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Penpot is a free, open-source alternative to Figma. Here's an quick comparison of what each does well, and which one fits your team.
Quick answer: Penpot is a free, open-source design tool that covers most of what Figma does, real-time collaboration, components, prototyping, developer handoff, without a per-seat price tag. Figma is still ahead on plugin depth, prototyping polish, and large-file performance. Choose Penpot if budget, self-hosting, or open-source matters to you. Choose Figma if you need the full plugin ecosystem or you're working at a scale where every bit of polish counts.
Figma's Starter plan caps you at three design files with no team libraries, and the paid tiers climb fast, £16 to £90 a month per editor. That's pushed a lot of small teams to ask whether a free alternative can actually hold up. Penpot is the one most people land on. We use Figma daily at Studio Tigris, so here's an honest look at where Penpot genuinely competes and where it doesn't.
What Penpot does well
Penpot is open-source and free with no file limits, no per-seat cost, and no paywall on developer handoff, the Inspect and code panel that Figma reserves for paid plans is free by default in Penpot. It runs in the browser like Figma, supports real-time multiplayer editing, and can be self-hosted on your own infrastructure if data control matters to you. It's also built on open web standards, so it handles native CSS Grid layout in a way Figma doesn't, and exports design tokens in the W3C DTCG format, useful if your workflow is code-first.
Where Figma still leads
Figma's plugin ecosystem is deeper and more mature, and it shows in the small conveniences, auto-layout nesting, advanced prototyping, and how well it holds up on large, complex files. Importing a Figma file into Penpot mostly works for simple layouts, but nested auto-layout structures three or more levels deep tend to break and need manual cleanup. Figma's AI tooling is also further along. If your team runs a heavy plugin workflow or works in large, intricate design systems daily, that gap is still real in 2026, even as Penpot closes it.
When Penpot is the right choice
- You're a solo designer, freelancer, or small team where Figma's file caps or per-seat pricing don't make sense
- Self-hosting or data sovereignty is a genuine requirement, not a nice-to-have
- Your design system is simple enough that Penpot's current feature set covers it
- You want developer handoff without paying for a Dev Mode seat
When Figma is the right choice
- You depend on specific plugins that don't have a Penpot equivalent
- You're working on large, complex files where performance and polish matter
- Your team is already fluent in Figma and switching costs would outweigh the savings
- You need the most advanced prototyping and interaction features available
Our take
For most early-stage teams and solo designers, Penpot is good enough, and free is free. Once a design system grows past a certain size, or a plugin becomes essential to how you work, the case for Figma gets stronger. The two aren't a straight swap. It's worth trialling Penpot on a real project for a few weeks before deciding, rather than judging it on a feature checklist alone.
FAQ
Is Penpot really free? Yes. Penpot's core product is free and open-source, with no file limits and no per-seat cost. There's no forced upgrade path the way Figma's Starter plan pushes you toward Professional.
Can I import my Figma files into Penpot? Yes, Penpot supports importing .fig files. Simple layouts transfer cleanly. Complex components and deeply nested auto-layout structures often need manual fixing afterward.
Is Penpot as good as Figma for prototyping? Not yet. Figma's prototyping and interaction tools are more advanced, though Penpot's have improved significantly since version 2.0.
Can Penpot be self-hosted? Yes, that's one of its main advantages over Figma. You can run Penpot on your own infrastructure via Docker, which matters for teams with data sovereignty or compliance requirements.
Should I switch my whole team from Figma to Penpot? Only after testing it on a real project first. Rebuild your core component library in Penpot and run a few weeks of actual work through it before making the call, rather than deciding from a feature list.