Self-Host Penpot — Open Source Figma Alternative 2026 — OSSAlt Blog

What Is Penpot?

Penpot is the first open source design and prototyping platform built for product teams. It runs in the browser, supports real-time collaboration, exports production-ready CSS/SVG, and stores all your design files on your own infrastructure.

Figma costs $15/seat/month for teams (and $75/seat/month for the Organization tier). Penpot is free when self-hosted — you pay only for the server ($5-20/month on Hetzner or DigitalOcean for a small team).

Key features:

Vector design + prototyping in the browser
Real-time multiplayer collaboration
Components, assets, and shared libraries
CSS inspection panel for developers
SVG-first format (files are just SVGs + metadata)
REST API for automation
LDAP/OIDC SSO support

Prerequisites

VPS with 2 vCPU, 4GB RAM minimum (Hetzner CX32 at €5.49/month works great)
Docker + Docker Compose installed
A domain name with DNS pointing to your server
Optional: Traefik or Caddy as a reverse proxy

Quick Deploy with Docker Compose

Penpot ships an official Docker Compose configuration:

# 1. Download official docker-compose
curl -o docker-compose.yaml \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/penpot/penpot/main/docker/images/docker-compose.yaml

# 2. Download environment template
curl -o config.env \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/penpot/penpot/main/docker/images/config.env

Edit config.env

# config.env — key settings to configure

## Public URL — must match your domain
PENPOT_PUBLIC_URI=https://design.yourdomain.com

## Feature flags
PENPOT_FLAGS=enable-registration enable-login enable-smtp

## Email (for invitations and password resets)
PENPOT_SMTP_ENABLED=true
PENPOT_SMTP_DEFAULT_FROM=noreply@yourdomain.com
PENPOT_SMTP_DEFAULT_REPLY_TO=noreply@yourdomain.com
PENPOT_SMTP_HOST=smtp.yourdomain.com
PENPOT_SMTP_PORT=587
PENPOT_SMTP_USERNAME=your-smtp-user
PENPOT_SMTP_PASSWORD=your-smtp-password
PENPOT_SMTP_TLS=true

## Storage — local filesystem (default)
PENPOT_STORAGE_BACKEND=fs

## Telemetry (disable for privacy)
PENPOT_TELEMETRY_ENABLED=false

The docker-compose.yaml

version: "3"

networks:
  penpot:

volumes:
  penpot_postgres_v15:
  penpot_assets:
  penpot_redis:

services:
  penpot-frontend:
    image: "penpotapp/frontend:latest"
    restart: always
    ports:
      - 9001:80
    volumes:
      - penpot_assets:/opt/data/assets
    depends_on:
      - penpot-backend
      - penpot-exporter
    networks:
      - penpot
    environment:
      - PENPOT_FLAGS=${PENPOT_FLAGS}

  penpot-backend:
    image: "penpotapp/backend:latest"
    restart: always
    volumes:
      - penpot_assets:/opt/data/assets
    depends_on:
      - penpot-postgres
      - penpot-redis
    networks:
      - penpot
    environment:
      - PENPOT_FLAGS=${PENPOT_FLAGS}
      - PENPOT_SECRET_KEY=${PENPOT_SECRET_KEY}
      - PENPOT_PUBLIC_URI=${PENPOT_PUBLIC_URI}
      - PENPOT_DATABASE_URI=postgresql://penpot/penpot
      - PENPOT_DATABASE_USERNAME=penpot
      - PENPOT_DATABASE_PASSWORD=${PENPOT_DATABASE_PASSWORD}
      - PENPOT_REDIS_URI=redis://penpot-redis/0
      - PENPOT_STORAGE_BACKEND=${PENPOT_STORAGE_BACKEND}
      - PENPOT_STORAGE_FS_DIRECTORY=/opt/data/assets
      - PENPOT_TELEMETRY_ENABLED=${PENPOT_TELEMETRY_ENABLED}
      - PENPOT_SMTP_ENABLED=${PENPOT_SMTP_ENABLED}
      - PENPOT_SMTP_DEFAULT_FROM=${PENPOT_SMTP_DEFAULT_FROM}
      - PENPOT_SMTP_HOST=${PENPOT_SMTP_HOST}
      - PENPOT_SMTP_PORT=${PENPOT_SMTP_PORT}
      - PENPOT_SMTP_USERNAME=${PENPOT_SMTP_USERNAME}
      - PENPOT_SMTP_PASSWORD=${PENPOT_SMTP_PASSWORD}
      - PENPOT_SMTP_TLS=${PENPOT_SMTP_TLS}

