Framer vs Webflow: A Comprehensive User-Friendliness Analysis & Comparison for 2024
If you are looking for web app builders to build your website easily, you've probably come across the debate "Framer vs. Webflow."
At first glance, they seem pretty similar—both offer website creation and competitive prices. However, these two platforms have different use cases, which you should be aware of before you invest your time and money in one tool.
Webflow lets everyone build super customizable and professional-looking websites. Framer, on the other hand, is more for designers who want to create sites with modern animations and interactive elements.
In this article, we will break down the features, UI/UX, integrations, prices, pros, and user feedback for both Framer and Webflow to help you decide which no-code tool is a better fit for you.
Plus, we will introduce a potential alternative and compare it with the two solutions.
Framer vs Webflow: Full review
Framer lets you create, edit, and animate sites with features like localization and effects. While Webflow also helps you create responsive websites without coding. It offers a flexible CMS and top-tier hosting for a complete website-building experience.
Let's compare the most important aspects of both platforms to remove all your doubts.
Features
Framer
Framer simplifies app prototype creation for iOS and Android. It's user-friendly and offers customization options with CoffeeScript. Also, it includes a free plugin for converting Figma mockups into interactive websites. You can edit and animate Figma designs and incorporate features like localization, CMS, and effects.
Image source: Product Hunt
- Easy-to-use interface for quick learning
- User-responsive layouts with stacks and grids
- A free-form canvas similar to Adobe XD, Sketch, and Figma
- Possibility to copy and paste designs directly from Figma into Framer for final website publishing
- Design for various screen sizes with built-in breakpoints for optimal user experience.
- Over 1000 templates to choose from
- Built-in CMS system with many tools
Webflow
Webflow is an easy-to-use tool for creating and launching responsive websites directly in your browser. It combines visual design and code, so what you create visually is powered by HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. You can easily reuse CSS classes for consistent styling and benefit from different hosting plans.
- Customizable website templates
- Built-in SEO tools
- Easy grid-based layout building with Webflow's CSS grid.
- Drag-and-drop functionality generates clean, W3C-compliant code
- Exportable website code, images, and HTML for sharing or future use
- Latest CSS properties for a more efficient workflow
- Built-in audit panel identifies potential bugs and security risks
- Responsive layouts with CSS3's flexible boxes
- Complete design control with the ability to add any tag or custom attribute
UI/UX
Framer
Framer has a clear and intuitive dashboard. It lets you create eye-catching sites with animations in a few clicks. Numerous customization options, such as feature blocks, toggle components, font style, and more, are clearly listed in the left sidebar.
Keep in mind that it might take a little practice, but once you get the hang of it, using the platform will become pretty straightforward.
Image source: Product Hunt
Webflow
Webflow offers great UI/UX design tools that let you drag and drop things around, use different editors, and make your website work on any device.
Learning how to use Webflow Designer will be more challenging than learning Framer. In both cases, you'll need to grasp web design and development principles. However, Webflow offers more options—for instance, it automatically puts items into a container, while Framer requires manual work. Also, there are a lot more animations in Webflow than in Framer.
Integrations
Framer
Framer works with other hosting platforms like Bitbucket and GitHub for design and development.
You can also use design libraries like Figma and Sketch directly from the prototype. Plus, you can connect collaboration tools like Microsoft and Slack for better communication among community members.
Webflow
Users can use Google Analytics and Google Optimize to track their performance. Additionally, you can connect Webflow with Zaiper to link your website with other applications for everyday use, such as Slack, Mailchimp, and Asana.
If you need a custom domain for your website, you can purchase one through Google Domains integration without dealing with DNS, CNAME, or other technical aspects.
Pricing
Framer
Framer offers two types of pricing models:
Individual pricing:
- Free: Framer domain and banner included
- Mini: Custom domain, home, and 404 pages, and up to 1000 visitors per month. ($5/month)
- Basic: Password protection, 1 CMS collection, and up to 10,000 monthly visitors. ($15/month)
- Pro: 3000 pages, analytics + cookies, staging environment, 10 CMS collections, up to 200,000 monthly visitors, and 300-page search. ($25/month)
- Enterprise: Contact customer support for custom pricing on enterprise security, custom hosting, dedicated infrastructure, launch support, SSO, and custom limits.
Workspace pricing:
- Free: Collaborate on free sites, 3-day version history, and 500 MB file storage. ($0)
- Basic: Up to 5 editors, collaboration on all sites, cursor chat, 7-day version history, and 1 GB file storage. ($20/month)
- Pro: Up to 10 editors, collaboration on all sites, advanced permissions, comments, 30-day version history, and 10 GB file storage. ($40/month)
- Enterprise: Contact customer support for custom pricing on custom editors, unlimited workspace, dedicated support, SSO, 90-day version history, and 100 GB file storage.
Webflow
- Free: 2 pages, 50 CMS Items, 50 Form submissions for a lifetime, free localization premium, limited traffic, 1k visitors, and 1GB Bandwidth
- Basic: 150 pages, 0 CMS items, 500 monthly form submissions, free preview, moderate traffic, 50 GB Bandwidth, and 250k visitors. ($14/month)
- CMS: Custom domain, 150 pages, 2k CMS items, 1k monthly form submissions, three content editors, site search, localization Add-on, free preview, custom functionality, generous traffic, 200 GB Bandwidth, and 250k visitors. ($23/month)
- Business: 150 pages, 10k CMS items, 2.5k monthly form submissions, ten content editors, site search, form file upload, localization Add-on, free preview, expanded traffic, 400 GB bandwidth, more info, 300k visitors. ($39/month)
- Enterprise: Contact customer support for a customizable plan tailored to large businesses with complex needs.
