Figma and Penpot, one of its free alternatives, side by side.
Browser-based UI design and prototyping tool with real-time collaboration; a free Starter plan and paid per-seat plans.
Best for open-source design with no seat fees
| Fact | Figma | Penpot |
|---|---|---|
| License | License: Free tier | License: Open sourceMPL-2.0 |
| Maintenance | Status: Verified | Status: Active |
| Windows | Yes | No |
| macOS | Yes | No |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | No |
| Android | Yes | No |
| Self-hosted | No | Yes |
| Self-hostable | No | Yes |
| Works offline | No | No |
| No account needed | No | No |
| Parity with Figma | The reference | 88% |
License classes: Free tier and Open source. Status rules: Active means a commit in the last 90 days. See the methodology.
How Penpot covers what people use Figma for.
| Feature | Penpot |
|---|---|
| Design | |
| Vector design with frames and components | Yes |
| Auto layout and responsive constraints | YesNote 1Flex and Grid layout |
| Prototyping | |
| Clickable prototypes with transitions | YesNote 2Interactive prototypes |
| Systems | |
| Shared libraries and variables | YesNote 3Components, shared libraries and native design tokens |
| Collaboration | |
| Real-time co-editing and comments | YesNote 4Teams work in the same files |
| Handoff | |
| Developer handoff and code inspection | YesNote 5Inspect panel with code output |
| Extensibility | |
| Plugins and integrations | PartialNote 6Plugin system exists; the catalogue is much smaller |
| AI | |
| AI design and prototyping tools | PartialNote 7An MCP server and AI integrations exist; no built-in prompt-to-design tool |
| Parity score | 88% |
| Format | Figma | Penpot |
|---|---|---|
| .fig | Opens and savesFull fidelity | NoNote 1Penpot's help lists only its own .penpot format for file import |
| .svg | Opens and savesFull fidelity | Opens and savesFull fidelity |
| Saves onlyFull fidelity | Saves onlyNote 2Boards and layers export to PDFFull fidelity | |
| .png | Opens and savesFull fidelity | Opens and savesFull fidelity |
| .xd | NoNote 3Figma has no native XD import; bring in SVG or PNG exports | NoNote 4No direct XD import; move assets over as SVG or PNG |
| .sketch | Opens onlyNote 5Sketch files can be imported; some Sketch features do not carry overPartial fidelity | NoNote 6Penpot's help lists only its own .penpot format for file import |