Alternative · Figma Make
Best Figma Make alternative for design.
Open Design is the open-source, local-first alternative to Figma Make — your coding agent, your key, your files, and a portable design system you keep in your repo, with no Figma cloud lock-in and no credit meter.
Figma Make is Figma's prompt-to-app tool (figma.com/make): you describe an app — or attach an existing Figma frame as the source of truth — and it generates a running, interactive React + TypeScript web app you refine on the Figma canvas through chat, point-and-edit, and point-and-prompt. It reached general availability on July 24, 2025, is powered by Anthropic's Claude Sonnet, and can wire up a Supabase backend (auth, Postgres, storage) when your prompt calls for it. For designers who already live in Figma, it is the shortest path from a frame to something clickable and publishable.
The catch is where all of that lives. Figma Make runs only inside Figma's hosted cloud, authoring requires a paid Full seat, and every meaningful action spends AI credits that reset monthly and don't roll over — a full app generation can cost 100+ credits, and undo never refunds them. This page compares Figma Make specifically — not all of Figma (see the Open Design vs Figma comparison for that) — against Open Design, an open-source (Apache-2.0), local-first design agent you drive with your own coding agent. We credit what Figma Make does genuinely well, and we are specific about where its cloud-only, seat-gated, credit-metered model pushes teams to look elsewhere.
01
What Figma Make is
Figma Make is the AI sub-product inside Figma (figma.com/make), GA since July 24, 2025 and powered by Claude Sonnet — not a standalone app builder. You write a prompt or attach a real Figma design/frame, and it generates a live React/TSX app rendered in Figma's sandboxed runtime. You iterate the Figma way: chat to change behavior, click an element and prompt against just that element, or hand-edit on the canvas. When a prompt implies data, it offers to add a Supabase backend — email/password and magic-link auth, social login, a Postgres database, file storage, Edge Functions — connected via your own Supabase project.
Output is React + TypeScript only — no Vue, Svelte, or other frameworks. You can take the code with you (download a ZIP or push to a GitHub repo) and publish without leaving Figma: as a team template, a password-protected internal URL, or a public deploy. The same engine feeds Figma Sites through "Code Layers" — draw a code layer on the canvas (the Make tool, shortcut E) and Make populates it with React you can edit or extend with npm packages.
Commercially, Make sits on Figma's seat + credit model. Authoring requires a paid Full seat (Dev and Collab seats get trial access only), and AI usage is metered: a font tweak can cost 30+ credits and a full app generation 100+, against a monthly allowance that does not roll over. As of March 18, 2026 those seat-level credit limits are enforced, with pay-as-you-go overage around $0.03/credit. This page is about Figma Make specifically; for a full move off Figma the design tool, see the Open Design vs Figma comparison.
- Where it runs: Figma's hosted cloud only — no local mode, no self-host, no on-premise option
- What you need: a paid Figma Full seat to author; teammates need a seat to open and run the app
- What it outputs: React + TSX, exportable as ZIP or to GitHub; backend is Supabase only
- What it costs: Full seat (~$16–$90/user/mo) plus AI credits — 500–4,250/mo, reset monthly, no rollover, undo doesn't refund
02
Open Design vs Figma Make, feature by feature
| Feature | Open Design | Figma Make |
|---|---|---|
| License | Apache-2.0, full source on GitHub | Proprietary / closed-source |
| Where it runs | Local-first, your machine & repo | Figma's hosted cloud only (sandboxed runtime) |
| Account / seat | None — clone the repo and run | Paid Figma Full seat to author (Dev/Collab = trial only) |
| Pricing model | Free to run; pay your own model provider (BYOK) | Full seat ~$16–$90/user/mo plus metered AI credits |
| AI usage limits | None imposed — bounded only by your key | Credits 500–4,250/mo, reset monthly, no rollover; undo ≠ refund |
| AI model | Any, via your coding agent | Anthropic Claude Sonnet (fixed) |
| Output & portability | Files in your repo — UI, components, design system | React/TSX, ZIP or GitHub; running app stays in Figma |
| Self-host / on-prem | Yes — fully local | No — Figma cloud only |
| Backend | Any — agent writes against your stack | Supabase only (auth, Postgres, storage) |
| Hosting / publishing | Your infra / wherever you deploy | Figma-hosted: template, password URL, public, Figma Sites |
| Design system | Portable DESIGN.md every skill obeys | Figma libraries + Make Kits, bound to Figma |
| Code ownership | You own the files outright in git | Export available; production-ready needs rebuild |
Where Figma Make genuinely wins: if your team already lives in Figma, it is hard to beat for the first mile. You can attach a real, existing Figma frame as the source of truth — not re-describe it in prose — and get a clickable React app without leaving the canvas or opening an IDE. The chat / point-and-edit / point-and-prompt loop is genuinely designer-friendly, one-click publish (internal password URL or public deploy) and the Figma Sites "Code Layers" path turn a prototype into a shared, even shippable, surface in minutes, and the Supabase integration gives you real auth and a Postgres database with no backend setup — enough to validate an idea end to end. Open Design optimizes for ownership, openness, and control instead — open source, local-first, your output as files you own.
03
Why teams look for a Figma Make alternative
Figma Make is a strong fit for staying inside Figma. Teams start looking for an alternative when the cloud-only, seat-gated, credit-metered model gets in the way.
