Penpot
Terraform
| Feature | Penpot | Terraform |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $8/mo | Free / from $0.00014/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.3 / 5 | 4.5 / 5 |
| Best For | open-source-teams, privacy-focused-designers, developers, educational-institutions | devops-engineers, cloud-architects, platform-teams, infrastructure-teams |
| Founded | 2015 | 2014 |
| Vector Editing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Prototyping | ✓ | ✗ |
| Components | ✓ | ✗ |
| Design Tokens | ✓ | ✗ |
| Real Time Collaboration | ✓ | ✗ |
| Css Output | ✓ | ✗ |
| Self Hostable | ✓ | ✗ |
| Infrastructure As Code | ✗ | ✓ |
| Multi Cloud | ✗ | ✓ |
| State Management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Plan And Apply | ✗ | ✓ |
| Modules | ✗ | ✓ |
| Provider Ecosystem | ✗ | ✓ |
| Drift Detection | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ 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
✓ Terraform Pros
- Multi-cloud support with consistent workflow
- Declarative language (HCL) is readable and maintainable
- Massive provider ecosystem (3,000+ providers)
- State management tracks real infrastructure
- Terraform Cloud adds collaboration features
✗ Terraform Cons
- State file management requires careful handling
- BSL license change from open source caused controversy
- Complex modules can be hard to debug
The Verdict
Penpot is built for open source teams and privacy focused designers, with a focus on vector-editing and prototyping. Terraform targets devops engineers and cloud architects and leads with infrastructure-as-code and multi-cloud.
On pricing, Terraform is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $0.00014/mo compared to $8/mo for Penpot. That $7.99986/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.
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.