# Figma — Design

Figma by Figma, Inc. holds a panel rating of 2.5/5 from 6 AI judges (category median 2/5), as of 2026-10-15. Provenance: Rest of world; sovereignty: not determined.

- Vendor: Figma, Inc. (https://www.figma.com)
- Category: [Design](https://whats-best.ai/software/design.md)
- Provenance (editorial classification): Rest of world
- Canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/design/figma
- Alternatives: https://whats-best.ai/software/design/figma/alternatives ([markdown](https://whats-best.ai/software/design/figma/alternatives.md))
- Data as of: 2026-10-20 · evaluated 2026-10-15 · oldest source captured 2026-10-01

**AI-generated.** Every score, rationale and verdict here is written by a panel of AI judges from public evidence — an analysis, not a hands-on test. Every fact quotes the vendor page it was read from. No score can be bought. How scores are made: https://whats-best.ai/methodology

## At a glance

- Vendor: Figma, Inc.
- Headquarters: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 13 Oct 2026
- Data hosting: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 13 Oct 2026
- Free plan: Yes, per the vendor’s own page [S1]

## The panel's verdict

Figma scores highest on design and prototyping and collaboration and handoff, both clustering at 6-7: shared styles for color, text, grids and effects, team-wide libraries, AI-generated component sets landing as fully editable layers bound to the customer's tokens and variables, Dev Mode with an MCP server on Professional, and free viewers taking measurements and copying CSS, iOS and Android code without a billing account. Sovereignty is weakest, scores running 0-2: the parent is Figma, Inc. of San Francisco with Figma GmbH, Berlin named in the German imprint, the privacy policy's sub-processors page contents were not captured, and the judges found no public information on EU data residency or where AI processing runs. Brand asset governance clusters at 3-4 — generation of palettes and assets, not governance. Pricing transparency spans 2-4: seat definitions and monthly credit allotments (3,000 credits/month on Professional, 3,500 on Organization, 4,250 on Enterprise, 500 for Collab, Dev, View and Starter) are published, but the captured pricing pages carry no price figures, so an annual cost cannot be computed. No genuine split was recorded between the judges.

**Speaks for it:**
- Free viewers can take measurements, copy CSS, iOS and Android code, export assets and comment without a billing account or extra seats.
- AI-generated components land as fully editable layers that reuse the customer's existing tokens, variables and styles.
- The AI terms state that input and output are Customer Content the customer retains all rights to, with training only while the administrative Content Training toggle is on.
- Monthly AI credit allotments are published: 3,000 credits/month on Professional, 3,500 on Organization, 4,250 on Enterprise, and 500 for Collab, Dev, View and Starter.
- The terms state the customer retains all right, title and interest in Customer Content.

**Held against it:**
- Sovereignty scores run 0-2, with legal entity jurisdiction, ownership, data residency and subprocessor exposure not confirmed on the vendor's pages as captured.
- Brand asset governance scores cluster at 3-4, with the captured pages documenting generation rather than governance.
- The captured pricing pages give plan names and seat definitions with no price figures, so an annual cost cannot be computed.
- Export is per asset — copy as CSS, SVG or PNG, PNG in the desktop app only — and we found no public information on whole-file export with structure.
- We found no public information on the AI model providers, where AI processing runs, content credentials on generated output, or any IP indemnity.

**Best for:**
- You hand designs to engineers outside paid seats — collaboration and handoff scores cluster at 6-7 on free viewer inspection, Dev Mode and an MCP server.
- You maintain a design system and want AI generation that binds to your real tokens, variables and styles — design and prototyping scores cluster at 6-7.
- You need AI terms in writing before adopting — customer ownership of input and output, an administrative training toggle and published credit allotments carried AI and content rights to 5-6.

