Invision vs Miro: Which is Better?
InVision vs Miro: Which is Better?
InVision and Miro are both popular tools used for collaboration, ideation, and design, but they are used in slightly different contexts. While they both enable teams to collaborate effectively, each tool has its unique strengths. Here’s a detailed comparison to help you decide which one suits your needs.
1. Overview
đź”´ InVision
- Founded: 2011
- Primary Use: Design collaboration, prototyping, and handoff.
- Target Audience: Designers, product teams, and stakeholders who need to create interactive prototypes, review designs, and collaborate on user flows.
- Platform: Web-based (with desktop and mobile apps available).
- Key Features: Prototyping, design collaboration, feedback, and handoff tools (specs and assets for developers).
🔵 Miro
- Founded: 2011
- Primary Use: Visual collaboration, brainstorming, and ideation.
- Target Audience: Teams across various industries, including design, product development, project management, and business strategy.
- Platform: Web-based (with desktop and mobile apps available).
- Key Features: Infinite canvas for brainstorming, templates for meetings, sticky notes, collaborative boards, and integrations with other tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Google Workspace.
2. Core Features
| Feature | InVision | Miro |
|---|---|---|
| Prototyping | ✅ Interactive prototypes with transitions and animations | ❌ No prototyping features; Miro focuses on brainstorming and ideation |
| Design Handoff | ✅ Detailed specs, assets, and code snippets for developers | ❌ No design handoff features |
| Real-Time Collaboration | âś… Designers and teams can collaborate and leave feedback on designs | âś… Teams can collaborate on brainstorming, planning, and ideation in real-time |
| Templates | âś… Some templates for design reviews, workflows | âś… Extensive library of templates for brainstorming, planning, and workshops |
| Sticky Notes | ❌ Limited sticky note capabilities (primarily used for design feedback) | ✅ Core feature for brainstorming and idea generation |
| Whiteboard | ❌ No whiteboarding features, focused on design prototypes | ✅ Infinite canvas for visual collaboration with sticky notes, shapes, and diagrams |
| Feedback | âś… Commenting and feedback on prototypes and designs | âś… Sticky notes, comments, and reactions during brainstorming sessions |
🏆 Winner: Miro – For its extensive whiteboarding features and flexible collaboration tools for teams. InVision, on the other hand, excels in design collaboration but is more limited in visual brainstorming.
3. Collaboration & Teamwork
InVision
- Collaborative Prototyping: InVision is specifically designed for collaborating on design prototypes. Designers and stakeholders can leave comments directly on the design, making feedback collection easy and organized.
- Design Handoff: Developers can easily access specs, assets, and code snippets, making it a seamless tool for design-to-development collaboration.
- Version Control: InVision has version control for design files, ensuring that everyone is working with the latest iteration of the prototype.
Miro
- Brainstorming and Ideation: Miro is primarily used for collaborative brainstorming, planning, and ideation. Teams can work together on an infinite canvas, adding sticky notes, shapes, text, and images in real-time.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Miro is used across teams for strategic planning, mind mapping, workshops, and agile planning. It’s perfect for cross-functional teams to collaborate beyond just design.
- Real-Time Updates: Miro’s real-time collaboration allows for live updates, with everyone seeing the changes instantly.
🏆 Winner: Miro – Better suited for brainstorming, cross-functional collaboration, and strategic planning. InVision is focused on design-specific collaboration.
4. Use Cases
InVision
- Prototyping: InVision’s primary strength lies in creating interactive, clickable prototypes for websites, apps, and user interfaces. It allows designers to simulate user interactions and flows.
- Design Reviews: It’s widely used for design review processes, where stakeholders can leave comments and feedback directly on the design prototypes.
- Design Handoff: InVision allows for seamless handoff between designers and developers, providing design specifications and assets.
Miro
- Brainstorming: Miro is great for brainstorming sessions, allowing teams to visualize ideas in an organized, collaborative space.
- Workshops & Meetings: Miro is often used for agile planning, retrospective meetings, and workshops, where teams can collaborate on strategies, goals, and project timelines.
- Strategic Planning: Miro’s visual collaboration tools help teams build roadmaps, mind maps, and process flows to strategize their projects and align on goals.
🏆 Winner: InVision – For design-specific tasks such as prototyping and handoff, while Miro is more about brainstorming and strategy planning.
5. Integrations & Tools
InVision
- Design Tools: Integrates with design tools like Sketch, Photoshop, and Adobe XD for easier importing of designs.
- Team Collaboration: Can be connected to Slack, Jira, and Trello for seamless communication and project management.
- Developer Handoff: Provides integrations with Zeplin and other developer tools to streamline the design-to-development handoff process.
Miro
- Productivity Tools: Miro integrates with Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Drive, and other productivity tools to facilitate cross-functional collaboration.
- Design Tools: It integrates with Sketch and Figma, allowing teams to bring designs into Miro for brainstorming and feedback.
- Task Management: Miro integrates with Jira, Trello, and Asana, allowing teams to manage tasks, workflows, and project timelines directly from the platform.
🏆 Winner: Miro – More extensive integrations across a variety of tools, especially for cross-functional collaboration.
6. Pricing
| Feature | InVision | Miro |
|---|---|---|
| Free Plan | âś… Yes, limited to 1 active prototype | âś… Yes, limited to 3 editable boards |
| Paid Plans | Starts at $7.95/month (for small teams) | Starts at $8 per user/month (for Teams) |
| Enterprise | Custom pricing | Custom pricing |
🏆 Winner: Miro – Miro offers more flexibility in pricing with a free plan for small teams and extensive board capabilities, while InVision’s free plan is limited.
7. Ease of Use
InVision
- User-Friendly: InVision’s interface is relatively intuitive for designers, especially if you’re familiar with design tools like Sketch or Photoshop.
- Learning Curve: While InVision is straightforward, designers may face a small learning curve if they’re not familiar with its prototyping features or the review process.
Miro
- User-Friendly: Miro is also quite user-friendly, with an easy drag-and-drop interface for adding sticky notes, images, and other elements to the board.
- Learning Curve: Miro’s interface is simple to learn, especially for teams already using collaboration tools. The learning curve is minimal.
🏆 Winner: Miro – For its simplicity and intuitive interface, making it easier to get started.
8. Final Verdict: InVision vs Miro
When to Choose InVision?
- If your primary need is for design collaboration, prototyping, and handoff, InVision excels with its interactive prototypes and detailed handoff features.
- If you are working with a design team and need to get feedback on design prototypes from stakeholders.
- If you need an integrated design-to-development workflow for smooth handoffs to developers.
When to Choose Miro?
- If you’re looking for a visual collaboration tool for brainstorming, ideation, and strategic planning.
- If you need an infinite canvas for real-time collaboration with sticky notes, shapes, and diagrams.
- If you’re working with cross-functional teams on projects, workshops, and agile planning.
TL;DR:
- InVision is ideal for design collaboration, prototyping, and handoff—great for teams focused on UI/UX design.
- Miro is better for brainstorming, ideation, workshops, and cross-functional collaboration—perfect for teams working on strategy, planning, and creative brainstorming.
đź–Ś Winner: InVision for design-specific collaboration and prototyping. Miro wins for team-wide collaboration, brainstorming, and ideation.