English
Penpot Hosting
Design interfaces and prototypes collaboratively in an open-source web design platform.
No setup fees-
One click deploy -
4 GB RAM Memory needed -
50 GB Disk Space Needed -
From 10 € Price
Official links
Penpot’s official links and original website
Penpot Website
More
Tech
- Docker image
- penpotapp/frontend:2.16
- Default port
- 8080
- Database
- postgres
How Penpot works
Penpot stores design files that contain pages, boards, layers, shapes, text, images, components, and prototype interactions. Designers arrange interface screens in the browser, connect them into flows, and share prototypes for review. Collaboration lets team members work in the same file and discuss changes without exporting every revision as a separate image.
Components, variants, flexible layouts, and design tokens turn recurring visual decisions into reusable systems. Developers use inspection tools to read measurements and obtain CSS, SVG, or HTML-oriented output from supported design elements. The application does not generate a complete production application; inspection helps translate design intent into code that engineers still review and implement.
Key Penpot features
Vector editing and layout tools create interface screens, icons, diagrams, and product concepts. Interactive prototypes connect boards with navigation and transition behaviour for stakeholder review or user testing. Components and variants reduce duplicated interface elements across files.
Design tokens provide named values for colours, typography, spacing, and other repeatable decisions. Inspect mode exposes implementation-oriented details, while webhooks and an API can connect external development workflows. Fonts, large files, exports, and collaboration patterns should be tested with the exact project structure a team plans to use.
Penpot vs Figma
Penpot is a self-hosted collaborative design and prototyping platform built around open standards, reusable components, tokens, inspect output, and an operator-controlled server. Figma is a provider-managed design suite with browser collaboration, comments, prototyping, libraries, Dev Mode, handoff tools, integrations, and a large commercial ecosystem.
Figma may suit organisations that want a mature managed workspace, broad plugin and community resources, and vendor-operated collaboration infrastructure. Penpot is attractive when teams value self-hosting, open file and web standards, and closer design-to-code transparency, while accepting responsibility for operating the design stack.
Who uses Penpot
Product designers create interfaces and prototypes, design-system teams maintain components and tokens, and developers inspect layouts before implementation. Agencies can separate customer projects, while organisations with infrastructure-control requirements keep collaborative design work on their own hosted instance.
The tool works best when teams agree on file organisation, component ownership, token naming, and review practices. Large assets, many simultaneous editors, complex prototypes, and extensive libraries can increase load. A self-hosted design service also needs a clear plan for administrator access and user onboarding.
Self-hosting Penpot: requirements and cost
Capacity is shaped by active editors, file complexity, uploaded assets, components, versions, prototype previews, exports, collaboration, and API activity. The catalogue stack includes PostgreSQL, Valkey, a backend service, and an exporter alongside the web front end. PostgreSQL is included but unmanaged, with its memory outside the exported Penpot application minimum.
AvaHost maps Penpot to Plan 4 at €20. One-click deployment, a custom design domain, automated HTTPS, automatic application updates, and scheduled backups are included. Email verification is disabled in the catalogue configuration, and application email is unavailable, so email invitations and email-based recovery do not work; direct registration remains enabled for account creation.
F.A.Q
Penpot starts at €20 on Plan 4 after accounting for PostgreSQL, Valkey, the backend, exporter, and web front end. Active editors, file complexity, uploaded assets, components, prototype previews, exports, collaboration, and API activity affect demand. Teams should test a representative design system rather than estimating capacity from the number of files alone.
AvaHost provisions PostgreSQL and connects the Penpot services automatically. Users, teams, projects, files, components, tokens, permissions, and application configuration depend on the database. PostgreSQL is included but unmanaged, while Valkey, the backend, exporter, and persistent assets form the rest of the stack. Plan updates and recovery across these services together.
A custom hostname can serve the Penpot workspace with automated HTTPS after DNS points to the installation. Use the final address for bookmarks, shared prototypes, API clients, webhooks, and integrations. If the domain changes later, verify sign-in, asset loading, prototype links, exports, callbacks, and any documentation that embeds the previous Penpot URL.
The catalogue configuration disables email verification and keeps registration enabled, so users can create accounts without receiving a verification message. AvaHost application email remains disabled, which also removes email invitations and email-based recovery. Administrators should control who receives the registration address, retain owner credentials carefully, and document a non-email account-recovery process.