# Alternatives to Sketch

The Mac-native design classic.

Sketch ranks #5 of 6 in UI design tools, with an Alt Score of 78. It is proprietary, sold by subscription from $12/editor/mo and available on macOS, iOS and Web. 9 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

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

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Professional and freelance UI/UX designers working on macOS, from independent designers to product teams at larger companies who need a dedicated interface design tool.
- **What you get**: A native vector editor for designing screens and components, with reusable styles, symbols/components and shared libraries for maintaining design systems. Built-in prototyping lets you link screens, add transitions and simulate interactions for testing on web, iOS and iPad. The companion web app adds real-time co-editing, commenting, version history and developer handoff (inspect, export assets, copy CSS/code specs).
- **How it works**: You design and prototype in the native Mac app, building screens from vector shapes, components and shared styles. Files sync to Sketch's cloud Workspaces, where teammates can co-edit, comment, and view or inspect the work in a browser, and developers can pull measurements and assets directly from the shared file.

## Profile

- **License**: Proprietary (verified 2026-07-09)
- **Pricing model**: Subscription (verified 2026-07-09)
- **Starts at**: $12/editor/mo (verified 2026-07-09)
- **Platforms**: macOS, iOS, Web
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-09)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [Lunacy](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/lunacy.md) | 86 | ? | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 2 | [Penpot](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/penpot.md) | 86 | MPL-2.0 | Web |
| 3 | [ProtoPie](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/protopie.md) | 86 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android |
| 4 | [Figma](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/figma.md) | 82 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android |
| 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 | Sketch | Lunacy | Penpot | ProtoPie | Figma | Framer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Subscription | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starts at | $12/editor/mo | $11.99/user/mo | $7/user/mo | $25/mo | $3/mo | $10/mo |
| License | Proprietary | ? | MPL-2.0 | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Platforms | macOS, iOS, Web | Windows, macOS, Linux | Web | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Web | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Web, Browser extension | Windows, macOS, Linux, Web |
| Real-time collaboration | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | 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 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Offline editing | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Partial | No |
| Self-hostable | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | 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 Sketch. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **Starts at**: $12/editor/mo — <https://www.sketch.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “$12 Monthly / per Editor, billed yearly”
- **License**: Proprietary — <https://www.sketch.com/eula/> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “copy (except as otherwise provided in this EULA), adapt, translate, decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, attempt to derive the source code of, modify or create derivative works of the Sketch Mac ”
- **Platforms**: macOS, iOS, Web — <https://www.sketch.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Note: The editor is macOS-only; a web app handles viewing/inspect and an iPhone app exists for prototype playback.
  - Quote: “Native Mac App”
- **Status**: active — <https://www.sketch.com/changelog/2026-1-2/> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “This update contains all the great features in our Dublin release, along with minor improvements and bug fixes.”
- **Pricing model**: Subscription — <https://www.sketch.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Note: A one-time Mac-only licence ($120/seat) is offered as an alternative; there is no free tier beyond a trial and free Viewer role.
  - Quote: “$12 Monthly / per Editor, billed yearly”
- **Real-time collaboration**: Yes — <https://www.sketch.com/features/> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Invite fellow Editors to collaborate with you on the same document, in real time.”
- **Components & variants**: Yes — <https://www.sketch.com/features/> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Convert one or more layers into a Symbol that you can reuse across documents and sync updates or changes.”
- **Prototyping & interactions**: Yes — <https://www.sketch.com/features/> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Quickly create playable prototypes of your designs for playback in the Mac, web or iPhone app.”
- **Dev handoff (inspect, tokens)**: Yes — <https://www.sketch.com/features/> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Inspect designs right on the Canvas and copy values for colors, attributes, and more.”
- **Plugins ecosystem**: Yes — <https://www.sketch.com/plugins/> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Do even more with powerful plugins created by us and our talented Developer Community.”
- **Offline editing**: Yes — <https://www.sketch.com/features/> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Design, prototype, and illustrate in a truly native macOS app, online or offline.”
- **Self-hostable**: No — <https://www.sketch.com/support/subscriptions/plans/private-cloud/> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Note: Private Cloud is a dedicated but Sketch-managed environment, not a self-hosted deployment.
  - Quote: “a fully isolated cloud environment managed exclusively for your organization”
- **Version history & branching**: Partial — <https://www.sketch.com/features/> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Note: Linear version history with starred versions; no branching or merging is documented.
  - Quote: “Browse every document's version history and download older versions.”
- **Design systems support**: Yes — <https://www.sketch.com/docs/libraries/> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Libraries are Sketch documents containing components that you can share with multiple teams, and reuse across all documents.”

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