vioscaleAI
Comparison

Penpot vs Principle

On the evidence we track, Penpot leads this comparison with a composite score of 63/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Penpot full profile →Principle full profile →
Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.
★Penpot63
Principle47
Score
vioscaleAI score
Penpot63 / 100medium · 68%
Principle47 / 100low · 40%
Pricing
Free tier
Penpot✓
Principle✗
Model
Penpotfreemium
Principlecommercial
Price level
Penpotlow
Principlehigh
Starting price
Penpot$7
Principle$129
Transparent
Penpot✓
Principle✓
Integrations
Count
Penpot5
Principle2
Security
Gdpr
Penpot✓
Principle–
Scorecard
Penpot4.9
Principle–
Trust center
Vulnerabilities
Reliability
Status page
Penpot✓
Principle–
Adoption
Dependent repos
Penpot0
Principle–
Github stars
Penpot60,714
Principle–
Activity
Commits last 30d
Penpot100
Principle–
Release
Cadence days
Penpot9
Principle–
History
Penpot20 items
Principle–
License
Spdx
PenpotMPL-2.0
Principle–
Language
Primary
PenpotClojure
Principle–
Market
Availability
Content
Faq
Penpot8 items
Principle4 items

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for mockup tools. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Capabilities
Architecture model
PenpotManaged cloud saas browser
PrincipleLocal mac native app
Css flexbox based auto layout engine
Penpot✓
Principle-
Stateful interactive prototyping with variables and logic
Penpot✓
Principle✓
Component variants and property overrides
Penpot✓
Principle-
Design token variable mapping colors spacing typography
Penpot✓
Principle-
Real time multiplayer crdt cursor sync
Penpot-
Principle-
Developer mode handoff environment css swift export
Penpot-
Principle-
Advanced micro interaction animation smart animate
Penpot-
Principle✓
Third party plugin ecosystem API
Penpot✓
Principle-
Offline editing mode with conflict resolution
Penpot-
Principle-
SOC2 type ii
Penpot-
Principle-
Gpl or permissive oss license
Penpot-
Principle-
Pricing model
Penpotopen_source
PrincipleFlat lifetime license

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Penpot

Leader

A web-based design and prototyping tool built on open web standards (SVG, HTML, CSS) that facilitates real-time collaboration between designers and developers. It supports responsive UI design with CSS-based layouts, design systems with components and tokens, interactive prototyping, and integrates with AI workflows through an extensible plugin ecosystem.

Independently observed

Principle

A native macOS application for designing animated and interactive user interfaces across web, mobile, and desktop platforms, featuring keyframe-based animation controls and automatic transitions between artboards.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Penpot

Leader
from $7/editor/mofreemiumFree tier14-day trial

Free Professional plan with full features. Unlimited plan at $7/editor/month (capped at $175/month) with 14-day trial. Enterprise at $25/member/month. Private Server at $50k/year.

  • ProfessionalFree
    • No file limits
    • Unlimited teams
    • Open source
    • Unlimited team size (8 members + unlimited viewers)
    • 10GB storage
    • +2 more
  • Unlimited$7/editor/month (capped at $175/month). 14-day free trial.
    • All Professional features
    • Extra storage
    • Extended history
    • Early access to features
    • 30 days autosave versions
    • +1 more
  • Enterprise$25/member/month
    • All Unlimited features
    • Advanced governance
    • Centralized administration
    • Team permissions
    • Secure collaboration
    • +4 more
  • Private ServerContact sales
    • Dedicated infrastructure
    • Custom hosting
    • Advanced security
    • Enterprise-grade support
as of verify ↗

Principle

from $129Perpetual licence

$129 per computer. Renewal available for $99 to access new features released after initial purchase.

  • Principle License$129 per computer, perpetual license
    • Timeline animation with keyframes and easing customization
    • Multi-artboard screen flow design
    • Automatic animations between named layers on different artboards
    • Hover and mouse wheel event support
    • Import from Figma and Sketch with intelligent merging
    • +3 more
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
Web
Penpot✓
Principle✗
macOS
Penpot✗
Principle✓
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Penpot✓
Principle–
Self-hosted
Penpot✓
Principle–
On-premise
Penpot✓
Principle–
Air-gapped
Penpot✓
Principle–

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

Penpot

Leader
5 total
  • Open API
  • MCP Server
  • Webhooks
  • Access tokens
  • Plugins
Independently observed

Principle

2 total
  • Figma
  • Sketch
Independently observed
Still deciding?

Penpot or Principle: which one depends on you

A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.

Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.