Penpot
✓ Verified by EU AltsOpen-source design and prototyping platform — a European alternative to Figma.
Overview
Penpot is a Madrid, Spain-based European company building design tools, open source, and saas software since 2021. Despite its EU base, EU Alts has verified that Penpot owned by Kaleidos Inc (legal structure suggests US/Delaware incorporation; operates via a Spanish branch) (Spain (operational HQ); legal parent entity appears to be a foreign 'Inc.' holding company), so it may still fall under the reach of the US CLOUD Act — worth weighing against Figma and Adobe XD on this specific point.
Why European teams pick Penpot
Teams in Europe still consider Penpot for its design tools product and Spain presence, operating since 2021, but unlike a fully EU-owned provider, Penpot owned by Kaleidos Inc (legal structure suggests US/Delaware incorporation; operates via a Spanish branch) (Spain (operational HQ); legal parent entity appears to be a foreign 'Inc.' holding company) — so it does not fully avoid US CLOUD Act exposure the way some other alternatives to Figma and Adobe XD do.
See more EU design tools tools or browse other startups from Spain.
About
Penpot is an open-source design and prototyping platform developed by Kaleidos, a Spanish company based in Madrid. It is the only major open-source alternative to Figma, built on open web standards (SVG, CSS, HTML) and licensed under the EUPL (European Union Public Licence). Penpot can be self-hosted on any EU server using Docker, giving design teams complete data sovereignty over their design files — no intellectual property leaves the organisation. The hosted cloud version (penpot.app) is also available. Penpot supports real-time collaboration, components, design systems, and interactive prototypes. It is actively maintained by the Penpot team and a growing community of European contributors, and is gaining adoption among EU public sector organisations that cannot use US-hosted SaaS design tools.
Details
- Founded
- 2021
- Headquarters
- Madrid, Spain
- Ownership
- Owned by Kaleidos Inc (legal structure suggests US/Delaware incorporation; operates via a Spanish branch) (Spain (operational HQ); legal parent entity appears to be a foreign 'Inc.' holding company)
- CLOUD Act
- Exposed
Categories
Other EU startups like Penpot
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- Lexio France — French software for professional vehicle rental companies: fleet planning, online booking, digital condition reports, contracts and Factur-X e-invoicing in one tool.
- KSeF Radar Poland — Polish SaaS for monitoring KSeF invoices and keeping accounting workflows under control.
- Ploq The Netherlands — Ploq is EU-built webhook infrastructure: retries, event filtering, and health monitoring, GDPR-compliant end to end. SDKs for Node.js and Java, a WordPress plugin, and a forkable Mac/Windows app for sending and receiving events.
- Git Lisa — Git hosting in Europe
Frequently asked questions
What is Penpot?
Penpot is an open-source design and prototyping platform developed by Kaleidos, a Spanish company based in Madrid. It is the only major open-source alternative to Figma, built on open web standards (SVG, CSS, HTML) and licensed under the EUPL (European Union Public Licence). Penpot can be self-hosted on any EU server using Docker, giving design teams complete data sovereignty over their design files — no intellectual property leaves the organisation. The hosted cloud version (penpot.app) is also available. Penpot supports real-time collaboration, components, design systems, and interactive prototypes. It is actively maintained by the Penpot team and a growing community of European contributors, and is gaining adoption among EU public sector organisations that cannot use US-hosted SaaS design tools.
What does Penpot do?
Penpot is open-source design and prototyping platform — a european alternative to figma. It is listed under design tools, open source, and saas on EU Alts because its core functionality serves teams looking for a European design tools tool with EU data residency, typically as a switch away from Figma and Adobe XD.
Is Penpot a good European design tools alternative?
Penpot is a fit for European businesses evaluating design tools options where data residency and GDPR alignment matter — typical buyers include EU-based SaaS teams, public-sector projects, regulated industries (healthcare, finance, legal), and any organisation that needs to demonstrate that customer data does not leave the EU. It also overlaps with open source and saas use cases.
Is Penpot GDPR compliant?
Penpot is headquartered in Madrid, Spain and processes user data under the GDPR by default. Customer data processing is supervised by Spain's data protection authority, the Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (AEPD). However, EU Alts has verified that Penpot owned by Kaleidos Inc (legal structure suggests US/Delaware incorporation; operates via a Spanish branch) (Spain (operational HQ); legal parent entity appears to be a foreign 'Inc.' holding company), which means — unlike a fully EU-owned provider — it may still be reachable under the US CLOUD Act, similar to Figma and Adobe XD in that respect.
How do teams switch from Figma to Penpot?
Teams evaluating a move from Figma and Adobe XD to Penpot should note: Penpot owned by Kaleidos Inc (legal structure suggests US/Delaware incorporation; operates via a Spanish branch) (Spain (operational HQ); legal parent entity appears to be a foreign 'Inc.' holding company), so this switch narrows but may not fully close the US CLOUD Act gap. Weigh that against the design tools workflow fit before treating it as a complete Schrems II fix.
Where is Penpot based?
Penpot is headquartered in Madrid, Spain. The company was founded in 2021. Its main website is https://penpot.app.