---
title: "Figma vs Adobe XD: a head-to-head from a working studio."
date: 2019-08-19
url: https://remiam.co.uk/notes/figma-vs-adobe-xd-2019
tags: [Design, Figma, Adobe XD, Tools, Comparisons]
read_time_minutes: 9
description: "Figma vs Adobe XD in 2019 — a deep head-to-head from a working studio that uses both, with feature comparison table, pricing, and the recommendation we give every client."
---

# Figma vs Adobe XD: a head-to-head from a working studio.

*Published 2019-08-19 · 9 min read · by Liam (Remiam)*

Adobe has thrown serious money at XD. Figma has thrown serious focus at design itself. We've run the same project through both this year — here's the verdict, the feature comparison, the pricing reality, and the recommendation we now give every client.

We've been using Figma since 2018 and Adobe XD since it launched. Half our clients send us one, half the other, and we've spent the last six months running the same product through both to settle our internal preference. The conclusions are clearer than we expected.

## Side-by-side comparison

| Feature | Figma | Adobe XD |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Real-time multiplayer | Yes, default | Comment-only collaboration |
| Platforms | Browser, macOS, Windows | macOS, Windows only |
| Component system | Components + variants + auto-layout | Components + states |
| Prototyping | Smart Animate | Auto-Animate (slightly ahead) |
| Plugin ecosystem | Large, growing fast | Smaller but maturing |
| Version history | Granular, named, reliable | Basic |
| Voice prototyping | No | Yes (niche but good) |
| Design system support | Team Library + sync | Cloud Documents + assets |
| Inspect / handoff | Built-in | Built-in |
| Pricing (per editor / month) | Free → $12 → $45 | Bundled in Creative Cloud |

*Figma vs Adobe XD — feature comparison, August 2019.*

## Where Figma wins clearly

- Multiplayer. Two designers in the same file simultaneously. XD's collaboration is a 2018-style commenting layer, not real co-editing.
- Browser-first. Works on every operating system. XD is macOS / Windows only.
- Components and constraints. Figma's component model is the strongest in the category.
- Plugin ecosystem. XD has plugins; Figma has a market.
- Version history. Figma's is granular and reliable. XD's is rudimentary.
- Speed of iteration. Figma ships features every quarter that XD takes a year to match.
- Cross-platform team hiring. Designers don't need a Mac to use Figma.

## Where Adobe XD wins

- Creative Cloud integration. If the team already lives in Adobe, XD is one less subscription to argue about.
- Print export. Figma is a screen tool first; XD's lineage shows when you need a PDF for a brief.
- Voice prototyping. Niche, but XD shipped it first and the implementation is good.
- Auto-Animate transitions for prototypes are honestly excellent.
- Native app performance on very large files — Figma in browser can lag at extreme scale.

> Adobe is trying very hard to catch up. Figma is innovating faster. The gap will be wider in twelve months, not narrower — and the design industry has noticed.

## Pricing reality

- Figma — free for individuals, sensible per-editor pricing for teams.
- XD — bundled into Creative Cloud, which a lot of design teams already pay for.
- Per-team, XD is cheaper on paper if you're already paying for Adobe. Figma costs more on its own but replaces other tools the team was paying for separately (Zeplin, InVision, etc.).
- Free Figma viewers count for nothing — engineers, stakeholders, project managers all get in for free.
- Adobe's per-seat Creative Cloud licence is much more expensive for non-designers who only need view access.

## What we'd recommend

- Default to Figma for any new project. The collaboration story is too far ahead.
- Use XD if a client mandates it or if the print-bound workflow really does dominate.
- Avoid trying to run both inside one project. Pick one, stick with it for the lifecycle.
- If migrating, do it cleanly — new projects in Figma, legacy projects stay in XD.
- Educate stakeholders. Most clients haven't seen Figma's commenting flow — once they have, they don't want to go back to Adobe's.

## Where we think this goes

- By 2021, Figma is the default and XD is a Creative Cloud bundled-extra used mainly by Adobe-loyal teams.
- Adobe will either acquire Figma (rumoured every few months) or quietly let XD become a maintenance product.
- Sketch becomes a legacy answer for established Mac-only design teams.
- The whole category consolidates around real-time, browser-first, component-system-first tools.

The honest read is that Adobe is trying very hard to catch up, but Figma is innovating faster. Twelve months from now we expect the gap to be wider, not narrower. We'll re-run this comparison in 2020 to check our work.

## References

1. [Figma — official site](https://www.figma.com)
2. [Adobe XD — official site](https://www.adobe.com/products/xd.html)