livedesign vs Figma
A free, open-source Figma alternative for logos and wireframes
Figma is the design tool most product teams already use. livedesign is smaller and more focused: logos on a square artboard, wireframes framed by their device and photos edited in layers, side by side as tabs of one design, edited live with your team and free for everyone.
At a glance
| Feature | livedesign | Figma |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, every feature | A free plan, with paid plans for more files and features |
| Open source | Yes, MIT-licensed | No, proprietary |
| Start without an account | Yes, create and edit as a guest | An account to create files |
| Real-time multiplayer | Yes, live cursors and comments | Yes |
| Logos | Square artboards with guides, Mirror, logo layouts and a Logo Kit export | Vector editing with boolean operations and a full pen tool |
| Wireframes | Phone, tablet, browser, laptop and watch frames with ready-made screens | Frames, components, auto layout and clickable prototypes |
| Photo editing | Layers, masks, blend modes, adjustments, 44 filters, retouching and PSD | Image fills with adjustments; layered pixel work usually happens elsewhere |
| Export | PDF, PNG, SVG, a Logo Kit, and JPEG, WebP or PSD for photos | PNG, JPG, SVG and PDF |
Which to pick
Why pick livedesign
- Logos, wireframes and photos in one design: each a kind of page, side by side as tabs.
- Logo pages with construction guides, Mirror drawing, 25 logo layouts and a Logo Kit: an SVG, PNGs from 16 to 1024 pixels and a favicon in one .zip.
- Wireframe pages that draw the phone, tablet, browser, laptop or watch round the screen, starting from ready-made screens.
- A layered photo editor on the page: masks, blend modes, adjustments, 44 filters, selection and retouching tools, and PSD in and out.
- Present any page full screen with notes, a timer, a laser pointer and a spotlight, on your screen only.
- Real-time editing with live cursors, comments and assigned actions, for anyone with the link, no account needed.
- An AI assistant connected over MCP can add logo and wireframe pages for you.
- 15 templates to start from, from a logo design to app and website wireframes and a photo to edit.
- Free and MIT-licensed, with no paid tier.
Where Figma is the better pick
- A complete product design tool: components, variants, variables and auto layout for a design system that grows with the product.
- Clickable prototypes and a developer handoff mode, for taking a design all the way to code.
- A large community of files, plugins and widgets, and most product designers already know it.
- A deeper vector editor for detailed illustration and icon work.
Focused on the first pass
Figma is built to carry a product from the first sketch to a full design system. livedesign is built for the early, shared part of the work: the logo, the first screens and the photos that go with them, made quickly and talked through together.
A logo page starts from a layout and gives you guides and Mirror drawing; a wireframe page starts from a ready-made screen in its device frame. There is less to set up, and less to learn before a teammate can help.
Photos without leaving the design
A photo page is a layered pixel editor: masks, twenty-seven blend modes, adjustment layers, filters, brushes, selections and retouching. Open a PSD with its layers, and export a PNG, a JPEG, a WebP or a layered PSD, all in the same design as the logo and the screens.
Free, open and no account needed
Figma has a free plan and paid plans for teams. livedesign has no paid tier at all: open the editor and start, and a guest’s design stays in their browser until they press Share, which syncs it in one step. The whole product is MIT-licensed.
Figma alternative FAQ
Can livedesign replace Figma?
Can I import Figma files?
Do my co-editors need an account?
Is livedesign free?
See how it feels
No sign-up, nothing to install, free forever. Start a design and judge for yourself.
Comparisons reflect each product’s general positioning and may change. Check Figma’s own site for current details. Last reviewed .