Inkscape vs Penpot Comparison 2026
Inkscape is a free, open source vector drawing tool for illustration, typography and diagramming, saved as plain SVG with no account and no subscription at all. Penpot is a free, open source design tool built for interfaces and product screens, the open alternative to Figma, with a fully featured free plan and paid tiers from $7 a user a month capped at $175 regardless of team size. Both write standards-based files and both can be self-hosted, but Inkscape draws general artwork on the desktop while Penpot is a collaborative, browser-based tool for product teams.
At a glance
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
Side by side
Inkscape | Penpot | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | From $7 |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Free | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Not stated | Not stated |
| Free trial | Not stated | 14 days |
| API | Not stated |
Inkscape
Free vector drawing that writes plain SVG
Inkscape draws vector artwork and saves it as ordinary SVG rather than a format only it can read, which is what makes a logo drawn here openable in a browser, a build pipeline or somebody else's editor years later. It covers illustration, clip art, typography and diagramming on Linux, Windows and macOS. There is no account, no seat count and no upload step. The interface has its own habits and will feel strange to anybody arriving from a commercial editor, which is the real cost of it being free.
Our note
Reach for this over a paid editor when the output is going into code, because it writes SVG a browser will render rather than SVG exported from a proprietary format. Buy Affinity Designer instead if you want the same freedom from subscriptions with an interface that will not cost you a week.
Penpot
Open source design you can host yourself
Penpot does the job Figma does and is open source, which matters if you would rather keep design files on a server you control than on somebody else's. The free plan is fully featured rather than crippled, and paying mostly buys storage, version history and a bill that stops rising past a point. Files are standards-based, so what comes out is SVG and CSS rather than a format only one company reads.
Why people weigh these two
- Penpot instead of Inkscape
- Penpot shares Inkscape's open-source posture and can be self-hosted, though it does its design work in the browser with a free tier rather than as a desktop app.
- Inkscape instead of Penpot
- Inkscape is a free desktop vector editor rather than a browser-based team tool like Penpot, right for one person drawing rather than a team collaborating on files.
Which one should you pick
Pick Inkscape for illustration, logos, diagrams and artwork headed into code, where SVG a browser renders natively matters more than real-time collaboration. It costs nothing, ever, funded by donations rather than a subscription, and it runs on Linux where most paid design tools do not.
Pick Penpot when the work is interface design and more than one person needs to be in the file together. The free plan is not a crippled trial: unlimited files and teams, up to eight members, 10 GB of storage. Paying starts at $7 a user a month once a team needs more storage or history, and self-hosting is available at every tier for anyone who wants Figma's collaboration without Figma's server.
Common questions
- Do Inkscape and Penpot do the same kind of design work?
- Not really. Inkscape is a general vector illustration tool for artwork, logos and diagrams. Penpot is built for interface and product design, closer to Figma, with real-time collaboration Inkscape does not attempt.
- Which one can I self-host?
- Both. Inkscape is a desktop application with no server component at all, so there is nothing to host beyond installing it. Penpot offers self-hosting as an alternative to its cloud version at every plan level, for teams that want design files on their own server.
- Is Penpot's free plan actually usable, or a stripped-down trial?
- It is fully featured: unlimited files and teams, up to eight team members and unlimited viewers, 10 GB of storage and seven days of version history. Paying mostly adds more storage, longer history and a capped bill, not access to core features that are already free.
- Does either tool charge per seat?
- Penpot does on its paid tiers, from $7 a user a month, though the total bill is capped at $175 a month no matter how large the team grows. Inkscape has no seats or accounts at all. It is free for any number of people who install it.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.