Figma Makeapp in Figma's runtimeRiviera Make fileruns in Figma's runtimeExportReact/TSX ZIP or GitHub pushEdit: calmer headlinepoint and prompt; more credits
Figma Make 
OpenDesign Figma Make Alternative Without the Seat or the Credit Cap: OpenDesign
OpenDesign is a free, open-source, local-first Figma Make alternative: the same prompt-to-working-UI job, done by your own coding agent with your own key, saved as files in your repo, with no paid seat and no monthly credit allowance. This page compares Figma Make on its own, not Figma the canvas, and says where Make still wins.
Verdict, by task09 / Figma Make
OpenDesign vs Figma Make, three different needs
Start in the Right Place
This page · choosing
OpenDesign or Figma Make?
A verdict by situation, one brief run in both tools, a dated feature comparison and the conditions that flip the answer.
Read the verdict Already on Figma MakeTake the App Out of Figma's Runtime
What migrates from a Make export, what stays tied to Figma's runtime and Supabase, and the four steps to continue as files.
See what moves A different questionLeaving Figma the Design Tool?
That is a different comparison: canvas, collaboration and Dev Mode. This page is about Make only.
Read OpenDesign vs FigmaOn this page Overview
What each one is
Figma Make vs OpenDesign: What Each Tool Is
Figma Make and OpenDesign overlap on prompt-to-working-UI. They differ on where the app lives, who can author it, and how iteration is paid for. This page compares Make on its own; OpenDesign writes it about its own product and is not affiliated with Figma.
Short answer. OpenDesign is a free, open-source (Apache-2.0), local-first Figma Make alternative: your own coding agent renders working UI from a brief and a portable DESIGN.md, saved as files in your repo, with any model, no paid seat and no monthly credit cap. It does not attach to a Figma frame or publish inside Figma; if your team lives on the canvas and wants a hosted prototype without leaving it, keep Figma Make.
Figma Make
Figma Make is the AI sub-product inside Figma, generally available since July 2025 and powered by Claude Sonnet. You write a prompt or attach an existing Figma frame and it generates a live React app rendered in Figma's sandboxed runtime; you iterate by chat, by pointing at an element, or by editing on the canvas. It can add a Supabase backend and publish to a Figma-hosted URL.
- RunsFigma's hosted cloud only; sandboxed runtime
- ModelClaude Sonnet, fixed
- OutputReact/TSX app; export as ZIP or to GitHub
- CostPaid Full seat to author, plus monthly AI creditsamounts not restated
OpenDesign
OpenDesign is a local-first, open-source design agent you point your own coding agent at. Skills and a portable brand live as files in your repo; the desktop app renders and reviews the result.
- RunsDesktop app and local daemon on your machine
- AgentYours: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini, OpenCode, Qwen and more
- OutputFiles in your project directory
- CostApache-2.0; you pay your own provider for API usage
Where they overlap
Prompt to a working, clickable interface, iterated by pointing at elements. That is the only part of Figma Make the rest of the page compares OpenDesign with.
What this page does not claim
That OpenDesign attaches to Figma frames, publishes inside Figma or wires Supabase for you, or that switching is free of loss. If staying on the canvas matters more than ownership and cost, the verdict below says keep Figma Make.
Verdict
Figma Make or OpenDesign? The Verdict by Situation
Pick Figma Make if…
- You want to attach a real, existing Figma frame as the source of truth and stay on the canvas.
- You want one-click hosted publishing and the Figma Sites path.
- A designer-led prototype with Supabase auth built in is the deliverable, and the seat is already paid for.
Pick OpenDesign if…
- You want the output as files in your own repo, owned outright from the first render.
- You want no per-seat paywall and no monthly AI credit cap.
- You want any model and any coding agent, with your own key.
- You want open source you can audit, self-host or run in CI.
Run both if…
- Designers explore in Make from frames; engineers rebuild the winner as files under DESIGN.md.
- The team wants Figma's canvas for drawing but the product must live in the codebase.
- Credits run out mid-month and the remaining iteration should move to your own agent.
Same brief, two results
The Same Brief in Figma Make and OpenDesign
A comparison is only as honest as its inputs. The same brief and the same brand go into Figma Make and into OpenDesign; what comes back, how iteration is paid for and where the app ends up is what you compare. The panels below are illustrations, not screenshots; the 20-minute test lets you run the brief yourself.
