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Design

Penpot

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Panel rating · 6 judges · How to read the stars

Category median

Sovereignty: not determined

0–5 in half steps. 5 means the rubric's top anchor is met on the evidence.

by Kaleidos Subsidiary S.L. · penpot.app

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Penpot: AI-assisted analysis on whats-best.ai Penpot: AI-assisted analysis on whats-best.ai (dark)

Add ?theme=dark to the image address for dark backgrounds. The badge shows the category and the month of the latest evaluation, and EU-Made where that is the product’s provenance. It never shows a score.

Penpot at a glance

Vendor
Kaleidos Subsidiary S.L.
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 source, captured 1 Oct 2026
Panel verdict
The AI panel rates Penpot 2.5/5, the mean of 6 judges. Penpot, an open-source design and prototyping tool from Kaleidos Subsidiary S.L., scores highest on file ownership and portability at 8-9: an MPL 2.0 core, files on SVG, CSS and HTML, import of.penpot,.zip,.svg and.json, a Figma exporter in the vendor's repository, self-hosting down to air-gapped deployment, and sole ownership of uploaded content written into the terms. how scores are made
As of
Vendor pages captured 1 Oct 2026 to 13 Oct 2026; evaluated by the panel 15 Oct 2026. all sources

Penpot alternatives, European ones first →

Read this page as one judge. Each weighs the same scores by what they care about.

The Product Designer

Weighted verdict

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.

Same scores as the panel view — this lens weights them the way this judge cares.

Scored by The Product Designer

Panel median The Product Designer This judge’s scores over the panel median. Each label opens its reasoning below.
Scores per criterion, in stars out of 5
Criterion Panel median The Product Designer
Design, prototyping & design systems 3.5 of 5 4 of 5
Collaboration, review & developer handoff 3 of 5 3 of 5
Brand assets & governance 2 of 5 2 of 5
Files, formats & portability 4.5 of 5 4.5 of 5
AI features & rights to the work 1 of 5 1 of 5
European sovereignty 2.5 of 5 3.5 of 5
Pricing transparency 1.5 of 5 2 of 5

Design, prototyping & design systems

How this is scored

The making itself: vector and layout tools, interactive prototypes, and the shared components, styles and tokens that keep a company's products and materials consistent — judged on what the feature and help pages document, not on showcase images.

0 — A single-purpose editor with no reusable components, no shared styles and no prototyping.

3 — Templates and basic shapes or layouts, with styles saved per file only and prototyping limited to linking screens.

5 — Reusable components and shared styles across files, responsive or auto layout, clickable prototypes with transitions, and team libraries that update where they are used.

8 — A design system managed in the tool: variables or tokens for colour, type and spacing with modes or themes, component variants and properties, prototypes with conditional logic, and library change notes with versions.

10 — The design system is a governed product: library releases versioned and reviewable, token export in a documented format for development, usage analytics per component, and accessibility checks such as contrast built into the editor.

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The Product Designer

This is where the tool earns its keep: components publish as shared and synced libraries, variants manage states, styles and sizes, design tokens are built in without a plugin and cover colour, typography, spacing and themes, and prototyping covers transitions, overlays, scroll simulation and multi-path flows. What I cannot find is anything on versioned library releases with change notes, per-component usage analytics, or accessibility checks inside the editor — the colour-contrast capability I see comes from a community plugin, which is not the same as a governed system. 6 5 7 8

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Collaboration, review & developer handoff

How this is scored

Working on the same files with colleagues, clients and developers: comments and review, permissions for internal and external people, and the handoff that gives engineering measurements, assets and code rather than screenshots.

0 — Files shared as exports or links with no comments, no permissions beyond view or edit, and no developer view.

3 — Real-time co-editing and comments, but external reviewers need a paid seat or full access, and developers get only exported images.

5 — Comments with mentions and resolution, view-only and comment-only access for guests without a paid seat, permissions per file and project, and an inspect mode with measurements, styles and asset export.

8 — Branching or review of changes before they reach the main file, version history with restore, a developer mode that links components to code, an API and plugins documented, and named integrations with issue trackers and code tools.

10 — Handoff is a contract between design and code: component properties mapped to code components, token and asset export automated through the API, an audit log of access and sharing, and external access governed by domain, expiry and admin policy.

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The Product Designer

Real-time co-editing, comments alongside code output in the inspect view, role and permission management per team and project, unlimited viewers and free developer access, and an inspect mode that shows real HTML, CSS and SVG — that is a genuine handoff rather than screenshots, and the API with access tokens plus the plugin system push it up. But I found no public information on branching or review of changes before they reach the main file, on restoring versions, on named integrations with issue trackers, or on a component-to-code mapping and audit log. 6 7 8 5 2

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Brand assets & governance

How this is scored

Keeping a brand usable and correct across a company: a central library for logos, images and templates, brand guidelines people can find, locked templates that let non-designers produce material, and rights and expiry metadata on every licensed asset.

