---
title: "The Right UX Tools to Start With: What You Actually Need"
url: "https://insideuxdesign.com/en/blog/the-right-ux-tools-to-start-with-what-you-actually-need"
language: "en"
description: "Which UX tools do you need to get started? An honest guide to free tools for design, research, testing and accessibility. Build your starter kit now."
published: "2026-07-08T09:00:00+02:00"
updated: "2026-10-15T00:40:14+02:00"
---

# The Right UX Tools to Start With: What You Actually Need

To get started in UX design, three or four tools are enough, and almost all of them are free. An honest overview, sorted by task rather than popularity.

You want to get into UX design, so you start looking for the right tools. Ten minutes later you have three lists of “the 50 best UX tools” open, you have signed up for four free trials, and you still have not designed a single screen. Every tool promises to make research, design and testing “finally easy.” Which of them do you actually need?

The honest answer is shorter than any of those lists: three or four tools are enough to start with, and almost all of them are free. Good UX does not come from software. It comes from methods: understanding people, structuring ideas, designing solutions, testing them and improving them. Tools make those steps more convenient. They replace none of them.

That is why this article sorts tools by task rather than by popularity. For each task, you will learn what is enough at the start, what can come later and where the limits of the free versions are. You can also find the tools mentioned here in our [Resources & tools](https://insideuxdesign.com/en/resources) collection, each with a short assessment.

## Task first, tool second

Before talking about names, it helps to look at the work itself. A typical UX project consists of recurring tasks, whether you are designing an app, a website or an internal tool:

- **Understand:** You find out who uses a product, what those people want to achieve and where they get stuck. This is called [user research](https://insideuxdesign.com/en/glossar/user-research).
- **Structure:** You organize insights, ideas and content, for example in an overview of every step someone goes through with your product.
- **Design:** You create screens, rough at first, then more and more precise.
- **Test:** You let real people try your designs and watch where they get stuck.
- **Check:** You make sure your design also works for people with disabilities, for example in terms of contrast or keyboard use.

There is specialized software for each of these tasks. At the start, though, you do not need a separate tool for every one of them. Many can be handled with tools you already have. So the most important question when choosing is always: What problem do I have right now, and does this tool solve exactly that?

## The basics: paper, pen and a simple document

The most underrated UX tool costs almost nothing: paper and a thick pen. First drafts on paper have a big advantage. They look so unfinished that you do not get lost in details. Instead of spending half an hour looking for the right font size, you sketch five different versions of a home page in the same time and compare them.

Rough drafts like these are called [wireframes](https://insideuxdesign.com/en/glossar/wireframe): simplified sketches that show which elements go where on a screen, without colors, images or finished copy. A thick pen helps because it forces you to stay rough. There is simply no room for details.

The second basic tool is a simple document or spreadsheet, in whatever word processor or spreadsheet app you already use. That is where you collect notes from conversations, interview questions and observations from tests. Specialized research tools such as [Dovetail](https://insideuxdesign.com/en/ressourcen/dovetail) only start to pay off when a team regularly analyzes lots of interviews. For your first five conversations, a well-structured spreadsheet with one row per observation is perfectly fine.

## A design tool: Figma or Penpot

Once your sketches become clearer, you need a digital design tool. With it, you redraw screens cleanly, build reusable components such as buttons and connect screens into a clickable [prototype](https://insideuxdesign.com/en/glossar/prototype). A prototype is a model of your product that feels like the real application without anyone having written a line of code.

### Figma: the team standard

[Figma](https://insideuxdesign.com/en/ressourcen/figma) is the central tool in many teams. It runs in the browser and as a desktop app, several people can work on the same file at once, and developers can read measurements and colors straight from the design. Why Figma has overtaken Sketch, which used to be widespread, is explained in [Sketch vs. Figma in 2026](https://insideuxdesign.com/en/blog/sketch-vs-figma-in-2026-which-one-you-should-choose).

