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Is searching for the best web design tools to suit your needs akin to having a recurring bad dream? Does each “promising ad” look like any other, and you find yourself reading them over and over again?
We published this list to give you some temporary, and hopefully permanent, relief.
The big names have plenty of exposure and are not on this list. We’ve chosen instead to present you with a collection of gems; top-tier free and premium web design tools and resources that you rarely hear about.
We stopped at 15 best web design tools & resources that we split in 5 groups:
- Tools for creating pages & websites – an intriguing and full of potential AI website builder that is free is included in the mix, together with several free & premium WordPress themes. These tools will set you up for building pages & websites fast and easy.
- Tools for creating e-stores – Shopify is becoming more popular by the day, more than a good enough reason to include a first-class Shopify theme. You’ll also find WordPress themes that are top sellers in this list which have been exclusively created for WooCommerce fans and followers.
- Tools for adding animations and SFX – while static and motionless pages are good for maximizing page speed performance, they seldom transform visitors into clients. The tools we’ve selected will help your website charm its visitors into opening their purses and wallets.
- Tools for adding in demand functionalities – one of the most in demand current functionalities is booking. Plenty of business managers want a website that can take and manage bookings. We have included two tools that can do so to near perfection.
- Resources that will enhance your website visually – visual elements offer the best way to separate among related products or services. That being said, original illustrations & icons as well as a font identifier made this list too.
Want to hear some excellent news? Half of these web design tools and resources that made this list are free to use. Here they are:
Trafft
WpDataTables
Amelia
LayerSlider
Uncode
Mobirise AI
Blocksy
Slider Revolution
WhatFontis
Essential Grid
Woodmart
Hongo Shopify
Litho
GetIllustrations
XStore
What do these Web Design Tools & Resources share?
- The majority have a free version. As a result, they can help you save money.
- Superior quality. Don’t equate free with cheap or substandard. These web design tools and resources are best in class when it comes to the functions and aesthetics they bring to table.
- They will make your website/page look “Wow”. Dull website aesthetics is one of the top 5 reasons for which people sometimes say “meh” to a product or service as opposed to purchasing it. These tools and resources are designed to replace “meh” with “wow”.
In brief: Trafft is an excellent choice for a White Label Booking solution.
Click the video to check one of Trafft’s top downloaded templates.
Trafft provides service-oriented businesses with an excellent appointment booking solution should they feel the need to improve their existing operations. Besides managing booking schedules, Trafft accepts appointment requests online and sends reminders and accepts payments online as well.
The Trafft booking software’s White Label Option is a top feature that digital agencies and web developers can use when working with their clients. If you happen to be a web developer, this option gives you an opportunity to replace the Trafft name and branding with your own and reap the rewards. You could also take advantage of Trafft’s ease of navigation, the depth of customization options, and the library of prebuilt websites. Your clients could profit as well. The Trafft Barbershop pre-built website, for example, shows you how interesting can a barbershop booking page look.
Rating: 5/5 (Capterra), 4.7/5 (Trustpilot)
Client Feedback: Pros: “The simple and intuitive user interface and the management of multiple users is what puts Trafft ahead of the competition. It’s really easy to use and very customizable. And then on top of that, the price, simply unbeatable!
Cons: It lacks a mobile app for iOS, but the website is super adapted to mobile devices.”
Immediate Support Available Through: The Support Manual, YouTube videos, and social networks.
Preview Trafft
In brief: wpDataTables simplifies your table and chart building when complex or multiple-source data is involved.
Click the video to check one of wpDataTables top downloaded templates.
wpDataTables will help you easily create a multitude of tables/charts even the most challenging ones. This WordPress plugin’s top feature, Multiple Database Connections, any table you create can establish an autonomous connection to MS SQL, MySQL, or PostgreSQL databases, making it a virtual data hub from which you can seamlessly integrate data from distinct places.
Almost as soon as you first begin working with wpDataTables you will discover the power of simplicity it offers. Its intuitive user interface streamlines your workflow, your data management tasks become seemingly less complex, and your ability to handle a complex data structure becomes just another routine task with the separate database connections, single cell shortcodes, 4 chart building engines etc. at your fingertips.
You can check the Responsive Statistics Table example to see how powerful this plugin is.