0 — No shared asset library; logos and images are uploaded per file by whoever needs them.

3 — A shared folder of assets and some templates, but no guidelines, no locking of brand elements and no metadata beyond file names.

5 — A central brand library with logos, colours and fonts, templates with locked elements for non-designers, brand guidelines published in the tool, and tagging and search across assets.

8 — Rights, usage and expiry metadata on assets with warnings or automatic withdrawal on expiry, approval workflows for new assets and template output, version control on assets, and access per team, market or partner.

10 — Brand governance is auditable: every asset carries its licence, owner and permitted use, usage of each asset is tracked across files and channels, distribution to external partners is logged, and the whole library with metadata is exportable in a documented format.

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The Product Designer

Share libraries carry colours, typographies and components for brand-specific design, third-party fonts can be uploaded, and templates and libraries are browsable from a panel with a review step on submission to the community. Beyond that the evidence thins: I found no public information on templates with locked elements for non-designers, brand guidelines published in the tool, tagging and search across assets, or any licence, usage and expiry metadata on assets. 6 9 9 8

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Files, formats & portability

How this is scored

Whether the work can leave: open or documented file formats, export that keeps layers, vectors and components, offline or self-hosted options, and what happens to files after a downgrade, a removed seat or a cancelled contract.

0 — Files exist only in the vendor's cloud in a proprietary format, export is a flat image, and nothing is said about files after cancellation.

3 — Export to PNG, PDF and SVG per frame, but no export of whole files with structure, and files after a downgrade or cancellation addressed only in general terms.

5 — Whole files exportable to a local or documented format, vector and layered export (SVG, PDF) with text kept as text, bulk export of a team's files, and a stated period during which files remain accessible after cancellation.

8 — An open or publicly documented file format, export and import with other tools documented, an API that reads full file structure, files of removed users transferred to the organisation by policy, and a stated deletion timeline after the contract ends.

10 — Portability is built in: an open-source or openly specified format, self-hosting or a local-first option, round-trip export without loss of components and prototypes, and the customer's ownership of all files and their export rights written into the terms.

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The Product Designer

This is the strongest story on the page: open-source modules under MPL 2.0, files on open standards (SVG, CSS and HTML), user ownership written into the terms, import from.penpot,.zip,.svg and.json, a Figma exporter in their GitHub repository, and self-hosting documented down to Docker, Helm charts, OpenShift and air-gapped deployments that keep running with standard file formats and no lock-in. Round-trip export without loss is not documented, and I found no public information on transferring removed users' files to the organisation or a deletion timeline after the contract ends. 4 8 10 10 2

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AI features & rights to the work

How this is scored

What the vendor's AI does with the customer's files and what the customer may do with the AI's output: training on customer content and the opt-out, the models and where they run, commercial use of generated images, stock licences and indemnity.

0 — Generative features with no statement on training on customer files, no named models, and no word on whether output may be used commercially.

3 — An AI page that promises responsibility but leaves open whether customer files train models, and output rights are stated only for some features or only in community terms.

5 — Training on customer content excluded or opt-out documented, AI features switchable by an admin for the organisation, model providers named, and commercial use of generated output permitted in the terms.

8 — Training excluded by default for business plans, the processing location of AI features stated, generated content labelled or carrying content credentials, stock and template licences stated per asset type, and an IP indemnity for generated output on a named plan.

10 — AI is governed in writing: a per-feature list of models, providers and locations, admin controls per team and feature, a log of AI use, training exclusion and output ownership in the contract terms, and indemnity and licence limits published in full.

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The Product Designer

The AI story is an open MCP server, integration of any agent and any LLM across code-to-design workflows, and a community plugin that names a fine-tuned OpenAI model to turn text descriptions into shapes; the terms do say the vendor analyses only metadata, not the contents themselves. But I found no public information on whether customer files train models, on admin switches for AI features per team or feature, on where AI processing runs, on commercial-use rights for generated output, or on any indemnity — the one named model belongs to a community plugin the vendor explicitly does not guarantee. 1 12 12 4 10

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European sovereignty

How this is scored

Who the contracting entity is, where design files, brand assets and AI prompts are stored and processed, and which subprocessors touch them. Independently sourced by the sovereignty pipeline.

0 — Non-EU contracting entity, no statement on where files are hosted, and subprocessors unnamed.

3 — EU data residency available only on an enterprise plan or not at all, or the subprocessor list is absent, or AI features send files outside the EU without an explained safeguard.

5 — EU hosting stated for files, a DPA available, but the contracting entity or significant parts of the chain (AI, rendering, support) are non-EU without a stated safeguard.

8 — EU contracting entity, files, assets and backups stored in the EU on named infrastructure, subprocessor list published with locations and purposes, and AI processing location stated.

