Figma vs. Sketch vs. Adobe XD: The Ultimate 2025 Showdown

If you’re choosing a UI design tool in 2025, the “Figma vs. Sketch vs. Adobe XD” debate looks very different than it did even two years ago. Cloud workflows matured, dev handoff changed shape, and one player largely stepped out of the race. This guide cuts through the noise so you can pick what actually fits your work, whether you’re solo, running a startup product squad, or steering a regulated enterprise.

What Changed In 2025

Three big shifts define the 2025 landscape:

First, Adobe XD is effectively legacy. Adobe ended active feature development and removed dedicated plans, keeping XD accessible mostly to existing Creative Cloud users. It still opens and shares files, but there’s no roadmap momentum. If you’re starting fresh, XD isn’t a future-proof choice.

Second, Figma cemented the lead in collaborative product design. Variables, advanced prototyping logic, Dev Mode, and the breadth of its Community made it the default in many teams. The canceled Adobe–Figma merger saga is over, and Figma kept shipping.

Third, Sketch doubled down on its Mac-first experience with a much stronger web workspace. Real-time collaboration, Inspect in the browser, and reliable native performance, especially on Apple silicon, make Sketch compelling for Mac-centered teams that want ownership over files and a clean licensing story.

The short version: Figma is the most universal and collaborative, Sketch is the fastest native editor for Mac-focused teams, and XD is stable but stagnant.

Core Capabilities Compared

Collaboration And Multiplayer

Figma still sets the pace for multiplayer editing. You can co-create in real time across Mac, Windows, or the browser, drop comments that tie to versions, and spin up FigJam to align with PMs and engineers. Presence, cursors, audio in FigJam, and linkable components make distributed work feel natural.

Sketch’s collaboration is real-time for Mac app editors with seamless viewing, commenting, and developer inspect in the web app. It’s excellent if your creators are on macOS and stakeholders use the browser. If you need mixed-OS editing, that’s where Sketch hits a wall.

XD supports sharing and commenting, but simultaneous coediting never reached the fluidity or adoption of Figma. It works fine for small updates with existing CC teams: it’s just not where the future is headed.

Prototyping And Motion

Figma’s prototyping matured into a full narrative tool. Variables, conditional flows, interactive components, and smart animations let you build realistic apps without glue tools. You can simulate dark mode, user states, and multi-step logic in one file, then hand a single link to testers.

Sketch prototyping is straightforward, great for clickable flows, microinteractions via Smart Animate equivalents, and device mirroring. For complex logic, teams often pair Sketch with Principle, ProtoPie, or Framer. That modular approach can actually be nice if you prefer specialized motion tools.

XD introduced auto-animate early and still produces clean microinteractions. The problem is scale: complex logic and long-term prototype maintenance get tricky, and the ecosystem around XD didn’t keep pace.

Design Systems And Components

Figma’s components, variants, and variables give you system-level control. Tokens for color, typography, spacing, and even semantic states let designers and devs speak the same language. Libraries update predictably, and analytics help you see adoption.

Sketch libraries remain rock solid and familiar. Components (Symbols), Text and Layer Styles, color variables, and Assistants for linting keep systems consistent. You’ll likely complement with tools like Zeplin, Specify, or Style Dictionary to bridge design tokens to code.

XD supports components and states, but without active investment, system governance and automation fall behind. If your org runs on tokens and CI pipelines, you’ll hit limits fast.

Handoff And Dev Mode

Figma’s Dev Mode is the standout: one-click specs, tokens surfaced as variables, code snippets, and integrations like Code Connect to map components directly to repository code. Engineers can browse file versions, copy values, and track changes without digging through design detritus.

Sketch provides Inspect in the web app with measurements, CSS snippets, and assets. Many teams layer Zeplin or Storybook integrations for enterprise-grade handoff and documentation. It’s a flexible, pick-your-stack model.

XD’s Share for Development still works, measurements, assets, and specs, but you won’t see the newer workflows developers expect in 2025.

Platforms, Pricing, And Performance

OS Support And Hardware Needs

Figma runs in the browser on Mac, Windows, and Linux, with desktop apps for Mac and Windows. You can work almost anywhere, which is a huge deal for distributed teams. Offline support exists but is limited: plan to stay connected for the best experience.

Sketch is macOS only for editing, optimized for Apple silicon. Stakeholders and developers can view and comment via any modern browser. If your creative team is Mac-based, you’ll appreciate the native snappiness and predictable file handling.

XD is cross-platform (Mac and Windows) as a desktop app, which used to be its big perk. That’s less compelling now that Figma gives you cross-platform editing in the cloud.

Licensing And Total Cost Of Ownership

Figma uses per-seat pricing with tiers for individuals through enterprise, plus add-ons like advanced Dev Mode in higher plans. The TCO shines when you replace multiple tools, design, prototyping, whiteboarding, and basic handoff, in a single platform.

Sketch offers a clean per-editor subscription with free web viewers. Because you own your files and can host on your infrastructure if needed, costs are predictable and data governance is simpler. You may budget for companion tools for motion, tokens, or documentation.

XD typically comes via Creative Cloud All Apps now. If your design team already relies on CC for Photoshop/Illustrator, the marginal cost can seem low, but the opportunity cost of a stagnant primary design tool is high.

