What Is Figma and Why Do Designers Use It?

Figma has a generous free Starter plan that allows 3 projects, unlimited personal files, and real-time collaboration. The Professional plan ($15/editor/month) adds unlimited projects, team libraries, version history, and advanced prototyping.

Yes. Figma is browser-based and works on any OS. There is also a desktop app for Windows and macOS. This was a major advantage over Sketch, which was macOS-only.

In most workflows, yes. Figma has better collaboration, a larger community plugin library, and runs in the browser without needing Creative Cloud. Adobe announced plans to wind down XD's active development after its attempted acquisition of Figma was blocked.

Yes. Figma Dev Mode provides developers with accurate specs, CSS code snippets, and asset exports directly from design files. Most design-to-development handoffs now happen natively in Figma rather than via tools like Zeplin.