Figma

Best Self Hosted Alternatives to Figma

A curated collection of the 2 best self hosted alternatives to Figma.

Figma is a cloud-based design and prototyping platform that enables teams to create, prototype, and collaborate on user interfaces and product designs in real time. It provides vector editing, components, design systems, versioning, and developer handoff.

Alternatives List

#1
Penpot

Penpot

Web-based UI/UX design and prototyping tool for real-time collaboration, SVG-first editing, and developer-friendly handoff.

Penpot screenshot

Penpot is a web-based design and prototyping platform for creating UI/UX designs, interactive prototypes, and design systems collaboratively. It is built around open standards (notably SVG) and aims to provide a workflow that works well for both designers and developers.

Key Features

  • Real-time multiplayer collaboration with comments and shared workspaces
  • SVG-first vector design workflow with shapes, text, fills/strokes, and constraints
  • Interactive prototyping (screens, flows, links, transitions) for clickable previews
  • Design systems support via reusable components and libraries
  • Developer-focused handoff features (inspect properties, measurements, and assets)
  • Import/export oriented around standard formats (notably SVG) for interoperability
  • Role-based team organization features for collaborative projects

Use Cases

  • Designing and iterating product UI screens with multiple stakeholders in one file
  • Building and maintaining a reusable component library/design system
  • Creating clickable prototypes for user testing and stakeholder reviews

Limitations and Considerations

  • Feature parity with some established proprietary design suites may vary by workflow (e.g., advanced plugin ecosystems and certain specialized tooling).

Penpot is a strong option for teams that need a collaborative UI design tool with a standards-oriented approach and practical developer handoff. It is particularly suitable when SVG interoperability and transparent, inspectable design artifacts are important.

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#2
draw.io (diagrams.net)

draw.io (diagrams.net)

diagrams.net (draw.io) is a web-based diagramming tool for flowcharts, UML, ER diagrams, and more, with integrations and offline/desktop options.

draw.io (diagrams.net) screenshot

diagrams.net (formerly draw.io) is a diagramming and flowcharting application for creating technical and business diagrams in the browser. It focuses on fast editing, broad diagram types, and easy export/sharing, with integrations commonly used in engineering documentation workflows.

Key Features

  • Drag-and-drop editor with extensive shape libraries (flowcharts, UML, BPMN, network diagrams, org charts, etc.)
  • Diagram-as-a-file approach: save as .drawio/XML and import/export across environments
  • Export to PNG/JPEG/SVG/PDF and embed diagrams into documents and wikis
  • Connectors, layers, groups, alignment tools, and style controls for precise layouts
  • Templates and reusable custom libraries for standardized diagramming
  • Integrations and embedding options commonly used with platforms like Confluence/Jira and Git-based documentation
  • Desktop app availability (Electron) for offline editing and local file workflows

Use Cases

  • Software architecture diagrams (C4-style), UML, and sequence/flow diagrams for engineering teams
  • Network/topology diagrams and infrastructure documentation
  • ER diagrams and process maps for product, operations, and compliance documentation

Limitations and Considerations

  • Real-time multi-cursor collaboration depends on the chosen integration/storage backend; the core editor is primarily file-centric.
  • Large/complex diagrams can become heavy in the browser depending on client resources.

A major advantage of diagrams.net is its lightweight, file-based model and wide export compatibility, making it easy to adopt in existing documentation pipelines. It suits both ad-hoc diagramming and repeatable, standardized diagram creation through templates and libraries.

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Why choose an open source alternative?

  • •Data ownership: Keep your data on your own servers
  • •No vendor lock-in: Freedom to switch or modify at any time
  • •Cost savings: Reduce or eliminate subscription fees
  • •Transparency: Audit the code and know exactly what's running