Penpot vs Sketch
Both are alternatives to Figma. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Also searched as Sketch vs Penpot — same comparison, one verdict.
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.
Sketch
The incumbent Figma displaced — still excellent, still Mac-only.
Sketch was the tool Figma took the market from, and it is still a first-class native macOS design application with a strong plugin ecosystem and a one-time-purchase option alongside subscriptions. Being native means it is fast in ways a browser tool is not. The constraints are the ones that cost it the market: macOS only, and collaboration that was retrofitted rather than designed in. Listed because for a solo designer on a Mac who resents subscriptions, it remains a rational choice.
Side by side
| Penpot | Sketch | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty Score | 92 | 38 |
| Open source | Yes | No |
| Self-hostable | Yes | No |
| Local-first | Yes | Yes |
| License | MPL-2.0 | Proprietary |
| Pricing | Free and open source, self-hosted or on Penpot's free cloud. Paid plans for hosted teams. | Around $12 per editor per month, or a one-time licence with a year of updates. |
Penpot is Macrostack's recommended Figma alternative, so it's our pick here.
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
Sketch
Strengths
- +Native macOS performance — noticeably faster than browser tools
- +One-time purchase option, which is rare in this category now
- +Mature plugin ecosystem built over a decade
- +Files are local by default
Trade-offs
- −macOS only — excludes most teams outright
- −Collaboration is bolted on rather than native
- −Proprietary format with the same lock-in as Figma's
- −Losing ecosystem momentum to Figma and Penpot
Related alternative guides
Facts verified 2026-08-07. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.