Speed, Stability, And File Handling

Figma performs well in modern browsers, though enormous files, hundreds of pages, or heavy images can strain memory. Smart file hygiene, archiving, splitting libraries, and pruning variants, keeps it snappy.

Sketch is blisteringly fast on Apple silicon and handles large canvases like a champ. Because files are local by default, you get consistent performance and can keep working offline. Version control relies on Sketch’s web workspace or external tools.

XD starts fast and stays stable for moderate files. The ceiling is fine for smaller teams, but it hasn’t kept pace with the demands of complex systems and multi-file orchestration.

Ecosystem, Plugins, And Integrations

Plugin Libraries And Extensibility

Figma’s Community is massive, from accessibility checkers to content generators and localization aids. Widgets in FigJam accelerate workshops, and many large vendors ship official plugins.

Sketch still has one of the richest plugin ecosystems, cultivated over years. Power users automate layout, sync tokens, and lint files. If you like crafting a tailored pipeline, Sketch’s openness is a joy.

XD’s plugin scene exists but hasn’t seen the same energy. You’ll find essentials, yet the cadence and depth lag behind.

Asset Management, Versioning, And Collaboration Integrations

Figma integrates with Slack, Jira, GitHub, Notion, and more. Branching, component analytics, and Dev Mode tie design artifacts to your product backlog. For governance, you can lock libraries and audit changes.

Sketch slots nicely into Apple-native workflows and pairs with tools like Abstract alternatives, Plant, Zeplin, and Storybook. You can version with Git LFS or cloud storage if you prefer file-based control. For some orgs, that’s a compliance win.

XD links to Creative Cloud Libraries and plays fine with Illustrator/Photoshop assets. If your pipeline is CC-heavy, that may keep XD viable for asset reuse even if design happens elsewhere.

Workflow Realities And Team Fit

Solo Designers And Freelancers

If you juggle discovery, design, and handoff yourself, Figma gives you an all-in-one: design, prototypes, and FigJam for workshops. Clients can comment with just a link. Sketch is fantastic if you’re a Mac diehard who values speed and file ownership, and you don’t need Windows co-editors. XD only makes sense if your clients insist on it or you’re embedded in a CC workflow that hasn’t moved on yet.

Startups And Cross-Functional Product Teams

Figma is the default. Onboarding is frictionless, collaboration is instant, and Dev Mode shortens cycle time. You can unify discovery (FigJam) and delivery (Figma) in one place, which matters when you’re shipping weekly.

Sketch also works for startups with Mac-based designers and a strong engineering culture that already uses Zeplin/Storybook. You’ll likely add a motion tool and a token bridge, which is fine if you prefer best-of-breed.

Enterprises And Regulated Environments

This is closer than you think. Figma’s enterprise features, SSO, granular permissions, audit logs, private plugins, and data residency options, check a lot of boxes and simplify vendor sprawl. Sketch wins points where macOS and file-based control are policy-friendly, or where you need to lock down cloud exposure. Many enterprises actually run a hybrid: Sketch for sensitive workstations, Figma for cross-functional collaboration at scale.

Switching Or Mixing Tools

File Import/Export And Compatibility

Moving from Sketch to Figma is common and generally smooth. Figma imports .sketch files, preserving layers, symbols-as-components, styles, and many overrides. Expect to do a cleanup pass on text, shadows, and auto layout.

Going from XD to Figma is possible via import (or via SVG/PDF for assets), but complex components and prototyping logic won’t map one-to-one. Plan to rebuild motion and states.

Exporting out of Figma into native Sketch or XD formats isn’t supported. If you must round-trip, lean on SVG/PDF/PNG exports for assets and rebuild components natively in the destination tool.

Migration Tips, Pitfalls, And Best Practices

Start with a pilot. Pick one product area, migrate its library, and validate in production. Map your design tokens early, colors, type scales, spacing, and decide how they’ll live as Figma variables or Sketch color/text styles.

Freeze your source libraries during the migration window to avoid chasing moving targets. Then rebuild components intentionally rather than blindly converting. It’s tempting to keep the old structure, but new tools deserve new patterns.

Watch for font substitution, color profile differences, and text rendering. Re-test spacing and constraints on common breakpoints. For prototypes, rebuild critical flows to take advantage of native features (variables in Figma, or Smart Layout in Sketch).

Finally, run both tools in parallel for a short period. Keep a clear “source of truth” and deprecate the old libraries with dates. Communicate widely, engineers care about token names and export paths more than you think.

Conclusion

In 2025, the practical answer to “Figma vs. Sketch vs. Adobe XD” is straightforward:

• If you need cross-platform collaboration, advanced prototyping, and integrated dev handoff, choose Figma.

• If your creative team is all-in on macOS and you value speed, ownership, and a customizable stack, choose Sketch.

• If you’re on XD, plan an exit. Keep it for legacy files, but don’t bet your roadmap on it.

Pick the tool that accelerates feedback and reduces translation cost between design and code. That’s the only metric that really matters. And if you’re still torn, prototype a real feature in two of them and time your team from first frame to merged PR. Your stopwatch will tell you everything the internet debates won’t.