10+ Essential Tools for Professional Designers
Discover the essential tools that expert designers swear by. From team management with Monday.com to font identification with WhatFontis.
Designers often face a multitude of challenges, ranging from project management to intricate design work. With the demands of overlapping deadlines and efficient time management, it becomes imperative for them to utilize certain tools that simplify their tasks.
Below, we present a compilation of tools that are popular among professional designers worldwide. These range from team management tools to invaluable design resources. Dive in and discover tools that could be game-changers for your workflow.
Read Also: 8 Platforms to Showcase Your Design Portfolio
1. Monday.com
Team management tool enhancing productivity and fostering transparency.
Monday.com stands out as an exceptional team management tool suitable for teams ranging from just a couple of members to thousands spread across the globe. Its user-friendliness, combined with the ability to enhance productivity and foster transparency, makes it a favorite even among non-technical users.
Currently, over 20,000 teams and businesses, from budding startups to established Fortune 500 companies, rely on this tool.
Alternatives to Monday.com: Wrike, ClickUp, Trello, Asana, Basecamp
2. Mobirise
Offline website builder with drag-and-drop, no coding, and vast resources.
Mobirise is an offline website builder that offers users complete autonomy over their site creation endeavors, including choices regarding hosting. With its intuitive drag-and-drop interface, there’s zero coding involved. Impressively, this highly acclaimed tool is freely accessible for both individual and business use.
It boasts a rich collection of resources including 300 complimentary, contemporary web templates and blocks, and an additional 900 premium options. Included is an expansive library of 300,000 free pictures, 850 Google typefaces, and a whopping 7,000 icons.
Developed around frameworks like Bootstrap and Google AMP, Mobirise ensures speedy, mobile-optimized sites. It’s a perfect fit for crafting small to medium-sized websites, promotional sites, and portfolios.
Alternatives to Mobirise: Wix, Weebly, Squarespace, Webflow, WordPress
3. Elementor
Open-source WordPress builder offering code-free, front-end design customization.
Elementor, a free and open-source WordPress website builder, is renowned for its swift performance. Known for its compatibility with any WordPress template or theme, it offers a vast library of advanced, reusable templates. With Elementor, the entire process of constructing a website becomes code-free, making it a favorite for developers as well.
The design work, being executed on the front end, guarantees immediate results, granting users the flexibility and creativity to customize layouts and handpick design elements as needed.
Working with Elementor promises a seamless and swift design experience. Some of its standout features are the Menu Builder, Visual Form Builder, Form Integrations, and Custom CSS.
Alternatives to Elementor: WPBakery Page Builder, Beaver Builder, Divi Builder, Thrive Architect, SiteOrigin Page Builder
4. Mason
Unified platform for front-end edits and collaboration without coding.
Mason is a tool that empowers users to oversee front-end construction and modifications without needing any coding, all from a unified platform. More than just a design assistant, Mason streamlines collaboration on constructing and sustaining genuine products.
No longer do you need to navigate through an entire design and development cycle for every alteration. Mason provides login and registration functionalities, enabling authorized individuals to implement modifications, be it before or after the product’s launch.
This ensures you maintain strategic command over your products’ evolution and upkeep. Any component crafted using Mason seamlessly integrates with the aesthetics and user experience of pre-existing websites or applications.
Mason offers pre-coded content blocks catering to standard requirements. These are engineered to forge an optimal user interface (UI) and lay down a direct route for team collaboration during product development.
Employing Mason ensures quicker deliverables to clients and a nimble response to evolving project needs.
Alternatives to Mason: Webflow, Framer, Bubble, OutSystems, Wappler
5. A2 WordPress Hosting
Fast, secure WordPress hosting with CDN, 24/7 support, and money-back guarantee.
Selecting the ideal hosting service can be a meticulous task. A2 Hosting brings to the table a host of features: rapid, secure, scalable, optimized, and comprehensive management. With easy site staging and hosting speeds up to 20 times faster than many competitors, users benefit from automatic backups and WordPress updates. Additionally, it boasts a free Content Delivery Network (CDN).
Users are backed by 24/7 support, and should there be any dissatisfaction, A2 offers a reassuring money-back guarantee.
Alternatives to A2 WordPress Hosting: Bluehost WordPress Hosting, SiteGround WordPress Hosting, WP Engine, DreamHost WordPress Hosting, Kinsta
6. Goodiewebsite
Bridges designers to developers, specializing in design-to-code transitions for WordPress.
Goodiewebsite bridges the gap between web designers, business proprietors, and a dedicated development squad that delivers value-driven coding services. It particularly stands out for smaller to medium-sized WordPress websites or projects that necessitate design-to-code transitions.
The pricing begins at $999, with an assurance of superior quality in the end product.
Alternatives to Goodiewebsite: Webflow, Toptal, Codeable, Upwork, Wix Corvid
7. Houzez
Website builder tailored for real estate with advanced search and property management.
Houzez empowers users to craft websites tailored for real estate professionals. It encapsulates vital features such as advanced property search, radius-based search, search composer, geolocation, and integrated payment and membership systems.
Its intuitive property management platform facilitates easy administration of a real estate marketplace, seamless coordination with agents, and effortless property submissions. The custom fields builder offered by Houzez provides the flexibility to showcase any specific information aligned with a business’s unique requirements.
