The state of free UX tooling in 2025
The barrier to doing good UX work has dropped dramatically. A combination of AI-powered analysis, browser-based tooling, and open design systems means that tasks which once required expensive software or senior-level expertise are now accessible in seconds — often for free. Here are the ten tools we think belong in every product designer's toolkit.
1. Landing Page Analyzer (UXNext)
Paste any URL and get an AI-powered UX audit in under 30 seconds. The Landing Page Analyzer scores your page across clarity, trust, hierarchy, and conversion — then gives you specific, actionable recommendations rather than generic advice. It's the fastest way to get a second opinion on a page before you ship.
2. WCAG Contrast Checker (UXNext)
Colour contrast failures are the most common WCAG violation on the web. The WCAG Contrast Checker lets you enter any foreground and background colour pair and instantly see the contrast ratio, AA/AAA pass/fail at every text size, and suggested adjustments if you fail. No login required.
3. Figma Community
Figma's community library hosts thousands of free UI kits, icon sets, and design system components. For teams without a dedicated design system, it's the fastest way to start with consistent, production-quality components. Search for "WCAG accessible" or "design system" to find the most useful starting points.
4. Typography Scale Generator (UXNext)
Typography is the most underrated part of UI design. The Type Scale Generator helps you build a mathematically harmonious font scale from a base size and ratio, then exports it as CSS variables or a Tailwind config block you can drop straight into your project.
5. Color Palette Generator (UXNext)
Starting a new brand or product? The Color Palette Generator takes a seed colour and generates a complete, accessible palette — full tonal ramp, complementary accent, and semantic tokens (primary, surface, border, text). It does in 10 seconds what used to take an afternoon in Coolors or Adobe Color.
6. Coolors
For quick colour exploration, Coolors remains the gold standard. Lock colours you like, press the spacebar to generate variations, and export to multiple formats. It integrates directly with Figma via plugin. Best for early ideation before you settle on a design system.
7. Copy Generator (UXNext)
UI copy is frequently the last thing teams think about and the first thing users read. The Copy Generator produces headline and CTA variants for any product or feature description — useful for A/B testing or when you need something better than "Get Started" on a CTA button in 30 seconds.
8. Accessibility Insights (Microsoft)
The Accessibility Insights browser extension (Chrome and Edge) runs an automated accessibility scan across an entire page and walks you through manual checks for issues automated tools miss — focus order, keyboard traps, and ARIA labelling. Free, thorough, and built on axe-core.
9. UX Persona Generator (UXNext)
Generating personas from scratch takes hours. The Persona Generator produces research-grounded user personas from a product description — complete with goals, pain points, and scenario context. Useful for quick stakeholder alignment or for injecting fresh perspective into a design review.
10. PageSpeed Insights (Google)
UX is not just about visual design — performance is experience. PageSpeed Insights runs a Lighthouse audit against any URL and gives you Core Web Vitals scores along with specific technical recommendations. A page that passes UX review but loads in 8 seconds on mobile will still lose users. Check both.
Putting it together
The tools above cover the full UX stack: discovery (persona), structure (type scale, colour palette), implementation (contrast checker, landing analyzer), and copy — all free, all browser-based. The most effective practice is to run the Landing Analyzer and WCAG Contrast Checker as a final review before every major release, the same way you'd run a spell-check before publishing.
Good tooling doesn't replace good thinking, but it removes the friction that causes corners to get cut.