7 alternatives · Design Tools
Best alternatives to Sketch in 2026
Sketch is a vector design tool for macOS that pioneered many concepts that Figma later adopted — artboards, symbols, responsive design — and was the dominant UI design tool before Figma's rise. It offers a native Mac experience with excellent performance for large files and an extensive plugin ecosystem. Sketch now includes collaboration features via its web app and web editor.
What is Sketch?
Why look for Sketch alternatives?
Sketch is macOS-only, which excludes Windows and Linux users from collaborative workflows. Since Figma emerged as the collaboration-first alternative, many teams have migrated. New projects increasingly start in Figma rather than Sketch.
7 alternatives to Sketch
The collaborative design tool for building meaningful products.
Figma is the leading browser-based UI design and prototyping tool used by the majority of professional product design teams. Its real-time collaboration, component system, and developer handoff tools have made it the industry standard for product design.
Design anything. Publish anywhere.
Canva is a browser-based graphic design tool that makes design accessible to non-designers with drag-and-drop templates for social media, presentations, documents, and marketing materials. It has over 175 million users and has become the standard for team marketing content creation.
Design and publish sites that move — fast.
Framer is a design and website publishing platform that bridges the gap between design and production code. It generates clean React code from visual designs and can publish directly to the web, making it popular for landing pages and marketing sites that need to be both beautiful and fast.
Design and prototype user experiences.
Adobe XD was Adobe's UI/UX design and prototyping tool. Adobe announced the end of new feature development in 2023 as it integrates design features into other Creative Cloud products. Existing users can continue using it, but new projects are best started in Figma or Sketch.
Design freedom for teams. Open-source design tool.
Penpot is the first open-source, self-hostable design and prototyping tool. Built on open web standards (SVG), it is a privacy-first Figma alternative that gives teams full control over their design infrastructure and data.
Free design software with built-in assets.
Lunacy is a free, native design application for Windows, macOS, and Linux by Icons8. It supports Sketch and Figma file formats, includes built-in AI tools, stock photos, icons, and illustrations, and works offline without requiring a subscription.
3D design tool in the browser.
Spline is a browser-based 3D design tool that lets designers create interactive 3D scenes, animations, and objects that can be embedded directly in websites and apps. It has democratized 3D web design for teams without specialized 3D software skills.
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Frequently asked
Is Sketch free?
Sketch is not free. A personal license costs $120 per year (Mac app only). Business plans are $9 per editor per month and include collaboration features, web editor, and cloud storage.
Does Sketch work on Windows?
No. Sketch is macOS-only for its native editor. The Sketch web app allows viewing and basic editing on Windows, but the full design experience requires a Mac. This limitation has accelerated migration to Figma for cross-platform teams.
How does Sketch compare to Figma today?
Figma has overtaken Sketch as the industry standard, especially for teams. Sketch maintains a loyal user base among Mac-only designers who prefer the native app performance. For new teams, Figma is the default choice; Sketch is often a personal preference for experienced designers.
What are Sketch Symbols?
Symbols are Sketch's reusable component system — similar to Figma's components. You define a symbol once and instances appear throughout your designs. Changing the master symbol updates all instances. This is the foundation of design system management in Sketch.
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