head to head · open source
OpenPencil vs Grida
OpenPencil has 9,551 GitHub stars, 1,004 forks, 46 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Grida has 2,695 stars, 151 forks, 125 open issues and last shipped 15 days ago. OpenPencil leads on adoption by 254% (9,551 vs 2,695 stars). OpenPencil is written in TypeScript under MIT; Grida is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. OpenPencil has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, Grida 6%. OpenPencil was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (ai, figma-alternative), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| OpenPencil | Grida | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 9.6K | ★ 2.7K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.0K | ⑂ 151 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick OpenPencil if
- You weight community size — 9.6K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Grida if
- You want the Grida feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Grida fits your workflow better
About OpenPencil
OpenPencil Open source design editor. Opens .fig and .pen design files, includes built in AI, and ships as a programmable toolkit with a headless Vue SDK for building custom editors. Status: Active development. Usable today, with some rough edges as features evolve. Try it online → · Download · Documentation · Roadmap · llms.txt Installation macOS (Homebrew): Or download from the releases page, or use the web app — no install needed. What it does Opens .fig and .pen files — read and write native Figma files, open supported Pencil documents from the app or OS file browser, copy & paste nodes between apps AI…
read the full OpenPencil overview →
About Grida
Grida Grida is an open source canvas editor — powered by the nothing graphics engine (Rust + Skia + WASM) — plus an SVG editor, Database/CMS and Forms. Canvas demo • SVG editor • Refig • Downloads • Website • Docs • Contributing • Slack Community Why Grida Grida is an open source canvas editor built for performance and interoperability — with a stable on disk document format. The 2D graphics engine that powers it lives in gridaco/nothing; this repo consumes it as the published @grida/canvas wasm artifact. Renderer backends : a DOM renderer for HTML/CSS workflows and a Skia renderer via WASM (WebGL2 + raster)…
read the full Grida overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenPencil or Grida more popular?
OpenPencil has 9,551 GitHub stars and Grida has 2,695. OpenPencil has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenPencil and Grida free?
Both are open source. OpenPencil is licensed under MIT and Grida under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenPencil and Grida?
OpenPencil is written in TypeScript and Grida 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, OpenPencil or Grida?
Choose OpenPencil if you want the larger community (9,551 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Grida if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.