**Avoid if:**
- Your procurement must confirm EU data residency and a named subprocessor chain before signature — ask the vendor: the public pages we read do not show it
- You need governed brand assets — locked templates for non-designers, guidelines in the tool, rights and expiry metadata — where brand asset governance scores run 3-4.
- You must compute an annual cost from published prices — the captured pricing pages carry no per-seat figures and Organization and Enterprise cancellation runs through sales.
- You need to leave with whole files in a documented format — file ownership and portability scores run 3-4, with export documented per asset.

## Scores by judge and criterion

Scores out of 5, each judge scoring independently against the published rubric (v1). "n/r" = not rated: the vendor publishes no price.

| Criterion | The Product Designer | The Frontend Engineer | The Brand Marketer | The Agency Owner | The Data Protection Officer | The Skeptic |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Design, prototyping & design systems | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3/5 | 3.5/5 |
| Collaboration, review & developer handoff | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3.5/5 |
| Brand assets & governance | 1.5/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 1.5/5 |
| Files, formats & portability | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 1.5/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 |
| AI features & rights to the work | 3/5 | 3/5 | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 | 3/5 |
| European sovereignty | 0/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 0.5/5 | 1/5 | 0.5/5 |
| Pricing transparency | 2/5 | 2/5 | 1/5 | 2/5 | 1.5/5 | 1.5/5 |
| **Weighted verdict** | **2.5/5** | **2.5/5** | **2.5/5** | **2/5** | **2/5** | **2/5** |

### The judges

- **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.

## European sovereignty — proven facts

Built only from facts on the vendor's own pages; a dimension we could not prove is left open, never scored as zero. Headline: not determined.

| Dimension | Finding | Points | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | Not determined | — | — |
| Ownership | Not determined | — | — |
| Data residency | Not determined | — | — |
| Subprocessors | Not determined | — | — |

## Key facts

Each fact is the vendor's own statement, cited to the source page it was read from ([S*n*] → Sources).

**Compliance**
- All plans standards: yes [S2]
- DPA incorporated: www.figma.com/dpa · yes [S5]
- DPA scc access: yes [S3]
- Dpf dispute resolution: free of charge · JAMS Data Privacy Dispute Resolution Program [S3]
- Dpf response time: 45 [S3]
- Minors sale: no [S3]
- Modern slavery statement: yes [S1]
- Scc transfers: Module 2 (4 June 2021) · yes · yes [S3]

**Data**
- Customer ownership: yes [S5]
- Retention policy: for as long as the Services are used or as necessary to fulfill collection purposes [S3]
- Rights: confirm · access and portability · correction · deletion · restriction/objection · withdraw consent · opt out of marketing [S3]
- Usage data: de-identified_and_aggregated · yes · yes [S5]

**Hosting**
- Subprocessor page: https://www.figma.com/sub-processors/ [S3]

**Legal**
- Address: Berlin · Kurfürstendamm 15 · Deutschland · 10719 [S4]
- AI terms effective date: 2026-06-24 [S12]
- AI terms not apply weave standalone: no [S12]
- Arbitration provider: National Arbitration and Mediation (NAM) [S5]
- Brand assets download: yes [S10]
- Brand book: yes [S10]
- Contracting entity: Figma, Inc. [S5]
- Court venue: San Francisco, California [S5]
- Effective date: 2026-02-09 [S4]
- Effective date: September 1, 2026 [S3]
- Effective date: 2026-03-11 [S5]
- Effective date: 2026-03-11 [S13]
- English version controls: yes [S10]
- Entity: Figma, Inc. and its affiliates [S3]
- Entity name: Figma GmbH [S4]
- Export control: yes [S5]
- Governing law: State of California [S5]
- Governs on conflict: yes [S13]
- Incorporated into customer agreement: yes [S13]
- Product specific terms: www.figma.com/product-specific-terms/ [S5]
- Register court: District Court of Charlottenburg [S4]
- Registration number: HRB 236988 [S4]
- Separate agreement exception: yes [S10]
- Trademark contact: legal@figma.com · press@figma.com [S10]
- Trademark guidelines: Figma publishes trademark guidelines governing use of the Figma name, logo, and wordmark [S10]
- Trademark noun rule: use Figma marks as an adjective, not noun or verb, never possessive (except for the company) [S10]
- Trademark revocable: yes [S10]
- VAT id: DE350630841 [S4]
- Weave exclusion: no [S13]

