Penpot

What Penpot is

Penpot is an open-source design platform for teams that need designers and developers to work together. It runs in a browser and supports SVG vector editing, custom font management, Flex Layout, CSS Grid Layout, and interactive prototyping. Teams can build design systems with components, native design tokens, and shared libraries, then share prototypes and collaborate in real time. Developers can inspect code, with support for CSS, HTML, SVG, JSON, and Penpot’s open file format.

Penpot is available as a cloud service or as a self-hosted deployment, including private cloud, on-premises, and air-gapped environments. Docker and Kubernetes are listed deployment options. Its security information includes SAML SSO, role-based access control, AES-256 encryption at rest, TLS 1.2+ in transit, and GDPR compliance with a DPA. Penpot says self-hosted deployments can support SOC2/HIPAA requirements and can be deployed in FedRAMP environments. The free Professional plan is fully featured; paid plans include Unlimited at $7 editor/month and Enterprise at $25 member/month. A Private Server plan is $50k year. Penpot is made by Kaleidos, an open-source product company based in Europe.

Who it suits

Penpot suits designers and developers who want to collaborate on shared design systems, prototypes, and code handoff in a browser. Its self-hosted options and governance features also fit teams with private deployment or security requirements, from solo users to enterprise organizations.

Limits

The Professional plan is listed as fully featured with no limits stated. Unlimited allows up to 8 team members and 10GB storage; Enterprise allows up to 25GB storage.

Getting started

1. Open penpot.app in a browser; current Chrome or Firefox is recommended, and WebKit browsers such as Safari and Epiphany are supported
2. Choose the free Professional plan or review the Unlimited, Enterprise, and Private Server plans
3. Use Penpot as a cloud service or choose a self-hosted deployment
4. For self-hosting, Docker and Kubernetes are listed deployment options
5. Use the Help Center, community forum, or support email for questions

Verdict

Choose Penpot for collaborative design, prototyping, design systems, and developer code inspection, especially when self-hosting matters. Look elsewhere if a desktop app is required. Teams needing more storage or governance can consider the listed paid plans, with Enterprise storage capped at 25GB.