How to Get Started with Framer: Complete Beginner's Guide 2026

Whether you want to build your own portfolio, create websites for clients, launch a product, sell Framer templates, build components or plugins, or simply explore a new way of designing for the web, Framer can become a very versatile tool in your workflow.

The best way to get started is by understanding how the tool works, getting familiar with the interface, and learning the core concepts behind responsive layouts and reusable components.

In this guide, you’ll go through the essential parts of Framer step by step, from your first project and the main areas of the interface to Stacks, Sizing, Breakpoints, Components, and a practical roadmap for building real projects on your own.

What is Framer?

Framer is a no-code website builder and design tool that lets you create, customize, and publish real websites visually.

If you’ve used tools like Figma, parts of the experience will feel familiar. You work on a visual canvas, arrange elements, adjust layouts, style content, and create interactions without having to build everything from code.

The biggest difference is that what you create in Framer isn’t just a static prototype. It becomes the actual responsive website you can preview, publish, and continue updating from the same project.

What Type of Projects Is Framer Good For?

Framer works especially well for websites where design, content, and interaction play an important role.

You can use it to build:

• Landing Pages & SaaS Websites: Present products, features, pricing, and calls to action in a polished marketing site.

• Portfolios: Showcase projects, case studies, creative work, and experiments through more visual and interactive experiences.

• Personal Websites: Create a central place for your work, experience, services, and online presence.

• Blogs & Content Sites: Use Framer CMS to manage articles, projects, directories, and other repeatable content.

• Agency & Service Websites: Build multi-page websites for studios, freelancers, agencies, and service businesses.

You don’t need to choose the perfect type of website before learning Framer. A simple portfolio or landing page is already enough to practice most of the fundamentals.

Create Your First Project in Framer in 1 Minute

The best way to follow this guide is to have Framer open while you read.

Create a fresh project so you can explore the interface and test things as we go.

1. Access Framer: Go to Framer and sign in or create an account.

2. Open your dashboard: From your workspace, create a new project.

3. Name your project: Give the file a clear name so it’s easy to find later.

4. Open the Canvas: Your new project will start with a Home page and a main breakpoint ready to edit.

That’s all you need to begin.

Don’t worry about configuring everything yet. For now, the goal is simply to get comfortable moving around the Canvas.

Exploring the Screen and Essential Tools

With your project open, Framer becomes much easier to understand once you know what each part of the interface is responsible for.

There are four main areas you’ll use constantly.

1. Left Panel

The left side helps you manage the structure of your project.

• Pages: Shows the pages that make up your website.

• Layers: Displays the hierarchy of Frames, Stacks, text, images, Components, and other elements on the current page.

• Assets: Gives you access to reusable Components and other shared resources used throughout the project.

As your website becomes more complex, the Layers panel becomes especially useful for understanding how everything is organized.

2. Top Bar

The top bar gives you quick access to the tools and controls you’ll use while building.

• Creation Tools: Add Frames, Stacks, text, images, Components, and other elements to the Canvas.

• Project Controls: Access Preview, collaboration options, and other project actions.

• Publish: When the website is ready, this is where you can send your changes live.

You’ll use the top bar constantly, but you don’t need to memorize every option immediately.

3. Canvas

The Canvas is your main visual workspace.

This is where you build pages, arrange sections, work with responsive layouts, and see how the website comes together.

You can work across different breakpoints and quickly compare how the same page behaves at different screen sizes.

Think of the Canvas as the place where most of the actual building happens.

4. Right Panel

When you select something on the Canvas, the right panel lets you control how that element looks and behaves.

• Agent: Provides access to Framer’s built-in AI tools when you want assistance inside your workflow.

• Style: This is where you control sizing, layout, spacing, typography, backgrounds, borders, effects, positioning, and other properties.

You’ll probably spend a lot of time here while building.

Once you understand these four areas, navigating Framer becomes much more intuitive.

Core Concepts You Should Learn in Framer

Now that you understand the interface, there are four core concepts worth learning before moving into more advanced features.

1. Stacks

Stacks organize groups of elements automatically instead of forcing you to position everything manually.

The main settings are:

• Direction: Arrange elements vertically or horizontally.

• Gap: Control the space between elements.

• Padding: Add internal space between the container and its content.

• Alignment: Control how elements are positioned inside the Stack.

Stacks are especially important for responsive Framer layouts because they help content adapt naturally when the available space changes.

2. Sizing

Sizing determines how an element behaves as its container or screen size changes.

