Why Open Source Design Tools Matter

For many designers today, Figma has become the default design tool, simply because it’s an excellent product that offers almost everything you need. It comes with powerful design features, a sophisticated layout system, robust design system management, and it was among the first tools to enable real-time remote collaboration. Onboarding is also dead simple: just log in with your Google or Meta account and you’re ready to go. Its generous free tier has significantly lowered the barrier to entry for millions of people around the world. Students, freelancers, and designers from less privileged backgrounds now have access to professional-grade tools.

However, there is a trade-off we often ignore. When you use a commercial design platform, your work lives on someone else's servers. Ultimately, you are at the mercy of a large, profit-oriented company. What happens if the free tier is reduced or removed? What if pricing changes overnight, or geopolitical issues lead to access restrictions in your country? This might sound like fear-mongering, and Figma will likely continue to offer a free tier—but it's still worth keeping in mind when making a long-term investment in a platform.

This is why open source design tools are important. They give designers and teams the ability to host their own tools and truly own their data. There is no vendor lock-in, no sudden paywalls, and no hidden data extraction. Best of all, these tools are free to use. You can run them on your own computer at no cost, or rent a VPS for less than $10 per month and host an installation for your entire company.

Feature-wise, some open source tools are already close to what Figma offers. While they still lack certain advanced or niche features, the gap is steadily shrinking. The two most notable open source design tools today are Penpot and Quant-UX.

Penpot stands out by being built on open web standards such as SVG. This means design data is not only accessible, but also interoperable. Designs can live beyond a single tool and integrate more naturally with developer workflows and other systems. Penpot also offers many professional features designers expect today, including grid layouts, reusable components, and plugin support.

Quant-UX takes a slightly different approach by blending design, interactive prototyping, and user research. Instead of focusing on static click-through prototypes, Quant-UX enables fully interactive designs that behave like real applications. Its strength lies in fast feedback: designers can test ideas early, observe user behavior, and iterate quickly. While its visual design capabilities are more focused than Penpot’s, it excels at validating concepts rather than just polishing pixels.

Open source ensures that designers are not locked into a single ecosystem, that data remains under the creator’s control, and that the future of design tooling is not dictated solely by the stock market. For those who care about accessibility, sustainability, and true ownership, open source design tools offer a compelling alternative.