Rating: 4.5/5 on WordPress.org
Client Feedback: “I am impressed. I thought this would be a basic plugin, but it is a very powerful and versatile plugin that offers many tools and settings. And if you need a hand using the plugin, their support is ready to help. Very professional.”
Immediate Support Available Through: the support manual and from YouTube videos and the Facebook community.
Test wpDataTables
In brief: Amelia is an ideal solution when you are in need of an automated booking system.
Click the video to check one of Amelia’s top downloaded templates.
Amelia’s standout feature is its Multilingual Notifications System according to 70% + of its users. If you add Amelia’s features to your service-oriented company’s website, your clients can make appointments online 24/7, receive reminders, and make payments using the payment link.
The multilingual notifications system will keep you up to date on appointments/events status as well as foster effective communication between your clients and your employees. With Amelia, you can tailor alerts to transmit to your clients for specific services or events.
Templates will help you build a customized website that will make booking a pleasant experience for your regular clients as well as help to attract new ones. Professional Photographer is one of the more frequently used templates.
As a user, you will rapidly come to appreciate the user-friendly design, transparent pricing, ease of navigation and depth of customization options this plugin has to offer.
Rating: 4.8 on Capterra.
Client Feedback: “Amelia is not just a booking plugin, it’s also a very visually appealing addition to my website. Because of my positive experience with the free version, I also purchased the Pro version, even though I rarely use it (the free version covers almost all of my needs).”
Immediate Support Available Through: the support manual, the Discord Group, and YouTube videos.
Preview Amelia
In brief: LayerSlider is your premier WordPress plugin for making stunning graphics and effects.
Click the video to check one of LayerSlider’s top downloaded templates.
The advantage and popularity of LayerSlider lies in the fact that it can be used on any website to create richly animated sliders, slideshows, popups, and other web content.
LayerSlider can boast of several remarkable features, the most important of which may be the way in which it can seamlessly integrate stylish animations, effects, and graphics into a website. Doing so helps create a strong connection between your website’s visitors and your content.
LayerSlider’s pre-made, downloadable and visually stunning professional templates offer an added advantage. You can easily customize them by filling them with your own content. The Marketing Page PACK template contains a set of sliders, which you can use to easily create landing pages. The sliders will give you the feeling like the whole page is being built right now, in front of you.
What else is there to like? The Project Editor will make you feel right at home to design and create as the mood strikes you and then there are the popups and banners for marketing purposes.
Client Feedback: “Great quality and what’s important – great support!”
Direct Support is available through a ticket system, and the Project Editor has integrated help and a guided tour explaining the user interface’s key parts.
Preview LayerSlider
In brief: The Uncode multiuse WordPress and WooCommerce theme is ideal if you need a theme for most of your projects..
Click the video to check one of Uncode’s top downloaded templates.
Uncode users invariably point to the theme’s WooCommerce demo library when asked what its most important feature is. These demos are known not only for the strict attention to detail that is evident in their designs but for their inspirational qualities as well. Uncode’s website features a showcase of what its users have been able to accomplish though use of these demos and other website building tools.
Which demo would be the best for you? That’s for you to decide, as your choice would be dependent on your needs and desires. If creating a Portfolio of Videos is on your to-do list, simply customize the demo to suit your needs. When you become a Uncode’s user, you’ll soon discover the extensive amount of customization that is open to you, the value of the wireframes and demos, and the exceptional level of customer support.
Rating: 4.89/5
Client Feedback: “The developers do an incredible job of keeping the theme up to date and stable, constantly implementing new features and optimizing the theme.”
Immediate Support Available Through: the support manual as well as the Facebook Group and YouTube videos
Preview Uncode
In brief: Mobirise is your #1 tool for downloading full pages/websites by only using prompts.
Click the video to check out Mobirise,
It’s always nice whenever you are able to accomplish a lot by doing a little. Workflow streamlining is one name for it. The Mobirise AI Website Builder’s top feature is its ability to create an awesome website from a single prompt, or in most cases, using a prompt at a time.
Upload the “specs” for your website, and Mobirise will take that initial prompt and return a genuine, content-rich website. You will still have to make some trial and error fixes or perhaps just a little fine tuning to attain perfection.
Mobirise AI’s extensive template library offers an alternate approach. You can focus on template customizing – through the use of prompts.
You will quickly come to appreciate the builder’s ability to respond to prompts typed in any language, to edit content without any need for code, and to download the generated website as a ZIP file.