The three options you’ll use constantly are:

• Fixed: Keeps a specific width or height.

• Fill: Expands to use the available space inside its parent.

• Fit Content: Adjusts its size based on the content inside it.

The important lesson is that not everything should use a fixed pixel size.

Combining flexible sizing with Stacks makes responsive layouts much easier to manage.

3. Breakpoints

You don’t need to create a separate website for Desktop, Tablet, and Mobile.

Framer lets you work with the same page and adapt it at different Breakpoints.

For smaller screens, you might change:

• Font sizes

• Spacing

• Stack direction

• Alignment

• Element sizing

• Visibility

For example, a horizontal section on Desktop can become vertical on Mobile without rebuilding the entire page.

A good workflow is to build your main layout first and then adapt it for smaller screens.

4. Components

Components are reusable elements that help keep your website consistent.

Good candidates include:

• Buttons

• Navigation bars

• Project cards

• Footers

• Pricing cards

• Interactive elements

Instead of rebuilding the same element repeatedly, you can create it once and reuse it throughout the project.

Variants let you create different states or versions of that Component, such as:

• Default

• Hover

• Active

• Open

• Closed

Once Stacks, Sizing, Breakpoints, and Components start making sense, Framer becomes much easier to work with.

The Real Step-by-Step Roadmap to Learn Framer

If you’re starting from zero, you don’t need to master every feature before building something useful.

This is the learning path I’d recommend.

1. Master the Fundamentals with Free Resources

Start with resources that help you understand how Framer approaches layouts, responsive design, Components, CMS, and the overall workflow.

Some useful places to start are:

• Framer Academy: Official lessons covering the interface, layouts, CMS, Components, animations, publishing, SEO, and more.

• Ryan Hayward: Useful for advanced layouts, interactive Components, responsive techniques, and practical workflows.

• Yo Soy Acu: A useful Spanish-language resource if you prefer learning Framer in Spanish.

The important part is not to watch everything before you start.

Learn one concept, open Framer, and apply it yourself.

2. Experiment Directly on the Canvas

Open a blank project and test things yourself.

Try:

• Creating Stacks

• Changing sizing settings

• Adjusting typography

• Building a simple Component

• Creating Variants

• Changing layouts across Breakpoints

Don’t worry if something breaks.

Understanding why a layout stops working is often one of the fastest ways to understand how Framer behaves.

3. Join the Framer Community

The Framer Community is useful for learning from other designers and developers, asking questions, and seeing how other people build.

You can use it to:

• Find inspiration

• Ask technical questions

• Discover resources

• See new Framer projects

• Learn different approaches to layouts, CMS, Components, and interactions

• Share your own work and receive feedback

You don’t need to wait until you’re experienced to participate.

4. Replicate Real Websites You Love

Find websites you like and try recreating one or two sections inside Framer.

Start with something manageable:

• Navigation

• Hero section

• Pricing section

• Project grid

• Testimonials

• Footer

This forces you to think about spacing, hierarchy, sizing, Stacks, Breakpoints, and responsive behavior instead of simply following a tutorial.

For inspiration, you can use:

• Dribbble: UI ideas, visual styles, Components, and interface references.

• Awwwards: More experimental and interactive web design.

• One Page Love: Landing pages, portfolios, and single-page website inspiration.

The goal isn’t to publish someone else’s design as your own. Use these websites as practice material to understand how you would rebuild similar ideas in Framer.

5. Build Your Own Projects and Ask for Feedback

Once you’ve practiced enough, start building something of your own.

It can be:

• A personal portfolio

• A landing page

• A personal website

• A small business website

• A concept project

• A client project

Real projects force you to deal with things tutorials often skip, including navigation, forms, content, CMS, responsive layouts, SEO, and publishing.

When you’re ready, share the project with other designers or the Framer Community and ask for feedback.

Take the Next Step in Your Framer Journey

Learning Framer isn’t about memorizing every tool before you start building.

Focus on the fundamentals, experiment directly on the Canvas, recreate sections you like, and gradually move toward building your own projects.

The more you practice, the more natural concepts like Stacks, Breakpoints, Components, CMS, and responsive sizing will become.

Another useful way to keep learning is to explore complete Framer templates and study how everything works together.

You can inspect things like:

• Responsive layouts

• Components and Variants

• CMS collections

• Breakpoints

• Interactions

• Reusable elements

• Page structure

Instead of starting from an empty Canvas every time, a finished template gives you a real project that you can explore, modify, and learn from.