Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Framer VS ArtDeck

Compare Framer VS ArtDeck and see what are their differences

Framer logo Framer

๐Ÿ”ฅ Design real websites right on the canvas.

ArtDeck logo ArtDeck

Visual reference-board app for creatives to collect images, video, links, notes, GIFs, and PDFs, with study tools and iCloud sync across iPhone, iPad, and Mac
  • Framer Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-24
  • ArtDeck ArtDeck board
    ArtDeck board //
    2026-08-07
  • ArtDeck ArtDeck carousel
    ArtDeck carousel //
    2026-08-07
  • ArtDeck Toolbox
    Toolbox //
    2026-08-07
  • ArtDeck Motion Study
    Motion Study //
    2026-08-07
  • ArtDeck Procreate + ArtDeck
    Procreate + ArtDeck //
    2026-08-07
  • ArtDeck Three platforms
    Three platforms //
    2026-08-07

Build a moodboard, gather references for a project, or study an artwork up close. Everything stays together instead of scattered across screenshots, folders, and tabs.

COLLECT FROM ANYWHERE โ€ข Take photos and video, scan documents, or import from Photos and Files โ€ข Save web links as preview cards, or import images, video, and PDFs from a link โ€ข Drag and drop, paste, or use the Share menu from other apps โ€ข Open common image formats along with video, GIFs, and PDFs up to 300 pages

STUDY WHAT YOU COLLECT Use the ToolBox's five lenses on any image or video frame without changing the original: โ€ข Values: grayscale, value ladder, and Notan for reading light and shadow โ€ข Color: extract a palette or inspect temperature and saturation โ€ข Composition: overlay grids, test framing, and check symmetry โ€ข Read: simplify large shapes, inspect detail density, and follow edge hierarchy โ€ข Measure: use plumb lines, snapping angle guides, and length comparisons The Analysis panel shows value range, histogram, hue, saturation, and color distribution. Export a study or keep a copy on the board. Step through GIFs and video frame by frame with onion skinning and a filmstrip.

ANNOTATE AND ARRANGE Mark up images or draw directly with pens, highlighters, and shapes. Arrange everything on an infinite canvas: drag, scale, rotate, group, nest, align, distribute, lock, undo, and redo.

YOUR BOARDS, EVERYWHERE Keep the same boards on iPhone, iPad, and Mac through iCloud. ArtDeck works fully offline and catches up when you reconnect. Choose which boards sync, use Split View or Stage Manager on iPad, and keep the ArtDeck window above other apps on Mac.

ORGANIZE IT YOUR WAY Browse every board in carousel or grid view. Add labels, combine filters, and favorite, archive, rename, or duplicate boards.

EXPORT AND HAND OFF Export a whole board or a selection as PNG, JPEG, HEIC, or PDF, up to 8K. Save a complete board as an .artdeck file for backup or handoff.

Keep what catches your eye.

Framer

Website
framer.com
$ Details
Release Date
2013 January
Startup details
Country
The Netherlands
City
Amsterdam
Founder(s)
Jorn van Dijk
Employees
50 - 99

ArtDeck

$ Details
paid $5.99 / One-off
Release Date
2026 August
Startup details
Country
France

Framer features and specs

  • Interactive Prototyping
    Framer allows the creation of highly interactive and realistic prototypes, which can closely mimic the final product. This aids in user testing and feedback.
  • Code-based Design
    Framer combines design tools with production-level code, enabling designers to create custom animations and interactions using JavaScript and React.
  • Real-time Collaboration
    Teams can collaborate in real-time, making it easier to share ideas, review progress, and make adjustments on the fly.
  • Rich Component Library
    Framer comes with a comprehensive library of pre-built components, speeding up the design process and ensuring consistency across projects.
  • Responsive Design
    Framer supports responsive design, allowing prototypes to adjust seamlessly to different screen sizes and devices.
  • Third-party Integrations
    It offers integration with tools like Figma, Sketch, and Photoshop, enabling a smooth workflow for designers who use multiple tools.
  • Animation Capabilities
    Framer excels at creating complex animations and transitions, which can enhance the user experience and make the designs more engaging.
  • Flexible Workflows
    It accommodates various workflows, from designing static UIs to building fully interactive prototypes, making it versatile for different project needs.

