Penpot is an open-source design and prototyping platform that provides a free, web-based alternative to proprietary tools like Figma and Sketch. It solves the problem of vendor lock-in and licensing costs in design workflows by offering a fully featured design tool that can be self-hosted or used via the cloud, with no restrictions on team size or project count. Built with open web standards including SVG and CSS, Penpot ensures that designs are inherently compatible with web technologies and accessible to both designers and developers.
Penpot offers real-time multiplayer collaboration, a comprehensive vector editing toolset, interactive prototyping with transitions, reusable components with variants, design tokens for maintaining consistency, and a grid and flex layout system that mirrors CSS behavior. Its native use of SVG means all designs export as clean, standards-compliant code rather than proprietary formats. The platform also includes a built-in CSS inspection panel, commenting and feedback tools, and support for importing Figma files to ease migration.
Penpot is designed for design teams, open-source communities, educational institutions, and organizations that prioritize data sovereignty, transparency, and freedom from vendor lock-in. It is particularly appealing to teams that want to self-host their design infrastructure for security or compliance reasons, and to developers who appreciate that designs are built on web-native standards. Penpot integrates with development workflows through its SVG-based export and CSS inspection tools, and is actively developed by a growing open-source community under the Mozilla Public License.