**Pricing**
- Agent availability: no · all paid Figma plans [S11]
- AI credits beta: open beta · no [S11]
- AI credits by plan: 4250 · 3500 · 3000 [S2]
- AI credits options: AI Credits Subscription · Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) [S12]
- AI credits purchase: yes [S2]
- AI subscription org enterprise billing: Organization · Enterprise · annual in advance · monthly [S12]
- AI subscription professional billing: Professional annual · Professional monthly · monthly in advance, auto-renews [S12]
- Applicable plans: Starter · Professional · Organization · Enterprise [S5]
- Auto renewal: then-current_rate · yes [S5]
- Credit consumption order: seat · ai_credits_subscription · payg [S13]
- Credit expiry: end of each month · no [S12]
- Credit non monetary: no · no · no [S12]
- Credit options: AI Credits Subscription · PAYG [S13]
- Credit refund basis: time remaining in subscription term, not unused credits [S12]
- Education discount: yes [S2]
- Enterprise collab seat: Enterprise · collab · per month · EUR · 500 [S2]
- Enterprise dev seat: 35 · yes · 500 [S2]
- Enterprise dev seat: Enterprise · dev · per month · EUR · 500 [S2]
- Enterprise full seat: 90 · yes · 4250 [S2]
- Enterprise full seat: Enterprise · full · per month · annually · EUR · 4250 [S2]
- Free tier: yes [S1]
- Free viewers on paid: yes [S2]
- Governanceplus enterprise only: yes · Enterprise [S2]
- Midterm seat billing: daily_rate · monthly [S5]
- Open beta no AI credits: yes · no [S7]
- Org enterprise midyear invoicing: Organization/Enterprise new seats invoiced quarterly, prorated [S2]
- Organization collab seat: 5 · yes · 500 [S2]
- Organization collab seat: Organization · collab · per month · EUR · 500 [S2]
- Organization dev seat: 25 · yes · 500 [S2]
- Organization dev seat: Organization · dev · per month · EUR · 500 [S2]
- Organization full seat: 55 · yes · 3500 [S2]
- Other seats AI credits: 500 [S2]
- Payg billing: Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) · monthly_in_arrears [S5]
- Payg billing: monthly in arrears · quarterly in arrears · 30 [S12]
- Payg billing periods: monthly in arrears · quarterly in arrears [S13]
- Payg budget control: yes · yes [S13]
- Payg price change notice: 30 [S13]
- Plans: Enterprise · Organization · Professional [S1]
- Price change termination right: 30 · yes [S5]
- Professional annual not shown: Organization · full · per month · annually · EUR [S2]
- Professional billing options: Professional · monthly · annual [S5]
- Professional billing toggle: monthly · annual [S2]
- Professional collab seat: 3 · 500 [S2]
- Professional collab seat: Professional · collab · per month · EUR · 500 [S2]
- Professional dev seat: 12 · 500 [S2]
- Professional dev seat: Professional · dev · per month · EUR · 500 [S2]
- Professional full seat: 16 · 3000 [S2]
- Professional monthly full seat: Professional · full · per month · EUR · 3000 [S2]
- Seat credits monthly reset: monthly · no · individual users [S12]
- Starter: Starter · 0 [S2]
- Starter AI credits: 150 · 500 [S2]
- Starter AI credits: 150 · 500 [S2]
- Starter free: 0 · EUR · yes [S2]
- Subscription billed annually in advance: monthly · yes [S13]
- Subscription plan requirement: annual · Organization · Enterprise · yes [S13]
- Subscription pooling: yes · yes · yes [S13]
- Subscription proration: yes [S13]
- Subscription quarterly invoicing: quarterly [S13]