Client Feedback: “From my input of one short paragraph, the whole concept of what the site was for was understood, and what was generated, including the images and text (while very close to what was my input – which is completely great!) were understood, and generated perfectly in line with what we feel our branding, messaging class-of-images, up-scale etc., etc.”
Immediate Support Available Through: the Support Manual and YouTube videos.
Preview Mobirise AI
In brief: Blocksy’s free WordPress theme is your best choice for building beautiful, lightweight websites.
Click the video to check one of Blocksy’s top downloaded templates.
Ask users what Blocksy’s top feature is, and they will come up with a list for you to pick and choose from. It all depends on what’s most important to you. The Custom Blocks Module has many fans. The way in which this theme supports Custom Post Types and Dynamic Data also gets many votes. Perhaps the Advanced WooCommerce integration capability has a special meaning to you. Or, if you are a developer, you might choose Blocksy’s White Label Module.
There’s definitely a lot to like. You’ll find Blocksy is fast, it’s simple to use, and its granular controls give you excellent control over various aspects of your design.
Not to forget: Blocksy is free!
Blocksy’s superb demo collection can also serve you well. The Garderobe demo can be customized to advertise a starter site, and is one of the 5 most commonly used. There are plenty of others to choose from that will give you a head start in building the website you have in mind.
Rating: 5/5 on WordPress.org
Client Feedback: “Fantastic! I’ve been using WordPress for many years, and I’ve never come across a theme like this. Highly customizable and SEO ready, simple to use and suitable for any need. Compliments!”
Immediate Support Available Through: the Support Manual and the documentation section.
Preview Blocksy
In brief: The Slider Revolution WordPress plugin is your best choice for creating jaw-dropping animated sliders.
Click the video to check one of Slider revolution’s top downloaded templates.
Slider Revolution’s top feature is the power it gives you to easily design attention-grabbing content sections, whether it’s for your home page, to draw attention to a special product, or anything else. You can create your own designs, or borrow from your favorite content sources or inventories.
In the past, Slider Revolution limited its users to the creation of simple sliders. That has changed. With Slider Revolution in your toolkit, you can:
- create home pages that grab a viewer’s attention.
- create eye-catching portfolios that cannot be unseen.
- design jaw-dropping sections on any website page.
Imagine the fun you could have customizing this 50/50 Split Screen Website Design template with your own content!
Slider Revolution is tailored for individual web designers, web shops, and small agencies.
Rating: 4.65/5 on Trustpilot
Client Feedback: “This plugin is exactly what we creatives need to power our websites. Its freedom, its versatility, its reconciling you with the WordPress platform as a designer.
I wouldn’t know how to start a new project without Slider Revolution.
It’s worth so much more than it costs.”
Immediate Support Available Through: The Support Manual and YouTube Videos
Preview Slider Revolution
In brief: WhatFontis is the most consistently accurate font identifier on the market.
Click the video to check out WhatFontis.
While WhatFontis has many popular features, its top feature is simply this. It does what it was designed to do, it does it well, and it does it better than anyone else.
WhatFontis correctly identifies font images that have been submitted to it, and in doing so, it is the only system that can justifiably claim to do so with an accuracy of 90%+, regardless of whether the font is free or commercially licensed.
Hits and misses can generally be attributed to the submittals of substandard images.
How WhatFontis works:
- This font identifier has a database of 990K+ free and commercially licensed fonts (nearly 5 times greater than the database size of its nearest competitor).
- Its AI-powered search engine provides quick answers to your queries.
- In addition to pinpointing the identity of a submitted font image, WhatFontis provides up to 60 close relatives, plus it lets you know where you can download a free font or where you can purchase a licensed one.
Client Feedback: “I found my font in seconds. thank you, a lot.”
Immediate Support Available Through: The Font Identifier Forum
Preview WhatFontis
In brief: Essential Grid is the #1 WordPress Gallery Plugin if you want to create breathtaking galleries.
Click the video to check one of Essential Grids’ top downloaded templates.
Essential Grid’s top feature is unsurprisingly its library of 50+ unique grid skins, simply because they are what this #1 gallery plugin is all about.
Check out the Essential Grid gallery skins and you can expect to come across grid formats you’ve never imagined or ever seen before.