- The app lives in Figma's cloud, not your repo: Make can hand you a React/TSX ZIP, but the running app — its preview, publish targets, Supabase wiring — lives in Figma's runtime behind a Full seat. The export gives you source, not a turnkey deploy; reviewers flag excessive div nesting, thin error handling, and architecture that needs substantial rebuilding. In Open Design the output is the artifact — UI, components, and design system land as files in your own repo, already where your build and CI live.
- AI usage is metered, and the meter is unpredictable: The loudest complaint on Figma's own forum is credits: teams burn a full 3,000-credit monthly allowance in a day across ~100 prompts, and most of those go to fixing imperfect output — exactly the iteration the tool depends on. Undo reverts your file but never refunds the credit, and you can't predict the cap before you hit it. Open Design is BYOK: bring your own model key and pay your provider directly, so iteration cost is transparent and uncapped.
- Authoring is gated behind a paid Full seat: A View or Dev seat won't let you build in Make — you need a paid Full seat (~$16–$90/user/month) just to author, on top of credits. For a team where engineers, PMs, or contractors want to generate UI, that's a per-head paywall before anyone writes a prompt. Open Design is Apache-2.0 and free to run; anyone with a repo checkout can drive it.
- It's closed-source and cloud-only by design: Make runs exclusively in Figma's hosted cloud — there is no self-host, no local mode, and no on-premise option, a hard stop for teams with code-can't-leave-the-building policies or air-gapped requirements. Open Design is open source and local-first: it runs on your machine, your code never has to touch a third-party runtime, and you can audit exactly what the agent does.
04
Local-first + BYOK, explained
Local-first means the agent runs on your machine, against your repo, and the artifacts — components, pages, tokens, the design system — are committed as files you control. No hosted workspace has to stay alive, and no Full seat has to stay paid, for your work to exist.
BYOK means you point Open Design at the coding agent you already trust (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini, OpenCode, Qwen) with your own key. You pick the model, pay your provider directly, and own both the output and the engine driving it — no credit meter in between.
New to the idea? Read what vibe design is, browse the plugin and design-system library, see all Open Design comparisons — including Figma and Lovable — or download Open Design.
05
Which should you pick
A quick way to decide by what you actually want to do:
| If you want… | Best pick |
|---|---|
| Output as files in your own repo, owned outright | Open Design |
| Open-source, auditable, self-hostable / local | Open Design |
| No per-seat paywall and no AI credit cap | Open Design |
| Freedom to use any model and any coding agent (BYOK) | Open Design |
| To attach an existing Figma frame and stay on the canvas | Figma Make |
| One-click hosted publish + Figma Sites integration | Figma Make |
| A fast designer-led prototype with Supabase auth built in | Figma Make |
06
Moving from Figma Make to Open Design
Getting from a Figma Make prototype to an Open Design workflow:
- Install your coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini, OpenCode, Qwen) and add your own model key — no Figma seat, no credits.
- Point Open Design at your repo; it runs locally and writes generated UI, components, and code where your build and CI already are.
- Capture your brand once in a portable DESIGN.md; every skill respects it, so output is on-brand from the first generation.
- Prompt the agent, review the changes as ordinary files in version control, and deploy on your own infrastructure — no cloud runtime, no credit meter, no export-then-rebuild.
For a broader move off Figma the design tool, see the Open Design vs Figma comparison.
FAQ
FAQ
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01 How much does Figma Make cost?
Authoring requires a paid Figma Full seat (~$16/user/mo on Professional up to $90 on Enterprise) plus AI credits metered per action. Credit allowances run 500/mo (Starter) to 4,250/mo (Enterprise), reset monthly, no rollover; a full app generation can cost 100+ credits. Open Design is free to run — you only pay your own model provider via your key.
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02 Can I self-host Figma Make or run it locally?
No. Figma Make runs exclusively inside Figma's hosted cloud — no local mode, self-host, or on-premise option. Open Design is local-first and runs entirely on your machine.
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03 Do I need a paid Figma seat to use Figma Make?
Yes. Authoring in Make requires a paid Full seat; Dev and Collab seats get trial access only and a View seat can't author. Open Design needs no account or seat — clone the repo and run it with your own coding agent.
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04 Can I export the code Figma Make generates?
Yes — download the React/TypeScript app as a ZIP or push it to a GitHub repo. The caveat: the export is source, not a turnkey deploy, and the running app and Supabase wiring stay tied to Figma's runtime. With Open Design the output is files in your repo from the start.
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05 Is Open Design open source?
Yes — Apache-2.0, local-first, BYOK with your own coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini, OpenCode, Qwen) and your own model key. Figma Make is proprietary and closed-source.
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06 Is Open Design affiliated with Figma?
No. Open Design is an independent, open-source project, not affiliated with or endorsed by Figma. Figma and Figma Make are trademarks of Figma, Inc.; this is an unaffiliated comparison.
Own your output — from prompt to repo.
Figma Make is the fastest path from a Figma frame to a hosted prototype — if you author behind a Full seat, spend AI credits, and keep the running app in Figma's cloud. Open Design takes the other path: open source, local-first, drive it with the coding agent and key you already have, and every generation lands as files you own in your own repo.