Framer vs Figma Sites: Which Website Builder Is Right For You?

Today's designers want to turn creative visions into real websites without writing code.

For years, this meant designing in Figma, then handing off to developers or rebuilding everything in a website builder.

But that's changing fast.

As someone who's been in the no-code space for quite some time now, Framer has always been my go-to suggestion for designers who want to go from design to live website seamlessly. Its main selling point being that the interface feels familiar to Figma users, but allows you to publish a live site after design.

Now Figma has entered the game with their own website builder, Figma Sites, announced at Config 2025.

But does their new offering have what it takes to dethrone Framer? Let's compare Figma Sites vs Framer, and find out.

What is Framer?

Framer started as a prototyping tool for designers who wanted to create interactive demos of their work.

In 2022, Framer completely pivoted to become a full website builder, letting designers create and publish real websites directly from their canvas.

Today, Framer is the go-to choice for designers, agencies, and businesses who want professional websites with advanced animations, solid SEO, and full creative control.

How to Get Started with Framer

Getting started with Framer is straightforward:

1. Head over to Framer.com

2. Click "Get Started for Free"

3. Create your account

4. Choose a template or start from scratch

5. Start designing directly on the canvas

You’ll feel at home here if you've used design tools before - it's clean, powerful, and puts your website front and center.

What is Figma Sites?

Figma Sites is brand new - it was announced at Config 2025 in May and is currently in open beta.

This is Figma's answer to the growing demand from their millions of users who wanted to publish their designs directly as websites.

The idea is that you’ll design in Figma like you always have, then publish that same design as a fully functional website with one click.

Since Figma already owns the design workflow for most product teams, Sites could potentially become a major player if they execute well.

How to Get Started with Figma Sites

Here's how you to try Figma Sites:

1. Open Figma in your browser

2. Create a new file and select "Figma Sites"

3. Choose from their template library

4. Design using familiar Figma tools

5. Hit publish when ready

The experience is pretty much the same as regular Figma design, which is both its biggest strength and potential limitation.

Framer vs Figma Sites: Ease Of Use

To be honest, if a platform is too complicated to use, it doesn't really matter how powerful it is.

Both tools target designers, but they take very different approaches to user experience.

Framer's Ease Of Use

Framer is built specifically for web design.

The interface is clean and focused, with web-specific features front and center. If you've used Figma before, you'll find Framer familiar but more specialized for website creation.

Pros:

• Purpose-built for web design

• Intuitive drag-and-drop interface

• Web-specific features are easy to find

• Great documentation and tutorials

Cons:

• Steeper learning curve than basic website builders

• Requires understanding of web design principles

• More complex than drag-and-drop builders like Squarespace

Figma Sites' Ease Of Use

Figma Sites has one massive advantage - if you already use Figma, you already know how to use it.

The interface is identical to regular Figma, with a few web-specific features added in.

Pros:

• No learning curve for Figma users

• Familiar tools and interface

• Easy to copy existing designs over

• Same collaboration features as Figma

Cons:

• Limited to basic web functionality

• Interface wasn't originally designed for web publishing

• Beta limitations can be frustrating

• Lacks web-specific optimization tools

Verdict

I’d say this is a Tie - but for different reasons.

Choose Framer if you want a tool purpose-built for professional web design, even if it means a slightly steeper learning curve.

Choose Figma Sites if you're already a Figma power user and want the absolute easiest transition to web publishing.

Framer vs Figma Sites: Templates & Design Quality

Website templates give you a professionally designed structure to begin your design with. You can customize them to fit your brand, saving you loads of time and effort.

Templates are especially beneficial if you want to launch your website quickly without starting from scratch or hiring a designer.

Framer Templates

Framer has an impressive template ecosystem with over 1,000 professionally designed templates, and more being added all the time.

The quality is genuinely impressive - each template is reviewed by Framer themselves before they’re listed for quality. 

What Makes Framer Templates Special:

• Designed by the best of Framer’s creators and agencies

• Built-in animations and interactions

• Properly optimized for performance

• Cover every niche imaginable

• Fully customizable down to the smallest detail

To me, the Framer marketplace feels much more like a premium design gallery than most other template libraries out there.

Not sure which Framer template is right for you? Try my template quiz to find out, and get 30% off your first purchase.

Figma Sites Templates

Figma Sites launched with around 50 templates, which is actually super impressive for a beta product.

From what I’ve seen, the templates they’ve got on offer so far are different from any I’ve seen before, but they’re seemingly static, which means you won’t get the same animation and responsivity as with a Framer template.

Pros:

• Clean, modern designs

• Easy to customize with familiar Figma tools

• Good variety for a new platform

• Seamless integration with Figma design systems

Cons:

• Much smaller selection than Framer

• Simpler functionality (due to platform limitations)

• No advanced animations or interactions built-in

• Limited to basic website types

Verdict

Framer wins decisively.

Figma Sites' templates are solid, but Framer's template ecosystem is in a completely different league. The variety, quality, and sophistication of Framer templates make this an easy choice for me, but I’d love to see where Figma goes with this moving forward.

Framer vs Figma Sites: Website Performance & SEO

Here's where things get serious. A beautiful website means nothing if it loads slowly or can't be found on Google.

Framer's Performance & SEO

Framer has spent years optimizing for performance and SEO, and it shows.

