Penpot: The Open-Source Figma

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

The discussion around Penpot centers on three dominant themes: Performance and Stability Concerns, The Appeal and Implications of Open Source Self-Hosting, and Comparison/Competition with Proprietary Tools (Specifically Figma).

Here are the three most prevalent themes:

1. Performance and Stability Concerns

Many users reported issues with Penpot being unstable, slow, or crash-prone, especially with larger files, leading to hesitation in adoption. Developers acknowledge these issues and point to upcoming solutions.

Supporting Quote: "Unstable, very crash prone with just a few users designing 10 plus pages. And a huge memory hog too." - "v3ss0n"
Supporting Quote (Response): "New rendering engine should fix the performance issues. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciG0U5jJtHY (older reference https://community.penpot.app/t/its-time-for-penpot-to-almost...) Open beta coming in the next few weeks, finally!" - "diacritica"

2. The Appeal and Implications of Open Source Self-Hosting

Users expressed strong desire for simple, truly offline desktop application use, contrasting with frustrating experiences trying to self-host via Docker or requiring online accounts even locally. The fundamental benefit of owning the pipeline was repeatedly cited as a key reason to use Penpot over proprietary incumbents.

Supporting Quote: "I'll take the "performance tax" of the web stack/self-hosting if it means my design files aren't held hostage in a proprietary cloud silo." - "leo_e"
Supporting Quote: "Came here to complain about the same. I downloaded the app, but it needs an online account. What's the whole purpose of making it open source and downloadable, if it doesn't work offline?" - "seu"

3. Comparison/Competition with Proprietary Tools (Specifically Figma)

The discussion is framed heavily around Penopt's ability to challenge Figma, with critiques leveled at both platforms regarding performance, cost, and control. Users debate whether Penpot is competitive enough yet to supersede the industry standard.

Supporting Quote: "Figma has set an expectation for designers that their projects support multi-user editing by default and are available to clients, teammates and stakeholders without having to install anything. Penpot provides the same." - "boriskourt"
Supporting Quote: "I don't like the "Open-Source Figma" label as we're building a superior tool but I understand it's a nice shorcut for now :)" - "diacritica"

🚀 Project Ideas

Offline-First Desktop Wrapper for Web Apps with Minimal Docker Overhead

Summary

A lightweight, cross-platform desktop application wrapper (like Tauri/Electron) designed specifically for self-hosted web tools (like Penpot) that minimizes the resource impact of the required backend services (usually Dockerized Postgres/Minio).
Core value proposition: Provides a true, easily installable, and offline-capable desktop experience for powerful self-hosted web apps without requiring the user to manage or run a persistent, heavy Docker stack manually.

Details

Key	Value
Target Audience	Developers, power users, and teams frustrated by mandatory online accounts or heavy Docker/SaaS stack requirements for locally running open-source tools.
Core Feature	A single executable that, upon first run, downloads only the essential application assets, orchestrates the minimal necessary local backend components (e.g., SQLite instead of Postgres, or a minimal in-memory service for initialization) for a truly single-user offline experience, and opens the app in a local WebView.
Tech Stack	Tauri (Rust/Webview) for desktop shell, simplified Docker-compose setup (or direct binary execution for simplicity) tailored to the app's needs, potentially leveraging SQLite for local-only use cases.
Difficulty	Medium
Monetization	Hobby

Notes

Why HN commenters would love it: Addresses the core frustration expressed by seu ("What's the whole purpose of making it open source and downloadable, if it doesn't work offline?") and the resource anxiety of RamblingCTO ("I don't want a fucking SaaS stack running on my macbook for a small graphics tool?").
Potential for discussion or practical utility: This shifts the burden of managing the entire stack (especially databases like Postgres) from the end-user to the application wrapper, making self-hosting dramatically easier for individuals who just want a local tool, rather than a server instance. It targets the gap between the web app and a truly native/offline experience.

Context-Aware Bug Reporting Assistant

Summary

A browser extension or integrated staging tool that actively monitors user interactions within a web application (like Penpot) and automatically structures complex bug reports based on user behavior, alleviating the burden on the user to articulate perfect reproduction steps.
Core value proposition: Dramatically improves the quality and speed of open-source bug fixes by ensuring reporters provide the necessary structured data (Steps to Reproduce, Expected vs. Actual) even when frustrated or time-constrained.

Details

Key	Value
Target Audience	Users of complex open-source software (design tools, project management platforms) who encounter bugs but lack the patience or expertise for formal reporting.
Core Feature	Records DOM snapshots, user navigation actions (clicks, page switches), and relevant console logs during a session identified by the user as "buggy." Upon activation, it prompts the user to describe what happened, then auto-generates a formatted Markdown report ready for GitHub Issues.
Tech Stack	JavaScript/TypeScript, Browser Extension APIs, integration libraries for structured data serialization (JSON/Markdown).
Difficulty	Medium
Monetization	Hobby

Notes

Why HN commenters would love it: Directly addresses the meta-discussion around bug reporting efficiency (ogrisel: "this is why it's important to describe explicitly the three points in text," and pixelatedindex: "if you really want OSS projects to improve, the issue submitter can’t just ask the maintainer 'figure it out'").
Potential for discussion or practical utility: This would spark discussion about privacy (recording user actions) versus utility, but the promise of getting complex visual bugs fixed faster would appeal strongly to both users and maintainers.

Declarative Font Dependency Manager for Web Design Tools

Summary

A simple tool or methodology integrated within the design application that allows designers to define required custom fonts declaratively, coupled with a package manager that resolves those dependencies, serving either pre-bundled local assets or generating runtime fallback instructions.
Core value proposition: Eliminates the primary deal-breaker for users like arcastroe and nirv: the risk that exported designs (SVG) or synchronized views break due to missing installed fonts on the recipient's system.

Details

Key	Value
Target Audience	UI/UX designers using collaborative, web-based tools who rely heavily on custom or local typography.
Core Feature	A manifest file (e.g., `fonts.json`) linked to a design file stating required font names. For self-hosted environments, the tool prompts the admin to provide necessary typeface files for embedding or serving; for client collaboration, it ensures standardized fallback behavior and warns collaborators about missing assets before editing.
Tech Stack	Application backend logic (to handle font serving/embedding), Frontend UI for management, potentially leveraging WOFF2/Font subsetting for efficient delivery.
Difficulty	Medium
Monetization	Hobby

Notes

Why HN commenters would love it: Solves a critical interoperability issue preventing migration from tools like Figma ("text elements cannot be vectorized or converted to paths or shapes... Exporting to svg may look completely different when opened elsewhere").
Potential for discussion or practical utility: Could lead to discussions around design tokenization (diacritica mentions design tokens) and whether text should always be converted to paths vs. managed via font dependency resolution for editability.