The free Starter plan is enough to get started. According to Figma’s help center, it includes three Figma Design files, three FigJam files (more on that in a moment) and unlimited drafts in your personal space. Version history goes back 30 days, and other people can only edit your drafts on paid plans. That is enough for practice projects and a first portfolio. If you are learning at a university, a school or a bootcamp with instructors, you can also apply for Figma’s free education access. Verification works through your school email address, and the offer is not available in every region.

A note on expectations: Figma has a lot of features, and it is completely normal to use only a fraction of them at first. Frames, shapes, text and connecting screens into a prototype will carry you through your first projects. A separate beginner article in this series covers the Figma basics.

### Penpot: the open alternative

If you prefer open source software or do not want to be tied to one vendor, Penpot is an alternative. Open source means the source code is public and the software can also run on your own server. According to Penpot, its entry-level cloud plan is free and comes without restrictions on tools. The limits are mainly about storage.

The honest assessment: Penpot covers the basics well, but you will come across Figma far more often in job ads and teams. If your goal is a job in UX design, it makes sense to learn the tool employers ask for. The thinking behind it, meaning frames, components and prototypes, transfers easily from one tool to another.

## A whiteboard for ideas and structure

A lot of UX work happens before the actual designing: sorting interview notes, collecting ideas, mapping out processes. A digital whiteboard is ideal for this, an endless canvas for sticky notes, arrows and sketches.

If you already use Figma, FigJam is the obvious choice. It is part of Figma, and the Starter plan includes three FigJam files. A popular alternative is [Miro](https://insideuxdesign.com/en/ressourcen/miro). According to Miro, its free plan allows unlimited team members but only three editable boards. Older boards stay visible but can no longer be changed. The cheapest paid plan costs 8 US dollars per member per month when billed annually, according to Miro.

What you can actually use a whiteboard for as a beginner:

- **Affinity mapping:** You write each observation from your interviews on its own sticky note and group similar notes. This reveals patterns that would get lost in a long list.
- **Journey maps:** A [journey map](https://insideuxdesign.com/en/glossar/journey-map) shows the steps a person goes through with your product, along with their thoughts and pain points.
- **Flows:** You map out which screens follow one another before you design them.

Three editable boards may sound like little, but they are enough at the start if you create one board per project and use several areas side by side. And here too: sticky notes on a real wall do the same job.

## Research and testing: less specialized software than you think

Research and testing is where the temptation to spend money on specialized tools early is greatest. Yet at first you can get by with what you already have.

### Interviews with the video tool you already use

For interviews, what you mainly need is good questions and a way to talk to people. Any common video tool will do. One example: with a free personal Google account, one-on-one calls in Google Meet can last up to 24 hours, according to Google, while calls with three or more participants are limited to one hour. For a classic interview with one person, that is no obstacle.

If you want to record a conversation, ask for explicit permission first and explain what you will use the recording for. Often, detailed notes taken by a second person during the conversation are enough.

### Usability tests with a prototype and screen sharing

A [usability test](https://insideuxdesign.com/en/glossar/usability-testing) means you let people complete typical tasks with your design and watch where they hesitate or fail. You do not need a testing platform for this. A clickable prototype in Figma, a video tool with screen sharing and a list of three to five tasks are enough.

The number of participants also tends to scare people off unnecessarily. Jakob Nielsen of the Nielsen Norman Group argues that a test with five people already uncovers around 85 percent of usability problems, and recommends several small rounds of testing with improvements in between rather than one large study. This figure comes from a mathematical model and is not a law of nature, but it has proven itself as a rule of thumb for getting started.

### When testing platforms make sense

Specialized platforms pay off when you want to run unmoderated tests, meaning tests where you are not there live. Participants complete tasks at their own pace, and the tool analyzes click paths and success rates.

