# Penpot review

An open-source (MPL-2.0) design and prototyping platform for UI design and design systems, free for up to 8 team members with self-hosting available for unlimited use.

By Noah — last updated & pricing verified September 15, 2026.

> **Penpot** is an open-source design and prototyping platform: it lets teams build UI designs, interactive prototypes, and shared design systems in one collaborative workspace, then export the result as standard SVG, CSS, HTML, or JSON.

Unlike Figma or Sketch, Penpot's full source code is published under the Mozilla Public License 2.0 and can be self-hosted, so an organization can run Penpot entirely on its own infrastructure with no per-seat fee to Kaleidos, the company behind it. The hosted cloud version still offers a free Professional tier for small teams. Beyond conventional vector design tools — CSS Grid and Flexbox-aware layouts, components, and design tokens — Penpot has added AI workflows for code-to-design and design-to-code conversion, positioning it as infrastructure both human designers and AI agents can read and write to.

## Facts

- Website: https://penpot.app
- Pricing: Free tier · paid from $7/mo (verified undefined NaN, NaN)
- License: Open source
- Platforms: web
- Best for: small design teams (up to 8 members) wanting a free Figma-style tool, and larger organizations wanting to self-host their design infrastructure under an open-source license
- Standout feature: Full MPL-2.0 open-source codebase that can be self-hosted with no per-seat licensing cost, while the hosted cloud plan stays free for teams up to 8 people.
- Biggest weakness: The Unlimited and Enterprise cloud tiers ($7 and $25 per user/month) sit close to Figma's pricing, so the cost advantage mainly shows up for teams willing to self-host, and Penpot's plugin and font ecosystem is smaller than Figma's after years of third-party development there.
- Third-party ratings: Capterra 4/5 (1 reviews)
- Categories: [Design & Prototyping](https://findalternative.to/categories/design-tools)

## Pricing snapshot

| Plan | Price | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Professional (Free) | $0/mo | Up to 8 team members plus unlimited viewers, 10GB storage, 7-day version history. |
| Unlimited | $7/mo | Per user, capped at $175/month total; 25GB storage, 30-day version history, early feature access. |
| Enterprise | $25/mo | Per user, minimum $950/month; unlimited storage, 90-day version history, SSO, admin console, audit logs, plugin allowlist. |
| Private Server (self-hosted) | $50000/yr | Dedicated self-hosted deployment with enterprise SSO, SCIM, guest controls, regional hosting, and IP whitelisting. |

## Pros and cons

- Pro: Full open-source codebase (MPL-2.0) that can be self-hosted with no vendor lock-in.
- Pro: Free Professional plan covers teams up to 8 members with unlimited viewers.
- Pro: Native CSS Grid and Flexbox-aware layout tools that export directly to standard CSS.
- Pro: Design-to-code and code-to-design AI workflows built into the platform.
- Con: Smaller plugin and font marketplace than Figma, which has years of third-party ecosystem lead.
- Con: Enterprise self-hosted licensing ($50,000/year) is a significant jump from the free self-hosted community edition's DIY setup.
- Con: Cloud Unlimited and Enterprise pricing ($7-$25/user/month) is close to Figma's own tiers, narrowing the price advantage for teams not self-hosting.
- Con: Real-time collaboration and rendering performance on very large files lag behind Figma, per user reports.

## AI summary

- Penpot is licensed under the Mozilla Public License 2.0 and is fully open source.
- The free Professional cloud plan supports up to 8 team members.
- The Unlimited plan costs $7/user/month, capped at $175/month.
- Self-hosted Private Server licensing costs $50,000/year.
- Best for: Small teams wanting a free collaborative design tool, and organizations wanting to self-host design infrastructure.
- Pricing: Free for teams up to 8; Unlimited cloud plan is $7/user/month, Enterprise from $25/user/month.
- Top alternatives: Figma, Sketch, Framer
- Limitation: Smaller plugin and font ecosystem than Figma.
- Limitation: Cloud pricing tiers are close to Figma's, narrowing the cost advantage unless self-hosting.
- Limitation: Performance on very large files trails Figma per user reports.

## Alternatives

4 vetted alternatives to Penpot: https://findalternative.to/penpot — top picks: Figma, Sketch, Framer

## Comparisons

- https://findalternative.to/compare/figma-vs-penpot

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