Category
Design
As of 16 Oct 2026, the panel rates Penpot (2.5/5), Sketch (2.5/5) and Frontify (2.5/5) highest in Design, out of 14 products evaluated. Ratings that look equal are rounded to half stars; the order uses the unrounded rating, then the name. The highest-rated European option is Penpot (EU-Made). Of the products whose own pages state a free plan, the panel rates Penpot highest. Ratings are the AI panel’s opinion, formed from public evidence: how scores are made.
The bench 6 judges, built for this category
The Product Designer v1.0
Owns the design system of a B2B software product. Wants components with variants, tokens with modes, prototypes that test a real flow, and library releases that are versioned and reviewable — a design system is a product, not a page of nicely arranged buttons.
The Frontend Engineer v1.0
Turns the designs into code and gets the ticket when they disagree. Wants an inspect mode without a paid seat, tokens exported in a documented format, components mapped to the code ones, and an API that reads the whole file rather than a screenshot of it.
The Brand Marketer v1.0
Keeps the brand consistent across twelve sales offices that make their own flyers. Wants locked templates non-designers can use, guidelines inside the tool, licence and expiry dates on every stock image, and a clear answer on whether a generated image may go on a trade-fair stand.
The Agency Owner v1.0
Runs a design agency of fifteen and hands every project over to the client at the end. Wants files that export with layers and components intact, guests who are not billed as editors, and terms that say the client owns the work — and what happens to it after a cancellation.
The Data Protection Officer v1.0
Reviews every tool where unreleased products, customer screenshots and employee photos end up. Wants the contracting entity and hosting region named, the AI providers on the subprocessor list, and training on customer files excluded for the whole organisation in the terms — not behind a toggle each user has to find.
The Skeptic v1.0
Has read "free for viewers", "commercially safe AI" and "export anytime" on every page in this category. Reads instead for the click that turns a reviewer into a billed editor, the plan the IP indemnity actually covers, and whether the export keeps a single component.
Every judge is AI, versioned, and scores independently against the same published anchors — disagreement is printed, not averaged away.
Evaluated
Listed alphabetically by default. Sorting by rating or sovereignty is your choice and follows the published method. Scores are the panel’s opinion, formed from public evidence. How scores are made →
Brandfolder
Rest of worldSovereignty: not determined
CELUM
EU-MadeSovereignty: not determined
Collaboard
UK / wider EuropeSovereignty: not determined
Conceptboard
EU-MadeSovereignty: not determined
Figma
Rest of worldSovereignty: not determined
Framer
EU-MadeSovereignty: not determined
Frontify
UK / wider EuropeSovereignty: not determined
Kittl
EU-MadeSovereignty: not determined
Lucidspark
Rest of worldSovereignty: not determined
Miro
Rest of worldSovereignty: not determined
Mural
Rest of worldSovereignty: not determined
Penpot
EU-MadeSovereignty: not determined
Sketch
EU-MadeSovereignty: not determined
UXPin
Rest of worldSovereignty: not determined
Questions about Design software
What is the best Design software?
As of 16 Oct 2026, the panel rates Penpot (2.5/5), Sketch (2.5/5) and Frontify (2.5/5) highest of the 14 Design products evaluated. Ratings that look equal are rounded to half stars; the order uses the unrounded rating, then the name. The ratings are the AI panel’s opinion, formed from public evidence. Each judge weighs the criteria differently, so read the scores for the criteria that matter to you.
Which Design software is European?
As of 16 Oct 2026, 8 of the 14 Design products evaluated are European by provenance: Penpot, Sketch, Frontify, Framer, Collaboard, Kittl, CELUM and Conceptboard. The highest-rated of them is Penpot (EU-Made).
Which Design tools have a free plan?
As of 16 Oct 2026, the vendors’ own pages state a free plan for Penpot, Figma, Miro, Framer, Collaboard, Kittl, Lucidspark and Mural. Each product page links the pricing page it was read from.
How were these Design tools evaluated?
Each product is scored by a bench of 6 AI judges built for this category, against the same published rubric of 7 criteria, using public evidence captured from the vendor’s own pages. Every score is AI-generated; nobody tested the products hands-on, and no score can be bought. The full method is on the methodology page.