Penpot

penpot.app
Design & Prototyping
Few Days

The Design Tool for Design & Code Collaboration

How to Replace Penpot

Overview

Penpot is a web-based open-source design platform that bridges the gap between designers and developers. It enables teams to design beautiful products together, expressing designs natively as CSS, SVG and HTML. Designers and developers can collaborate in real-time without handoffs or translation losses.

Features

82 features across 20 categories

Collaboration(5)

Comments

Get and provide feedback right over the designs and prototypes

Feedback & Share

All stakeholders stay involved in the design process

Multiplayer

Multiple members can work simultaneously in real-time over the same design

Real-time Collaboration

Multiple members can work simultaneously on the same design

Share Presentations

Create shareable links for prototypes and presentations of designs

Also in: Notion, Airtable, Obsidian

Components(4)

Component Annotation

Attach notes and specifications to main components

Component Swapping

Easily substitute component copies with other component copies

Components

Speed up workflow and keep consistency with reusable components

Variants

Create multiple versions of components with different properties

Core(1)

Open Source

Own your work and your tool, zero vendor lock-in

Core Design(5)

Auto Versioning

Automatic versioning of design files

Infinite Canvas

Design without limits on an infinite canvas

Interface Design

Create beautiful user interfaces in collaboration with all team members

Multi-page Files

Unlimited files with unlimited pages and layers

Vector Manipulation

Being SVG based, powerful tool for editing vectors and making boolean operations

Customization(1)

UI Themes

Choose between dark and light UI themes

Also in: monday.com, Obsidian, Smartsheet

Data Management(1)

Deleted File Recovery

Recover deleted files within specified time period

Also in: monday.com, Notion, Airtable

Deployment(3)

Choice of Hosting RegionPremium

Choose hosting region (EU, US, etc)

Dedicated Private InfrastructurePremium

Dedicated private infrastructure management

Self-host Install

Deploy Penpot anywhere on your own infrastructure

Also in: Kubernetes Dashboard, Hugging Face, Bitwarden

Design Systems(6)

Color Style Assets

Create color styles for plain and gradient fills to configure color palettes

Design Systems

Keep consistency at scale with components, libraries and design systems

Design Tokens

Use built-in design tokens as a single source of truth to improve efficiency and collaboration

Libraries

Store elements and styles that can be reused across files and teams

Shared Libraries

Turn any file into a Shared Library available to other team files

Typography Style Assets

Save typography styles with reusable properties for typography palettes

Design Tools(17)

Advanced Styling Features

Create and edit shadows, blurs, border radius, strokes, stroke caps and more

Aligning Layers

Aligning options to smartly move selected layers to a position

Boolean Operators

Combine shapes with union, difference, intersection, exclusion and flatten operations

Color Palette

Color palette to have selected color library in plain sight

Color Picker

Powerful color manager with eyedropper, color profiles, gradients, and opacity

Distribute Spacing

Position layers vertically and horizontally with equal distances

Dynamic Alignment

Visual cues shown when moving for edges and centers of objects

Freehand Tool

Create paths directly in freehand mode

Gradient Colors

Create stunning gradient transitions with linear and radial options

Grids

Design aids with square, columns and rows grid types

Layer Masks

Layer that does clipping and shows only parts within its shape

Nudge Amount

Set desired distance to move objects using keyboard

Rulers and Guides

Guides and rulers to align design objects and measure them

Search and Filter Layers

Find layers with simple search and filter per layer type

Snapping Options

Manage snapping options to pixels and to grids

Typography Palette

Typography palette to apply library typography styles quickly

Zoom

Zooming options with useful shortcuts for common zoom levels

Developer Tools(3)

Code Inspector

Get actual code snippets and ready to use CSS styles and SVG markup

Distances and Measurements

Easily get measurements and distances between objects and board edges

Properties Inspector

Get detailed specifications about the object's style and content

Export(2)

Export Files

Export files in binary and standard formats

Export Objects

Set export presets for different file formats, scales and prefixes

Integration(5)

API

Open API for extensive access to objects and properties

Certified PluginsPremium

Use certified and verified plugins

MCP Server

Connect infinite workflows into your infrastructure with MCP server

Plugin System

Extend and tweak Penpot's functionality with plugins or build your own

Webhooks

Webhooks allow other websites and apps to be notified when certain events happen

Layout(5)

CSS Flex Layout

Automatically adapt designs with flex layout like CSS flexbox

CSS Grid Layout

Use columns and rows to distribute elements in the layout

Flexible Layouts

Build flexible interfaces following CSS standards

Nested Boards/Frames

Flexible boards that can contain other boards with clipping options

Resizing Constraints

Decide how layers will behave when resizing parent container

Localization(2)

