Introduction: The Changing Landscape of Design Tools
In the ever-evolving world of digital design, the debate between Penpot vs Figma has become increasingly prominent throughout 2025. As design teams face growing budget constraints and heightened concerns about vendor lock-in, the search for capable, cost-effective alternatives has intensified. While Figma has long dominated the UI/UX design space, Penpot has emerged as the first truly viable open-source design tool, challenging the status quo with its innovative approach to collaborative design workflows.
This comprehensive analysis demonstrates why Penpot surpasses Figma for both educational purposes and commercial applications. We’ll examine the critical factors including total cost of ownership, feature parity, developer collaboration, and long-term sustainability. Whether you’re a student beginning your design journey, a freelance designer building a business, or an enterprise team managing complex design systems, understanding the Penpot advantage in today’s competitive landscape is essential for making informed decisions that align with both immediate needs and strategic goals.
By exploring the tangible benefits of open-source design tools and their impact on design education and commercial design projects, this article provides the insights needed to navigate the shifting dynamics of the design tool ecosystem. The evidence clearly indicates that Penpot isn’t just an alternative to Figma—it’s a superior solution for those who value financial accessibility, technical transparency, and future-proof design workflows.
Understanding the Contenders: Penpot and Figma in 2025
Before diving into comparative analysis, it’s essential to understand both tools’ current positioning in the market. Figma, founded in 2012, revolutionized collaborative interface design with its browser-based, real-time multiplayer approach. By 2025, Figma has expanded into a comprehensive design-to-production platform with an estimated 70% market share among professional design teams. Their recent introductions of Figma Sites for publishing websites directly from designs and Figma Make for AI-powered prototyping represent significant expansions beyond their original scope .
Penpot, developed by Kaleidos, represents the first serious open-source alternative to proprietary design tools. Built from the ground up using native web standards (SVG, CSS, HTML), Penpot has experienced explosive 300% year-over-year growth, reaching over 1 million registered users by 2025 . What sets Penpot apart is its foundational philosophy: bridging the gap between designers and developers through web standards compliance rather than proprietary abstractions. This fundamental architectural decision means designs in Penpot closely mirror what developers will implement, significantly reducing traditional friction between design and development phases.
The adoption landscape tells a compelling story of disruption. While Figma maintains its established position, Penpot’s meteoric rise reflects a fundamental market shift toward cost-effective alternatives, data sovereignty, and frustration with vendor lock-in from proprietary platforms. Perhaps most impressively, Penpot has closed the feature gap dramatically—the platform now covers approximately 85% of Figma’s core functionality, up from just 60% in 2023 .
Comprehensive Pricing Comparison: Penpot’s Unbeatable Value Proposition
When evaluating design tools for learning and commercial use, pricing often becomes the decisive factor. The financial implications of these decisions can significantly impact budgets, especially for educational institutions, startups, and growing enterprises.
Figma’s Premium Pricing Structure
Figma’s 2025 pricing structure represents a substantial investment, particularly for teams and organizations:
- Starter Plan: Free, but limited to just 3 Figma files and 3 FigJam files, making it unsuitable for serious projects .
- Professional Plan: $15 per editor/month when billed annually, offering unlimited files and projects but lacking single sign-on (SSO) integration .
- Organization Plan: $45 per user/month (billed annually), targeting businesses that design products across departments .
- Enterprise Plan: $75 per user/month (billed annually), providing advanced security and customization features .
For a medium-sized team of 20 designers, annual costs can reach $3,600 on the Professional plan or $10,800 on the Organization plan. Enterprise teams with 50+ designers might face annual costs exceeding $45,000, making budget considerations increasingly critical .
Penpot’s Revolutionary Cost Model
Penpot operates on a genuinely transformative “free forever” model with no artificial limitations, user restrictions, or feature gates—a stark contrast to the freemium models that plague the industry . Their cloud-hosted options include:
- Professional Plan: Completely free, including unlimited files, unlimited teams, and core collaboration features .
- Unlimited Plan: $7 per editor/month with additional storage (25GB), extended version history (30 days), and exclusive early access to features .
- Enterprise Plan: $950 per organization/month (capped) with unlimited storage, 90-day version history, and advanced administrative controls .
Perhaps most significantly, Penpot offers a self-hosted option at no cost, providing organizations with complete control over their design infrastructure and data . This eliminates licensing fees entirely, requiring only implementation and maintenance resources.
Table: Penpot vs Figma Pricing Comparison 2025
Penpot vs Figma
| Plan Type | Penpot Pricing | Figma Pricing | Key Differences |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free Tier | Unlimited files, editors, and teams | Limited to 3 files | Penpot’s free tier is production-ready |
| Professional | $0/month | $15/editor/month | Penpot includes team features at no cost |
| Organization | $7/editor/month (capped at $175) | $45/editor/month | Penpot offers significant savings |
| Enterprise | $950/organization/month | $75/editor/month | Penpot’s fixed pricing vs Figma’s per-user |
| Self-Hosted | Free | Not available | Complete cost control with Penpot |
The financial advantage of Penpot becomes undeniable when calculating total cost of ownership. For educational institutions, the savings can be redirected to other critical resources. For commercial organizations, the reduction in software licensing costs directly impacts the bottom line while maintaining—and in some cases enhancing—design capabilities.
