Figma vs Sketch: Which Should You Choose?

Pick Figma if your team includes anyone on Windows or Linux, needs real-time multiplayer editing, or wants one tool covering design, prototyping, and developer handoff in a browser. Pick Sketch if your team is Mac-only, values a native app that keeps working when the wifi doesn't, or would rather pay once than forever. For the broader framework before you narrow to these two, see how to choose design software.

Updated September 2026.

Neither tool is a real toss-up the way it might have felt a few years back. Figma won this market, decisively. The most recent UX Tools Design Tools Survey, which polled 2,220 design professionals, found Figma leading Sketch by a 46:1 ratio as the primary interface design tool (UX Tools 2024 Design Tools Survey). But "won the market" and "is right for your team" are different questions, and this guide is about the second one. Sketch didn't vanish, it retreated to the audience it has always served best: Mac-only teams who want a native app, an offline-capable workflow, and sometimes a one-time purchase instead of a recurring bill.

One fact worth knowing first: Figma and Adobe called off their proposed $20 billion merger in December 2023, citing no clear path to regulatory approval in the EU and UK (Adobe newsroom). Figma has stayed independent since, which is why you're evaluating it directly rather than as a line inside Adobe Creative Cloud.

What Figma is vs what Sketch is

Figma is a browser-first design platform built around real-time multiplayer editing from day one. Anyone with a link and a browser can open a file, no install required, which is why it spread fast across Windows, Linux, and Mac teams alike. Figma has also grown past a single design tool: the same account covers Dev Mode for developer handoff, Slides for presentations, Sites for publishing simple pages, and a growing set of AI features. If you're choosing between a UI design tool and a broader graphic design tool, how to choose graphic design software covers that adjacent category.

Sketch is a native macOS design app, first released years before Figma existed, paired with a web companion app for collaboration and handoff. The Mac app runs fully offline: no connection required to open a file, draw a shape, or export an asset. The web app fills the gaps a native app can't, letting non-Mac collaborators view files, comment, and inspect specs from any browser. Sketch never chased Figma's browser-editing model; it doubled down on being the best native option for people already on a Mac.

Head to head on the things that decide it

Both tools cover the core of interface design well: vector editing, components, prototyping, and handoff. They diverge on whether a mixed-OS team can work together at all, and whether your bill grows with every stakeholder.

The pattern holds across almost every row: Figma optimized for reach and real-time collaboration across any device, while Sketch optimized for a single, well-supported platform with full offline ownership of your files.

Pricing compared

Pricing changes fast in this category, so here's what each vendor's own pricing page states today, checked directly against Figma's pricing page and Sketch's pricing page.

Figma pricing:

Figma's pricing model changed from a single "editor" price to three seat types, and that's the detail most buyers miss when budgeting. A Full seat is for hands-on design work. A Dev seat is scoped to developers who inspect and implement, not draw. A Collab seat, the cheapest, covers people who comment and follow a file without editing it. Getting that seat mix right, rather than defaulting everyone to a Full seat, is now the biggest lever on your Figma bill.

Sketch pricing:

Sketch prices every tier per Editor, billed yearly, and bundles unlimited free viewers into all of them, including Standard. That's the mirror image of Figma's Collab seat charge: a stakeholder who only needs to view and comment costs nothing extra on Sketch, no matter how many you add. Sketch also sells a one-time Mac-only license for $120 per seat, described on its own pricing page as "yours to keep, forever": pay once, own the app, and only pay again for another year of updates or a move to a subscription plan.

The seat model is the biggest structural gap here, and it shows up fastest once a team includes people who aren't full-time editors. Here's the math for a common mix: 5 designers who need full edit access, plus 8 people who only need to view and comment.

Figma's Collab seat is cheap per person, but it stacks as your stakeholder count grows. Sketch's unlimited free viewers mean a ninth or twentieth stakeholder costs nothing extra, as long as they're willing to use Sketch's web app rather than needing to edit natively on Windows.

When Figma is the better choice

Figma tends to win when device diversity, real-time teamwork, or breadth across the design-to-dev pipeline matter more than owning your files outright.

• Your team isn't all on Mac. The single biggest filter here. If even one core team member is on Windows or Linux, Sketch's native editor is off the table for them.
• You need true real-time multiplayer editing. Figma was built around multiple people editing the same file at once, which matters most for distributed and hybrid teams across time zones.
• Developers need specs and design tokens pulled into their codebase. Dev Mode, including its MCP server integration, is purpose-built for that in a way Sketch's web-based handoff doesn't attempt.
• Non-designers need to make quick edits without installing anything. A browser link is a lower barrier than a native app for marketers, PMs, or founders who occasionally tweak a slide or mockup. How to choose design tools for non-designers covers that decision.
• You want AI features built into the workflow now. Figma includes AI credits from its free Starter tier; if AI-assisted design generation matters, best AI design tools is worth reading first.

If your team spans more than one operating system, that fact alone usually settles this before any feature row gets a vote.