Multi-language UI

Choose among over 30 different languages with RTL support

RTL Support

Support for RTL languages like Arabic and Hebrew with automatic text direction detection

Productivity(3)

Focus Mode

Select elements to work with hiding the rest to avoid distractions

History

History panel keeps track of latest changes on opened file

Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts with handy panel for categories and filters

Prototyping(6)

Fix Elements at Scroll

Fix position of object when scrolling in presentation view

Flows

Define multiple starting points to match product customer journeys

Interactions

Set triggers and define actions to add interactions to designs

Interactive Prototyping

Create rich interactions to mimic product behavior

Transitions

Add beautiful transitions like fade, pull, push and animations to interactions

View/Presentation Mode

Mode to present, share and play interactions

Security(5)

Access Tokens

Use access tokens as alternative login authentication for API access

Audit LogsPremium

Track and audit user actions

Guest Access ControlsPremium

Control guest access to designs and files

IP WhitelistingPremium

Whitelist IP addresses for access control

Single Sign On (SSO)Premium

Enterprise SSO & access controls

Support(1)

Guaranteed Response TimesPremium

Guaranteed support response times

Team Management(5)

Members Invitations

Invite multiple people to join a team using emails

Projects

Unlimited projects to scale up work and organization

Role Assignment via SCIMPremium

Assign roles to users via SCIM

Teams

Collaborate with other users in the same files and projects

User Roles and Permissions

Roles to manage what members are allowed to do within a team

Typography(2)

Custom Fonts

Use fonts that you own on your teams

Fonts Management

Upload and manage personal or libre fonts across team files

Pricing

Professional

Free
  • Up to 8 team members and unlimited viewers
  • Up to 10GB storage
  • 7 days auto-saved versions
  • 7 days deleted file recovery
  • Unlimited design files
  • Unlimited teams
  • Plugins
  • Open source

Unlimited

Popular
$7/user/month
  • Capped at $175/month maximum
  • Up to 25GB storage
  • 30 days auto-saved versions
  • 30 days deleted file recovery
  • Exclusive early access to upcoming features
  • 50% discount on Penpot events
  • Unlimited design files
  • Unlimited teams
  • Plugins
  • Open source

Enterprise

$950/month
  • Capped at $950/month regardless of team size
  • Unlimited storage
  • 90 days auto-saved versions
  • 90 days deleted file recovery
  • Exclusive early access to upcoming features
  • 50% discount on Penpot events
  • Single Sign On (SSO)
  • Audit logs
  • Role assignment via SCIM
  • Guest access controls
  • Choice of hosting region
  • IP whitelisting
  • Certified plugins
  • Guaranteed response times
  • Customize plan with add-ons
  • Unlimited design files
  • Unlimited teams
  • Plugins
  • Open source

Private Server

$50k/year
  • Dedicated private infrastructure management
  • Enterprise SSO & access controls
  • Certified plugins
  • Guaranteed response times
  • Exclusive early access to upcoming features
  • 50% discount on Penpot events
  • Single Sign On (SSO)
  • Audit logs
  • Role assignment via SCIM
  • Guest access controls
  • Choice of hosting region
  • IP whitelisting
  • Unlimited storage
  • Unlimited design files
  • Unlimited teams
  • Plugins
  • Open source

Cost Calculator

Keep Paying Penpot

Monthly$7/mo
Yearly$84/yr
5-Year Total$420

Build It Yourself

Est. Build Time~9 hrs
Hosting$20/mo
DifficultyEasy

Total Cost Comparison

1 Year
SaaS
$84
DIY
$240
3 Years
SaaS
$252
DIY
$720
5 Years
SaaS
$420
DIY
$1.2k

DIY hosting estimate based on Vercel + Supabase free/pro tiers (~$20/mo). Build time estimated from 82 features at easy complexity.

Build vs Buy

Should you build a Penpot alternative or buy the subscription? Estimate based on 82 features.

Buy Penpot

Better Value
Monthly cost$70/mo
3-year total$2,520
Time to deployDays

Build Your Own

Development cost$72,000
Maintenance$1,080/mo
3-year total$110,880
Dev time~6 months

Buying Penpot saves ~$108,360 over 3 years vs building.

Estimates based on 82 features and a BuildScore of 4/5. Actual costs vary.

Integrations

4 known integrations

MCP ServerOpen APIPlugin SystemWebhooks