Feature Comparison of Penpot vs Figma: Closing the Gap and Forging Ahead
While pricing matters, feature capabilities ultimately determine whether a tool can meet the demands of real-world design workflows. The 2025 feature comparison reveals that Penpot has not only achieved remarkable parity but exceeds Figma in several critical areas.
Design and Prototyping Capabilities
Both platforms offer robust design and prototyping capabilities, but with different philosophical approaches:
- Figma provides a polished, intuitive interface with sophisticated animation capabilities through Smart Animate and Interactive Components . Their ecosystem approach means features work together seamlessly across Figma Design, Figma Make, and Figma Sites.
- Penpot’s interface, while newer, has achieved remarkable feature parity while offering a more intuitive experience for web-savvy designers. The platform consistently loads faster than Figma for complex files due to its lightweight, standards-based architecture .
Where Figma requires users to learn tool-specific behaviors, Penpot leverages existing web knowledge, making it instantly familiar to anyone with CSS experience. This isn’t just about ease of use—it’s about building transferable skills that extend far beyond the design tool itself.
Collaboration and Team Features
Effective collaboration remains essential for both learning environments and commercial projects:
- Figma’s real-time collaboration remains the gold standard, with smooth multiplayer editing, comprehensive commenting systems, and robust version control . The platform excels at managing large teams with granular permissions and organized file structures.
- Penpot’s collaboration model represents the future of design tools. While Figma’s real-time collaboration is polished, it’s built on proprietary technology that keeps your data locked in their ecosystem. Penpot’s collaboration is not only solid but fundamentally more robust for large teams due to its Git-like approach to file management, which provides superior version control and conflict resolution .
The platform’s open architecture means your collaboration workflows aren’t dependent on a single vendor’s infrastructure or pricing decisions. Teams maintain full control over their collaborative environment, whether hosted in the cloud or on their own infrastructure.
Developer Experience and Handoff
This is where Penpot’s web-standards foundation delivers transformative advantages that proprietary tools cannot match:
- Figma’s Dev Mode offers advanced inspection capabilities but still requires developers to interpret tool-specific measurements and convert proprietary formats to web standards .
- Penpot generates production-ready CSS code because it’s built on web standards from the ground up, eliminating the translation layer that creates friction in traditional design-to-development workflows . When developers inspect a Penpot design, they’re looking at actual CSS properties, SVG code, and HTML structure that can be used directly in production.
The productivity gains are substantial. Development teams report 40-60% faster implementation times when working with Penpot designs compared to traditional design tools, as the handoff friction simply doesn’t exist when designs are already expressed in web-native formats .
Design Systems Capabilities
Both tools support robust design systems creation, but with different approaches:
- Figma offers organization-wide libraries, centralized file management, and design system theming through their enterprise plans .
- Penpot enables designers to create comprehensive design systems using shared libraries, with the ability to break systems into interconnected libraries for better organization . The platform’s emerging support for design tokens allows for more systematic management of design decisions .
Penpot’s approach to design systems mirrors modern development practices, making it easier to maintain consistency across projects while facilitating better collaboration between design and development teams.
Learning Advantages: Why Penpot is Ideal for Education
For students, educators, and those learning design independently, the choice of tools significantly impacts the learning process and skill development. Penpot offers distinct advantages that make it superior for educational purposes.
Zero Financial Barrier to Entry
Penpot’s free forever model eliminates the financial barriers that often hinder access to design education. Unlike Figma’s Starter plan, which limits users to three active files , Penpot imposes no such restrictions. Students can explore, experiment, and build comprehensive portfolios without worrying about file limits or subscription costs. Educational institutions can implement Penpot across entire programs without budget approvals or licensing negotiations, ensuring all students have equal access to professional-grade design tools.
Transferable Skills Development
Perhaps Penpot’s most significant educational advantage is its foundation in web standards compliance. While Figma uses proprietary abstractions that must be translated to web implementation, Penpot’s CSS Grid, Flexbox, and SVG-based workflow teach students how designs actually translate to code . This approach bridges the gap between design and development, creating more versatile designers who understand implementation constraints and opportunities.
The mental model required for Penpot aligns directly with web development concepts, meaning skills learned in Penpot transfer seamlessly to front-end development work. This is particularly valuable in today’s job market, where design-developer collaboration is increasingly essential.
Collaborative Learning Environment
Penpot’s unlimited collaborators on free plans enable seamless collaboration in classroom settings. Student groups can work together in real-time without licensing restrictions, while instructors can provide feedback directly within design files. This mirrors professional workflows while remaining accessible regardless of institutional budgets.
Commercial Advantages: Penpot’s Enterprise-Ready Solution
For commercial organizations, software decisions must balance capability, cost, security, and scalability. Penpot delivers exceptional value across all these dimensions, making it an increasingly popular choice for businesses of all sizes.
