Penpot
Wix
| Feature | Penpot | Wix |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $8/mo | Free / from $17/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.3 / 5 | 4.3 / 5 |
| Best For | open-source-teams, privacy-focused-designers, developers, educational-institutions | small-businesses, beginners, restaurants, portfolios, local-businesses |
| Founded | 2015 | 2006 |
| Vector Editing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Prototyping | ✓ | ✗ |
| Components | ✓ | ✗ |
| Design Tokens | ✓ | ✗ |
| Real Time Collaboration | ✓ | ✗ |
| Css Output | ✓ | ✗ |
| Self Hostable | ✓ | ✗ |
| Drag Drop Editor | ✗ | ✓ |
| Templates | ✗ | ✓ |
| Ecommerce | ✗ | ✓ |
| Seo | ✗ | ✓ |
| Ai Builder | ✗ | ✓ |
| Booking | ✗ | ✓ |
| Crm | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ 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
✓ Wix Pros
- Easiest website builder for beginners
- 900+ designer-made templates
- AI generates entire sites from prompts
- All-in-one (hosting, domain, email)
✗ Wix Cons
- Cannot switch templates after building
- Sites can be slow to load
- Moving away is nearly impossible
The Verdict
Penpot is built for open source teams and privacy focused designers, with a focus on vector-editing and prototyping. Wix targets small businesses and beginners and leads with drag-drop-editor and templates.
On pricing, Penpot is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $8/mo compared to $17/mo for Wix. That $9/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.