Tested. Argued about. Finally agreed on. These are the tools we’d recommend to our own clients
These three website builders cover 95% of what most designers and small businesses need. The one caveat is if you will be building a large blog-heavy site or need superb SEO options, wordpress is your best friend.
Best for Beginners
If you want a great-looking website without a PhD in web design, Wix is genuinely hard to beat. Fast, flexible, and actually fun to use.
From $17/mo — free plan available
Drag-and-drop that actually makes sense
Huge template library (800+ designs)
Built-in SEO, blog, and ecommerce tools
AI site builder speeds things up fast
Best for Designers
Yes, there's a learning curve. Yes, it's worth it. Webflow gives you designer-level control without touching a line of code. It's the tool we reach for on serious projects.
From $18/mo — free plan to start
Pixel-perfect visual design control
Powerful CMS for content-heavy sites
Generates clean, semantic HTML/CSS
Best-in-class animations and interactions
Best for Portfolios
The newcomer that's quietly become the go-to for designers who want beautiful, fast sites with minimal fuss. Stunning animations built in.
From $0/mo — generous free plan
Gorgeous default animations out of the box
Insanely fast page load speeds
Designer-friendly component system
AI-assisted layout generation
Design Tools
Here are the tools we use every day. They work well and make our lives infinitely easier and more productive.
Industry Standard
The design tool for the web design era. If you're not already using Figma for wireframes and mockups, start now. The free plan is genuinely generous.
Free — paid from $15/mo
Free to Start
For quick graphics, social posts, and client presentations. Not a Figma replacement, but for speed and ease, it's hard to beat.
Free — Pro from $14.99/mo
Free Stock Images
Free, high-quality stock photos with no licensing headaches. Our go-to for hero images and blog post visuals before we commission custom photography.
Free forever
Free Tool
The fastest way to generate a color palette that actually works. Hit the spacebar and it generates a new scheme. Spend 10 minutes here instead of 2 hours arguing with yourself.
Free — Pro available
AI Tools
Not every AI tool deserves the hype. These are the ones that have actually changed how we work.
Discovery Favorite
Generate a full site from a text prompt and customize from there. Surprisingly good for getting a solid starting point in under 5 minutes.
Included in Framer
Best for Webflow Designers
The secret weapon for Webflow designers. Describe your site, get a full sitemap and copy-paste components in seconds. Figma users will feel right at home.
Free to Use
AI image generation that's commercially safe because Adobe trained it on licensed content. Use it for mockup visuals, hero images, and design concepts.
Included in Adobe account