Significant Cost Savings
The financial case for Penpot in commercial environments is compelling. Organizations can save thousands—potentially hundreds of thousands—annually by switching from Figma to Penpot. These savings can be redirected to hiring additional team members, professional development, or other strategic initiatives.
For example, a mid-size company with 30 designers would pay approximately $16,200 annually for Figma’s Organization plan, while Penpot’s Unlimited plan would cost just $2,520 annually—saving over $13,000 per year . At enterprise scale, the savings become even more substantial, with Penpot’s capped pricing providing predictable costs regardless of team size.
Complete Data Control and Security
Penpot’s self-hosting capability provides organizations with complete control over their design data, addressing critical security and compliance requirements . This is particularly valuable for:
- Organizations in regulated industries with strict data governance requirements
- Companies with security policies prohibiting cloud-based design data storage
- International businesses needing to comply with data sovereignty regulations
Unlike cloud-dependent platforms, Penpot’s self-hosting option puts reliability entirely in your control. While Figma’s enterprise infrastructure is solid, it’s still subject to third-party outages, pricing changes, and policy modifications outside your control .
Enhanced Team Performance
Penpot’s standards-based approach delivers tangible performance benefits that impact team productivity:
- Faster Implementation: Development teams report 40-60% faster implementation times with Penpot due to more accurate translation from design to code .
- Improved Collaboration: The reduced friction between designers and developers means fewer misunderstandings and revisions, accelerating time-to-market .
- Superior Performance: Penpot’s architecture delivers consistently better performance, particularly for complex projects with numerous components and large design systems .
Future-Proof Solution
With Penpot, organizations avoid vendor lock-in and the associated risks. The open-source nature of Penpot means your design files remain accessible regardless of future licensing decisions or business changes. This provides peace of mind that your design infrastructure investments are protected long-term.
Migration Guide: Transitioning from Figma to Penpot
Switching design tools may seem daunting, but Penpot has streamlined the migration process to minimize disruption to your workflows.
Preparation and Planning
A successful migration begins with careful planning:
- Start Small: Begin with a greenfield project rather than attempting to migrate all existing work simultaneously .
- Assess Dependencies: Identify which Figma files are actively used and prioritize based on current projects.
- Involve Both Design and Development: Include developers early in the process to leverage Penpot’s enhanced collaboration features .
File Migration Process
Penpot supports multiple approaches for migrating Figma content:
- Figma Exporter Plugin: Use Penpot’s official plugin to export Figma files into a Penpot-compatible format .
- Manual Export: For better control, export Figma files as SVG bundles and import them directly into Penpot .
- Recreate Key Components: Consider rebuilding critical design system components directly in Penpot to fully leverage its capabilities .
Avoid the temptation to automatically migrate all historical files. Instead, focus on active projects and use migration as an opportunity to clean up and refine your design systems .
Team Onboarding and Training
Prepare your team for success with structured onboarding:
- Leverage Templates: Use Penpot’s built-in templates to accelerate familiarity with the tool .
- Conduct Workshops: Schedule focused training sessions highlighting differences and advantages compared to Figma.
- Encourage Exploration: Create a sandbox project where team members can experiment without pressure.
Integration and Workflow Adjustment
Adapt your workflows to maximize Penpot’s advantages:
- Implement New Collaboration Processes: Establish how designers and developers will collaborate using Penpot’s inspect mode and commenting features .
- Restructure Design Systems: Take advantage of Penpot’s flexible library system to create more modular, maintainable design systems .
- Explore Customization Options: Configure Penpot’s interface, shortcuts, and preferences to match your team’s workflow
Penpot – The Smart Choice for Learning and Commercial Use
The evidence clearly demonstrates that Penpot has not only closed the feature gap with Figma but has established itself as the superior choice for both educational and commercial applications. With its unbeatable pricing, standards-based architecture, robust feature set, and future-proof open-source foundation, Penpot delivers exceptional value across all use cases.
For students and educators, Penpot removes financial barriers while providing industry-relevant skills that bridge the design-development divide. The transferable knowledge gained through Penpot’s CSS-based layout systems creates more versatile, employable designers who understand both aesthetic principles and technical implementation.
For organizations, Penpot offers substantial cost savings, enhanced team performance, and complete data control. The dramatic reduction in software licensing costs—potentially saving tens of thousands annually—can be redirected to strategic initiatives while maintaining full design capability. The self-hosting option provides unparalleled security and compliance flexibility that proprietary solutions cannot match.
As the design tool landscape continues to evolve in 2025 and beyond, Penpot’s open-source model and community-driven development ensure it will continue to innovate while remaining accessible to all. The platform’s meteoric growth and rapid feature development indicate a vibrant future, making it a sustainable long-term choice.
Whether you’re beginning your design journey or leading an enterprise design team, choosing Penpot represents a forward-thinking decision that balances immediate needs with strategic advantage. The era of proprietary design tool dominance is ending, and Penpot is leading the charge toward a more accessible, transparent, and collaborative future for digital design.
