Is Figma Dev Mode a Worthwhile Tool for Developers?
by @eleanorhecks@x.com (@designerlymag@x.com) on , tagged guest-posts, figma, developer-experience, tooling (toot this?)
Figma is one of the most popular platforms for front-end development, becoming an unofficial industry standard for UX developers. Consequently, any new features are likely to pique developers’ curiosity. Dev Mode, in particular, has been a point of much interest—and controversy—among Figma users.
What Is Figma Dev Mode?
Dev Mode is Figma’s solution to ease collaboration between designers and developers. Figma features plenty of low-code and no-code support for design professionals with minimal coding experience, but development experts are still necessary to ensure everything works correctly. Dev Mode aims to simplify the handoff process so both sides can work efficiently according to their own skills.
The ongoing developer shortage, which will affect 90% of all organizations by 2026, leaves many devs with massive workloads. Improper annotations and other communication barriers between designers add fuel to this fire, slowing development workflows and leading to errors. Figma introduced Dev Mode to bridge this gap.
Dev Mode lets you inspect designs without requiring the designer to annotate or label everything properly. It offers precise measurements of visuals, allows you to compare frames and enables easy searching for assets. It also includes easy, natural language annotations to aid communication.
Other features include auto-generated code snippets, the ability to copy and paste CSS, plugins for platforms like Visual Studio and GitHub and automatic alerts.
Benefits of Dev Mode
The main advantage of Dev Mode is that it enables easier collaboration with designers. Working as a cohesive team is incredibly important—in fact, companies with aligned cultures earn 750% higher profits than those without. However, it’s difficult when skills and workflow barriers exist between colleagues. Dev Mode’s annotation and inspection tools mean you can get what you need from designers without them fully understanding your requirements or coding languages.
Figma Dev Mode can also save time. Extracting assets and auto-generating code removes a lot of the repetitive work in turning a design into a functional reality. Notifications facilitate faster collaboration with team members.
Dev Mode’s automated features and plugin support mean you can also finalize designs with less preparation. At the same time, detailed inspections ensure accuracy, so speed doesn’t come at the cost of functionality. That’s particularly important when trying to remain agile.
Potential Downsides to Dev Mode
Despite these benefits, some developers don’t believe Dev Mode is worth it. The main issue is cost. Listed prices start at $12 a month and go as high as $75 monthly for enterprise-grade packages using the full Figma suite. However, the pricing is more complicated than that.
One user went so far as to call Dev Mode a “scam” after recognizing they couldn’t access it, even though they paid for the $12 tier, which said it was included. The only way to use it at this level is to add a seat for a developer, which costs an additional $15 monthly.
Adding to the price controversy is the fact that Figma’s previous inspection tool was free. While the older system did not have all the features of Dev Mode, some users feel replacing it with a deceptively priced paid solution is unfair.
Other members of the Figma community say that many of Dev Mode’s tools and assets are unnecessary. Some say it has poor CSS support, counteracting the benefits, while others claim they simply didn’t use enough of its offerings to justify paying for it.
Is It a Worthwhile Solution?
While these drawbacks are worth considering, Dev Mode can still be helpful for some teams. Some Figma users claim it adds little value to their workflows, but others cite the annotation feature and inspection elements as useful.
Whether Dev Mode is worth it for you depends on your team’s needs. Its ease of use and communication assistance are particularly helpful for operations with inexperienced employees, especially those with little coding knowledge. Because onboarding is key to worker retention and development, its accessibility is ideal for teams looking to expand, too.
On the other hand, if your designers and devs already work well together and experience few communication issues, Dev Mode may be unnecessary. The costs are also worth considering in light of your budget.
Use the Tools That Suit Your Workflow the Best
Like many platforms, Figma Dev Mode is worth it for some but not all. Before investing in a plan, review your current workflow and common inefficiencies to see if its features meet your needs. It may be the siloed, less knowledgeable, or time-crunched teams that benefit the most from the package that Dev Mode has to offer.
(Frontend Dogma accepts guest posts as long as they aren’t AI-generated or promotional. Although guest posts are being reviewed, Frontend Dogma cannot and does not vouch for their accuracy, and does not endorse recommendations made in them.)