Figma is a superb design software for professionals; there is no argument about that. However should you’re a freelancer or sole skilled working by yourself, that month-to-month subscription tends so as to add up.
After trying round for an alternate that does not drain my pockets, and testing 5 open-source Figma replacements, I’ve lastly discovered the one free, open-source design software that lastly canceled my Figma subscription.
Figma’s regular value creep pushed me to look elsewhere
Subscriptions that will not cease rising
Yadullah Abidi / MakeUseOf
Figma is loaded with options, and I can perceive asking for a subscription to make use of this system, particularly contemplating the free tier is fairly good for newcomers. Nonetheless, the subscription costs have been going up, and when Figma raised its costs for the Skilled plan by a full 33 % (going from $15 to $20 per thirty days per seat) and killed the month-to-month billing, it made the choice for me.
For solo designers and small groups, this value hike and fee plan change was extra than simply an inconvenience. It was the nudge that despatched many, together with myself, on the lookout for alternate options. Figma contracts additionally typically embody annual escalation clauses of some %, which means the price solely goes up.
What Penpot really is
An open-source various constructed for UI design
Penpot is a completely open-source design and prototyping platform constructed by Kaleidos beneath the Mozilla Public License 2.0. You should use it in your browser, or self-host it by yourself server. It handles UI design, interactive prototyping, element libraries, and developer handoff—primarily the identical core workflow you’d use Figma for.
The most important distinction between the 2 is that Penpot is constructed on open net requirements like SVG, CSS, and HTML somewhat than proprietary file codecs. Your designs aren’t locked behind .fig information that solely Figma can learn.
OS
Internet, Home windows, macOS
Developer
Kaleidos Open Supply
Worth mannequin
Free, paid choices obtainable
Penpot is a free, open‑supply, browser‑based mostly design and prototyping software constructed to assist designers and builders collaborate utilizing open net requirements like CSS, SVG, and HTML.
Options that seal the deal
Simply because it is free does not imply it is not highly effective
Other than the standard array of instruments and options you’d count on from a prototyping software competing with Figma, one of the helpful Penpot options I discovered was CSS Grid Format. It really works precisely the way it sounds as nicely: once you construct a structure utilizing Penpot’s visible grid builder, the software generates precise CSS grid code that builders can pull from the Examine panel and drop straight into their tasks.
Flex-style layouts work the identical method, too. In the event you’re somebody like me and have endured years of the painful course of that’s translating a designer’s imaginative and prescient into response code, this function saves a ton of effort and time. The design and implementation converse the identical language, and therefore are simpler to combine into actual tasks.
Then you have got native design tokens, developed in collaboration with the broader design-tokens ecosystem. Penpot is likely one of the first design instruments to natively assist the W3C design token specification. Your tokens for colours, spacing, and typography are saved in a standardized JSON-like format that strikes freely between design instruments and developer workflows.
There is no proprietary variable system and no hidden lock-in. The tokens may even drive theming, so establishing gentle and darkish modes turns into a matter of toggling token units as a substitute of looking down a selected worth throughout a whole canvas stuffed with frames.
As you’d in all probability count on by now, Penpot’s developer handoff can also be nice. With Penpot’s examine tab, you get close to production-ready code immediately. No plugins or funds required. Builders can open design information and extract what they want. Flexbox, CSS grid, spacing, typography, all of it interprets straight. This is likely one of the greatest instruments available on the market if you wish to rapidly convert design prototypes to fully-functional consumer interfaces. Figma’s Dev Mode is beneficial for builders, nevertheless it prices extra cash. Penpot’s Examine tab is totally free.
You do not have to pay further simply to let your builders see the implementation particulars behind a design. For small workforce or impartial builders who design their very own websites, this one function alone removes an enormous quantity of friction.
Self-hosting adjustments your complete equation
Working your individual design platform issues
Screenshot by Yadullah Abidi | No attribution required.
Self-hosting is probably Penpot’s largest benefit over Figma. You possibly can deploy it by yourself infrastructure utilizing Docker containers and hold design information and knowledge on servers you management. For groups beneath strict compliance necessities or coping with delicate product work, it is a large win.
You do not want an enormous, power-hungry server to get Penpot operating both. Penpot’s rendering engine handles bigger tasks with out the stutter you may expertise in different net apps when working with heavy information, regardless of the minimal necessities being surprisingly low.
That stated, Penpot does have paid tiers as nicely, however these are far less complicated than Figma’s convoluted pricing. Whereas the core options stay the identical, the Limitless tier offers you as much as 256 GB of storage, 30 days of autosaved variations, 30 days of deleted file restoration, unique early entry to approaching options, and extra at simply $7 per editor. Moreover, the month-to-month invoice is capped, so that you by no means pay greater than $175 per thirty days, irrespective of your workforce measurement.
The Enterprise tier expands on these options with greater limits, whereas nonetheless capping your month-to-month invoice at $950 per thirty days no matter workforce measurement. And in case I wasn’t clear already, you’ll be able to nonetheless use the software totally free with all of its options for skilled use.
Penpot nonetheless isn’t excellent
Options the place Figma nonetheless has the sting
Yadullah Abidi / MakeUseOfCredit: Yadullah Abidi / MakeUseOf
Penpot is not excellent, and I am not going to fake in any other case. First up, Figma’s plugin ecosystem is very large, largely as a result of the software itself is kind of common. Yow will discover plugins that cowl all the things from content material technology to design audit instruments. Penpot’s ecosystem, by comparability, continues to be small and rising. However as Penpot turns into extra common, you’ll be able to count on this assortment to develop.
Figma’s collaboration options, particularly dwell cursors, remark mode for critiques, and the deep FigJam integration for workshops and brainstorming, are additionally extra polished than Penpot’s equal choices. Positive, there are browser-based instruments to assist brainstorm together with your workforce, however having the performance baked into the prototyping software helps massively.
I don’t see myself paying for Figma once more
Penpot offers you all the things you want
Canceling Figma wasn’t about disliking the product. It was about recognizing that Penpot now delivers all the things I want with out the subscription price, vendor lock-in, or knowledge privateness points. The open requirements imply any work is totally moveable and will the corporate behind Penpot disappear tomorrow, my information would nonetheless be accessible by nearly any design program in existence.
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That type of independence is price extra to me than one other spherical of shiny options locked behind a higher-priced plan. Maybe for the primary time, severe design work can dwell exterior proprietary walled gardens. Open-source software program might not all the time be the only option, however Penpot can very nicely be the higher one.
