Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Framer VS Boxes.dev

Compare Framer VS Boxes.dev and see what are their differences

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Framer logo Framer

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

Boxes.dev logo Boxes.dev

Run Claude Code and Codex in your own cloud environment
  • Framer Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-24
Not present

Framer

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

Boxes.dev

Website
boxes.dev
$ Details
-
Release Date
-

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.

Boxes.dev features and specs

  • Instant macOS Development Environments
    Boxes.dev allows developers to quickly spin up macOS virtual machines for development purposes, significantly reducing the time needed to set up clean development environments compared to manual configuration.
  • Native Apple Silicon Support
    Boxes.dev is built to run natively on Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) Macs, leveraging the Apple Virtualization framework for near-native performance without the overhead of traditional emulation.
  • Easy to Use Interface
    The app provides a streamlined, user-friendly interface for creating and managing macOS virtual machines, making virtualization accessible even to developers who aren't familiar with complex VM tooling.
  • Pre-configured Environments
    Boxes.dev offers the ability to create environments with development tools pre-installed or easily configurable, saving developers significant setup time when they need fresh or isolated macOS instances.
  • Snapshot and Restore Capabilities
    Users can take snapshots of their virtual machines and restore them to previous states, which is invaluable for testing, CI/CD workflows, and safely experimenting with system configurations without risk.

Possible disadvantages of Boxes.dev

  • macOS Only
    Boxes.dev is limited to macOS host machines and macOS guest VMs, making it unsuitable for developers who need to run Linux or Windows virtual machines or who work on non-Apple hardware.
  • Paid Software
    Boxes.dev is a commercial product that requires a purchase, which may be a barrier for individual developers or small teams, especially when free alternatives like UTM or raw QEMU exist.
  • Apple Silicon Requirement
    The app primarily targets Apple Silicon Macs, which means developers still using older Intel-based Macs may have limited functionality or may not be able to use the tool at all.
  • Relatively New Product
    As a relatively newer entrant in the virtualization space, Boxes.dev has a smaller community and fewer resources, tutorials, and third-party integrations compared to established tools like Parallels or VMware Fusion.
  • Limited OS Version Support
    Users are generally limited to running macOS versions that Apple's Virtualization framework supports as guests, which can restrict the ability to test on older macOS versions that may still be relevant for compatibility testing.

Analysis of Boxes.dev

Overall verdict

  • Boxes.dev appears to be a solid developer-focused tool that streamlines workflows, though its overall value depends on your specific technical needs and team size.

Why this product is good

  • Developer-centric design that integrates smoothly into existing coding workflows
  • Aims to reduce setup and configuration overhead so teams can focus on building
  • Modern, clean interface that appeals to technical users
  • Potential for improved collaboration and faster project spin-up

Recommended for

  • Software developers and engineering teams looking to simplify their tooling
  • Startups needing to move quickly with minimal infrastructure setup
  • Technical users who value streamlined, code-first workflows
  • Small to mid-sized teams seeking better collaboration on development projects

Framer videos

Introducing Framer Playground

More videos:

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

Boxes.dev videos

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

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Framer and Boxes.dev)
Website Builder
100 100%
0% 0
Developer Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Design Tools
100 100%
0% 0
AI
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using Framer and Boxes.dev. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

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

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.

Boxes.dev Reviews

We have no reviews of Boxes.dev yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Framer should be more popular than Boxes.dev. 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
View more

Boxes.dev mentions (2)

  • Our decision on Cursor following its acquisition by SpaceX
    Devin Automations is the most obvious one: solid UX, but can get very expensive to run. There are also a bunch of newer startups in this space. I'm building one myself, https://boxes.dev -- we're very early but building for this exact use case. Some other ones worth a look are Factory Droid and Amp Orbs. Those two build their own agent harness (like Cursor), whereas with boxes.dev we run the native codex and... - Source: Hacker News / 2 days ago
  • Mitchellh starts a new company: Superlogical
    These tools all assume you have machines to run the agents on. But for parallel agents I'm pretty convinced you want each agent on its own isolated devbox running your dev environment (not e.g. Worktrees on one box) - which isn't trivial to set up and manage. I'm working this with https://boxes.dev - a workspace for launching and managing claude + codex sessions, each running in its own cloud devbox. We launched... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 month ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Framer and Boxes.dev, 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.

Codesphere - Deploy in less than 5s

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

AppWizzy - Build scalable web apps and websites with AI that serve you for years. Professional vibe-coding platform. Perfect to build SaaS, intenal tool, AI tool, business app, etc

Invision - Prototyping and collaboration for design teams

InstaVM - Instant computers for AI agents