The State of Design Tools 2025

BEST Tools from designers on their favorite and least favorite tools

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Friends,

I have spent almost 8+ years working with designers. From branding studios and indie creatives to SaaS product teams and agency squads, I’ve seen their tools, their tabs, and their tiny design hacks that make a huge difference.

So when I started building this list, I wasn’t just curious about what tools people were using in 2025, but I also wanted to know what they actually loved, what felt clunky, and what they’d drop in a second if a better option came along.

To dig deeper, I ran a survey with ADPList asking designers, founders, marketers, and creatives across industries about the tools they use in 2025. And to add depth, I looked across 10+ categories, ranging from ideation to web design, collaboration, AI tools, and video editing platforms.

If I had to sum it up, this is a crowd that lives online, experiments fast, and cares deeply about what makes a good tool great.

Here’s what they’re using—and what’s quietly becoming the top design stack of 2025. ⬇️

Highlights

Before we dive in, here are 10 key insights that emerged from the survey:

• Figma remains the undisputed design leader.
  93% of respondents use Figma as their go-to design tool. Adobe XD and Sketch are still hanging on, but Figma dominates everything from wireframes to prototypes.

• Notion is the new creative hub.
  Over 55% of creatives use Notion daily—not just for docs or to-do lists but as a full workspace for project tracking, content calendars, and design systems.

• FigJam is taking over whiteboarding.
  47% of respondents now use FigJam for brainstorming, replacing tools like Whimsical. Its seamless integration with Figma is a major plus.

• Framer is the top emerging web builder.
  Framer is making serious noise—52% of participants use it for creating stunning, no-code sites. Webflow is still relevant, but Framer is gaining fast among indie designers.

• ChatGPT is the best brainstorm buddie.
  ChatGPT continues to lead design workflows with 86%, favored for everything from UX copy to ideation. Meanwhile, Reddit is emerging as an unconventional research tool, and newcomers like DeepSeek & Perplexity are gaining traction for research, especially among agile and early-career designers.

• AI tools are officially in the workflow.
  Midjourney is the go-to for concept visuals and moodboards with being the favorite of 40% of designers. Uizard and Magician for Figma are becoming go-to solutions for early-stage ideation, helping designers quickly move from prompt to prototype.

• Maze and Useberry are becoming UX testing staples.
  User testing is no longer optional. Tools like Maze and Useberry are now used by over 25% of teams to validate design decisions early.

• Google Drive is still the default for storage, but Dropbox is back.
  Even with Notion and Figma integrations, 50% of respondents still rely on Drive for asset storage. Interestingly, 18% are switching back to Dropbox for its cleaner interface and file previews.

• Slack and Discord split the collab vote.
  Slack is still the king of team comms (72% usage), but Discord is quietly dominating design communities and creative feedback circles.

The Brainstorming Stack

I saw multiple tools rising in this category, but ChatGPT still remains at the top, with 86% of designers preferring it for everything from UX copy to brainstorming to generating mockup prompts. It’s embedded into daily workflows now—especially for solo creators, indie hackers, and fast-paced design teams.

Claude and Gemini are neck and neck in the race, with just an 8% preference gap between them. Designers are exploring both for their nuanced, context-aware outputs. Claude for its conversational depth and Gemini for its strong integration across Google’s ecosystem. Each has its niche appeal, and their growing adoption signals a healthy diversification in the AI design toolset.

But wait, Reddit is quietly becoming a goldmine for idea generation. Designers are turning to niche subreddits like r/userexperience or r/designcritiques to spot unmet needs, trending problems, and cultural nuances. It's not a traditional "tool," but it’s definitely influencing the early research phase.

That said, I also saw a rise in DeepSeek and Perplexity AI. These tools are being used for research-heavy workflows. DeepSeek for multilingual accuracy and Perplexity for sourcing insights, briefs, and competitor analysis. They're not yet dominant, but they're bubbling up fast, especially among junior and mid-level designers.

The Go-To Design Stack

The results for this were exactly what I expected. Figma is still the king. An overwhelming 93% of designers use Figma as their go-to design tool for everything from wireframes to high-fidelity prototypes. No other design platform comes close. It’s collaborative, lightweight, and deeply integrated into modern workflows.

Adobe XD and Sketch seem to be slowly phasing out. Their lack of real-time collaboration, community plug-ins, and updates that match today’s speed of design have made them less favorable, especially for teams working remotely or across time zones.

I asked a few designer friends, “Why Figma & just Figma?” & they said 2 things:

• Collaboration is native to Figma. Designers, product managers, and developers can work in the same file (leaving comments, making edits, and moving fast). Tools like Adobe XD and Sketch feel like single-player games in a multiplayer era.

• Community support is unmatched. Figma has thousands of community files, templates, plug-ins, and UI kits that reduce design time drastically. Designers aren’t just using it, but they’re building with it.

Some respondents (about 6%) mentioned experimenting with Penpot, the open-source design tool. While it's not mainstream yet, its rise points to a desire for open tools in the design space, especially for dev-design handoff in startup environments.

The Design-Code Stack

The design-to-web stack is evolving fast, and Framer is leading the charge.
Once dominated by traditional builders, the web creation space is now shifting. Framer is the new favorite for indie designers and small teams 52% of creatives now rely on it to ship polished, no-code websites with motion, interactions, and beautiful layouts. It’s fast, intuitive, and deeply designer-friendly.

Webflow still holds its ground, especially among professionals who need more control and CMS depth. But it’s clear that Framer is rising as the go-to for creative-first websites that don’t need complex backends.

But here’s something new that’s been making waves, and it’s Wix Studio. I’ve been seeing it all over the internet for some time. There are a few (13%) who prefer it over other tools.

What’s trending in the builder & collab space:

• Framer – clean, modern, code-optional sites in minutes

• Webflow – CMS muscle + power user love

• Wix Studio - Strong in layout control, though less elegant than Framer in animation and interaction.

• Softr - No-code tool to build web apps and websites using Airtable or Google Sheets as backend.

• Vercel, Lovable, and more!

Designers are ditching heavy, clunky tools for fast, creative-first platforms that feel more like play than work.

The AI Design Stack

Midjourney continues to lead the way in visual generation, with 40% of designers using it for moodboards, concept visuals, and quick storytelling decks. Its ability to turn vague prompts into high-quality aesthetic outputs makes it a favorite for early-stage ideation.

Here’s the secret about AI Design Tools in 2025