Huly
Penpot
| Feature | Huly | Penpot |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $15/mo | Free / from $8/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.1 / 5 | 4.3 / 5 |
| Best For | startups, open-source-teams, small-companies, engineering-teams | open-source-teams, privacy-focused-designers, developers, educational-institutions |
| Founded | 2023 | 2015 |
| Issue Tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Team Planner | ✓ | ✗ |
| Virtual Office | ✓ | ✗ |
| Documents | ✓ | ✗ |
| Hr Module | ✓ | ✗ |
| Chat Collaboration | ✓ | ✗ |
| Vector Editing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Prototyping | ✗ | ✓ |
| Components | ✗ | ✓ |
| Design Tokens | ✗ | ✓ |
| Real Time Collaboration | ✗ | ✓ |
| Css Output | ✗ | ✓ |
| Self Hostable | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Huly Pros
- Open-source with self-hosting option
- All-in-one platform reducing tool sprawl
- Fast and modern interface
- Built-in HR and recruitment features
✗ Huly Cons
- Smaller ecosystem than established tools
- Documentation still growing
- Fewer third-party integrations
✓ 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
Huly is built for startups and open source teams, with a focus on issue-tracking and team-planner. 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 $15/mo for Huly. That $7/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 Huly takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
Both tools are a solid fit for open source teams — 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.