# Alternatives to Lunacy

Free design tool with built-in assets.

Lunacy ranks #1 of 6 in UI design tools, with an Alt Score of 86. It is freemium from $11.99/user/mo and available on Windows, macOS and Linux. 10 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/lunacy/
Category: UI design tools

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Designers, small design teams, and UI/UX or web designers who need a full-featured vector design tool without a subscription cost, including those on Windows or Linux who need to open Sketch files without owning a Mac.
- **What you get**: A free, cross-platform vector graphic design editor for UI, UX, and web work that runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux. It natively opens, edits, and saves .sketch files, and includes a built-in library of over a million icons, photos, and illustrations. AI tools cover tasks like background removal, avatar generation, and text generation. It works fully offline as a native desktop app, with optional cloud storage and real-time collaboration when online.
- **How it works**: You create or open a design file (including native .sketch or Figma-compatible files) in the desktop app, then build layouts using vector editing tools and drag in assets from the built-in icon, photo, and illustration library. AI tools and collaboration/cloud sync are available on top of the core editor when needed, but the app functions locally without an internet connection.

## Profile

- **License**: ?
- **Pricing model**: Freemium (verified 2026-07-09)
- **Starts at**: $11.99/user/mo (verified 2026-07-09)
- **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-09)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [Penpot](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/penpot.md) | 86 | MPL-2.0 | Web |
| 2 | [ProtoPie](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/protopie.md) | 86 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android |
| 3 | [Figma](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/figma.md) | 82 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android |
| 4 | [Sketch](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/sketch.md) | 78 | Proprietary | macOS, iOS, Web |
| 5 | [Framer](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/framer.md) | 68 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, Web |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| UI design tools checklist | Lunacy | Penpot | ProtoPie | Figma | Sketch | Framer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium | Subscription | Freemium |
| Starts at | $11.99/user/mo | $7/user/mo | $25/mo | $3/mo | $12/editor/mo | $10/mo |
| License | ? | MPL-2.0 | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux | Web | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Web | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Web, Browser extension | macOS, iOS, Web | Windows, macOS, Linux, Web |
| Real-time collaboration | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Components & variants | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Prototyping & interactions | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Dev handoff (inspect, tokens) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Plugins ecosystem | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Offline editing | Yes | ? | Yes | Partial | Yes | No |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | No | No |
| Version history & branching | Partial | Partial | Partial | Partial | Partial | Partial |
| Free tier limits | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes |
| Design systems support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |

## Sources

Sources for Lunacy. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **Pricing model**: Freemium — <https://icons8.com/lunacy-pricing> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Free For beginners $0”
- **Starts at**: $11.99/user/mo — <https://icons8.com/lunacy-pricing> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “$11.99 per user/month billed yearly”
- **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux — <https://icons8.com/lunacy-pricing> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Windows, macOS, and Linux. Lunacy has native apps for all the popular operating systems.”
- **Status**: active — <https://icons8.com/lunacy-features> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Backlog Take a look at what we're working on right now and what's coming soon.”
- **Real-time collaboration**: Yes — <https://icons8.com/lunacy-features> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Real-time collaboration Be on the same page with your team.”
- **Components & variants**: Yes — <https://lunacy.docs.icons8.com/components> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “A component can have different variants (Default, Hovered, Pressed, etc.). These variants are called component states.”
- **Prototyping & interactions**: Yes — <https://lunacy.docs.icons8.com/prototyping> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Prototypes make your design interactive, letting you communicate both aesthetics and user experience.”
- **Dev handoff (inspect, tokens)**: Yes — <https://lunacy.docs.icons8.com/teams> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “This is for developer handoff. Users with this set of permissions can view designs, inspect layer properties, and export document layers.”
- **Plugins ecosystem**: No — <https://icons8.com/lunacy-features> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Plugins The Windows and App Stores do not allow apps with plugins. At this moment, we can't lose audience from the stores.”
- **Offline editing**: Yes — <https://lunacy.docs.icons8.com/clouddocs> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Local documents live on your computer. You can access and edit them even when offline.”
- **Self-hostable**: Yes — <https://lunacy.docs.icons8.com/private_cloud> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Note: Enterprise-only Private Cloud add-on; the desktop app itself already runs locally.
  - Quote: “You deploy your personal Lunacy Cloud on a dedicated server within your corporate network.”
- **Version history & branching**: Partial — <https://lunacy.docs.icons8.com/teams> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Note: Version history is capped at 30 days on free/trial and unlimited on the paid team plan; no branching feature is documented.
  - Quote: “Version history Last 30 days”
- **Free tier limits**: Yes — <https://icons8.com/lunacy-pricing> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Limited to 10 cloud docs”
- **Design systems support**: Yes — <https://lunacy.docs.icons8.com/sharedlibraries> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “In Lunacy, any cloud file that contains components and/or layer or text styles can become a library. You can reuse those components and/or styles across other cloud files.”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/