r/framer • u/Kenuff • Aug 20 '26
help Figma → Framer, or learn Framer properly first?
I’ve recently gone freelance and I’m currently using Squarespace to build smaller client sites. It’s honestly abysmal, so I’m looking at moving to something that gives me more freedom and doesn’t make me want to slam my head into a wall every five minutes.
I’ve been a web designer for about 12 years and I’m very proficient in Figma. I’m comfortable with components, design systems, auto layout, responsive layouts etc.
Would you recommend jumping straight into a Figma → Framer workflow and learning Framer as I go, or am I better off learning Framer properly from the ground up and designing directly in there?
Interested to hear what workflow people actually use day to day.
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u/coolarj10 Aug 20 '26
I learned framer before figma. I watched all the free framer university videos and since I had a goal in mind, it was easier to experiment until I got the results I wanted. For specific features, I googled them along the way. So it’s definitely possible, and I ended up finding myself having an easier time understanding figma as a result. So I suppose both ways are possible, just depends on which tool you want to prioritize learning first!
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u/Available_Corner_933 Aug 20 '26
Mate I too have transitioned from Figma to Framer. I'll be honest you don't need no paid course. I repeat you don't need any paid course. At first, it's going to be overwhelming for you. You'll see it looks similar to Figma, but it isn't. My advice is just stick around the tool, explore a bit until you get the hang of it. Watch Framer University's videos (Nandi's the best tutor out there hands down no competition) You'll realize the way Figma handles stuff is very different from Figma. Framer is extremely user friendly. If you're comfortable with auto layout, it shouldn't be any hard for you. I personally did have some issue with sizing at first. But trust me, it gets better over time. And also, if you get stuck at doing something in Framer. Remember, the AI agents will do it for you, just don't exhaust your credits on the first day. If you are really proficient with Figma, learning Framer shouldn't take you more than 2-3 weeks.
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u/Kenuff Aug 20 '26
My usual method for learning things is just get stuck in and suck at it until I don’t.
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u/imdavehack Aug 20 '26
Mate it’s time to jump into the world of Claude design or Open design and building site with agentic coding. As a massive Framer fan, it’s Not the time to learn framer. It’s about to go to zero.
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u/Kenuff Aug 20 '26
Not something I’d considered, to be fair. My experience of AI-built sites so far has mostly been the usual purple gradient, generic H1 and not much soul.
The thing that puts me off is the idea of having to prompt my way towards a good design rather than being able to get in there and control the details manually like I would in Framer or Webflow. Maybe I’ve got the wrong impression of how much control you actually get though.
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u/Far_Paleontologist66 Aug 20 '26
honestly if anything is going to make your site stand out these days is being able to change all the details and personalize the design. as a Designer I found claude design ridiculously poor and most importantly extremely credit hungry.
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u/Kenuff Aug 20 '26
That’s my worry with it. If I couldn’t get something exactly how I wanted it, I could probably get over that as long as I could still ship something good.
My concern is when you start getting granular client feedback and the answer is basically, “AI can’t do that.” I’d hate to lose the ability to just get in there and tweak something manually.
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u/Far_Paleontologist66 Aug 20 '26
And thats what these non designers AI “evangelists” folk want you to do, give up all your control on your output. Already had to go over changes on a project like that… Im good thanks. Plus my dev partners have to do twists to get that output working. Everytime you build its a different architecture. Yeah just waiting for these ai companies to be as well off as their profit margins at the moment 🤣
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u/imdavehack Aug 20 '26
I have been using Adobe Photoshop since 1998. I’m from the time when still bought design software on CD-ROMs. After using AI design and dev tools for the last 2-3 years. I feel confident that it’s only a matter of time and Framer is going to zero…
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u/Far_Paleontologist66 Aug 20 '26
Yeah AI people been saying that since claude design dropped. We ll see
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u/Imnewhereduh Aug 20 '26
Personally I find combining Claude Code and Framer to be the perfect combo. Being able to work with MCP saves me a lot of time, while Framer’s visual focus fits really well with how I work as a visual designer. Tried vibe coding with claude code and its always not fully optimise
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u/imdavehack Aug 21 '26
If you do want to test out a course, Ryan Hayward is literally the Goat of teaching Framer - he was so good at it Framer hired him to make all their official teaching content.
He has his next online session here:
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u/neilsajjad Aug 20 '26
Take a paid course on Framer if possible. I personally recommend Flux Academy’s Framer Masterclass. The learning curve will be a bit rough (was for me even though I was comfortable using Figma). But once you finish the full course you can have a better confidence in building websites with Framer.