6 reasons why Penpot is the best open-source alternative to Figma

Figma is a UX/UI design tool that allows web designers to connect easily with web developers for perfectly designed and presented websites, apps, and other interface design purposes. While Figma is the industry’s standard software,

if you’re looking for open-source alternative software
, then Penpot is the best option for web design hand-off to developers.

6

Better pricing options

All features built into one product with simple price options

Comparing Figma against Penpot is easy to do when looking at plans and pricing. First, Figma offers two separate products: Figma and FigJam. These two products provide slightly different features for UX teams, and Figma sells them to its users as two separate products with up to four levels of subscription plans for each product.

Penpot offers three subscription plan levels. Despite being open-source, it has a pain plan, which is more economical for individuals or teams. All the same features and products offered separately by Figma are contained in one product model from Penpot, too.

Penpot’s three pricing options are Free — for individual use; Premium — $175 per month for the entire team with no seat limit; Enterprise — $950 per month for much larger teams, but comes with extra security measures. These prices are not per person, and there is no limit on how many members are in the teams that use them.

Figma’s pricing model is often per seat in a team category, and you need to subscribe separately to FigJam if you want to use its whiteboard collaboration tool. Figma pricing starts at free for a limited number of projects for individual use and does not include FigJam.

The Professional Teams Figma plan starts at $75 per person, per team, monthly. The two further pricing options are Organization and Enterprise, which are priced at $45 and $75 per person, per organization, monthly. FigJam is an added extra with a limited free plan or $5 per seat, monthly.

5

Open-source and self-hosted

You’re in control

Many who use open-source software do so because of the level of privacy and control they receive. Figma’s terms mean you lose data control and program usage control, have limited hosting options, and fund a growing corporation.

A self-hosted option from Penpot encourages the development of learnings offered by the tool itself. As you subscribe to higher-priced plans, other hosting options exist, if required. Focusing on the

best laptop for graphic design
and UX/UI design is equally as important as your hosting and subscription plans.

The free open-source plan offers more than enough for an individual web and UX/UI designer and developer without the need for limited projects, as Figma promotes.

4

Use Penpot interactive actions

Animate your real-time UI interactions

This is similar to Figma’s major features in that you can select and set transitions between pages, buttons, links, and

instances of UX/UI elements
. Penpot’s interactive actions offer the same as its free or much less expensive models.

These interactive actions help designers and developers work together seamlessly without crossing wires in communication. Designers can set an interactive state and visualize how it should work in its transition. Developers can take that visual and code it for the web easily. Penpot makes it easier than ever to transition between the design and development stages.

3

Penpot has a real-time whiteboard

Open-source alternative to Figma’s FigJam

As previously mentioned, FigJam is a paid add-on to any Figma plan. You cannot use FigJam extensively without paying for it — or being limited to only three collaboration projects using FigJam — as a separate product from Figma alone.

Penpot has a collaboration whiteboard feature built into its tool, including the free plan version. It’s not a separate product requiring more money to learn and having access to separate tools like in Figma.

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Like Figma, Penpot also has plugins you can add to improve your workflow further than the native tools found in Penpot. Due to it being open-source software, the plugins are also all community-made, community-shared, and usually open-source.

Plugins in Figma can take your design workflow from long and frustrating to quick, simple, and easy. If Figma can have plugins, Penpot can do that, too. Your workflow doesn’t have to miss out on anything by changing how you’re designing.

Plugins in Penpot were a recent development at the time of writing this article. Penpot version 2.3 introduced plugins as a recent development, and the fantastic open-source community will continue to expand them.

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1

Basic coding built-in for quick hand-off

No need for more team members like Figma

You can generate your developer’s code in real-time directly in Penpot, saving a complex or frustrating hand-off between designer and developer.

Using Figma is only suitable for the design process itself. Although there are some plugins to generate code from your Figma-made design, they’re not that great, and it’s still usually better to hire or work directly with a web developer and your UX/UI designer.

With Penpot, it’s all built-in together, meaning you’re saving time, money, and frustration on a more efficient workflow. Penpot’s ethos is to bridge the gap between designer and developer, but that isn’t what Figma is trying to promote. Figma retains the need for both a designer and a separate web developer, so Penpot makes an excellent alternative if you’re trying to have a more efficient team and workflow.

Penpot offers almost the same features as Figma

Almost all the features within Figma are available in Penpot. This includes Figjam, which is included by default in Penpot under its Whiteboard feature for no extra cost, and Prototype and Inspect tools. Penpot creates a smooth workflow, a more concise team, and better learning for crossover between design and development, all at a much better price point. Using Penpot over Figma can be a fantastic benefit to your team for many practical reasons. You’re not losing out by choosing Penpot; unlike many other creative tools, you might swap to open-source alternatives when you’re sacrificing a lot just for open-source and your own privacy.