Open source alternatives

Figma alternatives: open source design and prototyping tools for 2026

Penpot is the only full open source Figma replacement. Here is how it compares with Quant UX, Excalidraw and newer projects for design, prototyping and wireframes.

OpenSourceHunter editorsUpdated October 16, 2026

Figma does several jobs: interface design with components, interactive prototypes, developer handoff and a whiteboard for early ideas. No single open source project matches all of it, but one comes close, and a couple of smaller tools cover the rest well. We checked licenses and project status on October 16, 2026.

Quick comparison

Tool	License	Best for	Self-host
Penpot	MPL-2.0	Full UI design, components, prototypes and handoff	Yes, with Docker
Quant UX	GPL-3.0	Clickable prototypes and usability testing	Yes
Excalidraw	MIT	Wireframes, diagrams and whiteboarding	Yes
Inkscape	GPL	Vector illustration, icons and logos	Desktop app

Penpot: the real Figma alternative

Penpot is a browser-based design and prototyping tool built on open web standards: designs are stored as SVG, and layouts use CSS Flexbox and Grid, so what designers build maps closely to what developers ship. It has components, design tokens, shared libraries, real-time collaboration, interactive prototypes and an Inspect panel that shows CSS and SVG for handoff. Moving existing work out of Figma relies on export plugins rather than a direct import, so expect some cleanup.

It is free to use on the hosted service or to self-host with Docker, and the license is MPL-2.0. The main thing to test is your own workflow: complex component libraries and fonts can need adjusting after a move, so migrate one real file before you move a team.

Quant UX: prototypes you can test with users

Quant UX is narrower. It builds clickable prototypes and then records how test users move through them, with heatmaps and task analytics. Its design features are basic compared with Penpot’s, but if your goal is to validate a flow with real people, it does something Figma needs plugins for. It is GPL-3.0 licensed and can be self-hosted.

Excalidraw: the whiteboard part of Figma

A lot of Figma use is really FigJam: sketching flows, wireframes and diagrams before anyone opens a design file. Excalidraw does that with a hand-drawn style that makes it clear nothing is final. It runs in the browser with end-to-end encrypted collaboration links, is MIT-licensed, and can be self-hosted or embedded in other apps.

Inkscape and newer projects

For vector illustration such as icons, logos and marketing graphics, Inkscape remains the established open source choice. It is a desktop app rather than a collaborative interface design tool, so treat it as a replacement for Illustrator-style work you might have done in Figma.

Newer projects appear every year. OpenPencil, an MIT-licensed design toolkit focused on offline and developer workflows, launched in 2026; it is promising but young, so check its pace of releases before relying on it. Older projects such as Akira, which aimed to be a native Linux design tool, are no longer actively developed.

How to choose

You want to replace Figma for a product team: Penpot.
You need to test prototypes with real users: Quant UX, alongside Penpot for the visual design.
You mostly use FigJam for wireframes and flows: Excalidraw.
You draw icons and illustrations: Inkscape.

If you are leaving Figma because of cost, Penpot’s free self-hosted option is the biggest saving; if it is for data control, self-hosting any of these keeps files on your own server. You can browse every project in the directory.