  penpot-exporter:
    image: "penpotapp/exporter:latest"
    restart: always
    networks:
      - penpot
    environment:
      - PENPOT_PUBLIC_URI=${PENPOT_PUBLIC_URI}
      - PENPOT_REDIS_URI=redis://penpot-redis/0

  penpot-postgres:
    image: "postgres:15"
    restart: always
    volumes:
      - penpot_postgres_v15:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    networks:
      - penpot
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_INITDB_ARGS=--data-checksums
      - POSTGRES_DB=penpot
      - POSTGRES_USER=penpot
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=${PENPOT_DATABASE_PASSWORD}

  penpot-redis:
    image: redis:7
    restart: always
    networks:
      - penpot
    volumes:
      - penpot_redis:/data

Start Penpot

docker compose -f docker-compose.yaml --env-file config.env up -d

Verify containers are running:

docker compose ps
# NAME                  STATUS
# penpot-frontend       Up
# penpot-backend        Up
# penpot-exporter       Up
# penpot-postgres       Up
# penpot-redis          Up

Configure Caddy as Reverse Proxy (Recommended)

# /etc/caddy/Caddyfile

design.yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:9001

    # Large file uploads for design assets
    request_body {
        max_size 100MB
    }
}

systemctl reload caddy

Or with Traefik Labels

# Add to the penpot-frontend service
labels:
  - "traefik.enable=true"
  - "traefik.http.routers.penpot.rule=Host(`design.yourdomain.com`)"
  - "traefik.http.routers.penpot.entrypoints=websecure"
  - "traefik.http.routers.penpot.tls.certresolver=letsencrypt"
  - "traefik.http.services.penpot.loadbalancer.server.port=80"

Create Your First Admin User

After Penpot is running, register your admin account at https://design.yourdomain.com:

1. Visit https://design.yourdomain.com
2. Click "Create new account"
3. Use your email — you'll receive a verification email
4. If SMTP isn't configured yet, run:

# Manually verify email without SMTP
docker compose exec penpot-backend \
  app.main/handle-command verify-profile \
  --email your@email.com

Disable Open Registration (After Setup)

Once your team is set up, disable public registration:

# config.env — remove enable-registration
PENPOT_FLAGS=enable-login enable-smtp

docker compose -f docker-compose.yaml --env-file config.env up -d

Enable LDAP / SSO

Penpot supports LDAP and OIDC (OpenID Connect) for enterprise SSO:

OIDC (Authentik, Keycloak, Google)

# config.env
PENPOT_FLAGS=enable-login-with-oidc
PENPOT_OIDC_CLIENT_ID=your-client-id
PENPOT_OIDC_CLIENT_SECRET=your-client-secret
PENPOT_OIDC_BASE_URI=https://auth.yourdomain.com/application/o/penpot/
PENPOT_OIDC_SCOPES=openid profile email

LDAP

PENPOT_FLAGS=enable-login-with-ldap
PENPOT_LDAP_HOST=ldap.yourdomain.com
PENPOT_LDAP_PORT=389
PENPOT_LDAP_SSL=false
PENPOT_LDAP_STARTTLS=false
PENPOT_LDAP_BASE_DN=ou=users,dc=yourdomain,dc=com
PENPOT_LDAP_USERNAME_ATTRIBUTE=uid
PENPOT_LDAP_EMAIL_ATTRIBUTE=mail
PENPOT_LDAP_FULLNAME_ATTRIBUTE=cn
PENPOT_LDAP_BIND_DN=cn=admin,dc=yourdomain,dc=com
PENPOT_LDAP_BIND_PASSWORD=your-ldap-password

