Penpot vs Whimsical
Penpot and Whimsical are both Design Tools tools. Penpot starts at $7/mo, Whimsical at $20/mo. Compare features, pricing, and ratings below to find the best fit for your team.
When to Choose Penpot vs Whimsical
The question that matters: “In what situation will I regret choosing A over B after 3 months?”
Self-host Penpot and keep component libraries inside private infrastructure. Fintech and healthcare teams control design access without per-seat licensing fees.
Native SVG storage means icons and illustrations paste into code without conversion. Front-end teams cut back-and-forth rounds by 40% on icon-heavy products.
Whimsical Flowcharts surface which design components block downstream work, so engineers and designers align on build sequencing before sprint kickoff.
Mind Maps consolidate product strategy, feature interdependencies, and user flows into one live artifact that stays in sync during cross-functional collaboration.
Whimsical AI Features turn a product brief into a wireframe skeleton in seconds, letting designers refine and hand off without starting from scratch.
Pricing Comparison & PlansHigh· Verified Jun 2, 2026
Penpot Plans
Free tier available
Professional
FreeBest for: Ideal for individuals or small teams getting started with design
- ✓Design and prototype tools
- ✓Collaborate with unlimited teams
- ✓Extend functionality with plugins
- ✓Open Source
- ✓World-class developer experience
Unlimited
$7/user/moBest for: growing teams needing advanced collaboration and unlimited projects
- ✓All Professional features
- ✓Capped monthly bill at $175
- ✓Unlimited storage
- ✓90 days of autosaved versions
- ✓90 days of deleted file recovery
Enterprise
$950/org/moBest for: Designed for large organizations requiring comprehensive features and dedicated support
- ✓All Professional features
- ✓Dedicated deployment support
- ✓Enterprise SSO & access controls
- ✓Certified plugins
- ✓Guaranteed response times
Private Server
$4167/org/moBest for: Suited for businesses with specific security, compliance, or infrastructure needs
- ✓Dedicated private infrastructure management
- ✓Certified plugins
- ✓Guaranteed response times
- ✓Exclusive early access to upcoming features
- ✓Single Sign On (SSO)
Whimsical Plans
Free tier available
Free
FreeBest for: You get 100 AI actions, Limited boards
- ✓Unlimited workspace members
- ✓3 team boards
- ✓3 teams
- ✓10 guests
- ✓20 AI credits / workspace / total
Pro
$20/user/moBest for: Unlimited boards, AI features
- ✓Unlimited team boards
- ✓Private teams
- ✓50 guests
- ✓50 AI credits / editor / month
- ✓Unlimited version history
Organization
$20/user/moBest for: SSO, Admin controls
- ✓SSO / SAML
- ✓SCIM and more security controls
- ✓Unlimited teams
- ✓200 guests
- ✓100 AI credits / editor / month
Capability Breakdown
6 differences found across 18 standardized features
- •UI Design
- •Prototyping
- •Components
- •Design Systems
- •Real-time Collaboration
- •SVG-based
- •Open Source
- •Self-Hostable
- •Flex Layout
- •Grid Layout
- •Design Tokens
- •Interactions
- •CSS Ready
- •Developer Handoff
- •Plugins
- •Flowcharts
- •Wireframes
- •Mind Maps
- •Sticky Notes
- •Documents
- •AI Features
- •Templates
- •Real-time Collaboration
- •Comments
- •Embedding
- •Export
- •Integrations
- •Keyboard Shortcuts
- •Clean UI
- •Version History
Strengths & Limitations
Evaluative strengths and weaknesses: not feature lists
- +Truly open-source with no vendor lock-in
- +Self-hosting option for full data control and security
- +Native SVG format for seamless developer handoff
- +Generous free cloud tier with unlimited files & projects
- +Real-time collaboration for design and code teams
- −Fewer third-party plugins and integrations than Figma
- −Performance can lag on very complex, multi-page files
- −Steeper learning curve for advanced features like Flex Layout
- −Mobile app for viewing prototypes is still in development
- −Lacks advanced features like variables and conditional logic
- +Unified workspace for flowcharts, wireframes, docs, and mind maps
- +AI-powered mind map and flowchart generation saves significant time
- +Minimalist UI is exceptionally fast and easy for non-designers to learn
- +Generous free plan with no time limit and unlimited members
- +Stacking items in flowcharts and wireframes keeps diagrams tidy
- −Lacks advanced prototyping features found in Figma or Axure
- −Limited library of icons and shapes compared to Miro or Lucidchart
- −No offline mode; requires a constant internet connection to work
- −Fewer third-party integrations than larger competitors like Miro
- −Mobile app experience is view-only, limiting on-the-go editing
At a Glance
Recent Price History
Whimsical updated "Organization" from $20/mo to Custom
Price change · Jun 2, 2026
Whimsical raised "Pro" from $12/mo to $20/mo (+67%)
Price change · Jun 2, 2026
Penpot removed the "Self-Hosted" plan
Plan removed · May 30, 2026
Penpot removed the "Penpot Cloud" plan
Plan removed · May 30, 2026
Penpot added a new "Private Server" plan (Custom pricing)
Plan added · May 30, 2026
Penpot updated "Enterprise" from Custom to $950/mo
Price change · May 30, 2026
Penpot added a new "Unlimited" plan at $7/user/mo
Plan added · May 30, 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Comparisons
Sources & Data Trail · Penpot
- 1.Official Pricing Page·Source of verified tiers(Checked: 2026-05-30)
- 2.Official Website·Official vendor website
- 3.G2·G2 verified reviews · 4.3/5 · 10 reviews
- 4.Capterra·Capterra verified reviews · 4.4/5
- 5.StackShare·StackShare developer community
Sources & Data Trail · Whimsical
- 1.Official Pricing Page·Source of verified tiers(Checked: 2026-06-02)
- 2.Official Website·Official vendor website
- 3.G2·G2 verified reviews · 4.6/5 · 189 reviews
- 4.Capterra·Capterra verified reviews · 4.7/5
- 5.TrustRadius·TrustRadius verified reviews