When Sketch is the better choice

Sketch tends to win for teams that are genuinely Mac-only and want lower long-term cost or full offline ownership of their files.

• Your whole team is on Mac and plans to stay that way. Sketch's native app is fast, stable, and doesn't ask you to trust a browser tab with your working file.
• You want to pay once instead of forever. The $120 one-time Mac-only license, including a year of updates, can beat an ongoing subscription for a small, stable team that doesn't need cloud collaboration.
• You have a lot of stakeholders who only need to view and comment. Unlimited free viewers on every tier means your bill doesn't grow every time you add a reviewer, unlike Figma's per-seat Collab pricing.
• You need your work to survive a bad wifi day. The native Mac app works fully offline; nothing about drawing a frame or exporting an asset depends on a live connection.
• You're weighing design software against a broader whiteboard tool first. If your real need is early-stage ideation rather than pixel-precise interface design, how to choose whiteboard software covers that different category.

If your team is Mac-only and cost-sensitive, Sketch's one-time license deserves real consideration before you default to a subscription.

The lock-in and migration question

Switching a design tool is never just a software decision, it's a question of what actually survives the move.

Going from Figma to Sketch means leaving behind auto layout, component variants, and any interactive prototyping logic built with Figma-specific tools; those don't translate and have to be rebuilt by hand. Static assets like PNGs and SVGs export cleanly either direction, but expect to rebuild components rather than import them wholesale.

Going from Sketch to Figma is generally smoother. Figma has long supported opening native .sketch files directly, and layers, text styles, and most basic components carry over well. What tends to break is anything built with Sketch-specific plugins and Smart Layout logic, which usually needs manual cleanup after the import.

Either direction, budget real time for the migration and don't assume a clean transfer. The software total cost of ownership guide covers pricing in migration effort and retraining time, not just the sticker price.

How to choose: a decision framework

Match your situation to the table below. If more than one row applies, weigh which constraint blocks work today versus which is just an inconvenience.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use Figma for free indefinitely, or will I eventually have to upgrade?

Figma's Starter plan is genuinely free and includes unlimited drafts, UI kits and templates, and a daily AI credit allowance. Most solo users and small teams can stay on it a long time. You'll typically upgrade once you need more than the Starter plan's project or file limits, want full version history, or need Organization or Enterprise governance. Free vs paid software: when to upgrade covers the general signals that it's time to move off a free tier.

Does Sketch work on Windows?

Not for editing. Sketch's native app is Mac only. Windows and Linux users can use the web app to view files, comment, and inspect specs, but can't open the native editor. If any core team member is on Windows, that alone usually rules Sketch out for full-time design work.

Can I open my Sketch files in Figma if we switch?

Yes. Figma supports importing native .sketch files directly, and layers, text styles, and most basic components carry over well. What tends to need manual fixing afterward is anything built with Sketch-specific plugins and Smart Layout behavior, so budget time for cleanup rather than a perfect one-click migration.

Is the Sketch $120 Mac-only license actually a subscription in disguise?

No. It's a genuine one-time purchase: you pay $120 per seat once, it includes one year of updates, and Sketch describes it on its own pricing page as yours to keep afterward. You only pay again for another year of updates, or if you decide you need a subscription plan for cloud collaboration and unlimited viewers.

Which tool has better AI features right now?

Figma does, at least in what's built into the core product today. Every Figma plan, including the free Starter tier, includes an AI credit allowance. Sketch doesn't currently ship a comparable native AI feature set. If AI-assisted design matters to your decision, best AI design tools covers the wider landscape beyond these two platforms.

Should I trial both before committing my team?

Yes, especially if your team hasn't used either tool seriously. How to run a software trial covers how to structure a real side-by-side test with an actual project file, comparing how each tool handles your team's real work, not a sales demo.

Your operating system usually decides this before the feature list does

For a lot of teams, the honest answer to Figma vs Sketch isn't a feature comparison at all, it's a question about what's already sitting on your desks. If your team runs Windows or a mix of operating systems, Sketch was never really in the running, no matter how much you like its native performance. If your team is Mac-only and cost-sensitive, Sketch's one-time license or its unlimited free viewers can genuinely beat Figma's per-seat model for a small team that doesn't need multiplayer editing across a dozen contributors.

Figma earned its dominance honestly: it made design collaborative and platform-agnostic at a moment when remote and hybrid teams needed exactly that. That doesn't make it automatically right for every team, it makes it the safer default when you're not sure. Before you lock in either tool, list who actually needs to edit versus who just needs to see the work, and build that into a proper shortlist. How to build a software shortlist walks through that process.

Related reading

• How to choose design software
• How to choose graphic design software
• How to choose design tools for non-designers
• Best AI design tools
• How to choose whiteboard software
• Software total cost of ownership guide
• How to run a software trial
• How to build a software shortlist
• The SaaS vendor evaluation scorecard
• Free vs paid software: when to upgrade
• Best Figma alternatives
• Best Sketch alternatives