For years, digital product teams have been forced to choose between powerful, closed-source design tools and the freedom to truly own their creative process. Penpot is changing the game. As the first web-based, open-source design and prototyping platform, Penpot empowers designers and developers to work together in real time, using open standards and a workflow that feels natural to both worlds. Whether you’re a solo creator, a startup, or a global enterprise, Penpot gives you the power, flexibility, and control to design and build without compromise.
Website: https://penpot.app/
penpot
Why Choose Penpot?
In a landscape dominated by proprietary tools, Penpot stands out with a fundamentally different approach:
- Truly Open Source
100% MPL-2.0 licensed, Penpot lets you self-host, audit, and extend every aspect of your design workflow. - Design as Code
Penpot expresses designs natively as CSS, SVG, and HTML—making handoff to developers seamless and eliminating the "lost in translation" drama. - Real-Time Collaboration
Designers and developers can work together in the same file, with live updates, comments, and feedback—no more endless exports or version confusion. - Prototyping & Interactivity
Build interactive flows, transitions, and realistic user journeys directly in your design files. - Design Systems & Tokens
Create reusable components, libraries, and standardized design tokens for consistency and scalability across projects. - Plugin Ecosystem
Expand Penpot’s capabilities with plugins, integrations, and custom solutions—tailored to your workflow. - Self-Hosting & Privacy
Deploy Penpot on your own infrastructure for complete data sovereignty, or use the cloud service for instant access. - Open Standards
All your work is stored in open formats (SVG, CSS, HTML, JSON), ensuring future-proof access and easy integration with other tools.
Spotlight on Key Features
1. Powerful Interface Design
• Flexible layouts, custom fonts, and responsive design
• Component libraries and design systems at scale
• Real-time feedback and sharing for all stakeholders
• Advanced prototyping with interactions and transitions
2. Developer-Centric Workflow
• Inspect mode for instant access to CSS, SVG, and HTML
• Design tokens for seamless code integration
• API and webhooks for toolchain automation
• No more handoff drama—designs are already code
3. Collaboration Without Borders
• Live multi-user editing and commenting
• Shareable links for feedback and review
• Public and private projects for any team size
• Community libraries, templates, and plugins
4. Customization & Extensibility
• Plugin system for new features and integrations
• API access for custom workflows
• Theming and branding for your organization
• Self-hosting for full control
5. Open Community & Resources
• Active community with events, tutorials, and Penpot Fest
• Libraries and templates for rapid prototyping
• Multilingual support and global user base
Penpot vs. Closed-Source Alternatives
How does Penpot compare to the giants of design? Here’s a side-by-side look:
| Feature | Penpot | Figma | Adobe XD | Canva |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free, open-source & cloud | $12-$45/mo | $10-$23/mo | $13/mo (Pro) |
| Source Code | ✅ MPL-2.0 | ❌ Closed | ❌ Closed | ❌ Closed |
| Self-Hosting | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| Design as Code | ✅ CSS/SVG/HTML | ⚠️ Plugins only | ❌ | ❌ |
| Design Tokens | ✅ Native | ⚠️ Plugin | ⚠️ Plugin | ❌ |
| Plugin Ecosystem | ✅ Open, growing | ✅ Mature | ⚠️ Limited | ⚠️ Limited |
| Collaboration | ✅ Real-time | ✅ Real-time | ✅ Real-time | ✅ Real-time |
| Prototyping | ✅ Advanced | ✅ Advanced | ✅ Basic | ⚠️ Limited |
| Open Standards | ✅ SVG, CSS, HTML | ❌ Proprietary | ❌ Proprietary | ❌ Proprietary |
| Community | 38.1k+ stars | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Beyond the Feature Matrix
- No Vendor Lock-In: Your designs are always accessible, exportable, and portable—no proprietary formats or forced subscriptions.
- No Data Privacy Worries: Self-host for full control, or use the cloud with confidence in open standards.
- No Feature Gating: All features are available to every user, with no upsells or premium tiers.
- No Handoff Drama: Developers get code-ready assets, not screenshots or PDFs.
Getting Started in Minutes
Penpot is designed for effortless setup and use:
☁️ Cloud (Quickest Start)
- Sign up for free at penpot.app
- Start designing and collaborating instantly
🐳 Self-Hosting
git clone https://github.com/penpot/penpot.git
cd penpot/docker
docker compose up -d
- Access your instance at
http://localhost:9001
💻 Try the Demo
Explore Penpot’s features with the live demo.
Real-World Success Stories
"I’m honestly amazed at what the team has done to make this platform accessible. Such a game changer for open source design. Viva, open source and Penpot!"
— Angela Oduor, Product Team Lead
"The controls felt very intuitive to me—way more intuitive! They map nicely to the mental models of actual CSS. I LOVE the wrapping options as well. I also really appreciate how developer-friendly this is, so hand-off becomes simple!"
— Brett Haymaker, Developer
"Building a design tool on top of web & dev standards is super clever. Imagine autolayout behaving like CSS flexbox and no more design & dev back and forth."
— Sil Bormüller, Designer
Practical Applications
Product Design & Prototyping
Create, iterate, and share interactive prototypes with your team—no more endless exports or version confusion.
Design Systems & Tokens
Build scalable design systems with reusable components and standardized tokens for consistent branding and rapid development.
Developer Handoff
Empower developers with code-ready assets, inspect mode, and open standards—eliminating the friction of traditional handoff.
Open Collaboration
Invite stakeholders, clients, and contributors to collaborate in real time, with full transparency and control.
Join the Penpot Community
With over 38,000 GitHub stars and a vibrant contributor base, Penpot is one of the fastest-growing open-source design projects:
- Contribute Code: Help enhance features or fix bugs via GitHub
- Share Libraries & Templates: Publish your creations for the community
- Join Events: Attend Penpot Fest and community meetups
- Sponsor Development: Support the project via GitHub Sponsors
Final Thoughts
Design should empower, not constrain. Penpot represents a new era of creative collaboration—open, flexible, and truly yours. Whether you’re a designer, developer, or product leader, Penpot offers a compelling alternative to closed, subscription-based platforms—putting you back in control of your creative process.
Ready to design without limits? Explore penpot.app or dive into the code on GitHub.
