Figma or Penpot for a team with unreliable internet?

I've been testing Penpot as an alternative to Figma for a project where a few teammates work from areas with patchy connections. Penpot is self-hosted, so we keep things local and avoid constant cloud sync issues, which is a big deal on a 3G hotspot. The learning curve is small if you already know Figma's basics, but you do miss the polish and the huge plugin ecosystem. That said, Figma's offline mode has improved, though it still feels heavy when the network drops. For a small team or a solo designer, Penpot can save you a lot of frustration. But if you live inside plugins or need quick review links for clients, Figma is still hard to beat. Curious what others here use for low-bandwidth workflows.

Replies

AmaniOct 9

Hey Wanjiru, glad you're weighing the trade-offs. One practical step is to set up Penpot on a cheap VPS or even a Raspberry Pi on your local network, then enable local caching so the team can keep working when the connection drops.

Sharon AtienoOct 9

Asante sana for all this advice, guys. I'm just a beginner trying to learn design on my campus Wi-Fi that cuts out every evening. I haven't even tried self-hosting yet because that sounds a bit scary for someone like me who doesn't know servers. For now I just use the Penpot web app on my phone hotspot and it works okay for basic stuff. Quick question: can I run the desktop app on a really old laptop with 4GB RAM without it lagging?

Faith ChebetOct 9

You've got some really solid advice already, especially about using the desktop app. For anyone just starting out, I'd say don't overthink the plugins or polish. Penpot does the core stuff well, and on flaky internet, it's way less stressful than fighting Figma sync. Start with the desktop app and a cheap local setup like a Raspberry Pi, test it with your team for a week, and see if it fits. Better to spend that time selling than wrestling with cloud lag.

Naomi WanjikuOct 10

I ran into the same thing last year, and Penpot saved our team on a 2G connection. A heads-up though: the native desktop app caches better than the browser version, so install that instead of relying on Chrome. One thing I'd double-check is your reverse proxy config if you go self-hosted. We had constant disconnects until I added proper headers for offline fallback. Quick snippet that helped: proxy_set_header Cache-Control "public, max-age=31536000"; proxy_set_header Service-Worker-Allowed "/"; The desktop app plus a Raspberry Pi 4 with 4GB RAM has been rock-solid for our 6-person team.

Baraka MushiOct 10

Solid advice already from the comments here, especially about the desktop app. The browser version burns through data fast on 3G, that caching tip alone saved us a lot of headache back when we were testing. One thing to add: if you have teammates scattered around, a cheap Android tablet with the Penpot desktop app can work as a lightweight offline hub, just sync when you hit wifi. How are you handling sharing files with clients who need review links? That's usually what pushes people back to Figma.

Victor MutisoOct 12

Nice one, Wanjiru. I think the desktop app tip is key, especially on 3G, browser apps just eat data and then freeze. For anyone reading this who's still learning design basics and hasn't jumped into Figma yet, I'd say start with Penpot on a cheap VPS (like $5/month from DigitalOcean or even a local host if you know someone with a spare PC). Saves you the headache of syncing and the data bundle cost. Plus you can learn the core tools without worrying about a monthly subscription or M-Pesa top-ups for cloud time.