Figma has been the default design tool for many creatives, including myself. It’s polished, widely used, and honestly pretty hard to beat. But it’s also a closed ecosystem with paywalls, limited free features, and no option to run it on your own server. For someone who cares about privacy and flexibility, Figma can feel like a trade-off.

This is where Penpot comes in. I’ve used Penpot for a long time now, it’s one of my go-to open-source graphics tools, and you can self-host it. On top of that, it’s also browser-based, which is what I prefer in a graphics tool; it makes it more accessible. This Figma clone might sound too good to be true, but I’ve been using it for real projects. Not only does it hold up against Figma, it brings prototyping and design features that make it a serious, and in some cases, more practical alternative.

What is Penpot?

The quick rundown

Penpot is an open-source design app that runs in your browser. It is primarily used for UX/UI design, but you can also use it for other graphic work like logos, posters, social media banners, and illustrations. The layout and toolkit is almost identical to Figma, with layers and assets on the left panel, properties on the right, the toolkit at the top, and the canvas at the center. So if you’ve ever touched Figma before, you’ll feel right at home.

Penpot is free and built on open web standards like SVG and CSS, and its paid tier doesn’t take away any of the good stuff. Once you’ve made an account, you can just jump in and start designing, or self-host if you want more control over your projects and data. All-in-all, Penpot is a capable design app that doesn’t ask for your wallet or force you into a closed environment — it’s the go-to for anyone who wants a self-hostable, open-source alternative to not just Figma, but also Adobe XD, Sketch, and other proprietary UX design tools.

Self-hosting Penpot

I chose the easy route

I like the idea of self-hosting, but not the hassle of actually doing it; hence why I rarely self-host. Messing with Docker configurations isn’t my idea of having fun, so I went the easy route with Penpot by self-hosting via Elestio. It’s a managed service that takes care of all the heavy setup for you.

You can read my guide on self-hosting Penpot via Elestio here, but to quickly overview: You create an account, deploy your first service, search for Penpot, configure your service, and confirm your details. Once that’s done, you’ll get an email with a URL and password, and from there you’ll be directed to your Penpot instance. For me, this is a good-enough balance of privacy and convenience.

How I actually use Penpot

It’s become my go-to tool for design

I don’t use Penpot like a full-blown design agency would, since I’m not running big teams or juggling corporate style guides. I use it as a Figma stand-in for the design courses I’m enrolled in, as well as some personal projects. It’s like a personal little lab where I get to practice and experiment.

I always start by creating a couple of frames using the Board tool (the equivalent of Figma’s Frame tool) to emulate a web or mobile screen — there are also a bunch of screen preset ratios available. Then I’ll go in with shapes and text, and configure all the properties like size, color, and effects, depending on the interface I’m trying to create or replicate. This is honestly the most fun part. There are also a ton of templates to help get you started.

Once all my basics are laid down, I’ll start tinkering with more advanced features like Flex/Grid layout (the equivalent of Figma’s Auto-layout) to get my elements to align properly, and Components for reusable elements. Once I’ve conjured up something that looks like it resembles an app UI, I’ll head over to the Prototype panel and start linking frames and elements to simulate navigation and interactions of an app. Penpot even has animation curves like Figma for interactive prototypes, allowing you to customize the interpolation.

What Penpot does better than Figma

Beyond being open-source and self-hostable

Penpot actually nails a few things that Figma either locks behind a paywall or handles clumsily. First up is dev handoff. The Inspect panel in Penpot is free and built-in, so developers can grab CSS-ready values, dimensions, fonts, and so on, without needing Figma’s paid Dev Mode. For small teams, this is huge.

There are also Tokens in Penpot. In Figma, you’d typically have to hunt down a plugin to manage colors and typography consistently, but Penpot’s free Tokens feature is right next to your layers, so you can standardize your elements without plugin-hopping. Lastly, Penpot also has much better multilingual support than Figma, with support for over 30 languages. Figma has fewer than 10.

Penpot is better than I first expected

When I first tried Penpot, I was already an avid Figma user, so I didn’t expect much since nothing else had measured up yet. But after spending real time with Penpot, it’s become clear that it’s a serious alternative. It gives me all the core tools I need for the type of designs I create, is free and open-source, and lets me self-host without over-complicating it. I can’t recommend it enough.