Objective Comparison
Figma vs Penpot
Researched from 11 sites
-
Figma
Photo: figma.com
-
Penpot
Photo: penpot.app
The Verdict
Figma is the more mature and performant tool for high-complexity team workflows, while Penpot is the clear winner for teams that mandate self-hosted data privacy and open-source standards.
Detailed Attribute Comparison
| Attribute | Figma | Penpot |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment Model | Cloud-only (SaaS) | Self-hosted (Docker) or SaaS |
| Rendering Engine | Custom WebAssembly / Canvas | HTML / SVG-based |
| Data Sovereignty | Managed by Figma (Cloud) | Controlled by user (Self-hosted) |
| Pricing Structure | Per-seat subscription ($0–$90/mo) | Free (Open source) or Paid SaaS ($7/editor/mo) |
| Open Standards Support | Proprietary format (with export options) | Native SVG, CSS, and HTML |
| Known issues | Performance lag in large files; UI bugs; feature bloat/AI focus over core fixes (Reddit) | Sluggishness with high element counts; occasional rendering/404 errors in self-hosted (Reddit) |
| Enterprise Features | Governance+, SSO, Audit logs, Branching | SAML SSO, Air-gapped deployment, Custom support |
| Developer Hand-off | Dev Mode (Advanced inspection/Code Connect) | Native CSS/SVG inspection |
| Platform Compatibility | Browser-based, Desktop app (macOS/Windows) | Browser-based (platform agnostic) |
| Free Tier Allowances | Starter team (3 files, limited history) | Unlimited files/projects, 10GB storage |
Sources
11 sites were read by a live web search while this comparison was written.
- forum.figma.com
- youtube.com
- ecomm.design
- ideaproof.io
- penpot.app
- github.com
- community.penpot.app
- g2.com
- reddit.com
- help.figma.com
- coldiq.com
Searches run:
- “Figma problems reddit”
- “Figma pricing and hosting capabilities”
- “Is Figma self-hosted?”
- “Is Penpot self-hosted?”
- “Penpot problems reddit”
- “Penpot pricing and hosting capabilities”
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