Brief · identical in both tools
Design a landing page for a small studio that books slow-travel stays. One hero with a strong headline, three featured places, a short note on how booking works, and a final call to action. Desktop and phone.
- Brand
- Paper background, Albert Sans, one green accent, 8px radius
- Breakpoints
- 1440 desktop, 390 mobile; no horizontal scroll
- Edit test
- After the first result: "make the headline calmer, swap the second place"
- Record
- Model, date, time to first result, edits needed, export format
Figma Makeapp in Figma's runtimeOpenDesign + your agentfiles in the reporiviera-landing.htmlnew · v2DESIGN.mdboundEdit: calmer headlinepoint at the element, agent revises
IllustrativeBoth panels are illustrations drawn for this page, not screenshots of either tool, and the verdict does not rest on them. Run the brief yourself with the 20-minute test below and note the points listed here so the two results can be compared fairly.
What to note · both tools
Model and version, run date, time to first usable result, number of edits to reach "done", what the export contained.
What to note · Figma Make
Seat type and credits spent, whether the export ran outside Figma, what the Supabase wiring depended on, what a teammate without a Full seat could do.
What to note · OpenDesign
Agent and key used, whether DESIGN.md was respected without re-prompting, both breakpoints checked, versions kept as files.
Feature by feature
OpenDesign vs Figma Make, Feature by Feature
Nine dimensions where OpenDesign and Figma Make differ in practice: license, runtime, access, cost, limits, model, output, backend and hosting. Figma Make facts were checked against public sources on 2026-09-06; seat prices and credit amounts are deliberately not restated.
| Dimension | OpenDesign | Figma Make |
|---|---|---|
| License | Apache-2.0, full source on GitHub | Proprietary, closed-source |
| Runtime | Local-first; your machine and your repo | Figma's hosted cloud only, sandboxed runtime |
| Access | None required; clone and run | Paid Figma Full seat to author |
| Cost | Free; you pay your own provider for API usage | Seat plus metered AI creditsamounts not restated |
| Usage limits | None imposed; bounded by your key | Monthly credit allowance, resets monthly |
| Model | Any, via your coding agent | Claude Sonnet, fixed |
| Output and portability | Files in your repo: UI, components, design system | React/TSX export; the running app stays in Figma |
| Backend | Any; the agent writes against your stack | Supabase only |
| Hosting | Your infrastructure, wherever you deploy | Figma-hosted publish, Figma Sites |
Where Figma Make wins
If your team already lives in Figma, the first mile is hard to beat: attach an existing frame as the source of truth, get a clickable React app without leaving the canvas, point-and-prompt to change it, and publish in one click.
Where OpenDesign wins
Ownership and economics: files in your repo from the first render, any agent and model, no seat, no credit cap, any backend, any host, and nothing you cannot fork.
Decision
When OpenDesign Is the Right Figma Make Alternative
Design team on Full seats
A clickable prototype from an existing frame, shown internally
Figma MakeAttach the frame, generate, publish to a password URL. The seats are paid and the canvas is where the work already is; a repo would only slow that down.
Not a fit when the prototype has to become the product's code.
Product team
The prototype is the product; engineering owns it from day one
OpenDesignBrief the agent with the brand; the interface lands in the repo as files, against your own backend, deployed on your own host.
Not a fit when nobody on the team runs a coding agent.
Mixed team
Designers explore in Make; engineers rebuild the winner
Run bothExtract the brand into DESIGN.md and let OpenDesign build the accepted concept as files, while exploration stays in Make from Figma frames.
Not a fit when you expect the Make file and the repo to stay in sync; they do not.
Team out of credits
The monthly allowance is gone by the tenth
OpenDesignIteration is the part that burns credits; move it to your own agent and key where there is no cap.
Not a fit when the remaining work is on the canvas, not in the app.
