Baserow
Penpot
| Feature | Baserow | Penpot |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $5/mo | Free / from $8/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.3 / 5 | 4.3 / 5 |
| Best For | developers, small-teams, self-hosters, privacy-conscious-orgs | open-source-teams, privacy-focused-designers, developers, educational-institutions |
| Founded | 2019 | 2015 |
| Database Tables | ✓ | ✗ |
| Forms | ✓ | ✗ |
| Api | ✓ | ✗ |
| Views | ✓ | ✗ |
| Automations | ✓ | ✗ |
| Self Hosting | ✓ | ✗ |
| Vector Editing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Prototyping | ✗ | ✓ |
| Components | ✗ | ✓ |
| Design Tokens | ✗ | ✓ |
| Real Time Collaboration | ✗ | ✓ |
| Css Output | ✗ | ✓ |
| Self Hostable | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Baserow Pros
- Open-source and self-hostable
- Good Airtable alternative
- Developer-friendly API
- Affordable pricing
✗ Baserow Cons
- Fewer automations than Airtable
- Smaller template library
- Growing feature set
✓ Penpot Pros
- Open-source and self-hostable for free
- CSS-based design outputs production-ready code
- Real-time collaboration (Figma-like experience)
- SVG-native (no proprietary formats)
✗ Penpot Cons
- Performance slower than Figma on complex files
- Smaller plugin and community ecosystem
- Missing some advanced design features
The Verdict
Baserow is built for developers and small teams, with a focus on database-tables and forms. Penpot targets open source teams and privacy focused designers and leads with vector-editing and prototyping.
Pricing is close: Baserow starts at $5/mo versus $8/mo for Penpot — not a deciding factor on its own.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Feature-wise, Penpot offers broader built-in capabilities (7 features vs 6), while Baserow takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
Both tools are a solid fit for developers — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.