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.
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.
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).
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.
Why people leave Sketch
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
Sign in to add a reason — new reasons go through moderation before appearing.
Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
Feature comparison
Rows come from the UI design tools checklist (14 rows). Human-verified cells only. ? means the value has not been verified.
| UI design tools checklist | Sketch | Lunacy | Penpot | ProtoPie | Figma | Framer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ||||||
| Starts at | ||||||
| License | ||||||
| Platforms | ||||||
| Real-time collaboration | ||||||
| Components & variants | ||||||
| Prototyping & interactions | ||||||
| Dev handoff (inspect, tokens) | ||||||
| Plugins ecosystem | ||||||
| Offline editing | ||||||
| Self-hostable | ||||||
| Version history & branching | ||||||
| Free tier limits | ||||||
| Design systems support |
Every fact and feature listed for Sketch is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
-
Starts at $12/editor/mo verified 2026-07-09
$12 Monthly / per Editor, billed yearly
https://www.sketch.com/pricing/ -
License Proprietary verified 2026-07-09
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
https://www.sketch.com/eula/ -
Platforms macOS, iOS, Web verified 2026-07-09
The editor is macOS-only; a web app handles viewing/inspect and an iPhone app exists for prototype playback.
Native Mac App
https://www.sketch.com/pricing/ -
Status active verified 2026-07-09
This update contains all the great features in our Dublin release, along with minor improvements and bug fixes.
https://www.sketch.com/changelog/2026-1-2/ -
Pricing model Subscription verified 2026-07-09
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.
$12 Monthly / per Editor, billed yearly
https://www.sketch.com/pricing/ -
Real-time collaboration Yes verified 2026-07-09
Invite fellow Editors to collaborate with you on the same document, in real time.
https://www.sketch.com/features/ -
Components & variants Yes verified 2026-07-09
Convert one or more layers into a Symbol that you can reuse across documents and sync updates or changes.
https://www.sketch.com/features/ -
Prototyping & interactions Yes verified 2026-07-09
Quickly create playable prototypes of your designs for playback in the Mac, web or iPhone app.
https://www.sketch.com/features/ -
Dev handoff (inspect, tokens) Yes verified 2026-07-09
Inspect designs right on the Canvas and copy values for colors, attributes, and more.
https://www.sketch.com/features/ -
Plugins ecosystem Yes verified 2026-07-09
Do even more with powerful plugins created by us and our talented Developer Community.
https://www.sketch.com/plugins/ -
Offline editing Yes verified 2026-07-09
Design, prototype, and illustrate in a truly native macOS app, online or offline.
https://www.sketch.com/features/ -
Self-hostable No verified 2026-07-09
Private Cloud is a dedicated but Sketch-managed environment, not a self-hosted deployment.
a fully isolated cloud environment managed exclusively for your organization
https://www.sketch.com/support/subscriptions/plans/private-cloud/ -
Version history & branching Partial verified 2026-07-09
Linear version history with starred versions; no branching or merging is documented.
Browse every document's version history and download older versions.
https://www.sketch.com/features/ -
Design systems support Yes verified 2026-07-09
Libraries are Sketch documents containing components that you can share with multiple teams, and reuse across all documents.
https://www.sketch.com/docs/libraries/
FAQ
Yes. Lunacy, Penpot and ProtoPie have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.
Penpot — every license claim links its source.