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Developer Tools · head to head

Penpot vs VMware Carbon Black

Penpot logo

Penpot

Developer Tools

Open source design and prototyping platform

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
V

VMware Carbon Black

Cybersecurity

Cloud-delivered endpoint protection and EDR, now owned by Broadcom and positioned alongside Symantec.

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Penpot has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Penpot smaller user base and community compared to Figma means fewer templates and resources; VMware Carbon Black broadcom's enterprise model concentrates direct sales and support on its largest accounts and moves everyone else to resellers, so a mid-size customer can lose named support contacts and face a substantially repriced renewal with limited notice.
  • They diverge on capability: Penpot covers Vector editing, VMware Carbon Black covers Endpoint Standard.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Penpot and VMware Carbon Black actually diverge.

Attributes where Penpot and VMware Carbon Black differ
AttributePenpotVMware Carbon Black
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelUnknownsubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Windows, macOS, LinuxDesktop, Api
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity
Founded20212002

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Penpot

  • Vector editing
  • Interactive prototyping
  • Design systems
  • Components & libraries
  • Real-time collaboration
  • SVG support
  • CSS Grid & Flexbox
  • Code export

Only in VMware Carbon Black

  • Endpoint Standard
  • Enterprise EDR
  • Audit and Remediation
  • Single sensor
  • Live Response
  • Workload protection
  • Container security
  • Watchlists and feeds

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Penpot

  • UI/UX designnot VMware Carbon Black
  • Prototypingnot VMware Carbon Black
  • Design systemsnot VMware Carbon Black
  • Developer handoffnot VMware Carbon Black
  • Open source projectsnot VMware Carbon Black

VMware Carbon Black

  • A SOC that wants unfiltered endpoint telemetry to hunt over rather than only vendor-generated alertsnot Penpot
  • A vSphere estate that wants workload protection deployed through the hypervisor instead of installing an agent in every guestnot Penpot
  • Replacing signature antivirus after an incident where the incumbent product had no record of what the attacker didnot Penpot
  • An organisation already inside a Broadcom or Symantec enterprise agreement that can consolidate endpoint onto an existing contractnot Penpot

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Penpot

  • Smaller user base and community compared to Figma means fewer templates and resources
  • Self-hosting requires Linux server and Docker knowledge for technical setup
  • Real-time collaboration features may have performance issues with very large design files

VMware Carbon Black

  • Broadcom's enterprise model concentrates direct sales and support on its largest accounts and moves everyone else to resellers, so a mid-size customer can lose named support contacts and face a substantially repriced renewal with limited notice.
  • Continuous EDR recording is retained for a defined window and longer retention is a paid tier, so the investigation you most need is often the one whose telemetry has already aged out, and that is discovered during the incident rather than before it.
  • The product assumes an operator: watchlists, policy tuning and alert triage are ongoing work, and organisations without a dedicated analyst or an MDR contract typically leave policies in monitor mode and pay for telemetry that is never reviewed.
  • The sensor operates in the same kernel and file-filter territory as other endpoint agents, so running it alongside an incumbent antivirus, DLP or backup agent commonly produces performance complaints and requires maintained exclusion lists on both sides.
  • Linux sensor support is tied to specific distribution and kernel versions, so a routine operating system upgrade can leave hosts without a supported sensor until a matching build ships, and anything outside the supported list gets no coverage at all.

Pricing, plan by plan

Penpot

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Cloud-based design
    • Real-time collaboration
    • Components and variants
  • Unlimited$7/month
    • All free features
    • Priority support
    • Advanced cloud features
  • Enterprise$950/month
    • Custom enterprise features
    • Dedicated support
    • Advanced security

VMware Carbon Black

On request
  • CB Endpoint StandardFree
    • NGAV
    • Behavioral EDR
    • Device control
  • CB Endpoint AdvancedFree
    • All Standard features
    • Threat hunting
    • Audit and remediation
  • CB Endpoint EnterpriseFree
    • All Advanced features
    • Advanced threat hunting
    • Live response

Which should you pick?

Choose Penpot if

  • You need vector editing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux.
  • You also want interactive prototyping.
Penpot review

Choose VMware Carbon Black if

  • You need endpoint standard.
  • You work on Desktop, Api.
  • You also want enterprise edr.
VMware Carbon Black review

Questions people ask

Is Penpot or VMware Carbon Black better?
Neither clearly leads. Penpot starts at Free and VMware Carbon Black at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Penpot or VMware Carbon Black?
Penpot has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Penpot and On request for VMware Carbon Black.
Does Penpot or VMware Carbon Black run on more platforms?
Penpot runs on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux. VMware Carbon Black runs on Desktop, Api.
Can I use Penpot for free?
Yes. Penpot has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. VMware Carbon Black starts at On request.
What is Penpot best used for?
Penpot is most often used for ui/ux design, prototyping, design systems, developer handoff. Of those, ui/ux design and prototyping are not what VMware Carbon Black is typically brought in for.
What can Penpot do that VMware Carbon Black cannot?
Penpot covers Vector editing, Interactive prototyping, Design systems, Components & libraries. VMware Carbon Black covers Endpoint Standard, Enterprise EDR, Audit and Remediation, Single sensor.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Penpot: Is Penpot really free?

Yes. Penpot is completely free with no feature gates. The open-source version can be self-hosted on your own infrastructure for zero cost beyond server expenses.

Source
VMware Carbon Black: Who owns Carbon Black now?

Broadcom. It acquired VMware in November 2023, and Carbon Black now sits in Broadcom's enterprise security business alongside Symantec. VMware branding is being phased out.

Penpot: Can I self-host Penpot?

Yes. Penpot can be self-hosted on your own infrastructure with no licensing costs. Organizations with specific privacy or governance needs can run Penpot on their own servers.

Source
VMware Carbon Black: Why do the docs use names I do not recognise?

The product has been renamed repeatedly. CB Defense is now Endpoint Standard, CB ThreatHunter is Enterprise EDR and CB LiveOps is Audit and Remediation. Older community answers and runbooks still use the previous names.

Penpot: What are the paid plans if I use Penpot cloud?

Penpot's cloud service offers a free tier, Unlimited plan at $7 per user per month for professionals and medium teams, and Enterprise starting at $950 per month for larger organizations.

Source
VMware Carbon Black: Does it replace my existing antivirus?

Yes on supported Windows, macOS and Linux versions, and running it alongside another antivirus is not recommended because the two agents contend for the same hooks. Check your compliance requirements, as some auditors still ask for a named antivirus product.

Penpot: What platforms does Penpot support?

Penpot runs in the browser, so it works on Windows, Mac, Linux, and any OS with a web browser. No platform-specific downloads required.

Source
VMware Carbon Black: Do I need a full-time analyst to run it?

To get value from Enterprise EDR, effectively yes. The prevention tier can run with part-time attention, but the hunting and recording capability is only worth its cost if somebody is querying it, which is why many customers buy it through an MDR provider.

VMware Carbon Black: How is it licensed?

Per endpoint, per year, with the capability tier determining the rate and workload and container protection priced separately. Extended EDR data retention is an additional line item.

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