10 — Sovereign end to end and evidenced: European ownership, EU entity, every hosting, AI and support subprocessor European or optional, self-hosting or a European cloud offered, and certifications published.

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The Product Designer

The entity named in the terms and page footers is KALEIDOS Subsidiary SL and the provenance note places it in Madrid, Spain; a data processing agreement is published, the cloud offers a choice of EU or US hosting region, and self-hosting reaches private cloud, on-premise and even air-gapped deployments that put design data entirely on customer infrastructure. What holds it back: there is no published subprocessor list with locations and purposes (only payment service providers are named), and I found no public information on where AI processing runs. 3 2 2 10 6

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Pricing transparency

How this is scored

Whether a buyer can compute the annual cost for their team from public pages alone — which seat types exist and what each may do, how viewers and guests are billed, how seats are added and trued up, AI credits, and the plan where SSO, admin controls and brand features begin.

0 — No public prices at all; every plan is a sales conversation.

3 — A per-seat price for an entry plan, but the seat types, the billing of guests and reviewers, and the plan needed for business features are unclear.

5 — Plans priced per seat type with their main features, but at least one commonly incurred cost (seat upgrades on request, AI credits, storage, brand or SSO add-ons) is missing or "on request".

8 — Every plan and seat type priced, free viewers and guests stated with their limits, how and when added seats are billed explained, AI credits and storage priced or included explicitly, and the plan that unlocks SSO and admin controls named.

10 — Complete cost computability: annual cost derivable for a given mix of editors, viewers and guests, true-up and auto-upgrade rules published, every add-on priced publicly, and contract term, renewal and downgrade conditions stated.

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The Product Designer

The tier structure is legible: a free sign-up, a Professional tier capped at 8 team members with unlimited viewers and up to 10GB of storage, an Unlimited tier with unlimited teams and larger storage, and Enterprise where single sign-on, IP whitelisting and the EU/US region choice land — and viewers and developers being free is genuinely clear. But the Enterprise tier is listed as "check pricing", and I found no public information on per-seat prices for any paid plan or on AI-credit costs, so an annual cost for a given team cannot be computed from what is public. 2 2 10 8

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European sovereignty — proven facts

0 of 4 dimensions proven

Built only from facts shown on the vendor's own pages. A dimension we could not prove is left open, not scored as zero.

Ownership Not determined ⚠ unverified — uncited Report an error
Data residency Not determined ⚠ unverified — uncited Report an error
Subprocessors Not determined — uncited Report an error

Questions about Penpot

Is Penpot European?

Yes. whats-best.ai classifies Penpot as EU-Made.

Where does Penpot store data?

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

Does Penpot have a free plan?

Yes. Penpot has a free plan, per the vendor’s page captured 1 Oct 2026.

What are the best alternatives to Penpot?

As of 16 Oct 2026, the panel rates Sketch (2.5/5), Frontify (2.5/5) and Figma (2.5/5) 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 Sketch (EU-Made). Ratings are the AI panel’s opinion, formed from public evidence: how scores are made. The full list, with European products first: Penpot alternatives.

Where this could be wrong

What we left out

A claim that does not survive our checks costs us the claim, not the page. This is what was taken off this one.

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Sources (12)

The pages every claim on this page was read from — each one checked, dated, and kept verifiable.

  1. 1 Vendor homepage penpot.app Checked 13 Oct 2026 +1 earlier capture: 1 Oct 2026 Details →
  2. 2 Pricing page penpot.app Checked 13 Oct 2026 +1 earlier capture: 1 Oct 2026 Details →
  3. 3 Privacy policy penpot.app Checked 13 Oct 2026 Details →
  4. 4 Terms of service penpot.app Checked 13 Oct 2026 Details →
  5. 5 Design, prototyping & design systems — found from sitemap penpot.app Checked 13 Oct 2026 +1 earlier capture: 1 Oct 2026 Details →
  6. 6 Design, prototyping & design systems — found from sitemap penpot.app Checked 13 Oct 2026 +1 earlier capture: 1 Oct 2026 Details →
  7. 7 Collaboration, review & developer handoff — found from sitemap penpot.app Checked 13 Oct 2026 +1 earlier capture: 1 Oct 2026 Details →
  8. 8 Collaboration, review & developer handoff — found from sitemap penpot.app Checked 13 Oct 2026 Details →
  9. 9 Brand assets & governance — found from sitemap penpot.app Checked 13 Oct 2026 +1 earlier capture: 1 Oct 2026 Details →
  10. 10 Files, formats & portability — found from sitemap penpot.app Checked 13 Oct 2026 +1 earlier capture: 1 Oct 2026 Details →
  11. 11 Files, formats & portability — found from sitemap penpot.app Checked 13 Oct 2026 Details →
  12. 12 AI features & rights to the work — found from sitemap penpot.app Checked 13 Oct 2026 +1 earlier capture: 1 Oct 2026 Details →