Top 10 Open Source Alternatives to Adobe XD in 2025: A Comprehensive Comparison
As Adobe XD continues to dominate the design and prototyping landscape, 2025 has brought forth a wave of powerful open-source alternatives, each offering unique features and capabilities. Whether you're looking for specialized tools, better customization, or enhanced integration, this article explores the top 10 open-source Adobe XD alternatives, comparing them on key data points like features, usability, and target audience.
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1. Penpot
- Key Features: Real-time collaboration for multiple users, built-in code inspector and properties inspector, flex and grid layouts with code generation, uses SVG as its native format, cross-platform and self-hostable.
- Why Choose It?: It's the first open-source, web-based design tool specifically made to collaborate with developers. Learn more about Penpot
2. Inkscape
- Key Features: Object creation and manipulation tools, supports various fill and stroke functionality, text support and rendering capabilities, open-source and customizable with extensions, cross-platform compatibility.
- Why Choose It?: Often compared to Adobe Illustrator, it's suitable for creating and editing complex designs. Discover Inkscape
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3. GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program)
- Key Features: Extensive plugin system for added functionality, free and open-source, customizable interface, robust tools for drawing and image editing, cross-platform functionality.
- Why Choose It?: Although primarily a raster graphics editor, GIMP is handy for various design tasks. Explore GIMP
4. Pencil Project
- Key Features: Built-in shapes and stencils for easy prototyping, cross-platform availability on Windows, macOS, and Linux, simple user-friendly interface, export capabilities to multiple formats, collection of ready-to-use UI elements.
- Why Choose It?: Ideal for creating mockups and wireframes for various platforms. Download Pencil Project
5. Dia Diagram Editor
- Key Features: Supports over 30 different types of diagrams, includes over 1000 pre-made objects, ability to read and write raster and vector formats, usable as a CASE tool to generate code skeletons, scripting capabilities with Python.
- Why Choose It?: It's versatile and includes a wide variety of diagram types. Discover Dia Diagram Editor
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6. Synfig Studio
- Key Features: Vector-based animation tools, advanced controls for complex animations, designed for feature film-quality animation, cross-platform support, supports various file formats.
- Why Choose It?: Ideal for 2D animation, suitable for high-quality motion graphics and interactive UI elements. Explore Synfig Studio
7. SVG-Edit
- Key Features: Free and open-source tool, web-based with no installation needed, simple and accessible for creating SVGs, customizable with a variety of extensions, real-time editing.
- Why Choose It?: Convenient for creating and editing SVG images directly in the browser. Discover SVG-Edit
8. Akira
- Key Features: Modern design-focused interface, specifically designed for Linux, focused on vector design and user interface, built-in prototyping tools, supports many file formats.
- Why Choose It?: A strong choice for Linux users needing a dedicated design tool. Learn more about Akira
9. Avocado
- Key Features: Built on Facebook's Origami framework, ready-to-use patches, easy to use without requiring code, designed for interactive elements, quick prototype creation.
- Why Choose It?: Great for fast prototyping without any coding knowledge. Explore Avocado
10. Quant-UX
- Key Features: Free for all users, primarily used for UI/UX design and user research, offers prototyping features for product testing, options for collaboration, web-based program.
- Why Choose It?: Excellent for prototyping UI elements and conducting user research. Discover Quant-UX
The landscape of open-source design tools is constantly evolving. These tools offer robust features and a collaborative environment, making them excellent alternatives to Adobe XD.
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FAQ
1. What is Penpot used for?
Penpot is a web-based, open-source design and prototyping platform focused on collaboration between designers and developers. Learn more about Penpot
2. How does Inkscape compare to Adobe XD?
Inkscape is a professional vector graphics editor, suitable for creating and editing complex designs, similar to Adobe Illustrator. Explore Inkscape
3. Can GIMP be used for UI design tasks?
Yes, GIMP is a raster graphics editor that can be used for UI design tasks and is completely free. Discover GIMP
4. What is Pencil Project?
Pencil Project is an open-source GUI prototyping tool for creating mockups and wireframes for various platforms. Learn more about Pencil Project
5. What are the capabilities of Dia Diagram Editor?
Dia Diagram Editor is open-source software for creating various types of diagrams, including flowcharts and network diagrams. Discover Dia Diagram Editor
6. What is Synfig Studio best suited for?
Synfig Studio is a free, open-source 2D animation software suitable for advanced motion graphics and interactive UI elements. Explore Synfig Studio
7. Is SVG-Edit really web-based?
Yes, SVG-Edit is a web-based, open-source vector graphics editor specifically for creating and editing SVG images. Learn more about SVG-Edit
8. What platform is Akira designed for?
Akira is an open-source design tool built specifically for Linux, focusing on vector design and user interface prototyping. Discover Akira
9. How does Avocado facilitate prototyping?
Avocado is an open-source toolbox built on Facebook's Origami framework, designed for interactive design without code. Learn more about Avocado
10. What makes Quant-UX unique?
Quant-UX is an open-source tool that provides UI/UX design capabilities and prototyping features for user testing and research. Explore Quant-UX
References
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond and launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
- Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
- Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
- AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
- SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
- Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
- Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials
Impact and Growth
Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
- 3,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
- 100+ startup tools built
- 5,000+ pieces of articles and news written
Partnerships
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.
