Comparison
7 ways to make a demo video before the app is built
How do I make a demo video for an app that doesn't exist yet?
Seven routes work, from free to a few hundred dollars: generate the screens from a description, record a Figma or clickable prototype, animate static mockups, use a template kit, hire a freelancer, or fake the flow in the iOS Simulator. Most founders testing an idea should start with a generator, because it needs no design file at all.
Why people want this
Two situations, and they need different things. You are testing whether an idea lands before you build it, so the video is the product for now. Or the app is half-built and the launch date is fixed, so the video has to show screens that are not finished yet.
The first case wants speed and disposability, because you will make five versions and throw four away. The second wants control, because the screens have to match what ships.
The seven routes
Best for: Testing an idea with nothing built
- Price
- Free for the first video, then credits from $9
- Free tier
- One full video, clean download
You describe the app in a sentence and get a ~12 second vertical clip with plausible screens drawn for you. No design file, no prototype, no build. Fast enough that testing five angles costs an afternoon, which is the actual point when you are still deciding what to make.
- No assets required at all
- Minutes per version, so you can test angles
- Free first video, no watermark
- Invented screens will not match your real UI later
- ~12s vertical only
- Less control than a design file
Best for: Screens you have designed but not built
- Price
- Free tier covers it. Paid Figma is $12 per editor per month billed annually, $15 monthly.
- Free tier
- Enough to prototype and record
Wire the frames into a clickable prototype, present it, screen record the click-through. The result is your real design moving, which no generator can give you. Most convincing option if the design already exists.
- Shows your actual intended UI
- Free if you already design in Figma
- Interactions look real because they are
- You need finished frames first
- Prototype transitions look like prototype transitions
- Recording and editing is on you
Best for: One polished hero shot
- Price
- Jitter around $24/mo. Rotato is one-time, roughly $59 to $99.
- Free tier
- Jitter has a free tier
Take flat screenshots or design exports and add camera moves, device frames and transitions. Jitter for keyframed motion in a browser, Rotato for 3D device shots on a Mac. Good when you have two or three screens and want them to feel expensive.
- Total control over the look
- Works from a single PNG
- Rotato has no subscription
- You supply the screens
- Real motion design skill helps
- Slow if you need many variations
Best for: A half-built app with missing screens
- Price
- Free with Xcode
- Free tier
- Everything
Stub the unfinished screens with static views, run it in the Simulator, record the happy path. Nothing has to work underneath. The recording is at exact App Store dimensions, so the same file can become your store preview later.
- Free and pixel-exact for the App Store
- Uses your real code and real fonts
- The recording ages into a real preview
- Requires a build and Xcode
- Stubbing screens takes developer time
- macOS only
Best for: Dropping screens into a ready layout
- Price
- Previewed $19/mo billed annually. AppLaunchpad $15/mo annually.
- Free tier
- Both have limited free tiers
Hundreds of pre-built store and promo layouts where you swap in your screenshots. Fastest route if you have images and no time. The trade is that everyone else used the same template.
- No design skill needed
- Runs in a browser
- Covers stills and video together
- You still need screen images
- Recognisable template look
- Exports are metered
Best for: Testing a message rather than a product
- Price
- Creatify Starter $39/mo. Arcads from $110/mo.
- Free tier
- Creatify gives 10 credits a month, about 2 videos
An AI actor talks about the app while it barely appears on screen. Useful for testing whether a pitch resonates before there is anything to show, and common in paid social. Weak if people need to see the product.
- Works with no product footage at all
- Good for testing ad copy angles
- Batches variants for A/B tests
- Product stays invisible
- Expensive per video
- Reads as an ad, because it is one
Best for: One good asset, no tooling
- Price
- Entry gigs commonly start under $50. Agency work averages $2,528 for a 30-second preview.
- Free tier
- None
Send a brief and screenshots, get a video back. Someone else solves the missing-screens problem by designing them. Slowest option and the only one where the quality does not depend on your taste.
- No tools to learn
- They can design the missing screens
- Cheapest human option starts under $50
- 3 to 10 days
- Revisions usually cost extra
- Quality varies a lot between sellers
Pick by what you already have
| What you have | Route | Time | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| An idea and a sentence | Generate the screens | Minutes | Free |
| Figma frames | Record a prototype | An hour | Free |
| A few screenshots | Animate mockups or a template kit | An hour or two | $0 to $24/mo |
| A half-built app | Stub screens, record the Simulator | A day | Free |
| Only a pitch | UGC ad generator | An hour | $39/mo |
| Budget and no time | Freelancer | 3 to 10 days | $15 to $500 |
One warning about invented screens
If the video is for a store listing, the screens have to be the real app. Apple requires previews to show the app in use, and a preview built from screens that do not exist is a rejection risk and a refund risk. Generated or mocked screens are for testing angles, landing pages, ads and social. Swap them for real captures before you submit.
No app yet? Describe it and see the video first.
Make my free videoQuestions people ask
How do I make a demo video for an app that doesn't exist yet?
Fastest route is a generator that draws the screens from a written description, which needs no design file and takes minutes. If you already have Figma frames, record a clickable prototype instead. If the app is half-built, stub the missing screens and record the iOS Simulator, which also gives you App Store dimensions for free.
Can I make an app video with no screenshots?
Yes. Generators like Mega Pudu build plausible screens from a description, and UGC ad tools like Creatify put an AI actor in front of the pitch with almost no product on screen. Both are aimed at testing whether an angle lands before you have anything to capture.
Is it legal to show screens the app does not have?
For marketing and idea testing, yes, with the usual rule that you should not claim features you do not offer. For an App Store listing, no. Apple requires previews to show the app in use, so invented screens risk rejection and, if they oversell, refunds and complaints.
Should I make the video before building the app?
It is a cheap test. A video forces you to state the one thing your app does, and posting it tells you whether anyone cares before you spend months building. The cost of finding out is now roughly an afternoon rather than a design contract.
How do I record a Figma prototype as a video?
Wire your frames with prototype connections, open presentation mode, then screen record the click-through with QuickTime on macOS or any screen recorder. Trim it, add music, and you have a demo of your real design without writing any code.
Sources
Prices and specs on this page last verified 31 July 2026.