branching, and library publishing are all mature. If you're supporting dozens of designers and engineers, this matters a lot.

   2. Better product prototyping

   You can model:

   • multi-screen user journeys
   • authentication flows
   • overlays and modals
   • interactive components
   • conditional logic
   • responsive layouts

   These are closer to the kinds of interactions found in web apps than in marketing sites.

   3. Better developer handoff

   Developers can inspect:

   • spacing
   • typography
   • colors
   • assets
   • component structure
   • measurements

   Design reviews also tend to fit naturally into engineering workflows.

   ---

   Where Framer wins

   Framer's biggest advantage is that the prototype can become the product—at least for websites.

   Instead of creating a clickable mockup, you're building something that runs in the browser with real HTML, CSS, animations, and responsive behavior.

   That means:

   • responsive layouts are real
   • animations are real
   • interactions are real
   • publishing is built in

   For a marketing team, this removes an entire handoff step.

   ---

   About "real code output"

   This phrase can mean different things.

   Figma

   Figma has expanded its code-related capabilities, but in most organizations it still isn't the source of production code.

   Typical workflow:

   Design
         ↓
   Prototype
         ↓
   Developer handoff
         ↓
   React / Swift / Kotlin implementation
   

   Some AI and plugin-based tools can generate code from Figma, but most engineering teams treat that output as a starting point rather than something to ship directly.

   ---

   Framer

   Framer is different because its output is the runtime for many websites.

   Typical workflow:

   Design
         ↓
   Interactions
         ↓
   Publish
   

   For landing pages, documentation sites, and many marketing experiences, there's no separate front-end implementation step.

   For a complex SaaS dashboard with business logic, authentication, APIs, permissions, and state management, you'll typically still build the application in a framework like React, with Framer used only for the marketing-facing parts.

   Can Framer replace Figma?

   For most product organizations, not entirely.

   Consider a team building a project management application with:

   • 200+ screens
   • multiple user roles
   • a large design system
   • mobile and desktop experiences
   • close collaboration between product, engineering, and research

   That workflow still aligns better with Figma.

   Now consider a startup launching a new product with:

   • a homepage
   • pricing page
   • blog
   • documentation
   • waitlist
   • interactive product demo

   Framer is often the faster path because designers can publish those experiences themselves.

   A hybrid workflow is increasingly common

   Many teams now use:

   • Figma for product UI, design systems, user flows, and engineering collaboration.
   • Framer for marketing websites, launch pages, and interactive content that designers can publish without involving front-end developers.

   That lets each tool play to its strengths instead of forcing one platform to cover every part of the design and delivery process.

   If your requirement is specifically "interactive prototypes with real code output," the deciding question is what you're building.

   • If you mean production-ready websites, Framer is one of the strongest options available because the interactive experience is what gets published.
   • If you mean complex product prototypes that accurately communicate behavior to engineers, Figma remains stronger. It produces high-fidelity specifications and interactive prototypes that fit established product development workflows, even though the prototype itself is usually not the production application.

   

   NNebo AgencyAd

   Human-Centered User ExperienceWe Create Amazing Brand Experiences. Revolutionizing UX & Design.