Is Sketch or Penpot better?

Neither clearly leads. Sketch starts at $12/month and Penpot at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Sketch or Penpot?

Penpot has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $12/month for Sketch and Free for Penpot.

Does Sketch or Penpot run on more platforms?

Sketch runs on macOS, Web, iOS, iPad. Penpot runs on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux.

Can I use Penpot for free?

Yes. Penpot has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Sketch starts at $12/month.

What is Sketch best used for?

Sketch is most often used for ui design, mobile app design, web design, design systems. Of those, ui design and mobile app design are not what Penpot is typically brought in for.

What can Sketch do that Penpot cannot?

Sketch covers Symbols & components, Prototyping, Developer handoff, Plugins ecosystem. Penpot covers Interactive prototyping, Design systems, Components & libraries, SVG support. Both handle Vector editing, Real-time collaboration.

Software · head to head

Sketch vs Penpot

Sketch

Software

The digital design toolkit

From: $12/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

Penpot

Software

Open source design and prototyping platform

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Penpot has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Sketch macOS-only for editing, blocking Windows and Linux users from accessing design features; Penpot smaller user base and community compared to Figma means fewer templates and resources
They diverge on capability: Sketch covers Symbols & components, Penpot covers Interactive prototyping.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Sketch and Penpot actually diverge.

Attributes where Sketch and Penpot differ
Attribute	Sketch	Penpot
Starting price	$12/month	Free
Free tier	No	Yes
Platforms	macOS, Web, iOS, iPad	Web, Windows, macOS, Linux
Founded	2010	2021

Identical on both: pricing model (Unknown), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

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 Sketch

Symbols & components
Prototyping
Developer handoff
Plugins ecosystem
Cloud sync
Version history
InVision
Principle

Only in Penpot

Interactive prototyping
Design systems
Components & libraries
SVG support
CSS Grid & Flexbox
Code export
Figma import
SVG export

Both cover

Vector editing
Real-time collaboration

What people use each for

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

Sketch

UI designnot Penpot
Mobile app designnot Penpot
Web designnot Penpot
Design systems
Prototyping

Penpot

UI/UX designnot Sketch
Prototyping
Design systems
Developer handoffnot Sketch
Open source projectsnot Sketch

Both are used for design systems, prototyping, on those jobs the choice comes down to price and fit rather than capability.

Where each one falls short

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

Sketch

macOS-only for editing, blocking Windows and Linux users from accessing design features
Real-time collaboration feels less seamless than Figma with occasional sync delays
Limited built-in image editing capabilities, requiring external software for bitmap work
Subscription required for cloud features and collaboration, losing access if subscription lapses

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

Pricing, plan by plan

Sketch

$12/month

Standard$12/month
- Real-time collaboration
- Unlimited documents
- Unlimited free viewers
Professional$24/month
- Everything in Standard
- Single Sign-On (SSO)
- Project archiving
Enterprise$44/month
- Everything in Professional
- SCIM provisioning
- BYOK encryption
Mac-only License$120/perpetual
- Native Mac app
- Offline access
- Local file saving

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Sketch if

You need symbols & components.
You work on macOS, Web, iOS, iPad.
You also want prototyping.

Sketch review

Choose Penpot if

You need interactive prototyping.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux.
You also want design systems.

Penpot review

Questions people ask

Is Sketch or Penpot better?: Neither clearly leads. Sketch starts at $12/month and Penpot at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Sketch or Penpot?: Penpot has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $12/month for Sketch and Free for Penpot.
Does Sketch or Penpot run on more platforms?: Sketch runs on macOS, Web, iOS, iPad. Penpot runs on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux.
Can I use Penpot for free?: Yes. Penpot has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Sketch starts at $12/month.
What is Sketch best used for?: Sketch is most often used for ui design, mobile app design, web design, design systems. Of those, ui design and mobile app design are not what Penpot is typically brought in for.
What can Sketch do that Penpot cannot?: Sketch covers Symbols & components, Prototyping, Developer handoff, Plugins ecosystem. Penpot covers Interactive prototyping, Design systems, Components & libraries, SVG support. Both handle Vector editing, Real-time collaboration.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Sketch: Is Sketch available for Windows or Linux?

No. Sketch is macOS-only for the design and prototyping features. Web and mobile apps provide viewing and collaboration, but editing requires macOS 14.0 or later.

Source

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

Sketch: Does Sketch offer a free trial?

Yes. Sketch provides a 30-day free trial with no credit card required. You can also purchase a one-time Mac-only license for $120 per seat instead of subscribing.

Source

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

Sketch: What collaboration features does Sketch include?

Sketch supports real-time collaboration, unlimited document sharing, unlimited viewers, and version history on all paid subscription plans (Standard $12/month, Professional $24/month, Enterprise $44/month).

Source

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

Sketch: Can I use Sketch offline?

Yes. The one-time Mac-only license ($120) allows you to use Sketch offline and save files locally, but it excludes cloud collaboration and iOS previewing features.

Source

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

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Sketch vs Penpot

Sketch

Penpot

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Sketch

Only in Penpot

Both cover

What people use each for

Sketch

Penpot

Where each one falls short

Sketch

Penpot

Pricing, plan by plan

Sketch

Penpot

Which should you pick?

Choose Sketch if

Choose Penpot if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Sketch

More on Penpot

Keep looking

Other head to heads