Links checked 2026-10-14
Self-hosting Penpot
The self-hosted route instead of Figma.
Multiple services, an exporter that fails quietly, and an interactive editor to keep responsive. This is one of the heavier entries here.
What it is
An open-source design and prototyping platform for product teams: design files, components, prototyping, comments and sharing. It is a web application with a separate exporter service, and the project publishes a self-hosting guide with its own troubleshooting section.
What you actually need
This is the reader's own hardware and configuration, not a price. We describe what a job needs; we do not put a figure on what self-hosting costs, because that depends on the provider, the term and the disk you choose.
- The server
- A VPS that can run the whole stack. The self-hosting guide's recommended-settings section is the place to size it, because a design editor is a heavier application than a wiki.
- How it installs
- Docker Compose, following the project's self-hosting guide, or the Kubernetes path it documents alongside it.
- Data store
- PostgreSQL.
- What grows
- The compose file declares a persistent volume for design assets, and the exporter writes output that has to live somewhere too.
Before it is safe to expose
- A domain and TLS: sharing designs is the point, and the editor runs in a browser
- SMTP settings for invitations and password resets — the example compose file wires up a mail catcher for testing
- An eye on the exporter service, which the compose file runs separately from the editor that appears to be working
The trade-offs, specifically for Penpot
- The compose file is a stack, not one container: frontend, backend, exporter, an admin console and Valkey for export jobs and websocket notifications, alongside PostgreSQL.
- The exporter is its own service. When it stops, exports and downloads stop while the editor still looks healthy — a confusing failure to diagnose the first time.
- The project's guide notes that Docker images are published shortly after the hosted product is updated, and answers why self-hosted versions lag behind new releases. Expect to run behind the hosted edition.
- A browser-based design editor is interactive and heavy: a prototype with many objects is a different load from a document page.
And the six things you own from now on
These are true of every tool in this section, including Penpot. They are also the reason to decide against self-hosting, which is a legitimate decision.
- You own the updates. Security releases have to be applied by you, on your schedule, and a project that stops publishing releases becomes your problem to notice.
- You own the backups, and a backup is not a backup until you have restored from it once.
- You own the uptime. There is no status page to watch and no support line to call when it stops answering.
- You own the security patches, the TLS certificate, the reverse proxy and the firewall in front of it.
- You are the on-call rota. The failure mode nobody plans for is being the only person who knows how the thing was set up.
- The hardware has a running cost and a lifetime. Disks fail, and the replacement is on you.
What you give up
- The hosted tool's managed collaboration infrastructure and support
- The plugin and community ecosystem of the incumbent
What you gain
- Design files stay on your own infrastructure
- No per-editor subscription for the self-hosted install
Elsewhere in the index
The box it runs on
A VPS that can run the whole stack. The self-hosting guide's recommended-settings section is the place to size it, because a design editor is a heavier application than a wiki. That machine is the purchase this page is really about, and it is the one number we will not invent for you: the right size depends on the provider, the term and the disk, so check it on the provider's own page.
Hostinger
Hostinger's VPS product is the closest fit to a self-hosted application: its own page advertises root access, Docker and NVMe storage, with data centres in several regions.
See Hostinger's plansRead Hostinger's published pricing ↗DigitalOcean
Virtual machines billed as you use them, with separate volumes, snapshots and object storage for the parts you want to keep outside the server.
See DigitalOcean's plansRead DigitalOcean's published pricing ↗Hetzner
Cloud instances and dedicated servers with rates published per instance size, so the cost of a bigger box is visible before you move.
See Hetzner's plansRead Hetzner's published pricing ↗What to check before you buy
- A virtual machine you have root on, not a website plan with a control panel bolted on top.
- Snapshots or automated backups, and where those backups are stored.
- Block storage or object storage for the data that will outgrow the server's own disk.
- What the monthly rate renews at, rather than the first-term rate on the signup page.
- Where the data centre is, if the data has a jurisdiction attached to it.
The “See plans” links go through our own /go/ redirect and some are affiliate links, which pay us if you sign up. The descriptions and trade-offs on this page are written from the project's own documentation and are unaffected. The plain pricing link under each provider is not an affiliate link. See our disclosure.
Frequently asked questions about self-hosting Penpot
Answers restate the notes on this page or point at the project's own documentation. Self-hosting moves work to you rather than removing it, and these answers say so.
What is Penpot?
An open-source design and prototyping platform for product teams: design files, components, prototyping, comments and sharing. We cover it as a replacement for Figma.
What do you need to run Penpot yourself?
Docker Compose, following the project's self-hosting guide, or the Kubernetes path it documents alongside it. The requirements table on this page lists the server, the data store, what grows and what else to arrange first. Setup steps are at Penpot's self-hosting guide.
How hard is Penpot to run yourself?
We rate it Involved. Multiple services, an exporter that fails quietly, and an interactive editor to keep responsive. This is one of the heavier entries here.
What are the trade-offs of self-hosting Penpot?
Our notes list these costs. The compose file is a stack, not one container: frontend, backend, exporter, an admin console and Valkey for export jobs and websocket notifications, alongside PostgreSQL. The exporter is its own service. When it stops, exports and downloads stop while the editor still looks healthy — a confusing failure to diagnose the first time.
What do you give up by running Penpot yourself?
You take on what Figma used to do for you. The hosted tool's managed collaboration infrastructure and support. The plugin and community ecosystem of the incumbent. Self-hosting moves that work to you rather than removing it.
What do you gain by running Penpot yourself?
Our notes list these. Design files stay on your own infrastructure. No per-editor subscription for the self-hosted install.