Complementing its robust features is an exceptionally responsive and diligent customer support team.
Alternatives to Houzez: Real Homes WordPress Theme, WP Residence Real Estate Theme, Real Estate 7, Homey – Booking and Rentals WordPress Theme, MyHome Real Estate WordPress
8. The Hanger
WooCommerce theme for online stores, mirroring brand aesthetics with dedicated support.
The Hanger offers an optimal solution for those in quest of a modern-classic WooCommerce theme tailored for building an online store. This tool facilitates crafting a bespoke website that perfectly mirrors the aesthetic of both the retailer’s brand and the products showcased.
Not only is The Hanger straightforward to set up, but it’s also paired with dedicated and dependable support to assist users.
Alternatives to The Hanger: Flatsome WooCommerce Theme, Shopkeeper – eCommerce WP Theme, Astra WooCommerce Theme, Divi with WooCommerce Integration, Porto – Multipurpose & WooCommerce Theme
9. LayerSlider
Platform for slideshows, galleries, landing pages with intuitive editor and templates.
LayerSlider, a premium multifaceted platform, is more than just a tool for crafting sliders. It empowers users to produce captivating slideshows, image galleries, animated page blocks, landing pages, and even comprehensive websites.
With a suite of flexible layout designs, the responsive and SEO-enhanced LayerSlider boasts a collection of meticulously designed templates, an intuitive drag-and-drop editor, enduring updates, and top-tier support.
Alternatives to LayerSlider: Slider Revolution, Smart Slider 3, Soliloquy Slider, MetaSlider, Master Slider
10. Uncode WordPress Theme
Robust theme for portfolios with innovative features and creative flexibility.
Uncode is a robust yet intuitive theme, enabling users to curate a striking portfolio to display their work in a limited span of hours. Exploring Uncode’s repository of user models can spark inspiration and provide a glimpse into the theme’s capabilities.
Innovative features such as Slides scroll, Shape Dividers, and the adept Gallery Manager stand testament to the theme’s flexibility, allowing users to bring any creative vision to life.
Alternatives to Uncode WordPress Theme: Avada WordPress Theme, The7 Multi-Purpose Website Building Toolkit, Bridge – Creative Multi-Purpose WordPress Theme, Salient – Responsive Multi-Purpose Theme, Enfold – Responsive Multi-Purpose Theme
11. FFonts.net
Vast free font library with preview feature and smart categorization.
FFonts.net’s library of more than 75,000 fonts should give you all the design options you need. Since the fonts are free, all you have to do is find the ones you want, preview them, and download them.
A helpful feature is the ability to write out a string of fonts to see how they will appear in actual use. The fonts are smartly categorized to vastly simplify your search.
Alternatives to FFonts.net: DaFont, Font Squirrel, 1001 Fonts, Urban Fonts, FontSpace
12. Fluid UI
Mockup and prototyping tool enhancing collaboration with built-in component libraries.
Fluid UI is a combination mockup, wireframing, prototyping, and collaborating tool that enables teams to share and comment on design information via chat, annotated, and video presentations while speeding up and smoothing out design workflows.
With its build-in component libraries, Fluid UI is an excellent design aid for local and distributed teams, product managers, and designers.
Alternatives to Fluid UI: Figma, Adobe XD, Sketch, InVision, Balsamiq Mockups
13. Pixpa
All-in-one platform integrating portfolio, e-commerce, blog, and client proofing.
Creative professionals want more than a portfolio website to showcase their work. They want a professional-looking portfolio website and, better yet, one that features an integrated e-commerce store, blog, and even client proofing. That’s precisely what the Pixpa all-in-one platform provides.
With Pixpa, creatives can pull all their tasks together in one place instead of relying on several different services. Pixpa is mobile-friendly, and it will give you high quality, save you time, and save you money. Get started for free with the 15-day trial.
Alternatives to Pixpa: Wix, Squarespace, Format, Adobe Portfolio, Weebly
14. wpDataTables
WordPress plugin turning intricate data into adaptable tables and charts swiftly.
wpDataTables emerges as a paramount WordPress table and chart creator in today’s market. Its robust capabilities have compelled numerous web designers to transition to WordPress exclusively for leveraging its potential.
This distinguished WordPress plugin efficiently processes data from diverse sources, translating extensive and intricate data into vibrant, adaptable, and modifiable tables or charts within moments.
Check out our review on wpDataTables.
Alternatives to wpDataTables: TablePress, Ninja Tables, Data Tables Generator by Supsystic, Visualizer: Tables and Charts Manager, Posts Table Pro
15. WhatFontis.com
AI-powered tool identifies fonts rapidly from a 450,000-font database.
WhatFontis addresses a prevalent dilemma designers often grapple with: discovering an indispensable font without any inkling about its designation or procurement source.
Empowered by an expansive database of 450,000 fonts coupled with cutting-edge artificial intelligence-driven search mechanisms, WhatFontis adeptly discerns and delivers the sought-after font – be it free fonts or for commercial use- in mere seconds. This eliminates prolonged search durations and circumvents potential exasperation.
Alternatives to WhatFontis.com: Font Squirrel Matcherator, MyFonts: WhatTheFont, Identifont, Fonts In Use, Fontspring Matcherator