Penpot vs Figma: Which Design Tool Should You Use in 2026?

Figma reshaped interface design with real-time, browser-based collaboration and became the industry standard almost everyone uses. But a free, open-source challenger called Penpot has been winning attention, especially after Figma's pricing and ownership changes left some designers looking for alternatives. I've designed in both, so this is my honest Penpot vs Figma comparison for 2026 — the real differences, what I like about each, and which design tool I'd actually recommend depending on who you are.

The quick version

Short answer: Figma is the polished, feature-rich industry standard with a massive ecosystem and unmatched maturity, while Penpot is the free, open-source, self-hostable challenger built on open web standards. If you want the most powerful, established design tool that everyone uses, with the deepest features and plugins, Figma is still the leader. If you want free, open source, the ability to self-host for full control, and an ethos of open standards, Penpot is genuinely compelling and improving fast. The core split: Figma's polish, maturity and ecosystem versus Penpot's openness, freedom and zero cost.

What they both do

The common ground is the heart of modern design work. Both are collaborative interface-design tools that let multiple people design together in real time, in the browser, creating UI designs, prototypes and design systems with components, styles and shared libraries. Both let you go from idea to interactive prototype, hand off to developers, and maintain a consistent design system. So for the core job of designing interfaces collaboratively, either one does it. The differences are in maturity and polish, the breadth of features and plugins, whether it's open source and self-hostable, pricing, and the size of the surrounding ecosystem — with Figma leading on maturity and Penpot leading on openness and cost.

Where Figma shines

Figma is the industry standard, and it earns that position. It's deeply polished and mature, with a vast, refined feature set, excellent performance, and capabilities for everything from quick wireframes to sophisticated design systems and prototyping. It has an enormous ecosystem — a huge plugin library, countless templates and resources, and the fact that nearly everyone in the industry uses it, which makes collaboration, hiring and sharing effortless. For teams that want the most powerful, established design tool with the deepest features and the biggest ecosystem, and who value that everyone already knows it, Figma remains the leader. Its maturity and ubiquity are real advantages that an open-source challenger, however good, takes time to match.

Where Penpot shines

Penpot's appeal is being free, open source, and built on open standards. It's completely free, which removes the cost barrier entirely — a major draw, especially for individuals, students, and budget-conscious teams. Being open source, you can self-host it for complete control and data ownership, avoid vendor lock-in, and rely on a community rather than a single vendor's decisions about pricing and ownership. It's built on open web standards (like SVG), which appeals to those who value openness and interoperability, and it's improving rapidly. For designers and teams who prioritize open source, self-hosting, freedom from lock-in, or simply not paying — and who were unsettled by Figma's changes — Penpot is a genuinely compelling, ethically-aligned alternative that keeps getting better.

The open-source and self-hosting difference

The biggest philosophical difference is that Penpot is open source and self-hostable, while Figma is a closed, hosted product. Self-hosting Penpot means your design files — often sensitive product work — can live entirely on your own infrastructure, under your control, never dependent on a third party's servers, terms or pricing. You can inspect how it works, customize it, and avoid the lock-in and uncertainty that come with a closed vendor (something Figma's ownership changes made many designers acutely aware of). Figma, being hosted and closed, offers convenience but none of that control. For privacy-conscious teams, organizations with data-residency needs, open-source advocates, or anyone wary of vendor lock-in, Penpot's open, self-hostable nature is a real, tangible advantage that Figma cannot match.

Pricing

Pricing is a clear differentiator. Figma has a free tier, but its useful collaboration features and higher limits sit behind paid plans that can add up, especially across a team, and recent pricing changes pushed some to look elsewhere. Penpot is completely free to use, and self-hosting means you can run it at essentially no cost beyond your own hosting. So for value, Penpot is unbeatable — full design capabilities at zero software cost, which is transformative for individuals, students, startups and budget-conscious teams. Figma's pricing is justifiable for teams that need its maturity, polish and ecosystem and can absorb the cost, but if budget matters, or you object to paying for design software, Penpot's free, open model is a powerful argument that's only grown stronger.

Maturity and ecosystem: Figma's edge

To be fair to Figma, its years of refinement show, and this is where Penpot is still catching up. Figma is more polished, more performant on complex files, and has a far deeper feature set and a vast ecosystem of plugins, templates and community resources. Crucially, nearly everyone in the industry uses Figma, so collaborating with others, hiring designers, finding tutorials, and sharing work is frictionless in a way a less-adopted tool can't yet match. Penpot is improving rapidly and is already very capable, but it doesn't yet equal Figma's maturity, performance on the most complex projects, or ecosystem size. So if you need the deepest features, the smoothest performance at scale, and the network effect of the industry standard, Figma retains a genuine edge.

Which I'd pick for you

My recommendation: choose Figma if you want the most powerful, polished, mature design tool with the deepest features and the biggest ecosystem, you collaborate widely with others who use it, and you can afford its pricing — it's still the industry standard for good reason. Choose Penpot if you value open source, want to self-host for control and data ownership, need a free tool, or were unsettled by Figma's changes and want freedom from lock-in — it's genuinely compelling and improving fast. Personally, I respect Figma's maturity and reach, but I love what Penpot represents and would happily recommend it to open-source-minded or budget-conscious designers. Decide based on whether you prioritize polish and ecosystem or openness and cost.