**Product**
- Access location: agent located in left navigation bar in Figma Design [S11]
- Agent access UI: Agent accessed via Agents in left side rail or CMD + Enter [S7]
- AI agent beta free: no [S2]
- AI beta terms: beta terms in Customer Agreement or Terms of Service [S12]
- AI canvas: yes [S1]
- AI content training toggle: Figma may use Customer Content for AI training only when Content Training toggle is on; toggling off stops future content from being used [S12]
- AI credits allotments: 4250 · 3500 · 3000 · 500 [S2]
- AI input output customer content: yes [S12]
- AI terms URL: figma.com/legal/ai-terms [S5]
- AI training deidentification: Data used to train AI models is de-identified and aggregated [S3]
- Analytics google: Google Analytics used for analytics; opt-out available via gaoptout tool [S3]
- Asset export options: CSS · SVG · PNG · yes [S9]
- Brand kit generation: generates color palettes, typography pairings, and brand assets from a logo on the Figma Design canvas [S11]
- Buzz beta all seats: beta · all_seats [S2]
- Buzz beta all seats: all seats [S2]
- Call recording: Calls/video conferences with representatives may be recorded for training or QA [S3]
- Code panel formats: Table · Code [S9]
- Collab seat access: Collab seat: FigJam, Slides, Buzz + view/comment + basic Dev Mode inspection [S2]
- Community templates count: 1,000+ templates on the Figma community [S6]
- Component library generator: Generate component libraries (buttons, cards, inputs, full component sets) with AI directly in Figma Design [S7]
- Content training toggle: Customer Content used for AI training only if 'Content Training' toggled on in admin settings [S3]
- Cookies consent tool: Cookie consent tool accessible via 'Manage cookies' in website footer [S3]
- Design: Figma Design · design and explore [S1]
- Design library connection: agent can use existing design library components, tokens, and variables [S11]
- Dev mode codegen: stated in customer testimonial · codegen snippets [S8]
- Dev mode description: Dev Mode simplifies handoff, speeds up inspection, and integrates with your favorite tools [S8]
- Dev mode listing: yes [S9]
- Dev seat access: Dev seat: Dev Mode, FigJam, Slides, Buzz + view/comment in Design [S2]
- Editable output: no · yes [S11]
- Enterprise features: custom team workspaces · design system theming and APIs · SCIM seat management [S2]
- Enterprise key features: Enterprise features: custom team workspaces, design system theming and APIs, SCIM [S2]
- Export panel shortcut: Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + E [S9]
- Figjam collaboration features: notes · to-dos · audio functionality [S6]
- Figjam free trial: FigJam can be tried for free [S6]
- Figma store shopify: https://store.figma.com/ · Shopify [S3]
- Fortune500: March 2025 · 95 [S1]
- Free account use: business · personal · business [S5]
- Free viewer inspection: yes · measurements · copy_css_ios_android · export_assets · comment · cursor_chat [S2]
- Full seat access: Full seat: all Figma products [S2]
- Fully editable output: Generated components land on canvas as fully editable layers [S7]
- Government availability: yes [S2]
- Government sector: yes [S2]
- Library connection: Agent can connect to an existing design library [S7]
- Make: Figma Make · build with design context and consistency [S1]
- Measurement units: absolute pixels [S9]
- Modules: Figma Design · Figma Make · Figma Weave (NEW) · Dev Mode · Figma Motion (NEW) · FigJam · Figma Slides · Figma Draw · Figma Sites (BETA) · Figma Buzz (BETA) [S1]
- Motion beta full seat: beta · full_seats_only [S2]
- Motion beta full seats: Full seats [S2]
- Multiple variants: Generates multiple component variations at once (sizes, states, themes) [S7]
- Organization features: publish resources across teams · shared libraries and fonts · centralized admin tools [S2]
- Organization key features: Organization features: publish across teams, shared libraries/fonts, centralized admin [S2]
- Other templates listed: Use case template · Affinity diagram template · Alignment chart template · Mood board template · Likert scale template · User persona template [S6]
- Parallel prompting: parallel prompting of multiple brand directions [S11]
- Parallel prompts: Run multiple prompts in parallel [S7]
- Plans listed: Pricing · Enterprise · Organization · Professional [S6]
- Platform sections: Admin · Extensibility · Security [S2]
- Professional key features: Professional features: unlimited files/projects, team libraries, advanced Dev Mode inspection and MCP Server [S2]

