Penpot vs Excalidraw
Both are alternatives to Figma. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Also searched as Excalidraw vs Penpot — same comparison, one verdict.
Penpot and Excalidraw are closely matched on ownership (92 vs 95) — this one comes down to pricing and to which trade-offs below you can live with.
Penpot
TOP PICKThe one open design tool that genuinely competes — and it self-hosts.
Penpot is a browser-based design and prototyping tool with real-time collaboration, components, auto-layout and prototyping, built on open web standards rather than a proprietary format. Files are SVG-based, which means what you draw is readable by other software instead of trapped. It self-hosts with Docker, so designs can live on your own infrastructure — the deciding factor for regulated work. MPL-2.0, around 58k GitHub stars. It imports Figma files, though fidelity drops on complex documents, so treat a migration as a project rather than a click.
Excalidraw
Diagrams and whiteboarding, done better than Figma does them.
Excalidraw is a hand-drawn-style whiteboard for diagrams, architecture sketches and wireframes. It is not an interface design tool and does not pretend to be — but for the specific job of getting an idea onto a shared canvas fast, it beats Figma comfortably. MIT, roughly 129k stars, and it runs entirely in the browser with optional end-to-end encrypted collaboration. Included because a large share of what teams actually use Figma for is diagramming, and paying editor seats for that is expensive.
Side by side
10 points of comparison, every one read from a verified field. Green marks the side that wins a row outright. A dash means we do not hold that fact — never that it is zero.
| Penpot | Excalidraw | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty ScoreOur transparent 0–100 composite for data ownership and exit cost. | 92 | 95 |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Local-first data | Yes | Yes |
| License | MPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Pricing | Free and open source, self-hosted or on Penpot's free cloud. Paid plans for hosted teams. | Free and open source. Excalidraw+ is an optional paid hosted tier. |
| RAM to run it wellThe figure that actually matters, not the vendor's minimum. | 4–8 GB for a small design team, with backend, frontend, exporter (a headless browser), PostgreSQL 15 and Valkey on one box. For the top end, the docs say 4 CPUs and 16 GB are enough for thousands of users. | Negligible on the server: all the drawing happens in each visitor's browser |
| Realistic running costWhat the box costs each month if you run it yourself. | $7–24/mo on a 4 GB VPS, plus an SMTP provider for invites and sign-up email | $0 alongside anything you already host; it's a static site that fits on the smallest VPS |
| Setup timeHonest first-install estimate, not the marketing quickstart. | 1 hour with Docker Compose. Half a day with HTTPS, SMTP and hardened flags. | 10 minutes with the Docker image; days if you want working collaboration |
| Ongoing maintenanceThe part nobody budgets for. | Releases come about monthly (2.17.0 in July, 2.17.1 and 2.17.2 in August, 2.18.0 in September 2026). The docs strongly recommend upgrading in small steps rather than jumping between distant versions. Back up the penpot_postgres_v15 and penpot_assets volumes first. | Pull a new image now and then. There's no database, no accounts and nothing to back up on the server. Remind people to export .excalidraw files, because their only copy lives in their browser. |
Penpot is Macrostack's recommended Figma alternative, so it's our pick here.
Weighing both against staying on Figma? Is Figma free? What it actually costs →
Penpot
Strengths
- +Only open tool with real feature parity ambitions against Figma
- +SVG-based files — your work is not locked in a proprietary format
- +Self-hosts with Docker; designs never leave your infrastructure
- +MPL-2.0 with no enterprise directory carve-out
Trade-offs
- −Real-time collaboration is smoother in Figma
- −Plugin ecosystem is a fraction of Figma's
- −Figma import loses fidelity on complex files
- −Performance lags on very large documents
Excalidraw
Strengths
- +Fastest tool here from blank canvas to a diagram someone understands
- +MIT, self-hostable, works offline in the browser
- +End-to-end encrypted collaboration on the hosted version
- +Enormous adoption — 129k stars and used across the industry
Trade-offs
- −Not an interface design tool — no components or auto-layout
- −No developer handoff surface
- −Deliberately limited: the sketch aesthetic is the product
- −Wrong choice if you are designing screens rather than explaining systems
Which one fits you
The trade-offs above, turned into a decision. Find the line that describes your team.
Choose Penpot
if only open tool with real feature parity ambitions against Figma.
Choose Excalidraw
if a lower exit cost matters more to you than any single feature, and fastest tool here from blank canvas to a diagram someone understands.
Neither, yet
if both carry a real cost you should weigh first — real-time collaboration is smoother in Figma, and not an interface design tool — no components or auto-layout. If either of those is a dealbreaker for your team, the shortlist is wrong rather than the choice.
What it takes to run these yourself
Real requirements and honest running costs, not the vendor quickstart.
Self-hosting Penpot
4–8 GB for a small design team, with backend, frontend, exporter (a headless browser), PostgreSQL 15 and Valkey on one box. For the top end, the docs say 4 CPUs and 16 GB are enough for thousands of users. RAM · 1 hour with Docker Compose. Half a day with HTTPS, SMTP and hardened flags.
$7–24/mo on a 4 GB VPS, plus an SMTP provider for invites and sign-up email
Self-hosting Excalidraw
Negligible on the server: all the drawing happens in each visitor's browser RAM · 10 minutes with the Docker image; days if you want working collaboration
$0 alongside anything you already host; it's a static site that fits on the smallest VPS
Penpot vs Excalidraw — common questions
Is Penpot a better fit than Excalidraw for design & prototyping?
It depends on what you are optimising for, and the honest split is this: Excalidraw scores 95 to Penpot's 92 on data ownership and exit cost, so it is the safer choice if you care about being able to leave. Penpot earns its place on a different axis — only open tool with real feature parity ambitions against Figma. Neither is a wrong answer for every team; the table above is the actual comparison.
What happens if we want to switch later?
Penpot keeps its data local or in open formats, so leaving is an export rather than a negotiation. Excalidraw is still self-hostable, so the files stay on your server either way — but it is not local-first by design, so check what its export produces before you rely on it.
Can I self-host Penpot or Excalidraw?
Both can be self-hosted. The difference is what it costs you in time rather than whether it is possible — see the setup and maintenance rows above.
Are Penpot and Excalidraw both alternatives to Figma?
Yes — both appear in our Figma comparison, which is why they are worth putting side by side. People usually arrive here already having decided to move off Figma and now choosing between the two replacements, which is a narrower and much easier question.
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Facts verified 2026-08-07. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.