Penpot review

Verified

Open source design and prototyping tool you can self-host, with a free hosted plan for up to 8 editors.

Facts checked July 2026

Free plan: Yes
Free plan score: 81/100Strong
Starting price: $7/month
Open source: MPL-2.0
Based in: Spain
Company: Kaleidos

Our take

Penpot is the closest free replacement for Figma's core design workflow, and because it is open source (MPL-2.0) and self-hostable, no pricing change can ever take your files hostage.

Design files that are just SVG, on a server you can own

Penpot is an open source design and prototyping tool from Kaleidos, a company based in Madrid. You design in the browser with components, shared libraries, flex and grid layouts, and clickable prototypes, and everything is stored as standard SVG. Because the code is MPL-2.0 licensed, you can also run the whole thing on your own server with Docker and skip Penpot's cloud entirely.

Who should open Penpot before they open Figma

Teams that want Figma-style UI design without per-seat pricing
Developers, since Penpot's layout options map directly to real CSS
Organizations that need design files on their own infrastructure for compliance
Anyone burned by a design tool's pricing change who wants an exit route

Free for 8 editors, and the $7 price above that

Penpot introduced paid hosted plans in 2025, but the free tier stayed genuinely useful. As of July 2026, the free Professional plan includes unlimited design files, up to 8 editors with unlimited viewers, 10GB of storage, and 7 days of version history. The Unlimited plan is $7 per editor per month with the total bill capped at $175 per month, adding 25GB storage and 30 days of history. Enterprise runs $25 per editor per month with a $950 monthly minimum. Self-hosting is free with none of these limits.

The plugin gap, the 7-day history, and three more limits

Version history on the free hosted plan is only 7 days, against Figma's 30
The plugin and template ecosystem is much smaller than Figma's
Very large files can feel slower than Figma, which has had years of performance tuning
Self-hosting is genuinely free but assumes you can run and update a Docker deployment
No offline desktop app; you work in a browser either way

Why we rank Penpot first, and who will still miss Figma

We rank Penpot first in this category because it is the only free tool here that covers full UI design work (components, prototyping, design systems) while being open source and self-hostable, so your files can never end up behind a paywall. If your team lives on Figma plugins you will miss them. For everyone else starting fresh, Penpot is the safest free bet.

What Penpot offers

Vector editing
Real-time collaboration
Self-hosting
Components & design systems
Prototyping
Flexible export formats

Not included

Infinite canvas
Offline & desktop apps
Photo editing
Templates & stock assets

Penpot plans and pricing

Unlimited design files, up to 8 editors with unlimited viewers, 10GB storage, and 7 days of version history on the free Professional plan

Self-hosting is free with none of the hosted plan limits, but you run and update the Docker deployment yourself.

Professional

Free

Free hosted plan with unlimited design files

8 editors, 10GB storage, 7-day version history

Unlimited

$7/mo

Per editor per month, with the total bill capped at $175 per month regardless of team size

25GB storage, 30-day version history

Enterprise

$25/mo

Per editor per month with SSO, admin console, and audit logs

Unlimited storage, 90-day version history

As of July 2026. Check current pricing on the Penpot pricing page.

Penpot's free plan score

How good Penpot's free plan really is, judged on four things and weighted into one number.

81/100

Strong

Unlimited files and 8 editors free, or self-host it and remove the ceiling entirely.

Free plan generosity: 88/100
Feature depth for the category: 88/100
Freedom and honesty: 92/100
What free users report: 50/100

Read the full free plan breakdown

Scored July 2026. How we calculate the free plan score.

Frequently asked questions about Penpot

Is Penpot free forever, or does the free plan expire?

The free Professional plan is a permanent tier, not a trial. It carries unlimited design files, up to 8 editors with unlimited viewers, 10GB of storage and 7 days of version history (as of July 2026). Paid plans start at $7 per editor per month and buy storage and retention, not design features.

Is Penpot open source?

Yes, under the MPL-2.0 license, with the code on GitHub. That means you can run the whole thing on your own server with Docker, and none of the hosted plan limits apply to a self-hosted instance. Files are stored as standard SVG, so nothing you make is trapped in a proprietary format.

Does Penpot have a desktop app or work offline?

No. There is no offline desktop app, so Penpot is a browser tab whether you use the hosted version or your own self-hosted instance (as of July 2026). If a native offline app is the requirement, Lunacy is the free option in this category.

What does Penpot cost once you pass 8 editors?

The Unlimited plan is $7 per editor per month, and the total bill is capped at $175 per month however many editors you add (as of July 2026). It raises storage to 25GB and version history to 30 days. Enterprise is $25 per editor per month with a $950 monthly minimum, which makes it a procurement tier rather than a bigger Unlimited.

What does Figma still do better than Penpot?

Three things, and they are real. Figma has a far larger plugin and template ecosystem, it keeps 30 days of version history on its free plan against Penpot's 7 (as of July 2026), and very large files feel faster on Figma after years of performance work. If your team's workflow depends on specific Figma plugins, check for equivalents before you move anything.

Latest Penpot news

Changes that affect what you get for free: pricing, free plan limits, ownership, and whether the project is still maintained. Not every release.

We checked Penpot's own blog, changelog and release notes in July 2026 and found nothing that changes the picture above.

Reader reviews

What people who actually use Penpot think of it.

No reviews of Penpot yet. If you have used it, yours would be the first.

The useful part is the specifics: what you used it for, and where it got in your way.