Sketch vs Adobe XD: A Battle of the Best UX Design Software
When it comes to user experience design software, two heavy hitters stand out: Sketch and Adobe XD. Both have their share of loyal fans and detractors, but which one is the best choice for your design work?
In this post, we'll compare Sketch and Adobe XD along several dimensions to help you make an informed choice for your UX design needs. No bias or personal preferences, just the facts!
User Interface and Ease of Use
Sketch has been around longer than XD, and this can be seen in its interface. While its initial interface may seem overwhelming to those who are new to it, Sketch has grown to become relatively easy to navigate. Its floating panels give users an option to adjust the workspace according to their preference. The toolbar placement is flexible and also customizable, enabling the user to save frequently used tools.
On the other hand, Adobe XD's interface is sleek, with minimalistic design and panels. The Windows are docked by default, which makes the workspace experience a little bit different from Sketch.
Both software's interfaces have their unique challenges, making it a tie between them. It boils down to a matter of personal preference.
Features
Sketch and Adobe XD have similar features such as artboard or page creation, shapes, text tools, and vector editing tools that make them perfect for UI design. However, when it comes to vector editing, Sketch offers more flexible ways of editing due to the number of vector handles, compared to Adobe XD. Sketch's boolean operations make it easier to manipulate shapes and connectors to create unconventional shapes.
AdobeXD has expanded its native feature set in the form of Adobe plugins, which allows a lot of integrations with clouds, libraries, platforms and much more. Perhaps AdobeXD has an upper hand in expanding its features.
Therefore, Sketch holds a slim advantage in vector editing compared to Adobe XD, while Adobe XD has an advantage in expanding its native feature set.
Collaboration
When it comes to real-time collaboration with other team members, both Sketch and Adobe XD offer collaboration features. Sketch requires you to subscribe to a plan to use their cloud-based collaboration feature, while Adobe XD offers the feature on all its plans.
It is worth noting that Adobe XD allows multiple artboards sharing amongst team members. Collaborators can comment, edit, and share diverse design elements. The drawback is that cloud collaboration with Sketch requires a surface of Sketch Mirror, which is a paid plugin.
As such, Adobe XD is the winner when it comes to the available sharing options, especially if you are working with remote teams.
Pricing
When it comes to pricing, Adobe XD comes with a monthly subscription, starting at $9.99 per month with the option of an annual plan. You have the option to subscribe for a single app or the entire Creative Cloud suite of apps.
Sketch currently has a perpetual licensing model of $99 for the first year, which gives you one year of updates, and $69 yearly from then on. If you stay with version 70 onward, then you are free to continue using that version of Sketch indefinitely.
Due to Adobe XD's flexibility with the entire Creative Cloud suite and a cheaper monthly subscription, it is the winner when it comes to pricing.
Conclusion
Sketch and Adobe XD are powerful UX design software that offer similar and different requirements for UX designers. Although both software is at par in many ways, they differ in pricing, collaboration features, and vector editing features. In conclusion, Sketch is perfect for designers who want the best vector control, and don't mind paying an upfront perpetual license cost. Adobe XD remains a solid choice for teams of designers looking for cloud collaboration and affordable pricing.