Pros
Framer
- Save time by copying and pasting layouts, frames, and layers from your portfolio to the design board
- Design without restrictions on location, breaking away from the "box" model
- Learn with abundant free tutorials online
- Publish with a free Framer domain or opt for custom domains
Webflow
- Access a variety of integrations for tools like HubSpot CRM, Unsplash, and more, all in one place
- Improve site performance with features like WebP images, SEO specifications, and more
- Get free SSL certificates, protection against DDoS attacks, backup and restore capabilities, and support for password protection and two-factor authentication
User ratings
Framer
Users love Framer for its capability of transforming designs into interactive and lifelike prototypes. They also value its integration with Figma and how it improves teamwork through collaboration features.
- G2: 4.6
Webflow
Users enjoy how easy it is to create, deploy, and manage multiple sites and landing pages with Webflow. They appreciate its integration with tools like SalesForce and its robust CMS for managing blogs and different page variations.
Bettermode—A user-friendly alternative
If you're seeking a simpler alternative to Framer and Webflow that is not complex or hard to learn, Bettermode might be your solution. While Framer is made for designers, Bettermode is designed for everyone, even if you know nothing about web building or design.
Bettermode is a no-code web app builder for creating websites from scratch. It offers customizable templates for landing pages, blogs, events, and job boards with modern designs.
No expertise is required—just choose a template and customize it using our drag-and-drop interface. It has a modern design, and there’s no need for separate data management tools like Airtable or Google Sheets.
Features
- Cost-saving elimination of the need for external tools
- 25 customizable templates and designs coming soon
- Sleek interfaces for both front-end and back-end operations
- Integration with over 20 platforms like Google Analytics and Zapier
- Easy customization of content sections
- Personalization of branding and appearance
- Efficient management of users and members
- Access to a suite of features, including API, widgets, knowledge bases, moderation tools, and analytics
- Translation of content into over 10 languages
- Workflow improvement with visual tools
- Engagement with forums, communities, and idea boards
UI/UX
Bettermode's interface resembles popular website builders like WordPress, making it intuitive for anyone familiar with drag-and-drop interfaces.
Despite its user-friendliness, Bettermode offers a good range of customization options to tailor your website to your needs.
Pro tip: Pressing "C" on your keyboard on any template page takes you to an editor where you can customize your website template.
Here's a simple guide on how to easily build responsive websites with Bettermode:
- Sign up for a free account
- Pick a website template and open it in the editor
- Edit the content (text, images, posts) for each page
- Customize the design (banners, colors, fonts) in the Design Studio
- Preview the website and make sure it looks good on different devices
- Publish the website to make it live on the internet
Integrations
Bettermode connects with many popular tools and apps like Slack, Salesforce Sales Cloud, Google Analytics 360, Jira, Google Calendar, HubSpot CRM, Stripe, Zapier, and more.
Pricing
Bettermode is free for up to 5 websites. If you need more, choose between three paid plans:
- Lite – Unlimited members, 10 spaces, 3 collaborators, and 5 GB of storage, $24/month
- Pro – Unlimited members, 20 spaces, 5 collaborators, and 25 GB of storage, $59/month
- Business – Unlimited members, 30 spaces, 10 collaborators, and 100 GB of storage, $119/month
Pros
- Extremely user-friendly with drag-and-drop editing and pre-built components
- 25 ready-to-use templates for different use cases
- Built-in CMS
- Integrates with many popular applications
- Free plan available
User ratings
- G2 rating: 4.6
Users mostly like how Bettermode keeps things simple and user-friendly. The platform's easy navigation and customizable features are the biggest plus users often mention on many review sites.
Comparison table
Conclusion
When comparing Webflow vs Framer, we found that Framer is a bit easier to use. So, if you want a more straightforward website-building experience, Framer might be the way to go. However, if you need advanced customization and integration options, Webflow is a better option.
But, if you want the combination of the most user-friendly service and the highest quality sites, Bettermode takes the cake. It's great for creating various sites like forums, classes, job boards, roadmaps, and more great content in just a few clicks.
And one of the best parts is that Bettermode has a built-in CMS, saving you from using extra tools.
Want to try it out? Get started, It’s free!
FAQs
Is Framer better than Webflow?
It all comes down to what you're looking for. If you want to create interactive prototypes and make your graphic elements come alive, Framer might be the right fit. But if you're leaning towards building quality and functional websites, Webflow might be the way to go.
Why is Framer so popular?
Framer is popular because it enables designers to blend design with code, create detailed animations, collaborate instantly, and use AI in design, pushing the limits of prototyping tools.
What is better than Webflow?
Bettermode stands as an alternative to Webflow and is one of the top no-code platforms because of its super simple development process, user-friendly interface, budget-friendly CMS, extensive customization options, and integration capabilities.
Should you use Framer?
It depends on your needs and preferences. If you need a no-code tool for creating interactive prototypes, Framer could be a great choice. But, if you prioritize simplicity and ease of use, you should consider other more powerful tools.
