Self-Hosted / Projects / Penpot
Penpot
StableSpecs verified October 10, 2026 · against v2.18.3
Overview
Self-hosted open-source design platform for UI and product teams.
Penpot is an open-source design platform for teams that want collaborative UI design, prototyping, design systems, and developer handoff without making a hosted design service the only place their work can live.
Why people choose Penpot
The broad search intent is an open-source or self-hosted Figma alternative. Penpot focuses on shared design work between designers and developers, open standards such as SVG, CSS, HTML, and JSON, and a deployment model that can run on infrastructure the team controls.
What is included
Official product pages cover UI design, responsive and rules-based layouts, interactive prototypes, design systems, components, design tokens, shared libraries, code inspection, open file formats, collaboration, and integrations. Newer AI and MCP capabilities should be checked against the current release and deployment edition.
Requirements and tradeoffs
The official technical guide documents Docker and Kubernetes self-hosting plus configuration, external integrations, and separate developer setup. Penpot is a multi-service platform rather than a single static container, so operators should plan for persistent data, backups, upgrades, authentication, resource sizing, and secure exposure.
Best fit
Choose Penpot when a product team wants collaborative design and developer handoff with open-source code and self-hosting options. A hosted design platform may be simpler for a team that wants managed collaboration, while a lightweight graphics editor is better for individual image work.
Interface previews
Screenshots of the Penpot interface.
Feature support
| Feature | Support |
|---|---|
| Collaborative UI designThe official product site positions Penpot as a collaborative design platform for product teams. | Supported |
| Wireframes and interactive prototypesUI design and prototyping are documented product workflows. | Supported |
| Design systems and shared librariesOfficial pages describe components, design tokens, and shared libraries. | Supported |
| Responsive and CSS Grid layoutsThe product site highlights rules-based interfaces and CSS Grid or Flex layouts. | Supported |
| Developer handoff and code inspectionPenpot documents code-oriented inspection and design-to-code workflows. | Supported |
| Open standards and file formatsThe official site lists CSS, HTML, SVG, JSON, and an open file format. | Supported |
| Docker and Kubernetes self-hostingThe technical guide documents supported Docker and Kubernetes installation paths. | Supported |
| AI and MCP workflowsThe current product site advertises AI and MCP capabilities; confirm edition, release, and configuration before treating them as baseline self-hosted features. | Partial support |
Community signals
- Stars
- 60.9k
- Forks
- 4.2k
- Open issues
- 805
- Last commit
- 23h ago
- Latest release
- 2.18.3
- Repo created
- Dec 2015
Includes open pull requests
6d ago
Refreshed nightly from the GitHub API.
Questions
What is Penpot used for?
Penpot is used for collaborative UI design, wireframes, prototypes, design systems, shared libraries, and developer handoff.
Is Penpot a self-hosted Figma alternative?
Yes. Penpot targets similar collaborative design and prototyping workflows while offering open-source code and supported self-hosting options.
Can Penpot be self-hosted with Docker?
Yes. The official technical guide documents Docker installation, along with a Kubernetes path and configuration guidance.
Does Penpot support design systems?
Yes. Penpot documents components, design tokens, and shared libraries for reusable design systems.
Is Penpot free and open source?
Penpot publishes its source under the Mozilla Public License 2.0. Hosted services and self-hosted operational costs are separate considerations.
Can developers inspect code in Penpot?
Yes. The official product site includes code inspection and design-to-code workflows using open web standards.
What does self-hosted Penpot require?
Follow the current technical guide for the supported Docker or Kubernetes deployment, then plan for persistent data, authentication, backups, upgrades, and secure network exposure.
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