Penpot vs Affinity Designer

Pricing: Penpot is completely free, which makes it the obvious pick if budget is the top concern. Affinity Designer starts at $69.99 one-time. That cost buys you a more polished or feature-rich experience, so it comes down to whether the extras justify the spend.

Feature gaps: Penpot offers Components, Open Source and Prototyping that Affinity Designer lacks. Affinity Designer brings Multi-Platform, One-Time Purchase and PSD Import that Penpot does not have.

Team fit: Penpot is geared toward small teams teams, while Affinity Designer is aimed at individual users and small setups. Pick the one that matches where your team is today and where it is headed — migrating tools later is always painful.

Open source: Penpot is open source, meaning you can self-host, audit the code, and avoid vendor lock-in. Affinity Designer is proprietary — you are trusting the vendor with your data and uptime.

Where each tool shines: Penpot's biggest strengths are: 100% free and open source. self-hostable for data sovereignty. Affinity Designer's biggest strengths are: vector design tools handle illustrations, icons, and ui assets at any resolution. includes one-time purchase as a core feature, purpose-built for design workflows.

Watch out for: With Penpot, users commonly note that less mature than figma — fewer features. With Affinity Designer, the main complaint is that starts at $69.99 one-time — on the expensive side, especially for small teams or solo users.