Figma is the better fit for teams that need the largest plugin ecosystem and the least friction hiring people who already know the tool. Penpot is the better fit for teams that need self-hosting, open source, or freedom from per-seat pricing.
Figma is where design teams build products together. Design interfaces, create interactive prototypes, and hand off specs to developers—all in your browser. Real-time collaboration means your whole team sees changes instantly. Free for individuals, paid plans for teams.
Category: ux design
Pricing: Freemium
Penpot is the web-based open-source design tool that bridges the gap between designers and developers. It's free to use and supports cross-domain collaboration.
Category: ux design
Pricing: Free (open-source)
Figma is the better fit for teams that need the largest plugin ecosystem and the least friction hiring people who already know the tool. Penpot is the better fit for teams that need self-hosting, open source, or freedom from per-seat pricing.
Choose Figma when collaboration with people outside your team matters, when you rely on specific plugins, or when onboarding speed counts. It remains the industry default and almost every designer you hire will already know it.
Choose Penpot when your organisation needs design files on its own infrastructure, when licence cost at scale is the deciding factor, or when open standards matter to you. Penpot uses SVG natively, which developers often prefer.
Last reviewed 2026-09-20
| What differs | Figma | Penpot |
|---|---|---|
| Licence | Commercial, per editor | Open source, self-hostable |
| Self-hosting | No | Yes |
| Plugin ecosystem | Large and mature | Smaller and newer |
| File format | Proprietary | SVG-based open format |
| Hiring pool | Nearly every designer knows it | Fewer designers have used it |
For most core design work, yes: components, prototyping, and developer handoff are all there. The gaps are the plugin ecosystem and the smaller pool of designers who already know it. Teams switch for self-hosting, open source, or cost, rather than because Penpot does more.
Penpot can import Figma files, but complex documents that lean on plugins, advanced prototyping, or specific Figma features will need cleanup after import. Treat a migration as real work rather than a one-click move.
Three reasons come up repeatedly: a requirement to host design files on internal infrastructure, per-seat licence cost across a large organisation, and a policy preference for open source. Feature gaps rarely drive the move in the other direction.