Performance Features:

• Excellent Core Web Vitals scores

• Automatic image optimization

• Clean, optimized code output

• Fast global CDN

• Lazy loading built-in

SEO Capabilities:

• Automatic XML sitemaps

• Custom meta titles and descriptions for every page

• Schema markup support

• Clean URL structure

• Automatic robots.txt generation

• CMS-driven SEO optimization

Figma Sites' Performance & SEO

This is where Figma Sites' beta status sadly really stands out. Multiple independent tests online have shown Figma Sites scoring significantly lower on both performance and SEO metrics.

Current Performance Issues:

• Lower PageSpeed scores compared to Framer

• Browser compatibility problems (especially Safari)

• Font rendering issues

• Gradient display problems

SEO Limitations:

• Basic meta tag support

• Poor accessibility by default

• No advanced SEO tools

• Limited structured data support

Verdict

Framer wins by a landslide.

If you care about website performance, SEO, or professional results, Framer is streets ahead. Figma Sites might improve over time, but right now it's not even close.

Framer vs Figma Sites: Content Management (CMS)

If you plan to regularly update your website with new content, you need a solid content management system.

Framer's CMS

Framer offers a powerful, built-in CMS that's designed specifically for designers.

Key Features:

• Create custom content types (blog posts, portfolio items, team members, etc.)

• Visual content editing directly on the canvas

• Automatic page generation for CMS items

• SEO optimization for dynamic content

• Rich media support

• Multi-language capabilities

Figma Sites' CMS

Here's the thing. Figma Sites doesn't have a CMS yet.

As of June 2025, the CMS functionality is "coming soon." They showed a preview at Config 2025, but it's not available to users right now.

Verdict

Framer wins by default.

Until Figma Sites ships their CMS, this isn't even a competition. I’ll update this when we know more.

Framer vs Figma Sites: Advanced Features & Functionality

Let's look at the advanced features that separate professional website builders from basic ones.

Framer's Advanced Features

Framer is packed with professional-grade features:

Animation & Interactions:

• Advanced animation timeline

• Custom easing curves

• Scroll-triggered animations

• Hover states and micro-interactions

• Component variants with smooth transitions

Development Features:

• Custom code components

• React component support

• CSS customization

• API integrations

• Custom domains and SSL

Business Features:

• A/B testing built-in

• Analytics dashboard

• Form handling

• Password protection

• White-label options for agencies

Figma Sites' Advanced Features

Figma Sites is much more limited as a beta product:

Available Features:

• Basic animations (marquee, parallax, hover effects)

• Code layers (recently added)

• Responsive breakpoints

• Basic form handling

Missing Features:

• No CMS (as mentioned)

• Limited animation options

• No A/B testing

• Basic analytics only

• No API integrations

Verdict

Framer, again.

The feature gap between these platforms is massive. It’s totally understandable, since Framer has built up professional-grade capabilities over time, while Figma Sites is still working on the basics.

Framer vs Figma Sites: Pricing & Value

Pricing matters, especially for freelancers and small businesses.

Framer Pricing (2025)

Framer's pricing is straightforward and predictable:

• Free Plan: Personal projects with Framer branding

• Mini Plan: $5/month - Simple sites, custom domain

• Basic Plan: $15/month - Personal sites, 1 CMS collection

• Pro Plan: $25/month - Business sites, 10 CMS collections

• Enterprise: Custom pricing for large organizations

Figma Sites Pricing (2025)

Figma Sites pricing is a little more complicated:

• Included in all Figma paid plans (no extra cost)

• Custom domains free through 2025 (then pricing TBD)

• Bandwidth and storage free through 2025 (then pricing TBD)

• Professional plan increased to $18/month in March 2025

Figma’s pricing is due to change once the beta period ends.

Verdict

Depends on your situation.

If you're already paying for Figma, Sites is essentially free right now. But there’s uncertainty around future pricing, which makes it hard to plan long-term.

Framer’s more predictable costs brings much better value for serious website projects.

When Should You Choose Framer?

Framer is the right choice if you:

• Need a professional website with strong SEO

• Want advanced animations and interactions

• Plan to manage content regularly (blog, portfolio, etc.)

• Care about website performance and loading speed

• Need proven reliability for client work

• Want access to a mature ecosystem of templates and resources

Perfect for: Agencies, freelancers, businesses, and anyone building professional websites.

When Should You Choose Figma Sites?

Figma Sites makes sense if you:

• Are already deeply invested in Figma's ecosystem

• Need to quickly publish simple landing pages

• Want seamless integration with existing Figma designs

• Are building prototypes or temporary sites

• Don't need advanced CMS or SEO features

• Are okay with beta limitations and uncertainty

Perfect for: Design teams prototyping ideas, simple promotional pages, and Figma power users experimenting with web publishing.

Final Thoughts

I still firmly believe that Framer is the better choice for serious website projects in 2025.

Figma Sites shows promise and will likely improve over the next year, and of course the seamless integration with Figma's design workflow is genuinely a huge advantage.

But right now, it's a beta product with major limitations. No CMS, poor SEO, performance issues, and pricing uncertainty. It’s hard to recommend it for professional use right now.

Unless you're just experimenting or building simple landing pages within an existing Figma workflow, go with Framer.

If you're leaning more towards Framer, be sure to check out my easy-to-customize Framer templates that are designed to get your site seen for all the right reasons.

The competition between the two is ultimately really good for everyone. It pushes both teams to come up with new ideas, and gives designers more choices.