The Complete Guide to Framer: Everything You Need to Know in 2026

What Is Framer?

Framer is a design-first website builder that lets you create production-ready websites entirely in a visual editor. Unlike traditional drag-and-drop builders, Framer is built with the same mental model as professional design tools — layers, stacks, auto-layout, and precise typographic control — then generates clean, optimised code behind the scenes.

What makes Framer different from Webflow, Wix, or Squarespace isn't just aesthetics. It's speed. Teams that used to spend weeks building custom sites with Next.js or WordPress are shipping in days with Framer — without sacrificing design quality, SEO, or performance.

Framer sites are statically generated, served from a global CDN, and score near-perfect Core Web Vitals by default. There's no server-side rendering to configure, no build pipeline to manage, and no caching strategy to debug. You design it, you publish it, and it's fast.

Who Is Framer For?

Framer sits at the intersection of design and development. It's the best tool available for:

• Designers who want pixel-perfect control without writing CSS or waiting for developer handoff
• Startup founders who need to ship a high-quality marketing site this week, not next quarter
• Freelancers and agencies building client sites at scale — Framer's component system and CMS mean less repetitive work and more creative time
• Developers who appreciate React under the hood and want to extend sites with custom Code Components when the visual editor isn't enough

If your site is primarily content and design — a marketing site, portfolio, SaaS landing page, blog, or documentation site — Framer is almost certainly the fastest path from idea to production.

The Framer Editor

The Framer editor is a browser-based design environment that feels remarkably close to Figma. You'll find a familiar layer panel on the left, a properties panel on the right, and a canvas in the centre where you place, style, and arrange elements directly.

The key difference is that everything you design here is live. There's no export step, no developer interpretation. The layout you create in the editor is the website.

Key editor concepts worth understanding immediately:

• Frames — the fundamental building block. Think of them as div elements you can style visually. Frames can be nested, stacked, and have overflow, border-radius, backgrounds, and constraints.
• Stacks — Flexbox layout made visual. Choose horizontal or vertical direction, gap, alignment, distribution, and wrapping. No CSS required.
• Text layers — Full typographic control: font family, size, weight, line-height, letter-spacing, color, and advanced OpenType features.
• Pages — Each page in the left panel becomes a route on your site. Drag pages to nest them and create URL hierarchies like /blog/my-first-post.

Layout & Design

Every serious Framer project starts with layout. Framer's layout engine is CSS Flexbox and CSS Grid surfaced through visual controls. You'll never type display: flex — instead, you toggle stack direction, gap, and alignment in the properties panel.

Here's a practical workflow for building a typical marketing section:

1. Create a full-width Frame for the section and set it to Stack (vertical)
2. Add a constrained inner Frame (e.g. max-width 1200px, centred) — this is your container
3. Inside the container, add a headline Text layer, a paragraph, and a CTA button
4. Set the stack gap to control spacing between elements
5. Add padding to the outer Frame for breathing room on the edges

This approach — outer section, inner container, stacked content — maps directly to how professional developers structure layouts. The difference is you build it in minutes instead of hours.

Responsive Design

Framer uses breakpoints for responsive design. The default breakpoints are Desktop (1200px+), Tablet (810px), and Mobile (390px). You design at one breakpoint, then switch to smaller sizes and override specific properties — font size, padding, layout direction, visibility.

The critical mental model: properties cascade downward. If you set a heading to 48px on desktop, it stays 48px on tablet and mobile unless you explicitly override it. Always start with desktop, then adapt for smaller screens.

Pro tip: Use fr units and percentage widths in your stacks to create naturally fluid layouts that require fewer breakpoint overrides. A 3-column grid using 1fr 1fr 1fr can become a single column on mobile just by changing the direction from horizontal to vertical.

Components & Variants

Components are Framer's power feature. Any Frame can be turned into a reusable component (right-click → Create Component). Once created, every instance shares the same structure but can have overridden text, images, and styles.

Variants let a single component have multiple states — default, hover, active, toggled, mobile-specific. Combined with interactions, variants enable everything from animated buttons to full navigation menus without writing a line of code.