Possible disadvantages of Framer

  • Learning Curve
    Framer's advanced features, including its code-based design, can be daunting for beginners or designers who are not familiar with coding.
  • Cost
    Framer can be expensive, and its subscription model may not be affordable for all individual designers or small teams.
  • Performance
    Complex prototypes with numerous interactions and animations can sometimes slow down the performance, especially on less powerful machines.
  • Limited Offline Capabilities
    Framer's reliance on an internet connection for real-time collaboration and cloud-based features can be a drawback in environments with limited internet access.
  • Over-reliance on Components
    While the component library is extensive, over-relying on pre-built components can sometimes stifle creativity and result in less unique designs.
  • Steep Pricing for Advanced Features
    Some of the advanced features and integrations are only available in higher-priced plans, which may limit access for users on basic plans.
  • Compatibility Issues
    There can be occasional compatibility issues with other design tools or software updates, which might disrupt the workflow.
  • Resource-Intensive
    Running Framer, especially with complex projects, can be resource-intensive and may require high-performance hardware to function smoothly.

ArtDeck features and specs

  • ToolBox - Study lenses
    Five lenses on any saved image: values, color, composition, read, and measure, so you can pull a palette, check a composition, or take an angle without leaving the board.
  • One canvas for everything
    Images, videos, GIFs, links with previews, notes, PDFs, palettes, drawings, and nested groups all live on the same board.
  • iPhone, iPad, And Mac
    Save on your phone, study beside a drawing app on iPad, organize on Mac. Sync is opt-in per board through your own iCloud, and boards work offline.
  • One-Time Purchase
    Buy once and keep it. No subscription, no in-app purchases, and no ArtDeck account to create.
  • Motion Study
    Step through video and GIF references, slow playback down, open a GIF filmstrip, and overlay nearby frames with onion skinning.

Framer videos

Introducing Framer Playground

More videos:

  • Review - UI Interactions in Framer Playground
  • Tutorial - Framer Playground Tutorial

ArtDeck videos

No ArtDeck videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Framer and ArtDeck)
Website Builder
100 100%
0% 0
Productivity
0 0%
100% 100
Design Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Digital Asset Management
0 0%
100% 100

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing Framer and ArtDeck.

What makes your product unique?

ArtDeck's answer:

Most reference apps stop once the image is saved but ArtDeck keeps going.

It is the only reference board where collecting and studying happen in the same place, on the device you happen to be holding.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

ArtDeck's answer:

Against PureRef. PureRef is excellent on a desktop and has more specialized window modes: click-through transparency, always-on-top of one chosen app, separate overlays. It also runs on Windows and Linux, which ArtDeck does not. Choose ArtDeck when your references need to move between iPhone, iPad, and Mac, when you work on iPad beside a drawing app, when you study video reference, or when you want palette, value, composition, and measurement tools built in.

Against Eagle. Eagle is a library manager with strong tagging, smart folders, and batch operations on Mac and Windows. It has no native phone or tablet board. ArtDeck is a board first: things sit side by side on a canvas rather than in a grid, and the board travels with you.

Against Pinterest and the camera roll. Both are good at saving and bad at using. Pinterest ties your collection to an account, an algorithm, and a connection. ArtDeck boards are files on your devices, work offline, and never get reorganized by someone else's feed.

Against Milanote and general canvas tools. Those are built for teams planning work together, priced per seat per month. ArtDeck is built for one person studying images, bought once.

How would you describe the primary audience of your product?

ArtDeck's answer:

People who save images because looking at them carefully is part of how they work.

Concretely, that is digital artists and illustrators, concept and game artists, 3D artists, designers, photographers, animators working from motion reference, and art students. It also fits anyone with thousands of screenshots and saved pins who has never been able to actually use them.

What they have in common is a habit rather than a job title: they gather references from the web, the camera roll, files, and other apps, lay them out side by side, and study what makes them work. They also tend to own Apple hardware and move between it during a single project. Save something on the phone in the morning, study it on iPad beside Procreate in the afternoon, organize the board on Mac later.

What's the story behind your product?

ArtDeck's answer:

ArtDeck started from a personal problem: references were everywhere and useful nowhere. Saved pins in one place, screenshots in the camera roll, links in browser tabs, images in folders. Plenty of collecting, almost no returning.

