Penpot: The Rise of an Open-Source Design Platform

The open-source design platform “Penpot” has been featured on GitHub Trending as of June 21, 2026, attracting significant interest from the developer community. Designed as a product team-oriented design platform, Penpot stands out with its code-based approach and complete support for self-hosting.

Background and Positioning

The UI/UX design tool market has been predominantly dominated by Figma. Despite Adobe’s $20 billion acquisition attempt of Figma being stalled by regulatory reviews in 2022, Figma has continued to maintain a commanding share as a cloud-based design tool. However, as a proprietary product, Figma presents challenges such as vendor lock-in and concerns over data sovereignty, which can hinder its adoption by certain enterprises.

Enter Penpot, an open-source alternative designed to address these issues. Developed by the Spanish startup Kaleidos, Penpot has been gaining attention as a disruptive force in the design tools market since its beta release in 2021.

Code-Based Approach

Penpot’s standout feature is its ability to represent designs as code. Specifically, it is built upon standard web technologies like SVG, CSS, HTML, and JSON, making it highly developer-friendly. When exporting design files, they can be directly utilized as existing code, significantly reducing the effort needed for design-to-code conversion.

Moreover, Penpot enables bi-directional workflows between design and code through the use of an MCP server. This allows changes made by designers to be simultaneously reflected in developers’ code, and vice versa. MCP (Model Context Protocol), proposed by Anthropic, is a protocol standardizing collaboration between AI agents and tools. Penpot is a pioneering example of applying this protocol to design workflows.

Design Tokens and Centralized Management

Penpot includes a native design token feature. Design tokens are a method of centrally managing design attributes such as colors, font sizes, and spacing as code. This facilitates the establishment of a single source of truth between design and development, ensuring consistency.

Organizations managing large-scale design systems often need to keep track of hundreds of tokens. Penpot offers this capability as a standard feature, covering areas that previously required third-party plugins in Figma.

Benefits of Self-Hosting

Penpot’s support for self-hosting is particularly significant for organizations with strict compliance requirements. Financial institutions, healthcare providers, and government agencies often cannot store customer data or design assets on external servers. By installing Penpot on their own servers, these entities can maintain complete data sovereignty.

The platform is available as a Docker container, making it relatively easy to deploy. It can operate on a single server in its minimal configuration and also supports scaling out. The official documentation provides detailed deployment instructions for AWS, GCP, and Azure.

Real-Time Collaboration

Penpot features built-in real-time collaboration tools. Multiple designers can work on the same canvas simultaneously, with changes instantly reflected for other participants. This feature has become essential in today’s remote working environments.

While Figma’s real-time collaboration is one of its strongest assets, Penpot’s ability to achieve similar functionality as an open-source platform is noteworthy.

CSS Grid and Flex Layout

Penpot natively supports CSS Grid and Flexbox (Flex Layout). These layout technologies are foundational for responsive design, allowing designs to be expressed in a way that closely mirrors code. Layouts created by designers can be directly transitioned into implementation, improving the efficiency of design handoffs.

Traditional design tools have primarily relied on fixed, pixel-based layouts. By incorporating CSS concepts from the design stage, Penpot minimizes the gap between design and implementation.

API and Plugin System

Penpot offers a robust open API and plugin system, enabling users to extend its functionality and customize their workspace as a programmable environment.

Potential use cases include integration with CI/CD pipelines, automated export of design data, and the creation of AI-driven design workflows. Plugins can be developed using JavaScript, paving the way for community-driven extensions.

Inspect Mode

Penpot’s Inspect Mode allows developers to instantly view SVG, CSS, and HTML code. Developers can directly read code from design files and use it for implementation, bridging the common communication gap between designers and developers.

Impact on the Market

The growth of Penpot introduces competition to the design tool market. While Figma offers free and paid plans, enterprise-level features and team usage incur costs. As an open-source platform, Penpot eliminates software licensing fees, making it a cost-effective option for organizations, requiring only operational expenses.

Data sovereignty is another critical factor, especially for companies in the EU. With strict requirements under GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), Penpot, which allows data to remain within the organization, could become a compelling choice for European businesses.

Community and Ecosystem

Penpot is actively developed on GitHub, with over 20,000 stars. Contributors from around the world are involved, and the plugin ecosystem is expanding.

Learning resources include an official user guide, a learning center, and community forums. Video tutorials are also available on platforms like YouTube and PeerTube.

Editorial Opinion

In the short term, Penpot’s inclusion on GitHub Trending contributes to increased awareness within the developer community. Companies looking for self-hosted design tools are likely to evaluate it for adoption. Additionally, if Figma were to adjust its pricing or features, some organizations might consider Penpot as an alternative. The platform’s stability and feature set will play a critical role in its adoption by enterprises.

In the long term, Penpot has the potential to disrupt the design tool market. The maturation of open-source design tools could reduce reliance on proprietary products and offer more options for data sovereignty and cost management. However, Figma’s network effects—its existing design files, plugin ecosystem, and user base—remain significant advantages. To surpass these, Penpot will need to further differentiate itself and expand its ecosystem. Integration with AI workflows and advanced management features for large organizations will likely determine its future success.

References

• Penpot GitHub Repository — Published June 21, 2026
• Penpot Official Website: https://penpot.app/