- [Maze](https://insideuxdesign.com/en/ressourcen/maze) runs unmoderated tests on Figma prototypes and websites. There is a free plan with limited features. According to Maze, new accounts also get 30 days of access to premium features, limited to three studies. The paid plans are aimed more at teams than at individuals.
- [Optimal Workshop](https://insideuxdesign.com/en/ressourcen/optimal-workshop) specializes in questions of structure, such as [card sorting](https://insideuxdesign.com/en/glossar/card-sorting) (people sort content into groups that make sense to them) and [tree testing](https://insideuxdesign.com/en/glossar/tree-testing) (people look for content in a text-only version of your navigation).

Both tools are good, but they solve problems you rarely have in your first projects. A small card sorting exercise, for example, also works with index cards on a table.

### Analytics and heatmaps only once there is real traffic

Tools such as [Hotjar](https://insideuxdesign.com/en/ressourcen/hotjar) record how people use a website and display it as a [heatmap](https://insideuxdesign.com/en/glossar/heatmap), a colored map of the areas that get clicked or viewed most. That only makes sense once there is a live website with enough visits. For drafts and prototypes, these tools provide no data.

One detail if you look at Hotjar: according to Hotjar’s help center, the existing free plan is being phased out. Existing accounts can keep using it for now, and the company recommends the free plan of its sister platform Contentsquare as the successor. So check which offer is current before you sign up. And keep in mind that these tools collect data about people: on a real website, they belong in your privacy policy and in the EU usually require consent.

## Check accessibility from the start

[Accessibility](https://insideuxdesign.com/en/glossar/accessibility) means that people can use a product even if they have low vision, do not use a mouse or perceive colors differently. It is not a topic for later, and the right tools are free.

- The [WebAIM Contrast Checker](https://insideuxdesign.com/en/ressourcen/webaim-contrast-checker) calculates the [contrast ratio](https://insideuxdesign.com/en/glossar/contrast-ratio) between text and background color and shows whether it meets the requirements of the [WCAG](https://insideuxdesign.com/en/glossar/wcag), the international guidelines for accessible web content. It is the first check you should make a habit of for every color combination.
- [WAVE](https://insideuxdesign.com/en/ressourcen/wave) is an evaluation tool from WebAIM, available as a website and as an extension for Chrome, Firefox and Edge. It flags problems such as missing alt text or weak contrast directly on the page. It helps as soon as your design exists as a real website.

What matters is knowing the limits of such tools. The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative makes clear that evaluation tools cannot determine accessibility, they can only assist. Many points require human judgment, such as whether alt text describes an image meaningfully. For an overview of methods beyond tools, see [Accessibility Testing: Tools and Methods for UX Designers](https://insideuxdesign.com/en/blog/accessibility-testing-tools-and-methods-for-ux-designers).

## Knowledge instead of software: free references

Some of the most useful resources for beginners are not programs but well-prepared knowledge. Three of them are worth bookmarking:

- [The 10 usability heuristics](https://insideuxdesign.com/en/ressourcen/10-usability-heuristics) by Jakob Nielsen are rules of thumb for good usability. They let you review any design systematically for typical weaknesses.
- [Laws of UX](https://insideuxdesign.com/en/ressourcen/laws-of-ux) collects psychological principles that matter in interface design, each briefly explained and illustrated.
- The W3C’s [WCAG 2.2 Quick Reference](https://insideuxdesign.com/en/ressourcen/wcag-22-quick-reference) is the official, filterable overview of all requirements for accessible websites.

If you prefer a book in your hands, [Don’t Make Me Think](https://insideuxdesign.com/en/ressourcen/dont-make-me-think) by Steve Krug is a short, very readable introduction to usability.