Best practices for components:

• Name components clearly: Button/Primary, Card/Testimonial
• Use component properties (boolean, text, link, enum) to make instances configurable
• Keep components small and composable — a Card contains a Button, not the other way around
• Store all components on a dedicated "Design System" page that's excluded from your sitemap

Framer CMS

Framer's built-in CMS is a structured content system that lets you create collections (like Blog Posts, Team Members, Case Studies) with custom fields, then render them dynamically on your site.

Each collection has:

• Fields — Text, Rich Text, Image, Number, Boolean, Color, Link, Date, Reference, File
• Items — Individual entries (a blog post, a team member)
• A detail page template — A page with a /[slug] pattern that automatically renders each item

To use the CMS, create a Collection, define your fields, add items, then place CMS-bound components on your page. For example: a Card component where the title text is bound to the "Title" field, the image is bound to "Cover Image", and the link goes to the detail page.

Interactions & Animations

Framer is built by the team behind Framer Motion (one of the most popular React animation libraries), so animations are a first-class citizen. You can animate virtually any property — position, size, opacity, rotation, scale, colors, filters — with spring or tween physics.

There are three animation systems in Framer:

1. Variant transitions — When a component switches between variants (e.g. default → hover), Framer automatically interpolates between the property differences. Set a button's hover variant to scale 1.05 and it animates smoothly on mouseover.
2. Appear animations — Trigger animations when elements enter the viewport. Select any element, open Effects → Appear, and choose from presets (fade in, slide up, scale in) or define custom keyframes.
3. Scroll-based animations — Tie any property to scroll position. As the user scrolls, elements can translate, rotate, fade, scale, or change color based on how far the page has scrolled.

Scroll-Based Animations

Scroll animations in Framer are surprisingly intuitive. Select an element, go to Effects → Scroll, and map a scroll range (e.g. 0% to 100% of the section) to property changes (e.g. opacity 0 → 1, translateY 40px → 0px).

Use cases that look incredibly professional:

• Hero images that parallax at 50% speed as you scroll
• Section headings that fade and slide in from the left
• Stats counters that animate numbers as they enter view
• Background gradient shifts tied to scroll depth

Page Transitions

Framer supports native page transitions — when a visitor navigates between pages, the entire view can cross-fade, slide, or morph. Enable this in Site Settings → General → Page Transitions.

For advanced transitions, shared layout animations let specific elements (like a hero image or card) persist across page changes, smoothly animating position and size from one page to another. This creates the kind of fluid navigation you normally associate with native apps.

SEO & Performance

Framer sites are statically generated and served from a global edge CDN. This means near-instant time-to-first-byte (TTFB), minimal JavaScript payloads, and excellent Core Web Vitals scores out of the box.

Built-in SEO features include:

• Per-page title, description, and OG image settings
• Automatic sitemap generation at /sitemap.xml
• Automatic robots.txt
• Canonical URLs and proper heading hierarchy
• Auto-generated alt text for images (editable)
• Clean semantic HTML output
• 301 redirects configurable in Site Settings

For performance, Framer automatically:

• Lazy-loads below-the-fold images
• Generates responsive srcset for images
• Converts images to modern formats (WebP/AVIF)
• Minifies and tree-shakes generated code
• Prefetches linked pages on hover

Plugins & Integrations

Framer's plugin ecosystem extends the editor with third-party tools. Plugins can insert components onto the canvas, generate content, connect to APIs, and transform design elements.

Essential plugins to install:

• RevuKit — Add live Google review widgets to your Framer site in 60 seconds. Choose from badges, review walls, carousels, and more — all styled to match your design.
• Unsplash — Search and insert high-quality stock photos directly in the editor
• Iconify — Access 200,000+ icons from 100+ icon sets
• Lottie — Insert Lottie animations as interactive components
• Analytics connectors — Google Analytics, Plausible, Fathom, and others can inject tracking scripts via embed or plugin

Beyond plugins, Framer supports native integrations through embeds and custom code injection. This means you can add any JavaScript-based tool — chat widgets, form providers, payment buttons — by pasting a snippet into the page or site-wide custom code settings.

Code Components

When the visual editor isn't enough, Framer lets you build custom React components in code and use them alongside visual elements on the canvas. These are called Code Components.

