European Alternatives to Figma
Figma is the leading collaborative design tool, acquired by Adobe in a blocked deal and now operating independently as a US company. All design files are stored on Figma's US servers.
1 EU alternative · avg. privacy score 92 · 1 free
Why switch from Figma?
- –Design assets and IP stored on US servers under US legal jurisdiction
- –No self-hosting or on-premises option — entirely cloud-dependent
- –Expensive team plans: $12-45/editor/month
- –Adobe's failed acquisition highlighted monopoly concerns
Is Figma GDPR Compliant?
Is Figma GDPR compliant? Figma, Inc. is a US software company based in San Francisco. Despite Adobe's blocked acquisition, Figma remains an independent US corporation fully subject to US law and the CLOUD Act. All design files, prototypes, component libraries, and team assets stored in Figma are hosted on US infrastructure. US authorities can compel Figma to produce your intellectual property without your knowledge.
Figma data processing and GDPR: Figma offers a Data Processing Agreement and uses standard contractual clauses for EU-US data transfers. However, since Schrems II, SCCs are considered insufficient without additional technical safeguards where US surveillance law applies. Figma's design files are not end-to-end encrypted — Figma holds the server-side encryption keys and has technical access to all your design assets.
Intellectual property risk beyond GDPR: design files typically contain unreleased products, brand assets, UI/UX innovations, and confidential client work. Storing this on US servers means this IP is potentially accessible to US authorities and subject to US jurisdiction. For agencies working under NDAs or businesses with product security requirements, this creates risk beyond pure GDPR compliance.
Figma GDPR Germany: design agencies and product teams in Germany handling personal data in prototypes — user research assets, mock-ups with real customer data, accessibility documentation — face explicit GDPR obligations. Several German agencies have moved to self-hosted Penpot specifically to address these compliance requirements and to keep client IP off US infrastructure.
Penpot (Spain) is the leading open-source, European Figma alternative — fully self-hostable. Developed by Kaleidos in Madrid, it uses an SVG-native file format and supports real-time collaboration. Deploying Penpot on your own EU server means design files never leave your infrastructure, providing both GDPR compliance and complete intellectual property control. The cloud version at penpot.app is hosted in Spain.
1 European Alternative
Sorted by privacy score
Penpot
Open-source design and prototyping platform. SVG-native, web-based.
| Tool | Score | Privacy | Pricing | OSS | EU Data | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
#1Penpot Open-source design and prototyping platform. SVG-native, web-based. High Trust | 85 | 92 | Free | ✓ | ✓ | 🇪🇸 |
Figma vs. European Alternatives — Feature Comparison
| Feature | Figma | Penpot | Adobe XD | Sketch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EU Servers | ✗ | (Self-host) | ✗ | ✗ |
| Open Source | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Self-Hosting | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Real-Time Collab | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| GDPR Compliant | ⚠ | ✓ | ⚠ | ⚠ |
| Free Tier | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
✓ = available · ✗ = not available · ⚠ = limited / US data transfer risk
Frequently Asked Questions
Penpot (Spain) is the leading open-source, European alternative to Figma. It's SVG-native, web-based, and offers real-time collaboration. Developed by Kaleidos in Madrid, it can be self-hosted on your own infrastructure.