Move a design across, or run both
How to Move an App from Figma Make to OpenDesign
There is no automatic import from Figma Make into OpenDesign today. What moves is the brand, the brief and the exported React source as a reference; the running app, its Supabase wiring and its Figma-hosted publish stay in Figma's runtime.
| Moves across | |
|---|---|
| The brand | Point your agent at the Make preview or the source Figma frame; it extracts colours, type, spacing and voice into DESIGN.md. |
| Prompts | Plain text. Paste the prompts that built the Make app into an OpenDesign project as-is. |
| Exported React/TSX | The ZIP or GitHub export can serve as a structural reference; the agent re-renders under DESIGN.md rather than patching it. |
| Stays in Figma Make | |
| The running app | Preview, publish targets and the Figma Sites path live in Figma's runtime behind a seat. |
| Supabase wiring | Make's backend is Supabase only; OpenDesign's agent writes against whatever backend you bring. |
| Canvas edits and history | Point-and-edit history in the Make file does not come across; OpenDesign starts its own version trail. |
-
Install OpenDesign and open a project
Download the desktop app and create a project in the repo where the app should live. The quickstart covers the source-build path separately.
-
Export the Make app and its source frame
Download the React/TSX ZIP (or push to GitHub) and export a PNG of the Figma frame whose look you want to keep.
-
Ask the agent to extract the brand into DESIGN.md
Review the file by hand against the Figma variables: one accent, the right fonts, the right radius. This is the only migration step that needs judgment.
-
Render the original brief against the new brand
Pick a skill and render; wire it to your own backend and deploy on your own host. From here every version is a file and nothing counts against a credit allowance.
Running both
Keep Figma Make for exploration from frames and internal prototypes; use OpenDesign for the app that ships. Update DESIGN.md when the Figma variables change. Nothing syncs automatically.
Fallback and loss
If you drop the Full seat, export first: the running app, its publish URL and its Supabase wiring are the parts OpenDesign cannot recreate. If an OpenDesign render fails, the last version stays on disk and the brief is unchanged.
A 20-minute test
Try OpenDesign on an App You Already Made in Figma Make
Take an app you generated in Figma Make and rebuild it in OpenDesign with your own agent, outside Figma's runtime. If the result is not usable in twenty minutes, this comparison has told you something worth knowing.
1The task
Here is the exported React source and a screenshot of an app I made in Figma Make. Extract its brand into DESIGN.md, then rebuild the main screen from this brief using my design rules, against my own stack. Check it at desktop and mobile widths.
- 01Export inThe React/TSX ZIP and a screenshot of the Make app or its source frame.
- 02DESIGN.md outYour brand extracted into a file in the repo — review it against the Figma variables.
- 03Same screen, renderedDesktop and phone on your stack, then one edit made by pointing at an element.
2It worked if…
- DESIGN.md exists in the repo and matches the Figma library values.
- The screen renders at 1440 and 390 outside Figma's runtime, with no horizontal scroll.
- One edit ("calmer headline") applied by pointing at the element, without spending a credit.
- Two versions sit side by side as files; nothing was overwritten silently.
If it did not work: check that your agent is connected and authenticated for your chosen mode, then retry with a smaller brief before judging the tool.
Other options
Other Figma Make Alternatives
FAQ
Figma Make Alternative: FAQ
How much does Figma Make cost?
Authoring requires a paid Figma Full seat plus AI credits metered per action, with a monthly allowance that resets and does not roll over; this page does not restate the amounts. OpenDesign is free to run; you pay your own provider for model usage.
Can I self-host Figma Make or run it locally?
No. Figma Make runs exclusively inside Figma's hosted cloud. OpenDesign is local-first and runs entirely on your machine; it self-hosts anywhere Node 24 runs.
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. OpenDesign needs no account or seat.
Can I export the code Figma Make generates?
Yes: download the React/TypeScript app as a ZIP or push it to GitHub. The export is source, not a turnkey deploy; the running app and Supabase wiring stay tied to Figma's runtime. With OpenDesign the output is files in your repo from the start.
Is OpenDesign a drop-in Figma Make alternative?
Not literally. They overlap on prompt-to-working-UI; OpenDesign does not attach to Figma frames or publish inside Figma. The verdict lists the conditions for each.
Is OpenDesign open source?
Yes. Apache-2.0, local-first, BYOK with your own coding agent and key, at github.com/nexu-io/open-design. Figma Make is proprietary and closed-source.
Is OpenDesign affiliated with Figma?
No. OpenDesign is an independent open-source project. Figma and Figma Make are trademarks of Figma, Inc.; this is an unaffiliated comparison written by the OpenDesign team.
Try OpenDesign on One Real App
Rebuild an app you made in Figma Make with your own coding agent, outside the seat and the credits, judge the round trip, then decide. Choose the situation that matches you; the page does not detect your setup.