Can you switch?

Switching design tools takes some effort, since your files and design systems are involved, but it's increasingly feasible — Penpot has worked on importing Figma files, easing the move, and because Penpot is built on open standards, your work there is more portable. The bigger consideration is collaboration: if everyone you work with uses Figma, switching has a network cost regardless of the tool's quality, so it's easiest for solo designers, self-contained teams, or those whose collaborators are also open to Penpot. A reasonable path is trying Penpot on a new project or personal work first, where the network effect doesn't bite, to judge it on its merits. Since Penpot is free, experimenting costs nothing, and you can see how far it's come without abandoning Figma until you're ready.

The wider field of design tools

Penpot and Figma are the headline matchup, but the design space has more worth knowing. If you want native macOS performance and a one-time-purchase feel, Sketch remains a fast, mature option for Mac designers. If you want to design and publish a real, responsive website without code, Framer blends design with no-code publishing. If you're in the Adobe ecosystem, its tools integrate tightly with the rest of Creative Cloud. And for marketing graphics, presentations and social content rather than UI design, Canva is the easy all-rounder. The point is that 'design tool' covers different jobs — UI/UX design (Figma, Penpot, Sketch), design-to-website (Framer), and marketing visuals (Canva) — so the right choice depends on what you're designing. Penpot versus Figma captures the core open-versus-standard choice for interface design specifically.

The honest caveats

For balance, each has trade-offs. Figma's drawbacks are cost (pricing that adds up and the changes that unsettled some users) and being closed and hosted (no self-hosting, vendor lock-in, and dependence on the company's decisions). Penpot's caveats are that, being younger, it doesn't yet match Figma's maturity, performance on the most complex files, feature depth, or vast ecosystem — and crucially, far fewer people use it, so collaboration and hiring carry a network cost if your world runs on Figma. Self-hosting, while a real advantage, also means setup and maintenance if you go that route. Both are capable tools; the question is whether you prioritize Figma's polish, performance and ubiquity, or Penpot's openness, freedom and zero cost. Knowing which matters more to you, and how much you depend on collaborating with Figma users, makes the choice clear.

A practical way to decide

Here's a simple way to choose. First, consider your collaboration reality, because it often dominates the decision: if you work closely with a team, clients or a community who all use Figma, the network effect makes Figma the path of least resistance regardless of Penpot's merits, and fighting that is rarely worth it. If you're a solo designer, a self-contained team, or working with people open to alternatives, you're free to choose on the tool's merits — and then it comes down to whether open source, self-hosting and zero cost (Penpot) or maximum polish, performance and ecosystem (Figma) matter more to you.

Then, since Penpot is free, simply try it on a personal project or a new, self-contained piece of work to see how far it's come — you may be pleasantly surprised by how capable it now is, and you'll judge it on real use rather than reputation. Keep Figma for the collaborative, industry-standard work where its ecosystem matters, and lean on Penpot where openness, cost or self-hosting are priorities. The healthy reality is that interface design now has a genuinely good open-source option, which is great for everyone — it keeps the standard honest and gives designers a real choice. Pick based on your collaboration needs and your values around openness and cost, and you'll be well served either way.

Frequently asked questions

Is Penpot a good Figma alternative? Yes, increasingly so. Penpot is a free, open-source, self-hostable design tool that covers collaborative interface design well and is improving fast. It doesn't yet match Figma's maturity, ecosystem or industry ubiquity, but for those who value open source, self-hosting or zero cost, it's a genuinely compelling alternative.

Is Penpot really free? Yes. Penpot is completely free and open source, and because you can self-host it, you can run it at essentially no cost beyond your own hosting — full design capabilities with no software fees. That makes it especially appealing for individuals, students, startups and budget-conscious teams compared to Figma's paid plans.

Can I self-host Penpot? Yes. Penpot is open source and self-hostable, so you can run it on your own infrastructure for complete control and data ownership — a key advantage over Figma's closed, hosted model. It's a major draw for privacy-conscious teams and anyone wanting to avoid vendor lock-in.

Why do designers still choose Figma over Penpot? For its maturity, polish, performance, deep feature set, vast plugin ecosystem, and the fact that nearly everyone in the industry uses it — which makes collaboration, hiring and sharing frictionless. That network effect and refinement are real advantages an open-source challenger takes time to match, even as Penpot improves quickly.

The bottom line

Penpot vs Figma is a contest between an open challenger and the industry standard. Figma is the polished, mature, feature-rich leader with an unmatched ecosystem — still the default for good reason, especially when you collaborate widely. Penpot is the free, open-source, self-hostable alternative built on open standards — genuinely compelling for those who value openness, control, or zero cost, and improving fast. Your collaboration reality often decides it, but where you're free to choose, it comes down to polish-and-ecosystem versus openness-and-cost. Try Penpot on a personal project — it's free, and you may be surprised how far it's come, while keeping Figma for the collaborative work where its ecosystem still wins.

Building a design or creative tool? List it on Tolodora — get discovered by the designers comparing options, earn a backlink, and collect real reviews from day one.