Code Components are written in TypeScript/React and live in your project's code files. They can:

• Accept property controls (text inputs, color pickers, dropdowns) that appear in the properties panel
• Fetch data from external APIs at runtime or build time
• Use any npm package
• Render complex interactive UI (maps, charts, 3D scenes, custom animations)

This is what makes Framer uniquely powerful for developers: you get the speed of visual design for 90% of the site, and the flexibility of custom React code for the remaining 10% that requires programmatic logic.

Publishing & Domains

Publishing a Framer site is a one-click operation. Hit Publish in the top-right corner and your site is deployed to Framer's CDN within seconds. Every Framer project gets a free .framer.app subdomain.

For custom domains:

1. Go to Site Settings → Domains
2. Add your custom domain (e.g. www.yourbrand.com)
3. Point your DNS records to Framer's servers (CNAME or A record)
4. SSL is provisioned automatically

Framer supports apex domains, subdomains, and subdirectory publishing (mounting a Framer site at yourbrand.com/marketing while the rest of the domain runs a different stack). Staging sites are available for preview before going live.

Framer Pricing

Framer has a generous free tier for learning and prototyping. Here's how the plans break down:

• Free — 1 published site on a .framer.app subdomain, Framer branding, up to 1,000 visitors/month. Perfect for learning.
• Mini — Custom domain, remove Framer branding, basic analytics. Great for personal sites and portfolios.
• Basic — More CMS items, bandwidth, team members. Ideal for small business sites.
• Pro — Advanced CMS, password protection, custom code, staging environments. Built for professionals and agencies.

All paid plans are billed per site, not per user. You can start on the free plan and upgrade as your project grows — there's no setup cost or commitment required.

Day-to-Day Framer Workflow (What You Actually Experience)

As a potential Framer customer, here's exactly what you get and how Framer fits into your day-to-day workflow: you design visually in one place, publish in one click, and iterate continuously as your content and priorities change.

1. Start with a page or template. In the editor, you see a canvas, a layer tree, and a right-side properties panel. You build sections using Frames and Stacks.
2. Create reusable components. Buttons, cards, nav bars, and sections become reusable components so future edits are faster and consistent.
3. Connect CMS content. For blogs or case studies, you bind text/images to CMS fields. Updating content later becomes a CMS edit, not a layout rebuild.
4. Preview responsive breakpoints. You switch between desktop, tablet, and mobile views, then tweak spacing, sizing, and visibility where needed.
5. Publish to staging or production. Framer handles hosting, edge delivery, SSL, and global distribution. You don't manage servers.
6. Iterate after launch. New sections, copy updates, pricing changes, and campaign pages are edited in the same project and republished in seconds.

Final output is a live website with real routes/pages, reusable components, CMS-driven content, strong default performance, and analytics integration through scripts/plugins.

Framer Free Plan Limitations (2026)

If you're evaluating Framer free plan limitations in 2026, the free tier is excellent for learning and prototypes, but there are practical limits that matter for real business sites.

• Custom domain: projects on the free plan publish to a Framer-hosted subdomain. Connecting your own third-party custom domain requires upgrading to a paid plan.
• Free plan limits exist: Framer lists limits and allowances for free projects (for example CMS/page/file constraints) in their pricing FAQ.
• Advanced features are paid: capabilities like staging/rollback and broader professional controls are positioned in paid tiers.

In short: free is perfect for evaluation. Move to paid once you need a custom domain, cleaner branding, and room to scale traffic/content.

Source (checked February 24, 2026): Framer Pricing and Framer custom domain help.

Framer Updates (February 2026): What They Mean in Practice

If you're looking for a Framer updates February 2026 overview, focus less on release-note wording and more on workflow impact:

• Flow Effect for Layout Templates: Framer added Flow Effect support to Layout Templates, making interactive template-level behaviors easier to reuse across pages.
• Editor quality improvements: updates include keyboard shortcut and font preview improvements.
• Bug fixes: release notes call out fixes for truncation, scroll blocking regressions, overlay positioning, and other editor reliability issues.

Practical takeaway: the February release focused on interaction tooling plus a broad set of quality-of-life and reliability fixes.

Source (checked February 24, 2026): February Update: Flow and Framer Updates index.

