Tag
Design tools
5 reviewed tools: 5 free or open source.
Order: free and open source first, then hosted products with a real free tier, then paid-led; catalog order inside each group, with quiet or archived repos last. Not a score, and no tool pays for its place.
5 tools
- PenpotMPL-2.0 Figma-class design; self-host forever + Cloud Professional $0
Free / OSS · Freemium · 61.3k GitHub stars
VerdictMPL-2.0 design suite. Self-host free; Cloud Pro $0 then Unlimited ~$7/editor.
CatchOnly serious OSS Figma-class design; not Excalidraw whiteboards. Cloud Unlimited from ~$7/editor (capped ~$175/mo). Self-host means you own Docker/backups/upgrades. Ecosystem/plugins thinner than Figma marketplace.
- Stitch SkillsGoogle Labs agent skills and plugins for the Stitch design MCP
Free / OSS · Apache-2.0 · 8.5k GitHub stars
VerdictApache-2.0 Stitch-oriented agent skills. Use when coding agents should drive Google Stitch design/build flows.
CatchVs generic agent-skills packs: this library is Stitch-specific — useful when you are on Google Stitch, not a universal design system. Stitch product access and quotas remain Google-side constraints; the skills repo does not replace that.
- ImpeccableApache design language/skills that make AI harnesses better at UI
Free / OSS · Apache-2.0 · 82.8k GitHub stars
VerdictApache design skill when your coding agent ships samey SaaS UI and you want PRODUCT.md + detectors in-loop; not a substitute for an agent runtime.
CatchVs Superpowers and agent-skills packs: Impeccable is a design-language/skills layer for UI quality, not a coding agent and not a general agent-skills monorepo. Node ≥22.18 for the npx installer path; star count is extreme (~70k) — treat momentum as discovery noise until the skill actually changes your harness output.
- OpenDesignApache collaborative design-agent workspace — Claude Design alt
Free / OSS · Apache-2.0 · 102k GitHub stars
VerdictApache design-agent workspace when teams want an open Claude Design lane — not Figma-MCP alone; treat the star spike with caution; Cloud credits optional.
Catch★99107 in about 22 weeks (~4505 a week): judge it on the workspace loop, not the star count. Cloud: OpenDesign Go/Cloud plans and model credits are commercial — not required for the Apache desktop/OSS path. Vs figma-context-mcp / figma / vercel-skills: Figma MCP is file→code context; Figma is the canvas; skills.sh installs skills — OpenDesign’s catch is collaborative design-agent workspace + plugins. Pin OSS vs Cloud features before promising zero cost.
- M3E CanvasMIT Material 3 sketches turned into vibe-coding prompts
Free / OSS · OSS/MIT · 9.5k GitHub stars
VerdictA fast, free way to sketch an Android-style app and hand it to a coding agent — perfect if you are already targeting Material 3.
CatchOnly Material 3 Expressive — no other design systems, and it is a wireframe-to-prompt tool, not a full design editor like Penpot. Work lives in localStorage, so clearing your browser loses it. No tagged releases yet and the repo is about six weeks old. What you get out is a prompt, so the final app is only as good as your coding agent. Stars have climbed very fast for a repo opened in September 2026 (about 1,410 a week), so don't read the count as proof of adoption.
FAQ
- What is the top free pick among Design tools?
- Penpot leads the Stack Gems list for Design tools. Verdict: MPL-2.0 design suite. Self-host free; Cloud Pro $0 then Unlimited ~$7/editor.
- How many Design tools does Stack Gems review?
- 5: 5 free or open source. Each review has a verdict and an honest Catch; no tool pays for its spot.
- Which Design tools can I self-host for free?
- Penpot, Stitch Skills, Impeccable, OpenDesign and M3E Canvas.
- Which Design tools have the most GitHub stars?
- OpenDesign (102k), Impeccable (82.8k), Penpot (61.3k), per GitHub on 2026-10-19. Stars measure attention, not fit; read the Catch.
- What is the catch with Penpot?
- Only serious OSS Figma-class design; not Excalidraw whiteboards.