## What you do not need at the start

The list of things you can safely leave out is just as important as the list of useful tools:

- **Paid subscriptions just in case.** Every tool in this article can be tried for free. Upgrading only pays off once you hit a concrete limit, such as the three files in Figma.
- **A separate tool for every task.** At the start, a design tool with a whiteboard covers sketches, flows, screens and prototypes. Every additional tool means another account, another interface and more files to hunt for.
- **Dozens of plugins.** Figma plugins are handy when you want to speed up a specific task. At the start, you learn more by understanding the core features yourself first.
- **Tools that generate designs with AI.** Generated screens quickly look finished, but they take away exactly the thinking you are trying to learn: Why is this element here, and what does the person need at this point? Once you have mastered the basics, you can use such tools more deliberately and judge their results better.

The pattern behind all of this is the same. A new tool feels like progress, but it is often just a distraction from the actual project.

## An example: the starter kit for a first project

Here is what this looks like in practice, using a made-up practice project. Say you want to improve online booking for a small yoga studio. Right now, customers have to send an email and wait for a reply.

**Before**, the toolbox might look like this: an account with a research tool for interview notes, a whiteboard tool, a design tool, a testing platform, a heatmap tool and two color palette generators. Seven sign-ups before the first screen exists, and in the end the notes are scattered across three platforms.

**After**, four things are enough, and all of them are free:

1. **Understand:** You talk to five people who regularly attend yoga classes via video call. You collect your notes in a spreadsheet, one row per observation.
2. **Structure:** In FigJam, you transfer the observations to sticky notes and group them. A pattern quickly emerges: almost everyone mainly wants to see whether a specific class still has spots available.
3. **Design:** On paper, you sketch three versions of the class overview. You build the most convincing one in Figma as a clickable prototype.
4. **Test and check:** You have five people book a class via screen sharing, note where they hesitate and revise the design. Before the next test, you check all color combinations with the WebAIM Contrast Checker.

This project covers the entire process from research to a tested prototype. It even works as a first portfolio piece, and not a single tool cost money.

## Conclusion

The right UX tools for beginners are the ones that help with your next task without distracting you from it. In most cases, that means paper and pen for quick ideas, a spreadsheet for notes, Figma or Penpot for designs and prototypes, a whiteboard such as FigJam or Miro for sorting, and two free evaluation tools for contrast and accessibility.

Testing platforms, analytics and specialized research software have their place, but only once you hit the limits of the simple tools. Until then, your time is better spent on what no tool can do for you: talking to people, observing closely and improving your designs again and again.

One last practical tip: prices and free allowances change regularly with these vendors. Take a quick look at the current pricing page before you sign up.

## Checklist

- You know which task you want to solve before you try a new tool.
- You sketch first ideas on paper before opening a design tool.
- You collect notes from interviews and tests in one single place.
- You use a design tool (Figma or Penpot) on the free plan.
- You use a whiteboard for sorting and flows, digital or on the wall.
- You run interviews and first usability tests via video call with screen sharing.
- You check every color combination with a contrast checker.
- You only commit to paid tools once you hit a concrete limit.

## Sources

- [Figma Help Center: Starter plan overview](https://help.figma.com/hc/en-us/articles/13838684089751-Starter-plan-overview)
- [Figma Help Center: Verify your education status](https://help.figma.com/hc/en-us/articles/360041061214)
- [Penpot: Pricing](https://penpot.app/pricing)
- [Miro: Pricing](https://miro.com/pricing/)
- [Google Meet Help: Learn about features in Google Meet](https://support.google.com/meet/answer/13396001?hl=en)
- [Nielsen Norman Group: Why You Only Need to Test with 5 Users](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/why-you-only-need-to-test-with-5-users/)
- [Maze Help Center: Maze free trials](https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/28513024118547-Maze-free-trials)
- [Hotjar Help Center: The Hotjar Free plan is sunsetting](https://help.hotjar.com/hc/en-us/articles/41819264240273-The-Hotjar-Free-plan-is-sunsetting-Switch-to-Contentsquare-Free)
- [WebAIM: WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools](https://wave.webaim.org/)
- [WebAIM: Contrast Checker](https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/)
- [W3C Web Accessibility Initiative: Selecting Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools](https://www.w3.org/WAI/test-evaluate/tools/selecting/)