Penpot
Penpot is an open-source, web-based design and prototyping tool built to align designers and developers with code-friendly, collaborative workflows.
It is geared to individual makers, small product teams, and organizations that prefer open-source governance. Penpot reduces handoff friction by exposing styles and code-like outputs, supports real-time collaboration and commenting, and enables interactive prototyping without engineering time. The tool targets teams building web UIs, with SVG-first vector workflows, HTML/CSS exports, component libraries, design tokens, plugins, and developer-facing inspect tools to shorten implementation time. Self-hosting provides a path for data control and compliance when required.
Use Cases
- Rapid UI mockups for side projects and prototypes.
- Prototyping interactive flows for user testing before engineering.
- Creating icons and SVG assets for websites and apps.
- Building and maintaining shared component libraries and tokens.
- Developer handoff using code-inspect and HTML/CSS exports.
- Deploying a self-hosted instance for compliance or data control.
Strengths
- SVG-first vector design that exports cleanly to code.
- HTML/CSS and CSS Grid/Flex exports matching production layout.
- Components, design tokens, and libraries for consistent UI systems.
- Interactive prototyping and transitions for testing flows without engineering.
- Real-time collaboration, commenting, and faster feedback loops.
- Plugins, extensibility, and developer inspect tools for automation.
- Suitable for self-hosting when data control or compliance required.
Limitations
- Not full feature parity with Figma or Sketch today.
- Smaller third-party plugin and template ecosystem than competitors.
- Release artifacts can lag community announcements (operationally watch).
- Hosted data residency and SLA details unclear (Unverified).
Final Thoughts
Try Penpot now if you need open-source control and tighter designer–developer translation. Wait if you require full parity with Figma features or hosted-region guarantees.
Choose managed cloud when you need vendor SLAs, hosted-region commitments, or reduced operational burden. Managed hosting provides vendor support and predictable enterprise controls beyond self-hosted operations.