Penpot vs Lunacy
Both are alternatives to Figma. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Also searched as Lunacy vs Penpot — same comparison, one verdict.
Penpot is open source (MPL-2.0) and Lunacy is not (Proprietary (free)) — so the real question is whether you want to own the design & prototyping stack or rent it.
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.
Lunacy
Free desktop UI design that opens Sketch and Figma files.
Lunacy is a free desktop design app from Icons8 that reads and writes Sketch files and imports Figma documents, with built-in icons, illustrations and photos. It runs natively on Windows, macOS and Linux, and works offline — useful where a browser-based tool is not an option. It is proprietary and free rather than open source, which is why it scores where it does: you are not paying, but you are still depending on a company's decision to keep it free.
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 | Lunacy | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty ScoreOur transparent 0–100 composite for data ownership and exit cost. | 92 | 48 |
| Open source | Yes | No |
| Self-hostable | Yes | No |
| Local-first data | Yes | Yes |
| License | MPL-2.0 | Proprietary (free) |
| Pricing | Free and open source, self-hosted or on Penpot's free cloud. Paid plans for hosted teams. | Free. Paid Icons8 subscription only for premium asset libraries. |
| 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. | — |
| 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 | — |
| Setup timeHonest first-install estimate, not the marketing quickstart. | 1 hour with Docker Compose. Half a day with HTTPS, SMTP and hardened flags. | — |
| 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. | — |
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
Lunacy
Strengths
- +Genuinely free with no seat limit
- +Opens Sketch files natively and imports from Figma
- +Runs offline as a native desktop app on all three platforms
- +Built-in asset libraries save real time
Trade-offs
- −Proprietary — free today is a business decision, not a licence
- −No self-hosting and no source access
- −Collaboration is weaker than Figma or Penpot
- −Tied to Icons8's ecosystem and its commercial direction
Which one fits you
The trade-offs above, turned into a decision. Find the line that describes your team.
Choose Penpot
if you want the source and the option to fork it, and you would rather run it on your own hardware, and only open tool with real feature parity ambitions against Figma.
Choose Lunacy
if genuinely free with no seat limit.
Neither, yet
if both carry a real cost you should weigh first — real-time collaboration is smoother in Figma, and proprietary — free today is a business decision, not a licence. 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.
Penpot vs Lunacy — common questions
Is Penpot a better fit than Lunacy for design & prototyping?
It depends on what you are optimising for, and the honest split is this: Penpot scores 92 to Lunacy's 48 on data ownership and exit cost, so it is the safer choice if you care about being able to leave. Lunacy earns its place on a different axis — genuinely free with no seat limit. 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. Lunacy keeps your data on its own infrastructure, which is the part to plan for: confirm the export path before you commit, not when you are already trying to leave.
Can I self-host Penpot?
Penpot can be self-hosted; Lunacy cannot, so it stays on the vendor's infrastructure whatever you do.
Are Penpot and Lunacy 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.
Related alternative guides
Facts verified 2026-08-07. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.