The open-source design and prototyping tool for product teams
Best Open-Source & Self-Hosted Design & Prototyping Software
Vector design, collaborative whiteboards, and UI mockups Compare GitHub star velocity, open-source licenses, self-hosting difficulty, and deploy with 1-click Docker Compose templates.
Commercial Design & Prototyping SaaS You Can Replace Today
Design & Prototyping Open-Source Comparison Matrix (2026)
| Open-Source Project | Replaces SaaS | GitHub Stars | License | Tech Stack | Difficulty | Deploy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penpot | Figma | ★ 60,959 | MPL-2.0 | Clojure, ClojureScript, TypeScript | Medium | Docker |
| Excalidraw | Miro | ★ 133,744 | MIT | TypeScript, React, HTML5 Canvas, Docker | Easy | Docker |
| tldraw | Miro | ★ 50,881 | Fair-Code | TypeScript, React, WebSockets, Node.js | Easy | Docker |
| GrapesJS | Webflow | ★ 26,301 | BSD-3-Clause | TypeScript, JavaScript, HTML5, CSS3 | Easy | Docker |
| Drawnix | Miro | ★ 14,938 | MIT | TypeScript, Angular, Plait Framework, Slate | Easy | Docker |
| Webstudio | Webflow | ★ 9,058 | AGPL-3.0 | TypeScript, Remix, React, PostgreSQL, PostgREST | Medium | Docker |
All Verified Design & Prototyping Projects (6)
Virtual collaborative whiteboard for sketching hand-drawn diagrams
High-performance infinite canvas and collaborative whiteboarding SDK
Open-source multi-purpose web builder and newsletter studio framework
All-in-one open-source whiteboard, mind map, and flowchart workspace
Open-source visual web builder and full Webflow alternative
1-Click Docker Compose Generator for Design & Prototyping
Select any design & prototyping service below to customize ports, volumes, and environment secrets:
1-Click Docker Compose Generator
Generate production-ready container definitions with customizable ports and volumes.
The open-source design and prototyping tool for product teams
version: "3.8"
services:
penpot-frontend:
image: penpotapp/frontend:latest
ports:
- "${PORT:-9001}:80"
depends_on:
- penpot-backend
restart: unless-stopped
penpot-backend:
image: penpotapp/backend:latest
environment:
PENPOT_DATABASE_URI: postgresql://penpot:${DB_PASSWORD:-penpot_pwd}@postgres:5432/penpot
depends_on:
- postgres
- redis
restart: unless-stopped
postgres:
image: postgres:15-alpine
environment:
POSTGRES_USER: penpot
POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD:-penpot_pwd}
POSTGRES_DB: penpot
volumes:
- penpot_postgres:/var/lib/postgresql/data
redis:
image: redis:7-alpine
volumes:
penpot_postgres:Frequently Asked Questions: Self-Hosted Design & Prototyping
What is the best open-source Design & Prototyping software to self-host in 2026?
Based on community adoption and GitHub velocity, Penpot (60,959 GitHub stars) is the leading open-source design & prototyping solution. It replaces Figma and is distributed under the MPL-2.0 license.
Can I deploy self-hosted Design & Prototyping tools using Docker Compose?
Yes. All 6 open-source design & prototyping projects listed on this page include production-tested Docker Compose configurations with persistent volume mounts and environment variable customization.
Which commercial SaaS products in Design & Prototyping can be replaced with open source?
You can replace proprietary tools including Figma, Miro, Webflow with self-hosted open-source equivalents, eliminating per-seat subscription costs while retaining 100% data sovereignty.
What server specs are needed to self-host Design & Prototyping software?
Most design & prototyping applications run smoothly on a standard Linux VPS with 2 vCPU and 2GB–4GB RAM ($6–$12/month on Hetzner, DigitalOcean, or Linode).