The first version was the fix for that, a board where images, links, notes, and videos could sit together on one canvas and come along across iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

The second idea is the one that shaped the app. Collecting a reference and understanding it are not the same thing. Artists have always had a manual set of moves for the second part: squint at the image, flatten it to values, sample the colors, check where the lines land, measure the angle. Those moves were happening outside the app, in other tools or not at all. So ToolBox was built into the board, five lenses that open on any saved image without taking you away from it.

The belief underneath all of it is that what you collect shapes what you create. Collecting is creative work, not filing. And a tool for that should be yours: one purchase, no subscription, works offline, your boards on your own devices.

Which are the primary technologies used for building your product?

ArtDeck's answer:

ArtDeck is a native Apple application, not a cross-platform wrapper. It is written in Swift with SwiftUI, and shares one codebase across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS while adapting the interface to each.

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Framer and ArtDeck

Framer Reviews

10 Best Figma Alternatives in 2024
Framer is known as the best Figma alternative for layout and design options available. Use the stop points in Framer to make sure your website functions properly on all devices. You can alter navigation bars, logos, widgets, and other components to make a website that meets with the clientโ€™s needs.
Top 10 Figma Alternatives for Your Design Needs | ClickUp
Use Framerโ€™s breakpoints to ensure your website works seamlessly on any device. Extensive no-code positioning options allow you to customize navigation bars, badges, sidebars, and other elements to create a website that aligns with client requirements.
Source: clickup.com
9 Best InVision Alternatives to Switch to in 2024
Framer is known for having a steep learning curve. Due to its feature-rich interface, it takes fundamental design knowledge to master the platform. However, prototypes created with Framer are almost similar to the finished product.
Source: designmodo.com
Top No Code Website Builders in 2023
Framer is a comprehensive website design platform that believes in encouraging everyone to build beautiful, fast websites. It is more than simply a tool. Framer began as a basic JavaScript library but over time expanded and changed to become a platform that helps you at every step of your web design journey.
10 Best Website Builders for Companies in 2023
Top companies using Framer are not publicly available as the platform is used primarily by individual designers and design teams rather than large organizations. Framer is, however, used by design teams at tech giants like Google, Uber, Facebook, and Dropbox.

ArtDeck Reviews

We have no reviews of ArtDeck yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Framer seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 19 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Framer mentions (19)

  • The Best 100 Free UI/UX Resources for Every Designer & Developer
    Framer Framer.com Prototyping tool with free tier for small projects. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • If you need a E-Commerce solution here's my lay of the land
    Another thing to think about is taking advantage of a free Stripe account, and creating products, with a free payment links to start accepting payments for products without a website. You could build a free website with framer.com quickly and just not pay for a domain. There are a million site builders but framer is one of the best. Source: over 2 years ago
  • any idea why images in Framer are loading like this? seems like something is corrupted?
    Is this only on framer.com? If you load https://app.framerstatic.com/tinyTourCardDark-TORTZ2D4.png on its own what do you see? Source: over 2 years ago
  • How can i make a website like this fast ? can any one help ??
    See Framer (hosting from $10/mo) I find it one of the best website builders out there atm. If you have some skill you can quickly put together a great website there yourself, if not: https://kristinevilnite.com/. Source: over 2 years ago
  • website to commemorate my dead friend
    I preach Framer too, it is a great website builder however it doesn't provide a way for site visitors to add their own content or create new entries. You most likely will need to find a web developer that can build you a custom website. Source: over 2 years ago
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ArtDeck mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of ArtDeck yet. Tracking of ArtDeck recommendations started around Aug 2026.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Framer and ArtDeck, you can also consider the following products

Webflow - Build dynamic, responsive websites in your browser. Launch with a click. Or export your squeaky-clean code to host wherever you'd like. Discover the professional website builder made for designers.

FrameRef - FrameRef is a modern reference board for creative professionals, combining images, videos, and PDFs in one infinite canvas.

WiX - Create a free website with Wix.com. Customize with Wix' website builder, no coding skills needed. Choose a design, begin customizing and be online today

PureRef - The simple way to view and organize your multiple reference images.

Invision - Prototyping and collaboration for design teams

BeeRef - A Simple Reference Image Viewer