Dub
Penpot
| Feature | Dub | Penpot |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $24/mo | Free / from $8/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.4 / 5 | 4.3 / 5 |
| Best For | marketers, creators, saas-companies, agencies | open-source-teams, privacy-focused-designers, developers, educational-institutions |
| Founded | 2022 | 2015 |
| Short Links | ✓ | ✗ |
| Analytics | ✓ | ✗ |
| Qr Codes | ✓ | ✗ |
| Custom Domains | ✓ | ✗ |
| Api | ✓ | ✗ |
| Team Management | ✓ | ✗ |
| Vector Editing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Prototyping | ✗ | ✓ |
| Components | ✗ | ✓ |
| Design Tokens | ✗ | ✓ |
| Real Time Collaboration | ✗ | ✓ |
| Css Output | ✗ | ✓ |
| Self Hostable | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Dub Pros
- Open-source
- Beautiful analytics
- Custom domains
- QR code generation
✗ Dub Cons
- Limited links on free plan
- Newer platform
- Fewer integrations than Bitly
✓ 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
Dub is built for marketers and creators, with a focus on short-links and analytics. Penpot targets open source teams and privacy focused designers and leads with vector-editing and prototyping.
On pricing, Penpot is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $8/mo compared to $24/mo for Dub. That $16/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
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 Dub takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
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.