head to head · open source
open-design vs design-tokens
open-design has 98,528 GitHub stars, 11,424 forks, 1,090 open issues and last shipped today. design-tokens has 1,126 stars, 149 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 8 months ago. open-design leads on adoption by 8,650% (98,528 vs 1,126 stars). open-design is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; design-tokens is written in TypeScript under MIT. open-design has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, design-tokens 13%. open-design was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| open-design | design-tokens | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 99K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-29 | 2026-02-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 149 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick open-design if
- You weight community size — 99K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick design-tokens if
- You want the design-tokens feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and design-tokens fits your workflow better
About open-design
OpenDesign is an open source, local first desktop design application for macOS and Windows that turns the coding agent already installed on a developer's machine into the design engine, producing prototypes, dashboards, decks, images, and motion graphics as real files exported to HTML, PDF, PPTX, and MP4.
read the full open-design overview →
About design-tokens
Design Tokens is a TypeScript authored Figma plugin, released under the MIT licence, that exports the design tokens defined in a Figma document as JSON in an Amazon Style Dictionary compatible format, for design system teams that need token values to flow from Figma into web, iOS, and Android builds.
read the full design-tokens overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is open-design or design-tokens more popular?
open-design has 98,528 GitHub stars and design-tokens has 1,126. open-design has the larger community by that measure.
Are open-design and design-tokens free?
Both are open source. open-design is licensed under Apache-2.0 and design-tokens under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between open-design and design-tokens?
open-design is written in TypeScript and design-tokens in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, open-design or design-tokens?
Choose open-design if you want the larger community (98,528 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose design-tokens if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.