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| 1 | +--- |
| 2 | +title: Open CoDesign vs Figma AI — Open-Source Figma AI Alternative |
| 3 | +description: Open-source desktop alternative to Figma AI (Figma Make / First Draft). Prompt to polished UI prototype, BYOK with any model, local-first, MIT licensed. |
| 4 | +head: |
| 5 | + - - meta |
| 6 | + - property: og:title |
| 7 | + content: Open CoDesign vs Figma AI — Open-Source Figma AI Alternative |
| 8 | + - - meta |
| 9 | + - property: og:description |
| 10 | + content: Open-source desktop tool that turns prompts into UI prototypes. BYOK, multi-model, local-first. MIT. |
| 11 | +--- |
| 12 | + |
| 13 | +# Open CoDesign vs Figma AI — Open-Source Figma AI Alternative |
| 14 | + |
| 15 | +Looking for an **open-source alternative to Figma AI** (Figma Make, Figma First Draft)? Open CoDesign is an MIT-licensed desktop app that generates interactive UI prototypes directly in code — runnable, exportable, and under your control. |
| 16 | + |
| 17 | +[Download Open CoDesign →](https://github.com/OpenCoworkAI/open-codesign/releases) · [90-second Quickstart](./quickstart) |
| 18 | + |
| 19 | +## At a glance |
| 20 | + |
| 21 | +Figma AI is a suite of AI-assisted features inside Figma: prompt-to-draft, generative fills, content placeholders, auto-layout rewrites. Output stays inside the Figma canvas as frames and components. |
| 22 | + |
| 23 | +Open CoDesign starts from the opposite end: prompts become **code-native interactive prototypes** — HTML, React/JSX, PDF, PPTX — runnable and editable outside any proprietary canvas. |
| 24 | + |
| 25 | +Pick **Figma AI** if your team lives inside Figma and the deliverable is always a canvas design that hands off to engineering. |
| 26 | + |
| 27 | +Pick **Open CoDesign** if you want the AI output to be real runnable code/artifacts from the start, with full model freedom and on-device privacy. |
| 28 | + |
| 29 | +## Feature matrix |
| 30 | + |
| 31 | +| | Open CoDesign (open-source) | Figma AI (Make / First Draft) | |
| 32 | +| ----------------------- | :-------------------------: | :---------------------------: | |
| 33 | +| License | **MIT** | Closed (paid plan) | |
| 34 | +| Runs on | **Your laptop (macOS / Windows / Linux)** | Figma Cloud (web + desktop client) | |
| 35 | +| Output form | **Runnable code** (HTML, React/JSX) + PDF/PPTX/ZIP | Figma frames + components | |
| 36 | +| Models | **Any — Claude, GPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, OpenRouter, SiliconFlow, Ollama** | Figma-hosted | |
| 37 | +| BYOK | **Yes** | No | |
| 38 | +| Pricing | **Free (BYOK token cost)** | Paid Figma seat + AI add-on | |
| 39 | +| Data location | **SQLite on your machine** | Figma cloud | |
| 40 | +| Local version history | **Yes** | Figma version history (cloud) | |
| 41 | +| Offline use | **Yes (with local Ollama)** | Limited | |
| 42 | +| Export | **HTML · React/JSX · PDF · PPTX · ZIP · Markdown** | Figma file + code via plugin | |
| 43 | +| Built-in design skills | **12 modules** | General AI assists | |
| 44 | +| Inline AI comments | **Yes — rewrites only pinned region** | Generative fill / rewrites | |
| 45 | +| Ecosystem | Framework-agnostic code out | Figma-canvas-bound | |
| 46 | + |
| 47 | +## Why someone would switch from Figma AI to Open CoDesign |
| 48 | + |
| 49 | +- **Output is code, not a canvas.** No design→code handoff step. The prompt produces the thing engineering actually ships. |
| 50 | +- **Model choice.** Figma picks one model for you. Open CoDesign lets you mix Claude, GPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, Ollama by task. |
| 51 | +- **BYOK.** No platform margin on tokens. |
| 52 | +- **On-device privacy.** Your prompts, designs, and any codebase scans stay on your machine. |
| 53 | +- **Fewer seats.** You only pay Figma per-seat when you actually need Figma. Open CoDesign is a free desktop app. |
| 54 | +- **Export to PDF / PPTX / ZIP** without plugin chains. |
| 55 | + |
| 56 | +## Why someone would stay on Figma AI |
| 57 | + |
| 58 | +- Your team's source of truth *is* Figma — components, libraries, dev mode, hand-off. |
| 59 | +- You design in the canvas, not in code. |
| 60 | +- Real-time multiplayer editing is a hard requirement. |
| 61 | + |
| 62 | +Different positions in the workflow. Most teams use both. |
| 63 | + |
| 64 | +## Is Open CoDesign a clone of Figma AI? |
| 65 | + |
| 66 | +No. Open CoDesign is an independent MIT-licensed desktop app by OpenCoworkAI. It is not a Figma plugin, does not connect to the Figma API, and is not affiliated with Figma Inc. "Figma" and "Figma AI" are trademarks of Figma Inc. |
| 67 | + |
| 68 | +## Install Open CoDesign |
| 69 | + |
| 70 | +- [Pre-built installer](https://github.com/OpenCoworkAI/open-codesign/releases) |
| 71 | +- [90-second Quickstart](./quickstart) |
| 72 | +- [Build from source](./quickstart#build-from-source) |
| 73 | + |
| 74 | +## FAQ |
| 75 | + |
| 76 | +- **Can Open CoDesign import my Figma files?** Not yet. Codebase → design-system token extraction ships in v0.4. Figma-file ingest is not on the v1 roadmap. |
| 77 | +- **Does it replace Figma entirely?** No — it replaces the AI-generation step. Many teams will keep Figma for collaboration and use Open CoDesign for prompt-to-prototype. |
| 78 | +- **Can I use local models?** Yes — any OpenAI-compatible endpoint, Ollama included. |
| 79 | +- **License?** MIT. |
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