What are the best web apps for designers?

People on Linkstore rate UI Discovery, ascii.rest and ScreenCode highly. Every app on this list was opened and checked by a person before it went live.

Are there free apps for designers?

Yes. UI Discovery, ascii.rest, ScreenCode and Pin UI and 44 more are free to use or have a free plan. ascii.rest and ScreenCode are completely free.

Do web apps for designers need to be installed?

No. They all run in a web browser, so you can open one and start right away. ScreenCode, 23rd and Dérive app can also be installed to a home screen or dock if you like.

How is this list ordered?

By rating: a weighted average of the ratings people leave on Linkstore, so a few early five-star ratings can't outrank a large, steady score. Nobody can pay to move up.

Can I design without installing anything?

Yes. Photo editing, vector work, prototyping, color and type tools all run in the browser now. Most save to the cloud, so you can pick up on another computer.

All apps for designers

48 best free web apps for designers in 2026

Tools for the whole job: finding inspiration, picking type and color, grabbing icons and mockups, and prototyping. All of them open in a browser tab, so they work on any machine you sit down at. This list only has apps that are free or have a free plan. UI Discovery, ascii.rest and ScreenCode are where to start.

167 apps · 48 of the 48 here free or with a free plan · Updated October 2026

Free for designers

Apps whose makers built them for this first, then the best rated.

1
UI Discovery
Curated real-world UI references (sites, apps, dashboards, iOS) with copy-ready AI build prompts for Cursor and Claude. Free to browse.
Design5.0Freemium
Open
2
ascii.rest
217 animated ascii pieces for web pages, in TypeScript with no dependencies: for React, Next.js, Astro, or one HTML tag. MIT licensed.
Developer ToolsNewFree
Open
3
ScreenCode
Scan QR codes and barcodes from screenshots or images. Reads files privately with no uploads or accounts. Full free custom QR code generator. Wallet Cards.
Utilities4.0Free
Open
4
Pin UI
Free, open-source React components built from Pinterest designs: animated, in light and dark, ready to copy into your project.
DesignNewFree
Open
5
perfoliosVerified
Browse the best portfolio websites on the internet: a hand-picked directory of amazing designer, developer and studio portfolios for inspiration, sorted by…
InspirationNewFree
Open
6
kobra.systems
A segmented one-time-code input, built on input-otp. Built with React and Tailwind, in light and dark, with every state designed.
DesignNewFree
Open
7
23rd
Opinionated UI Components for shippers.
Design5.0Free
Open
8
Vibrant DesignVerified
Curated website, section, launch-video, tools and UI design inspiration from the best of the internet.
Inspiration5.0Freemium
Open
9
EvilButtons
A shadcn/ui registry of animated buttons built With an Evil Touch. Live previews, copy-paste docs, and one-command CLI installs.
Design5.0Free
Open
10
Dérive app
A mobile app that helps to get you lost.
InspirationNewFree
Open
11
beUI
Free, open-source animated components for React and Next.js, built with Motion and Tailwind CSS. Copy the source or install with the shadcn CLI.
DesignNewFree
Open
12
Reicon
Reicon — Free open-source SVG icons. 2,700+ handcrafted icons for React, Angular, Vue, Svelte, Flutter, Figma & more.
Developer ToolsNewFree
Open
13
BestSaaSWebDesigns
Explore landing pages, hero sections, pricing, testimonials, CTAs and footers from top SaaS companies — with the tech stack and colors behind each one.
InspirationNewFree
Open
14
Sky Studyo
A Google Earth for the sky, with real weather, aurora, celestial events and rich ambient sound.
DesignNewFree
Open
15
Thiings
A big library of free 3D icons you can download and use.
InspirationNewFree
Open
16
Savee
A visual bookmarking tool for designers.
InspirationNewFreemium
Open
17
Pexels
Free stock photos and video clips.
InspirationNewFree
Open
18
Refero
Real product screens, tagged by the pattern.
InspirationNewFreemium
Open
19
Layers
A feed of design work, closer to a portfolio network.
InspirationNewFree
Open
20
Landingfolio
A gallery of landing pages and the sections in them.
InspirationNewFreemium
Open
21
Icons8
Icons, illustrations and photos in a consistent style.
DesignNewFreemium
Open
22
Lucide
A clean open-source icon set, forked from Feather.
DesignNewFree
Open
23
Phosphor
A flexible icon family with weights from thin to fill.
DesignNewFree
Open
24
Heroicons
The icon set made by the Tailwind team.
DesignNewFree
Open
25
Iconify
Search almost every open icon set in one place.
DesignNewFree
Open
26
Flaticon
A huge searchable catalog of icons and stickers.
DesignNewFreemium
Open
27
Freepik
Vectors, photos, mockups and an AI image editor.
DesignNewFreemium
Open
28
Pixabay
Free photos, illustrations, video and music.
DesignNewFree
Open
29
unDraw
Open-source illustrations you can recolor.
DesignNewFree
Open
30
Blush
Mix-and-match illustrations from independent artists.
DesignNewFreemium
Open
31
Jitter
Motion design in the browser, for interfaces and posts.
DesignNewFreemium
Open
32
Pitch
Collaborative slides that look like a design tool.
DesignNewFreemium
Open
33
draw.io
Free diagrams in the browser, nothing to install.
DesignNewFree
Open
34
Eraser
Diagrams and docs for engineering teams.
DesignNewFreemium
Open
35
Adobe Express
Quick designs for posts, flyers and videos.
DesignNewFreemium
Open
36
Lucidchart
Diagrams, flowcharts and org charts for teams.
DesignNewFreemium
Open
37
Vectary
3D design in the browser, including product mockups.
DesignNewFreemium
Open
38
Drawably
Hand-drawn UI controls that sketch themselves on mount.
DesignNewFree
Open
39
Transitions
Essential page and UI transitions you can paste into a project.
DesignNewFree
Open
40
Beautiful UI
Copy-paste primitives for chat, thinking states and approvals.
DesignNewFree
Open
41
Keyline Icons
A free 24px icon set on one grid, in stroke, duotone and fill.
DesignNewFree
Open
42
Interior
React micro-interactions for the half-second after a click.
DesignNewFree
Open
43
Canvas UI
Canvas and WebGL effects for React, Vue, Svelte and JS.
DesignNewFree
Open
44
Shoot
App Store screenshots and icons, collected for reference.
InspirationNewFree
Open
45
Interface Craft
A working library for designing interfaces with care.
DesignNewFree
Open
46
Detail
Tiny design decisions, with why they work and how to redo them.
InspirationNewFree
Open
47
Hugeicons
A large icon family in many styles, for Figma and code.
DesignNewFreemium
Open
48
ui.land
A digital library for designers and engineers.
InspirationNewFree
Open