**Support**
- Billing admin management: admin_dashboard · organization_admins · billing_group_admins [S2]
- Free viewer inspection: Free viewers get basic inspection: measurements, copy CSS/iOS/Android code, export assets [S2]
- Marketing opt out: yes [S3]
- Professional cancel self serve: self_serve · contact_sales [S2]
- Status page: yes [S1]

26 more facts on the canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/design/figma

## Questions

### Is Figma European?

No. whats-best.ai classifies Figma as Rest of world.

### Where does Figma store data?

Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 13 Oct 2026.

### Does Figma have a free plan?

Yes. Figma has a free plan, per [the vendor’s page captured 13 Oct 2026](https://whats-best.ai/evidence/6277).

### What are the best alternatives to Figma?

As of 16 Oct 2026, the panel rates [Penpot (2.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/design/penpot), [Sketch (2.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/design/sketch) and [Frontify (2.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/design/frontify) highest among the other 13 Design products evaluated. Ratings that look equal are rounded to half stars; the order uses the unrounded rating, then the name. The highest-rated European alternative is [Penpot](https://whats-best.ai/software/design/penpot) (EU-Made). Ratings are the AI panel’s opinion, formed from public evidence: [how scores are made](https://whats-best.ai/methodology#ordering). The full list, with European products first: [Figma alternatives](https://whats-best.ai/software/design/figma/alternatives).

## What this page leaves out

- 17 pricing facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 13 product facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 6 legal facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 5 data facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 2 compliance facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 2 subprocessors facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 1 hosting fact could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and was left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 2 sovereignty dimensions could not be confirmed on the vendor’s own pages and are shown as unknown.
- 6 of the readings below were written against an earlier fact sheet — a fact has been corrected, added or pulled since. Until the panel next runs on this product you are reading the older judgement.

## Sources

- [S1] Vendor homepage: https://www.figma.com/ (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S2] Pricing page: https://www.figma.com/pricing/ (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S3] Privacy policy: https://www.figma.com/legal/privacy/ (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S4] Legal notice: https://www.figma.com/legal/impressum/ (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S5] Terms of service: https://www.figma.com/legal/tos/ (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S6] Design, prototyping & design systems — found from sitemap: https://www.figma.com/templates/prototype-example/ (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S7] Design, prototyping & design systems — found from sitemap: https://www.figma.com/solutions/ai-component-library-generator/ (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S8] Collaboration, review & developer handoff — found from sitemap: https://www.figma.com/demos/dev-mode-developers/ (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S9] Collaboration, review & developer handoff — found from sitemap: https://www.figma.com/best-practices/tips-on-developer-handoff/ (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S10] Brand assets & governance — found from sitemap: https://www.figma.com/using-the-figma-brand/ (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S11] Brand assets & governance — found from sitemap: https://www.figma.com/solutions/logo-to-brand-kit-generator/ (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S12] AI features & rights to the work — found from sitemap: https://www.figma.com/legal/ai-terms/ (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S13] AI features & rights to the work — found from sitemap: https://www.figma.com/legal/ai-credit-terms/ (checked 2026-10-13)

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Cite as: whats-best.ai, "Figma — Design", AI panel analysis, as of 2026-10-20. https://whats-best.ai/software/design/figma

Corrections: https://whats-best.ai/correct/607?target=page