Adobe XD is not free - it was free while in beta, now it is a launched product that costs money.

https://www.adobe.com/products/xd/compare-plans.html

A very useful version of it is free. More collaboration features come with paid plans.

https://www.adobe.com/products/xd.html

I see a free starter plan there.

Right, but that's very different from "Adobe XD is free". You wouldn't call AWS "free", would you? (ok, this is an extreme difference, but for all we know, it's only a matter of time until the non-free versions become differentiated enough. It's not like Adobe doesn't know marketing)

The only difference between the free (Starter plan) and paid version is that the free version limits you to sharing one prototype at at time.

Thats it. Otherwise, functionality is the same.

Adobe feels like it's playing catch-up when it comes to apps optimised for UI design. Programs like Sketch and Figma address this area particularly well.

I'm just happy to see more alternatives in the design tools space and to see them thriving. Sketch, Figma, Affinity Designer are all some of the vector alternatives doing well. Affinity works on both Windows and Mac. They have a Photoshop alternative in their Photo app and soon a potential InDesign rival in their Publisher app.

I have never seen Figma used, but always Sketch, Invision and Adobe XD. Does Figma have marketshare?

Our small design firm has used Figma a few times on large apps with hundreds of screens, and we prefer it to Sketch.

It's smooth in the browser, although we use the desktop version which runs remarkably well on Electron. Files auto-save instantly and you can do all of the fancy animations and effects that Sketch offers.

The killer feature for us is inviting clients or other designers into the document whilst editing it in real-time like Google Docs. Clients can lock themselves to your viewport so you can talk them through the design (huge win for me, the clients love it), or they can browse around freely and edit the document if you allow them.

Figma should have more market share IMO.

Figma launched in 2015 so they are relatively new. I don't know what their marketshare is but they definitely have 'mindhshare' among many designers (if that counts for something).

If you do an online search for "Sketch vs Figma" (or on YouTube) you'll find dozens of comparisons. Figma is browser-based which is a turn-off for many people (including me). However, sceptical reviewers have been won over by its features and the UI. So in the design tools space, they are definitely one to keep an eye on.

I've switched from Sketch to Figma, and I'm quite happy about it. I'm also using Affinity Designer, which is a fantastic complement to both.

But I'm odd—before Sketch, I used Antetype. I really miss the unique layout engine of that one, but the app fell into neglect and started lagging behind the competition in many aspects.

Edit: As it turns out, Antetype might be revived! [1]

1: http://antetype.com/

> Figma is browser-based which is a turn-off for many people (including me)

What's wrong with it?

It's an interesting problem for Adobe, obviously they have huge inertia behind their products, it's hard to change from a tool you have been using for a long time. On the other hand they are a big corporation that needs feeding, they can't afford to give away their main product.

It isn't just Sketch, there are a whole bunch of developers nipping away at their heels. Many of them offer quality products that are good enough, especially for new users.

I wouldn't bet on Adobe looking anything like it does now in ten or fifteen years time.

As many companies have discovered, it's better to cannibalize your own market share with your own new cheaper product than let other companies eat your market share. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDrMAzCHFUU&t=4m28s

Still, it really does solve a problem. I wouldn't want to be working on a Mac just to have Sketch, as nice as it would be to be able to use it.

Adobe XD is being smartly managed by being multiplatform, and subsidized to gain marketshare.