Figma launched in 2016 as one of the first fully browser-based design tools, and it’s since become the go-to platform for product design teams worldwide. Dylan Field and Evan Wallace founded the company after Field dropped out of Brown University, and Adobe later attempted to acquire it for $20 billion before the deal fell through in 2024 due to regulatory concerns.
What set Figma apart from the start was real-time multiplayer editing. Designers could work on the same file simultaneously, which wasn’t something Sketch or Adobe XD offered at the time. This made handoff between designers and developers far smoother.
Figma’s free tier is generous enough for freelancers and small teams, while enterprise plans include features like shared libraries, branching, and advanced permissions. The platform also introduced FigJam, a digital whiteboard for brainstorming sessions.
With Dev Mode, developers can inspect designs, grab CSS values, and export assets without back-and-forth. The plugin ecosystem has grown significantly too — there are thousands of community-built plugins for everything from icon libraries to accessibility checks.
Figma doesn’t require installation or high-end hardware since it runs in the browser. That’s been a huge advantage for distributed teams and companies that issue Chromebooks or Linux machines. The company has over 4 million users and continues to expand its feature set beyond static design into prototyping and design systems.