The Pat LaFontaine WooCommerce Grid for WordPress template, features a sleek, sharp grid layout, colored image borders, and an impressive zoom effect. You could put its straightforward layout to a variety of effective uses. While zoom effect is impressive, is not overpowering.
You will find Essential Grid to be a genuine time saver as well as how it can help you organize your content streams. Essential Grid is also a smart choice for any website project that requires a sortable/filterable/searchable grid listing of items.
Rating: 4.7/5 on Trustpilot
Client Feedback: “Very great plug-in, works like a charm. Needed some questions to be resolved and all the support was very friendly and super helpful. Did not stop until everything was resolved, and I was completely satisfied.”
Immediate Support Available Through: The Support Manual and YouTube videos
Preview Essential Grid
In brief: WoodMart is your best WooCommerce theme for creating niche ecommerce website designs.
Click the video to check one of WoodMart’s top downloaded templates.
It takes but a glance for the WoodMart website’s top feature to jump right out at you. That top feature is its realism, an implicit invitation to start shopping – now!
You first have to put WoodMart to work building a store for you, which will not take long once you have your content in place.
You will find plenty to like about WoodMart, such as:
- the ease in layout customizing.
- its popular customer-centric features such as “Frequently Bought Together,” and “Dynamic Discounts.”
- the Theme Settings’ Search capability and performance optimization features.
If you are a developer, WoodMart’s White Label option is worth looking into. If you are a marketer, you’ll find the social integrations feature useful.
Picking out the most popular demo can be a challenge since most of them enjoy plenty of usage. Nevertheless, WoodMart’s Demo Glasses is one of the most popular demos. You can easily see the possibilities it offers, particularly the effectiveness of its Visual Search feature.
Rating: 4.93/5
Client Feedback: “Woodmart is a premium theme that lets you create any kind of online store with ease and style and gives you unlimited possibilities to design your dream online store. 5+ stars for their amazing developers and support team!”
Immediate Support Available Through: The Support Manual and YouTube videos
Preview WoodMart
In brief: Hongo is a conversion optimized Shopify theme with unique customer-centric demos.
Click the video to check one Hongo’s top downloaded templates.
Hongo advertises design quality as its top feature. To be specific, when Hongo’s design quality is passed on to the Shopify-type websites you can create, the meaning becomes clear. That design quality accounts for the money you can save when you use Hongo’s custom eCommerce features instead of Shopify apps, and/or when you take full advantage of Hongo’s customization options.
You’ll see that Hongo is built for speed, giving excellent performance on mobile, and even better performance on desktops.
Hongo has carefully crafted 19 demo stores (more to come) that cover a variety of popular eCommerce niches, together with 150+ sections, and 100+ pre-built pages. Hongo’s Electronics theme would serve admirably as a starter site. Demos can also be mixed and matched.
Rating: 4.87/5
Client Feedback: “I would say customizability is really great as I mixed up different sections from different demos easily without any issues, their documentation helped, and their support is great and always happy to help.”
Immediate Support Available Through: The Support Manual, 150+ online articles, and YouTube Videos
Preview Hongo
In brief: Litho is a multipurpose highly customizable Elementor WordPress theme.
Click the video to check one Litho’s top downloaded templates.
Litho’s developer has built an impressive range of page building options and capabilities, extending Elementor’s capabilities. Litho is an excellent solution for all types of website projects, from freelancers, artists, shop owners, and digital agencies, bloggers, and writers.
Startup companies can profit from using Litho’s capabilities, including its demos that can be mixed and imported either one by one or collectively. Litho’s Home Personal Portfolio demo is one of its most popular. If a portfolio website is on your to-do list, this striking layout may just be your cup of tea.
Furthermore, you can use Elementor to personalize a variety of page elements such as the header, footer, mini header, archive page/post template, page title, and promotional popup.
Rating: 4.94/5
Client Feedback: “I have purchased more than a couple themes through ThemeForest and by far, the support that I received from the ThemeZaa team has been the best I have ever gotten. For all of the questions that I had, they always went the extra mile to ensure everything was resolved. Keep up the great work!”
Immediate Support Available Through: The Support Manual as well as Litho’s Support Portal and YouTube Videos
Preview Litho
In brief: The #1 resource if you are looking for top quality illustrations characterized by exquisite attention to detail.
Click the video to see one of GetIllustrations packets.
