24/03/2023
Sketch, Figma, or Adobe: A comparison
Platform, one of the biggest differentiating factors, should probably be your first consideration when choosing which piece of software to learn.
Sketch is exclusive to MacOS, so if you’re working on a Windows or Linux system, it’s out of the question.
Figma is primarily a cloud-based app, though the company does offer desktop apps for both Windows and Mac.
Adobe XD, like Sketch, is a desktop application that syncs with Adobe’s Creative Cloud.
Collaboration
These platform differences have a direct impact on how collaboration works for each app.
Figma was designed with collaboration in mind. You can edit projects as a team in real time, see who changed what, and embed comments and feedback directly in a design. You can share projects with anyone for free, so others can leave comments without having to download special software.
Sketch released its real-time collaboration capability in May 2021 to try and catch up with Figma in this area, but it's only available to those with a subscription and a compatible version of the Mac app. Like Figma, this tool includes a browsable version history. You can also invite unlimited viewers to test prototypes or give feedback via the Sketch web app.
Adobe’s Coediting tool lets you save a project to the cloud and invite other editors to design together in real-time. Projects are compatible across Mac and Windows computers, which makes this a more flexible option than Sketch but not quite as seamless as Figma.
