Comparison

Penpot vs Sketch

Penpot and Sketch both land on Depends.

Penpot

penpot.app

Depends

Confidence: Medium

Buy if you want a free or self-hosted design tool and can accept rougher edges than Figma.

Read the full report

Sketch

sketch.com

Depends

Confidence: Medium

Buy if you're a Mac-based UI designer or small studio that wants an affordable native design tool; most collaborative product teams will be better served by Figma.

Read the full report

Penpot versus Sketch
Compare	Penpot	Sketch
Verdict	Depends	Depends
Best for	Startups dodging per-seat design bills	Mac-based UI/UX designers
Who it's not for	Teams already fluent in Figma	Windows or Linux teams . Sketch runs on Mac only
Privacy	Active 2026 CVE record . including a critical MCP remote code execution . though the vendor publishes a security whitepaper and supports self-hosting.¹⁰	Publishes security measures and states at least one annual penetration test; one CVE (2021) appears in public vulnerability databases.
Support quality	No support evidence found	No usable evidence in sources
Public sentiment	Users praise the free open-source model, but many say Penpot still trails Figma on polish.^⁵	Reviewers generally describe Sketch as solid, affordable design software, though a minority of UX practitioners call it overrated.
Biggest gotcha	Community openly asks how long the free tier stays free; pricing may shift	No free tier . every editor pays from day one, even solo users¹⁵

Pick Penpot when

Startups dodging per-seat design bills
Teams needing self-hosting or data control
Design-dev duos wanting open standards
Open-source-first orgs

When Penpot is not a fit

Teams already fluent in Figma
Anyone wanting Figma-level polish and plugin breadth
Security-sensitive orgs without staff to patch or self-host
Buyers wanting turnkey enterprise support

Pick Sketch when

Mac-based UI/UX designers
Freelancers and small design studios
Budget-conscious teams avoiding Figma pricing
Designers who prefer a native offline app

When Sketch is not a fit

Windows or Linux teams . Sketch runs on Mac only
Teams needing real-time multiplayer editing at scale
Non-designers who just want quick social graphics . use Canva
Anyone expecting a free plan . there isn't one

Sources

Penpot review | TechRadartechradar.com
review
Penpot Reviews 2026 | G2g2.com
review
Penpot Reviews | SoftwareAdvicesoftwareadvice.com
review
Experience using Penpot | Redditreddit.com
review
I stopped using Figma and switched to Penpot | XDAxda-developers.com
review
Should you ditch Figma for open-source? | LogRocketblog.logrocket.com
review
Penpot Pricing | officialpenpot.app
official
Penpot draws up $12M | TechCrunchtechcrunch.com
news
Penpot Raises $8M Series A | BusinessWirebusinesswire.com
news
CVE-2026-45805 Penpot MCP RCE | SentinelOnesentinelone.com
security
CVE-2026-26202 | NVDnvd.nist.gov
security
Penpot MCP AI workflows | Smashing Magazinesmashingmagazine.com
news
Sketch Pricing 2026: $12-$44/editor/monthcostbench.com
review
Sketch Pricing | Capterracapterra.com
review
About Sketchsketch.com
official
Sketch Securitysketch.com
official