# Penpot

23 Hacker News commenters recommended Penpot and 23 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Open-source design tool people recommend as a free, self-hostable alternative to Figma, with a code mode for developers. Common caveat: it is slow and crash-prone with large or complex files.

## Why people recommend it

- Open source and self-hostable (5 comments): "Performance can be optimized eventually (it's code); closed-source licensing terms cannot be optimized by users (it's legal)." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46069831)) "If you're looking for an open-source and self-host option then you might to checkout" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46917756)) "that's so close to code (also, open source, self-hostable, etc, etc)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46076720))
- Free or cheaper than Figma (3 comments): "they offer a hosted version that's far more reasonably priced than Figma" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46066155)) "I think PenPot is more dev-friendly. Their "Code" mode is 100% free" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46674065)) "comparing this to penpot, which is free as long as you self-host" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46917864))
- Enjoyable and valuable for daily use (3 comments): "It'd ruin the joy I get every day when I open it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46069043)) "I'm actually surprised it delivers on the promise" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46070962)) "Penpot has been invaluable!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46066440))
- Code mode and design-to-code (2 comments): "that's so close to code (also, open source, self-hostable, etc, etc)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46076720)) "I think PenPot is more dev-friendly. Their "Code" mode is 100% free" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46674065))

## What people warn about

- Slow on large or complex files (3 comments): "Penpot relies on an SVG engine, which limits performance as project complexity grows." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46917938)) "Motif was way superior than both figma and penpot in terms of rendering and performance with large design files." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46068963)) "it causes the whole system to slow to a crawl when opening anything complex" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46071014))
- Crashes and bugs in use (4 comments): "even on simple use I quickly ran into so many bugs & issues I quickly gave up" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46076987)) "the app would crash after a few minutes and not properly show the canvases" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46065445)) "Unstable, very crash prone with just a few users designing 10 plus pages." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46065853))
- Requires running a backend stack (3 comments): "It seems unreasonable that an average designer should be required to learn server administration" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46067625)) "why do I want a full backend stack running via docker on my machine for this? That sucks." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46077132)) "I don't want a fucking SaaS stack running on my macbook for a small graphics tool?" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46081577))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Canva](https://hackerapproved.com/p/canva.md): 27 recommend
- [Sketch](https://hackerapproved.com/p/sketch.md): 12 recommend
- [Lunacy](https://hackerapproved.com/p/lunacy.md): 5 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Penpot", https://hackerapproved.com/p/penpot/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).