Framer
Design · Freemium
Overview
A tool for designing and publishing websites without code. You work on a freeform canvas like a design tool, and Framer handles responsive behavior, hosting, and performance. Koen Bok and Jorn van Dijk founded it in Amsterdam in 2014; it began as a prototyping tool and shifted to being a website builder. Framer is now positioned around AI: it can generate sections, rewrite copy, restructure pages, and apply brand styles from a text prompt. It is used mainly for marketing sites, landing pages, blogs, portfolios, and small resource sites, by designers, startups, and agencies who want a polished site live quickly.
What people use it for
Startups use Framer to get a good-looking marketing site or landing page live in days, often before they have a design or engineering team to spare. Designers use the freeform canvas to control every detail of a layout and add animation, then publish directly instead of handing off to a developer. Agencies build client sites and use the CMS to manage blog posts, case studies, and other structured content. Marketers run and update campaign pages themselves, changing copy and layout with the AI tools rather than filing a request. People build portfolios and personal sites on it because the templates look modern out of the box. Teams that care about page speed use it because Framer optimizes images and output automatically.
Key capabilities
Framer gives you a freeform design canvas with responsive controls, so you place elements precisely while the platform adapts layouts across screen sizes. It has a built-in CMS for structured content; a 2026 update, CMS 3.0, added a table view of the database and bulk actions. AI features generate whole sections and pages from a prompt or a reference, rewrite and translate content, restructure pages, and apply brand colors and fonts. Publishing is one click to a custom domain, with hosting, a global CDN, and automatic image optimization included. There are SEO controls, animation and effects tools, and a template marketplace. There is a free plan plus paid tiers up to Enterprise; after a mid-2026 update the Basic plan includes 50 gigabytes of bandwidth and two CMS collections, and the Pro plan can be extended with paid add-ons for more CMS items and bandwidth. Some AI use is metered with credits. Framer does not offer code export.
Limitations
Framer has no code export. A site exists only inside Framer's system, so the design, CMS content, and page structure cannot be taken elsewhere as source code, and leaving means rebuilding. You cannot control the build output, so there is no way to remove unused JavaScript, choose a lighter framework, or add a custom image pipeline; you get whatever performance profile Framer produces. Lower plans have tight bandwidth and CMS limits that image-heavy or higher-traffic sites can outgrow. It suits design-led marketing sites, not large editorial platforms, complex content structures, or anything transactional. Advanced SEO needs and very large content sets are better served elsewhere.
Insight
Framer is a strong choice when the goal is a sharp-looking marketing site or landing page live fast, with animation and design control that template builders do not give. Designers who want to ship their own work without a developer get the most out of it. The thing to go in knowing is lock-in. There is no code export, so whatever you build stays on Framer, and if the platform's performance or pricing stops working for you, the only exit is a rebuild. For a landing page or a small company site that is an acceptable trade. For a content-heavy site that you expect to grow and outlast the tool, it is a bigger bet, and Webflow or a headless setup gives you more room and an escape route. Match the commitment to how long the site needs to live.
Pricing
Freemium
Website
Last checked 2026-08-30