Use S3-Compatible Storage for Assets

For production teams, store design assets in object storage:

# config.env
PENPOT_STORAGE_BACKEND=s3
PENPOT_STORAGE_S3_REGION=eu-central-1
PENPOT_STORAGE_S3_BUCKET=penpot-assets
PENPOT_STORAGE_S3_ENDPOINT=https://s3.yourdomain.com  # or leave blank for AWS
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your-access-key
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your-secret-key

Works with any S3-compatible storage: MinIO, Hetzner Object Storage, Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2.

Migrating from Figma

Penpot can import Figma files via the Figma API:

1. In Figma, get a Personal Access Token
   (Figma → Settings → Security → Personal access tokens)

2. In Penpot, open a project
3. Click "New file" → "Import from Figma"
4. Paste your Figma file URL + Personal Access Token
5. Penpot imports components, styles, and layout

What imports well:

Vector shapes and SVG paths
Text layers and fonts
Component definitions
Color styles

Known limitations:

Auto-layout import is approximate
Some advanced Figma plugins don't transfer
Complex boolean operations may need manual adjustment

Backup Strategy

#!/bin/bash
# backup-penpot.sh

DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)
BACKUP_DIR="/backups/penpot"

mkdir -p $BACKUP_DIR

# Backup PostgreSQL
docker compose exec -T penpot-postgres pg_dump \
  -U penpot penpot | gzip > $BACKUP_DIR/db_$DATE.sql.gz

# Backup file assets
tar -czf $BACKUP_DIR/assets_$DATE.tar.gz \
  $(docker volume inspect penpot_assets --format '{{ .Mountpoint }}')

# Rotate: keep 7 days
find $BACKUP_DIR -mtime +7 -delete

echo "Backup complete: $DATE"

chmod +x backup-penpot.sh
# Add to cron: 0 3 * * * /opt/penpot/backup-penpot.sh

Penpot vs Figma: Is It Ready?

Feature	Figma	Penpot
Vector design	✅	✅
Real-time collaboration	✅	✅
Prototyping	✅	✅
Components/libraries	✅	✅
Dev inspect (CSS)	✅	✅
Auto-layout	✅ Advanced	⚠️ Basic
Variables/tokens	✅	✅ (v2)
Plugins	✅ Extensive	⚠️ Growing
Mobile app	✅	❌
AI features	✅	❌
Self-hosting	❌	✅
Price (10 seats)	$150/mo	~$10/mo server

Penpot is ready for teams that value ownership, privacy, and cost — especially if you're building products that don't rely heavily on Figma's plugin ecosystem.

Troubleshooting

Backend not starting:

docker compose logs penpot-backend | tail -50
# Common: database connection failure — check PENPOT_DATABASE_URI

Assets not loading after reverse proxy:

# Ensure the reverse proxy passes the correct headers
# X-Forwarded-Proto: https
# X-Forwarded-Host: design.yourdomain.com

Exporter crashes:

docker compose logs penpot-exporter | tail -20
# Exporter uses Chromium internally — needs 512MB+ RAM headroom

Penpot is one of the most popular open source tools on OSSAlt — see all self-hosted Figma alternatives.

Why Self-Host Penpot — Open Source Figma Alternative?

The case for self-hosting Penpot — Open Source Figma Alternative comes down to three practical factors: data ownership, cost at scale, and operational control.

Data ownership is the fundamental argument. When you use a SaaS version of any tool, your data lives on someone else's infrastructure subject to their terms of service, their security practices, and their business continuity. If the vendor raises prices, gets acquired, changes API limits, or shuts down, you're left scrambling. Self-hosting Penpot — Open Source Figma Alternative means your data and configuration stay on infrastructure you control — whether that's a VPS, a bare metal server, or a home lab.