GetIllustrations’ top feature is its library of 21,500 premium vector illustrations which are organized in 40+ categories to make your search easier. The number of illustrations constantly increases as new illustrations are added on a weekly basis. If you are a GetIllustrations user, you will receive free updates for one year.
Each vector illustration is designed to carry a message that will amuse, inform, or engage your website visitors. Many of the categories have several hundred illustrations, and several have more than 1,000.
The Notional illustrations pack for example caters to organizational staff members, educational resources, and the like Each of the pack’s 100 illustration elements are presented in a minimalistic black and white style that only emphasizes the message they convey.
Client Feedback: “I came to Getillustrations team with a very specific idea for the illustration style I needed for a brand identity my studio was created for a company. They took my art direction and executed the concepts flawlessly, and beyond my expectations. On top of that, they delivered the illustrations and icons very quickly and made changes according to my feedback with impressive speed. 10 out of 10 recommend using them for your next project!”
Immediate Support: vector stock illustrations are in .Ai .SVG .PNG and .Figma formats.
Preview GetIllustrations
In brief: XStore is your best choice for building high-converting online stores.
Click the video to check one of XStore’s top downloaded templates.
XStore is famous for its prebuilt e-stores. However, its impressive no. of e-stores has recently surpassed in popularity by a feature called Sales Booster.
These features are designed to make shopping quicker and increase a store’s conversion rate. They include Frequently Bought Together, Cross sells after “Add to Cart,” a sticky ad to cart bar, a Free Shipping progress bar, and more.
XStore also features a Single Product Builder, an Archive Products Builder, a Checkout Builder, and a Cart Builder for shop owners.
You will find the XStore Builders Panel and XStore Control Panel a breeze to use and its Booster Sales capabilities a real asset. Their demos were built so that you can rapidly start working on your e-store project. The XStore Elementor Minimal Fashion pre-built store is a client favorite, and one of the most effective at engaging visitors.
Rating: 4.88/5
Client Feedback: “I purchased the XStore Theme, which has amazing features, and their support team is fabulous. I recommend adding a Multi-currency Feature in the XStore theme because a lot of client wants business in multiple countries.”
Immediate Support Available Through: YouTube videos and the Support Manual
Preview XStore
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We wanted to create a list of high performance yet not tremendously popular web design resources and tools you can use for:
- E-stores that efficiently transform visitors in clients with the help of tailored ecommerce features.
- Website projects that persuade visitors through the use of aesthetically superior design and visuals.
- Website functionalities that are currently in-demand – booking forms being a good example.
We’re confident that this list achieves all the above. To that end, we gave you essential information to help you make a decision to either test a product or to ditch it.
The table below is a one sentence summary of all the products listed above.
| WordPress Plugin | Summary | Standout Feature |
|---|---|---|
| Trafft | An excellent White Label booking solution | Trafft’s White Label Option |
| WpDataTables | The best WordPress plugin for simplifying table and chart building. | Multiple Database Connections |
| Amelia | An ideal solution for beautiful and intuitive booking websites | Multilingual Notifications system |
| LayerSlider | The premier WordPress plugin for making basic sliders. | The design of demos |
| Uncode | The best multiuse WordPress and WooCommerce go-to solution for any project | Seamless integration of fantastic animations |
| Mobirise AI Website Builder | Download full pages /websites using prompt commands | Prompt command and AI |
| Blocksy | Blocksy’s free WordPress theme is an ideal choice for building beautiful, lightweight websites. | Advanced WooCommerce integration |
| Slider Revolution | The best WordPress plugin solution for producing jaw-dropping animated sliders. | Generating WOW WordPress effects |
| WhatFontIs | The most accurate free font identifier | Identify a font from a submitted image. |
| Essential Grid | The #1 WordPress Gallery Plugin for businesses. | 50+ unique grid skins |
| Woodmart | The most user friendly WooCommerce theme for niche ecommerce design. | Realistic custom layouts |
| Hongo Shopify | A creative conversion optimized Shopify theme. | Brilliant design quality |
| Litho | Creative and highly customizable multi-purpose Elementor WordPress theme | Elementor |
| GetIllustrations | The #1 resource for top quality illustrations | Library of 21,500 premium vector illustrations |
| XStore | The best WooCommerce theme for building high-conversion rate online stores | Sales Boosters |
