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Adobe XDvsFigma

TL;DR

Adobe's help pages state that XD is currently in maintenance mode, and Adobe's community answers say XD is no longer sold as a single application and continues to be supported for existing users. Figma, meanwhile, ships new products monthly and prices a Professional full seat at $16 a month billed annually with a free Starter tier. For anyone starting today the comparison is short: Figma, unless legacy XD files decide it for you.

Figma's pricing page is doing the opposite kind of work. It lists Starter at free with unlimited drafts and 150 AI credits a day up to 500 a month, Professional with a full seat at $16 a month billed annually ($20 monthly), a dev seat at $12 and a collab seat at $3, then Organization at $55 for a full seat and Enterprise at $90, both billed annually only. View seats are free on paid plans, and the page advertises new AI add-ons across every plan alongside Design, Make, Draw, Motion, Sites, Slides and FigJam.

So the honest comparison has two halves. For people with an existing Creative Cloud entitlement and a folder of .xd files, XD still opens, still prototypes and still shares cloud documents, at no extra cost. For everyone else the choice is which active tool to learn, and on that question the price list, the seat structure and the release cadence all point the same way.

Pros & cons

👍 Adobe XD Pros

  • Zero extra cost for anyone who already has a Creative Cloud plan that includes XD, since Adobe continues to support existing users.
  • A mature prototyping toolkit on Adobe's own documentation: auto-animate, timed transitions, voice prototyping, video and Lottie playback.
  • Cloud documents allow co-editing, and the help site still documents shareable prototype and design-spec links for developer handoff.
  • Fits a Creative Cloud workflow: assets move between XD, Photoshop and Illustrator, and Creative Cloud Libraries carry design systems.

👎 Adobe XD Cons

  • Adobe's XD help page says the product is in maintenance mode, so the release notes are fixes rather than new capability.
  • Adobe's community team says XD is no longer sold as a single application, so new teams cannot buy it without an existing entitlement that carries it.
  • No published price, plan structure or seat breakdown exists for XD today, which makes procurement and onboarding awkward.
  • Cross-platform reach stops at the desktop apps and mobile preview, with no browser-based editor for mixed teams.

👍 Figma Pros

  • Free Starter tier with unlimited drafts and 150 AI credits a day, up to 500 a month, so a team can evaluate without a card.
  • Three seat types keep the bill honest: full seat $16, dev seat $12 and collab seat $3 a month on Professional billed annually, with free view seats on paid plans.
  • Real-time multiplayer editing, comments and design libraries are the core of the product rather than an add-on.
  • Dev Mode with advanced inspection and an MCP Server sits inside the same file, and the roadmap covers Make, Draw, Motion, Sites, Slides and Buzz.

👎 Figma Cons

  • A Professional full seat rose to $16 annually and $20 monthly after Figma's March 2025 increase, which its SEC filing describes as a 20% to 33% rise on full seats.
  • Organization at $55 and Enterprise at $90 for a full seat are annual-only, so mid-size teams cannot drop to monthly billing as they scale.
  • AI is metered: credits are allocated per seat and additional credits are sold on top of the plan price.
  • Everything runs on Figma's cloud, which is a real dependency if your company policy wants files stored locally.

Side by side

FeatureAdobe XDFigma
Current statusMaintenance mode, stated on Adobe's XD help pageActively shipped, with new products listed on the pricing page
How you get itAdobe says XD is no longer sold as a single application and stays supported for existing usersSelf-serve signup; Starter is free with no card
PriceNo standalone price published by AdobeProfessional full seat $16/month billed annually, $20 monthly
Free tierNone for new buyers; access runs through an existing Adobe subscriptionStarter free with unlimited drafts and 150 AI credits a day
Cheaper seat typesOne licence, no seat structure publishedDev seat $12 and collab seat $3 a month; view seats free on paid plans
Team tiersNo current plan ladder for new purchasesOrganization $55 and Enterprise $90 for a full seat, billed annually
PrototypingAuto-animate, timed transitions, voice prototyping, video and LottieInteractive prototypes, advanced animations, overlays, video in prototypes
HandoffDesign specs and shareable prototype links through cloud documentsDev Mode inspection and MCP Server inside the design file

Verdict

Pick Adobe XD if

Choose Adobe XD only if the files force you

XD still makes sense for a team with years of .xd documents, an existing Creative Cloud agreement and no appetite to migrate. It costs nothing extra, the prototyping features are complete, and Adobe says it will keep supporting existing users. What it does not offer is a future: no standalone purchase, no plan ladder and no new feature work.

Pick Figma if

Choose Figma if you are choosing today

Figma is the default for new work: a free tier to start, a full seat at $16 a month billed annually, cheap dev and collab seats for the people who only read designs, and an active product line that keeps adding tools. The costs to watch are the seat mix and the AI credit meter, not the headline price.

What the vendors say, and what we did not measure

No review scores were collected for Adobe XD, whose product pages no longer carry buying information; statements about XD's status come from Adobe's own XD help page and Adobe community answers, and all Figma prices from figma.com/pricing, all read on 14 October 2026.

Who Should Use Which?

Use Adobe XD if you...

  • Your team already pays for Creative Cloud and holds a library of .xd files.
  • You need prototypes on a desktop app with no browser dependency.
  • Auto-animate and voice prototyping are already in your process.
  • Nothing new has to be built in the tool, only maintained.

Use Figma if you...

  • You are hiring designers who mostly have Figma experience.
  • Developers need inspection, Dev Mode and an MCP Server next to the designs.
  • You want developers and stakeholders on cheap collab or free view seats.
  • You need whiteboarding, slides, sites and AI generation in one subscription.

FAQ

Is Adobe XD discontinued?

Adobe's XD help page says XD is currently in maintenance mode, and Adobe's community answers say XD is no longer available for purchase as a single application while continuing to be supported for existing users. Adobe has not published a shutdown date.

Can I still buy Adobe XD?

Not as a standalone app. Adobe's community team says XD is no longer available for purchase as a single application, so the only way in is an existing Creative Cloud entitlement that already includes it.

How much does Figma cost compared to XD?

Figma prices a Professional full seat at $16 a month billed annually or $20 monthly, with a dev seat at $12 and a collab seat at $3, and a free Starter tier. Adobe publishes no current standalone price for XD.

Which is better for real-time collaboration?

Figma. Multiplayer editing, comments and shared libraries are the product's core, and view seats are free on paid plans. XD supports co-editing on cloud documents, but Adobe has it in maintenance mode rather than under active development.

Do developers get what they need in both?

Both publish handoff features: XD has design specs and shareable prototype links, and Figma ships Dev Mode with advanced inspection and an MCP Server on paid plans. Figma's dev seat at $12 a month gives developers their own licence type.

What should a team with existing .xd files do?

Keep using XD where it works, since Adobe says existing users stay supported, and start new work in Figma in parallel. Most migration cost comes from rebuilding components and libraries, not from file conversion.

Spot an outdated price or feature? Let us know and we'll verify it.

Heraldware analysis engine

reviewed · data sourced from official product pages · sources: adobe.com, figma.com