Penpot
Tome
| Feature | Penpot | Tome |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $8/mo | Free / from $16/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.3 / 5 | 4.1 / 5 |
| Best For | open-source-teams, privacy-focused-designers, developers, educational-institutions | busy-professionals, sales-teams, content-creators, startup-founders |
| Founded | 2015 | 2020 |
| Vector Editing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Prototyping | ✓ | ✗ |
| Components | ✓ | ✗ |
| Design Tokens | ✓ | ✗ |
| Real Time Collaboration | ✓ | ✗ |
| Css Output | ✓ | ✗ |
| Self Hostable | ✓ | ✗ |
| Ai Generation | ✗ | ✓ |
| Ai Images | ✗ | ✓ |
| Web Native Format | ✗ | ✓ |
| Templates | ✗ | ✓ |
| Embedding | ✗ | ✓ |
| Collaboration | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ 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
✓ Tome Pros
- Generate full presentations from a prompt
- Modern web-native format
- AI image generation built in
- Fast iteration on ideas
✗ Tome Cons
- Output can feel generic without editing
- Limited export options
- Not suitable for traditional slide decks
The Verdict
Penpot is built for open source teams and privacy focused designers, with a focus on vector-editing and prototyping. Tome targets busy professionals and sales teams and leads with ai-generation and ai-images.
On pricing, Penpot is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $8/mo compared to $16/mo for Tome. That $8/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 Tome 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.