Penpot is a free open-source design tool for planning websites, apps and clickable prototypes with other people. It offers browser-based collaboration and the option to run the service on your own server.1 For privacy-conscious teams, that choice means deciding who operates the workspace that holds their designs.
Last checked October 28, 2026.
At a glance
- What it is: Interface design and prototyping for individuals and teams.
- Works on: A desktop browser; the guide recommends current Chrome or Firefox and also supports Safari/WebKit.7 Windows, macOS and Linux users can take this browser route.
- Price: Professional cloud plan: $0 per user a month. Paid cloud plans and a self-hosting option are also listed.2
- Licence: Mozilla Public License 2.0 (MPL-2.0) for the open-source project.1
- Best for: People designing interfaces together who value a choice of hosting.
- Official site: penpot.app
What Penpot does and how it protects your privacy
Think of Penpot as a shared drawing table for screen layouts. Start with a rough page, decide where buttons and text should go, then explore how somebody would move between screens. Its prototype mode connects boards to create interactions you can preview.8 A prototype is a working demonstration of an idea, rather than a finished app.
The privacy decision comes before the first drawing: choose the provider’s cloud or arrange your own installation. Penpot’s security whitepaper says the free cloud plan is hosted in Europe, and that an Enterprise add-on can host in the United States or elsewhere.3 Self-hosting means running the service on a server you or your organisation manage. It is a useful option when confidential designs need a specific home.
Penpot works with open standards including SVG, CSS, HTML and JSON.1 These are established ways to describe graphics, web pages and structured information. That openness is useful when planning how to keep work accessible over time. Before moving a whole team, try one representative project and agree which files and assets everyone needs to preserve.
Key Penpot features
- Live collaboration: Work with teammates in real time.1
- Flexible layouts: CSS Grid and Flex Layout help arrange interfaces that adapt to different sizes.1
- Reusable assets: Store components, colours and text styles in libraries.8
- Design tokens: Keep shared design decisions consistent across design and development.1
- Developer inspection: View measurements and code snippets for CSS, HTML and SVG.8
- Extensions: A plugin system and API support integrations and automation.1
Penpot pros and cons
Pros
- A free starting point makes a small trial easy to justify.
- Self-hosting gives organisations a practical route to choosing their own infrastructure.
- Open standards are a useful foundation for keeping a long-term design archive.
- Shared layouts and reusable design decisions suit teams that want a consistent interface.
Cons
- Self-hosting puts responsibility for timely updates and patches on your organisation.3
- The free Professional plan lists up to 10GB of storage and 7 days of autosaved versions.2
- Advanced governance and central administration are part of the paid Enterprise offering.2
- Learning layout rules, components and prototypes takes more effort than making a quick sketch.
Is Penpot safe and private?
Penpot is a Kaleidos open-source project.1 The latest listed release is 2.18.5, dated October 26, 2026.6 That recent release supports treating it as an actively maintained project. The release notes for 2.18.3 include a fix for removed team members retaining file access.6 For a self-hosted installation, keeping current matters as much as the initial setup.
Penpot’s cloud whitepaper describes TLS 1.2+ encryption for data in transit and AES-256 encryption for stored data.3 Encryption scrambles information so it cannot be read without the appropriate keys. Treat these as the provider’s stated safeguards, rather than a reason to skip checking your organisation’s requirements. For self-hosting, the whitepaper assigns encryption and backup implementation to the customer.3 Ask whoever manages the server how recovery will work before uploading sensitive material.
The privacy policy discloses Google Analytics and PostHog analytics.5 It says PostHog collects information about users’ behaviour and devices.5 The self-hosting guide describes anonymous telemetry and the enable-telemetries flag that turns it on.4 Telemetry means information sent back about software use. Review the actual installation settings rather than assuming every deployment makes the same connections.
The whitepaper describes third-party security assessments and testing.3 That statement is not a published independent audit report. Choose sharing permissions carefully and use fictional customer details in mock-ups. A design can reveal business plans or personal information even when it contains no passwords.
How to get started with Penpot
- Choose the official route. Open Penpot’s website and select Signup to create a cloud account.7 There is no desktop installer to download for this route. For self-hosting, ask your administrator to follow the official technical guide linked there.
- Start with harmless material. Make a practice project using invented names and sample content. Agree on the hosting choice before adding confidential work.
- Draw one simple screen. Try a heading, a rectangle for a button and a few lines of text. Keep the first exercise small enough to finish in one sitting.
- Try the interaction. Add a second screen and connect the button to it in prototype mode. Preview the result and ask whether the journey makes sense.
- Review access before inviting people. Decide who needs to edit and who only needs to view. Team invitations can give access to the file and other team files.8 Keep unrelated client work separate.
- Plan recovery. Save a copy before a substantial change. For a self-hosted team, agree who owns updates and backups; the Academy guide to Backrest is a useful place to explore backup planning.
Who should use Penpot, and who might prefer something else?
Penpot is a strong choice for a small product team, a freelancer collaborating with a developer, or an organisation that wants control over its design infrastructure. Start with a low-risk trial and see whether the shared workflow feels comfortable. Choose self-hosting when somebody has the time and skills to maintain it reliably.
If the job is simply to sketch a process, consider Excalidraw before learning a full interface-design workflow. For illustration-focused work, explore Inkscape. Choose around the task: drawing a diagram, making an illustration and planning an interactive app call for different workflows.
Frequently asked questions about Penpot
Is Penpot free?
Yes, the Professional cloud plan is free. Paid cloud pricing lists Unlimited at US$7 per editor per month, capped at US$175 monthly, and Enterprise at US$25 per member per month.2 Compare the current allowances before choosing; free software also does not remove the cost of maintaining your own server.
Can Penpot be self-hosted?
Yes. Its main privacy advantage is the ability to choose your own infrastructure. Budget for administration, backups and updates alongside the server itself. For most people learning interface design, a practice project is a sensible first step before deciding whether to run a server.
Do I need to download Penpot?
You can start using Penpot directly in a browser.7 Start from the official website and use its cloud signup link. Self-hosting is a separate server setup, so ask an administrator to handle that route if you do not already manage servers.
Is Penpot private enough for confidential designs?
Make that decision around the hosting arrangement, team access and maintenance plan. For sensitive work, ask the person responsible for your data to approve those details first. Start with invented information, then move real material only when the workspace meets your requirements.