Cost at scale matters once you move beyond individual use. Most SaaS equivalents charge per user or per data volume. A self-hosted instance on a $10-20/month VPS typically costs less than per-user SaaS pricing for teams of five or more — and the cost doesn't scale linearly with usage. One well-configured server handles dozens of users for a flat monthly fee.

Operational control is the third factor. The Docker Compose configuration above exposes every setting that commercial equivalents often hide behind enterprise plans: custom networking, environment variables, storage backends, and authentication integrations. You decide when to update, how to configure backups, and what access controls to apply.

The honest tradeoff: you're responsible for updates, backups, and availability. For teams running any production workloads, this is familiar territory. For individuals, the learning curve is real but the tooling (Docker, Caddy, automated backups) is well-documented and widely supported.

Server Requirements and Sizing

Before deploying Penpot — Open Source Figma Alternative, assess your server capacity against expected workload.

Minimum viable setup: A 1 vCPU, 1GB RAM VPS with 20GB SSD is sufficient for personal use or small teams. Most consumer VPS providers — Hetzner, DigitalOcean, Linode, Vultr — offer machines in this range for $5-10/month. Hetzner offers excellent price-to-performance for European and US regions.

Recommended production setup: 2 vCPUs with 4GB RAM and 40GB SSD handles most medium deployments without resource contention. This gives Penpot — Open Source Figma Alternative headroom for background tasks, caching, and concurrent users while leaving capacity for other services on the same host.

Storage planning: The Docker volumes in this docker-compose.yml store all persistent Penpot — Open Source Figma Alternative data. Estimate your storage growth rate early — for data-intensive tools, budget for 3-5x your initial estimate. Hetzner Cloud and Vultr both support online volume resizing without stopping your instance.

Operating system: Any modern 64-bit Linux distribution works. Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and Debian 12 are the most commonly tested configurations. Ensure Docker Engine 24.0+ and Docker Compose v2 are installed — verify with docker --version and docker compose version. Avoid Docker Desktop on production Linux servers; it adds virtualization overhead and behaves differently from Docker Engine in ways that cause subtle networking issues.

Network: Only ports 80 and 443 need to be publicly accessible when running behind a reverse proxy. Internal service ports should be bound to localhost only. A minimal UFW firewall that blocks all inbound traffic except SSH, HTTP, and HTTPS is the single most effective security measure for a self-hosted server.

Backup and Disaster Recovery

Running Penpot — Open Source Figma Alternative without a tested backup strategy is an unacceptable availability risk. Docker volumes are not automatically backed up — if you delete a volume or the host fails, data is gone with no recovery path.

What to back up: The named Docker volumes containing Penpot — Open Source Figma Alternative's data (database files, user uploads, application state), your docker-compose.yml and any customized configuration files, and .env files containing secrets.

Backup approach: For simple setups, stop the container, archive the volume contents, then restart. For production environments where stopping causes disruption, use filesystem snapshots or database dump commands (PostgreSQL pg_dump, SQLite .backup, MySQL mysqldump) that produce consistent backups without downtime.

For a complete automated backup workflow that ships snapshots to S3-compatible object storage, see the Restic + Rclone backup guide. Restic handles deduplication and encryption; Rclone handles multi-destination uploads. The same setup works for any Docker volume.

Backup cadence: Daily backups to remote storage are a reasonable baseline for actively used tools. Use a 30-day retention window minimum — long enough to recover from mistakes discovered weeks later. For critical data, extend to 90 days and use a secondary destination.

Restore testing: A backup that has never been restored is a backup you cannot trust. Once a month, restore your Penpot — Open Source Figma Alternative backup to a separate Docker Compose stack on different ports and verify the data is intact. This catches silent backup failures, script errors, and volume permission issues before they matter in a real recovery.

Security Hardening

Self-hosting means you are responsible for Penpot — Open Source Figma Alternative's security posture. The Docker Compose setup provides a functional base; production deployments need additional hardening.

