Penpot hype cooled — most teams are still on Figma

A r/web_design thread notes the Penpot-vs-Figma buzz spiked when the Adobe acquisition talks were live, then faded once the deal collapsed. Real migrations are still rare, even among people curious enough to try it.

Back when Adobe was trying to buy Figma, Penpot got a wave of attention as the open-source escape hatch. That deal fell through in December 2023, and interest in switching has cooled since — this thread shows even design-curious developers admitting they've never got round to properly trying Penpot because Figma "still mostly does what I need." That's a useful reality check: open-source, self-hostable design tools solve real problems (data sovereignty, no vendor lock-in) but for most junior designers job-hunting in the UK, Figma fluency is still the safer bet to lead with. Knowing Penpot is a bonus, not a replacement skill, right now.

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