Pro Tips & Best Practices

After working with hundreds of Framer sites, here are the patterns that separate good sites from great ones:

1. Design your component library first. Before building pages, create reusable Button, Card, Section, and Navigation components on a dedicated design system page. Everything else will build faster.
2. Use consistent spacing with variables. Define spacing values as Framer variables (8, 16, 24, 32, 48, 64, 96) and use them everywhere. Your layout will look professional and intentional.
3. Add social proof early. Review widgets, testimonials, and trust badges should appear above the fold or immediately after your hero section. Tools like RevuKit make this trivially easy to implement in Framer.
4. Test on real devices. The responsive preview in Framer is good, but nothing replaces testing on an actual phone. Publish a staging version and check it on iOS Safari and Android Chrome.
5. Use page transitions intentionally. A subtle 200ms cross-fade makes your site feel polished. A 2-second slide animation makes it feel slow. Aim for barely noticeable — the best transitions disappear.
6. Keep your layer tree clean. Name every frame. Use groups to organise sections. Delete unused layers. Your future self (and teammates) will thank you.
7. Leverage auto-sizing. Set text layers and containers to "Hug contents" wherever possible. This ensures your layouts adapt naturally to content changes without breaking.
8. Optimise images before uploading. While Framer compresses images automatically, starting with optimised assets (~1500px wide for hero images, ~800px for cards) keeps your storage lean and publish times fast.

Go-Live Checklist (Copy/Paste for Every Framer Project)

Before you hit Publish, run this checklist once. It catches most issues that hurt conversions, SEO, and perceived quality.

1. Metadata: Every page has a unique title and meta description.
2. H1 hierarchy: One H1 per page, then H2/H3 in logical order.
3. CTA clarity: Primary CTA is visible above the fold on desktop and mobile.
4. Social proof: At least one trust element appears before pricing/contact.
5. Mobile spacing: No cramped sections; minimum 16px horizontal padding.
6. Tap targets: Buttons and links are easy to tap (at least 44px high).
7. Images: No stretched images, no oversized hero assets, alt text present.
8. Navigation: Menu works at all breakpoints and current page is obvious.
9. Forms: Required fields, error states, and success state all tested.
10. 404 handling: Broken URLs route to a useful 404 with recovery links.
11. Domain: Primary custom domain is set and redirect behavior is correct.
12. Indexing: `robots` and sitemap settings are correct for production.
13. Performance: Check Lighthouse quickly on the homepage and one heavy page.
14. Analytics: Events for primary CTA and key conversion actions are firing.
15. Cross-device QA: Test on a real iPhone + Android device before launch.

FAQ

Is Framer good for SEO?

Yes. Framer includes per-page metadata controls, canonical URLs, automatic sitemap generation, redirects, and fast static delivery. If you keep title/description and heading hierarchy clean, Framer can rank very well.

Can you build a full CMS blog in Framer?

Yes. Framer CMS supports collections, rich fields, references, and dynamic templates, which is enough for most content marketing teams.

Does Framer require coding?

No for most use cases. You can build and publish complete sites visually. Use Code Components only when you need advanced interactions or external integrations.

How does Framer compare to Webflow?

Framer is usually faster for design-first teams and animation-heavy marketing pages. Webflow can be a better fit for teams that prefer its CMS model and broader agency handoff workflows.

Final Thoughts

Framer has fundamentally changed what's possible for small teams and solo builders. What used to require a designer, a developer, a DevOps engineer, and weeks of calendar time can now be done by one person in a weekend — and the result often looks better than the old way.

The learning curve is real but manageable. If you've used Figma, you'll feel productive within a few hours. If you haven't, give yourself a week of daily practice. The investment pays for itself on your first real project.

Start here:

• Create a free Framer account and explore the editor with a blank project
• Read our Google Review Widgets for Framer guide for practical social-proof implementation patterns
• Browse the Framer Hub for more step-by-step tutorials
• Install the RevuKit plugin to add live Google review widgets to your site in under a minute

The best website is the one that ships. Framer removes every excuse not to ship today.

Have questions about Framer or need help adding review widgets to your site? Reach out to us at support@revukit.com — we're always happy to help.