3 reasons to switch to Figma
I’ll be as straightforward as possible here in Medium, but if you want to get a the detailed version of what I’m about to share, you can watch my video about it on YouTube!
1. Pricing
Sketch
$99, this includes 1 year of app updates, 1 year unlimited cloud storage. After a year, if you want to get continuous updates of their new features and their cloud storage, you have to pay an additional $79/year.
You can continue using Sketch forever without the updates, if you decided not to pay the additional $79/year, or just renew when a specific update comes out that perfectly fits your need.
Adobe XD
Free! But you can only do so much. If you’re a freelancer or working with a team, you can only have 1 active prototype and design specs. This includes 2GB of cloud storage. I
If you want to create unlimited prototypes. You need to pay $9.99 (PhP 498.) every month to do that. A bit more expensive I can say if you compare it with Sketch.
Figma
Free with unlimited prototypes and cloud storage included! Hopefully forever(unless Figma decides to stop supporting this Free tier) This is more than enough to what you need, with the capability of enabling 2 more editors(designers) to collaborate with you! You only need to upgrade if you’re going to work with a big time and on a more robust projects, specially if you’ll be building design systems!
2. Hardware and OS requirements
Sketch is a Mac only app.
If you’re a designer and hardcore Windows gamer, you’ll have to buy mac just to be able to use Sketch.
Adobe XD is available both for Windows and Mac!
Yes, but then again. Remember that you’re limited to work on 1 active prototype if you’re on a free tier.
Figma is Browser-based!
Mac, Windows, Linux even iPad can run Figma and there’s no need to install anything (though they do have a Desktop App). This means that in cases that you don’t have your laptop with you, as long as you have internet access and can borrow a laptop (or rent on an internet cafe) you can access and edit your Figma files!
3. Everything in Figma
Stand-alone (mostly)
One of the main reasons why I sticked to Figma because it barely relies on 3rd party software or services like inVision. Back then, when I was still using Sketch, you have to upload your work to create prototypes, and reupload it manually every time you change / update your designs. So much hassle.
Though Sketch now has its built-in prototyping tool, It was too late for me to go back, not to mention it was not covered by my 1 year purchase and will have to pay another $79 to get it.
This goes with other tools as well, specially when you’re handing over it to engineers / developers. Figma had help make it easier to make sure that your UI design stays consistent as it provides code for styling (For web and mobile development)
Ever growing Plug Ins Community
This is one of Figma’s Free Tier steroids. A lot of plugins (also free) are powerful like Content Reel that can instantly populate your design with faux data making designers more efficient and their design look a lot more realistic in Figma.
Auto Layout
I believe that this is something that Sketch and Adobe XD doesn’t have yet. Though not yet perfect, it is something that made me a more efficient designer, and made the design system I made in PayMongo accessible like a drag-and-drop UI builder for my colleagues.
Easier Collaboration
Gone are the days of rendering first and passing files every time you make a change on your design. One link is enough, as anything that you’ll do in Figma will be saved automatically, with a 30-day version history (not sure if Sketch and Adobe XD has that as well).
And the main selling point of Figma is this. Easier collaboration within teams, specifically with multiple designers. If you have at least 3–5 designers within your team and you don’t want to wait for each other, passing files and looking for the “latest master file”. Then definitely, Figma is all you need.
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There are some things that I didn’t mentioned in my my video on YouTube, so if you still have time, you can check it out.
You can also subscribe to my channel to make sure that you won’t missed my future updates about Figma, design and other probable self improvement or productivity videos.
Thank you for reading!