Always use a reverse proxy: Never expose Penpot — Open Source Figma Alternative's internal port directly to the internet. The docker-compose.yml binds to localhost; Caddy or Nginx provides HTTPS termination. Direct HTTP access transmits credentials in plaintext. A reverse proxy also centralizes TLS management, rate limiting, and access logging.

Strong credentials: Change default passwords immediately after first login. For secrets in docker-compose environment variables, generate random values with openssl rand -base64 32 rather than reusing existing passwords.

Firewall configuration:

ufw default deny incoming
ufw allow 22/tcp
ufw allow 80/tcp
ufw allow 443/tcp
ufw enable

Internal service ports (databases, admin panels, internal APIs) should only be reachable from localhost or the Docker network, never directly from the internet.

Network isolation: Docker Compose named networks keep Penpot — Open Source Figma Alternative's services isolated from other containers on the same host. Database containers should not share networks with containers that don't need direct database access.

VPN access for sensitive services: For internal-only tools, restricting access to a VPN adds a strong second layer. Headscale is an open source Tailscale control server that puts your self-hosted stack behind a WireGuard mesh, eliminating public internet exposure for internal tools.

Update discipline: Subscribe to Penpot — Open Source Figma Alternative's GitHub releases page to receive security advisory notifications. Schedule a monthly maintenance window to pull updated images. Running outdated container images is the most common cause of self-hosted service compromises.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Container exits immediately or won't start

Check logs first — they almost always explain the failure:

docker compose logs -f penpot

Common causes: a missing required environment variable, a port already in use, or a volume permission error. Port conflicts appear as bind: address already in use. Find the conflicting process with ss -tlpn | grep PORT and either stop it or change Penpot — Open Source Figma Alternative's port mapping in docker-compose.yml.

Cannot reach the web interface

Work through this checklist:

Confirm the container is running: docker compose ps
Test locally on the server: curl -I http://localhost:PORT
If local access works but external doesn't, check your firewall: ufw status
If using a reverse proxy, verify it's running and the config is valid: caddy validate --config /etc/caddy/Caddyfile

Permission errors on volume mounts

Some containers run as a non-root user. If the Docker volume is owned by root, the container process cannot write to it. Find the volume's host path with docker volume inspect VOLUME_NAME, check the tool's documentation for its expected UID, and apply correct ownership:

chown -R 1000:1000 /var/lib/docker/volumes/your_volume/_data

High resource usage over time

Memory or CPU growing continuously usually indicates unconfigured log rotation, an unbound cache, or accumulated data needing pruning. Check current usage with docker stats penpot. Add resource limits in docker-compose.yml to prevent one container from starving others. For ongoing visibility into resource trends, deploy Prometheus + Grafana or Netdata.

Data disappears after container restart

Data stored in the container's writable layer — rather than a named volume — is lost when the container is removed or recreated. This happens when the volume mount path in docker-compose.yml doesn't match where the application writes data. Verify mount paths against the tool's documentation and correct the mapping. Named volumes persist across container removal; only docker compose down -v deletes them.

Keeping Penpot — Open Source Figma Alternative Updated

Penpot — Open Source Figma Alternative follows a regular release cadence. Staying current matters for security patches and compatibility. The update process with Docker Compose is straightforward:

docker compose pull          # Download updated images
docker compose up -d         # Restart with new images
docker image prune -f        # Remove old image layers (optional)

Read the changelog before major version updates. Some releases include database migrations or breaking configuration changes. For major version bumps, test in a staging environment first — run a copy of the service on different ports with the same volume data to validate the migration before touching production.

Version pinning: For stability, pin to a specific image tag in docker-compose.yml instead of latest. Update deliberately after reviewing the changelog. This trades automatic patch delivery for predictable behavior — the right call for business-critical services.

Post-update verification: After updating, confirm Penpot — Open Source Figma Alternative is functioning correctly. Most services expose a /health endpoint that returns HTTP 200 — curl it from the server or monitor it with your uptime tool.

The SaaS-to-Self-Hosted Migration Guide (Free PDF)