Framer vs Figma
Framer is a European alternative to Figma: same other use case, headquartered in Netherlands and operating under GDPR by default, while Figma is based in the United States.
By the EU Alternatives team Last updated
Design and launch professional, custom websites with total creative freedom. Features powerful CMS, built-in SEO, live collaboration, and one-click publishing. No code.
- Jurisdiction
- EU / EEA
- GDPR by default
- Yes
- US CLOUD Act exposure
- No
- Open source
- No
- Free tier
- Yes
Figma is the standard tool for interface design, letting teams design, prototype and hand off to developers together in the browser. A free tier covers small projects; professional plans charge per editor. The company listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2025 and is based in San Francisco, which keeps customer design files under US jurisdiction.
- Jurisdiction
- US
- GDPR by default
- Requires DPA + TIA
- US CLOUD Act exposure
- Yes
Framer vs Figma at a glance
| Framer | Figma | |
|---|---|---|
| Headquarters | Netherlands | US |
| Data jurisdiction | EU / EEA | US law applies |
| GDPR by default | Yes | Requires DPA + transfer assessment |
| US CLOUD Act exposure | No | Yes |
| Open source | No | — |
| Free tier | Yes | — |
| Best for | Teams that need other with EU data residency | Teams already invested in the Figma ecosystem |
Choose Framer if…
- You want your data to stay under EU law without extra legal paperwork
- GDPR compliance or public-sector requirements apply to you
- You want to start free and scale up later
- You'd rather back the European tech ecosystem
Stick with Figma if…
- You depend on integrations only available in the Figma ecosystem
- Your organisation has no EU data-residency constraints
- Migration costs outweigh the jurisdiction benefits for now
About Framer
Framer is an Amsterdam-based no-code website builder that combines the design fidelity of a professional tool with AI-powered generation, a built-in CMS, and production-grade hosting, turning what once required a designer, developer, and CMS into a single workflow. Sites render with real animations, interactions, and scroll effects that match the design exactly.
AI components generate layouts, copy, and image sections from a text prompt, while a built-in CMS handles dynamic content pages without a separate backend. Teams collaborate in real time on the same canvas, and publishing pushes directly to Framer's CDN with built-in SEO configuration, A/B testing, and performance analytics.
Key benefits:
- AI site generation that creates full layouts and components from a text description
- No-code animations and interactions with scroll effects, hover states, and transitions
- Built-in CMS for blog posts, product pages, and any dynamic content
- A/B testing and performance analytics built into the publishing workflow
- SEO tools including meta tags, sitemaps, and Open Graph configuration
- Real-time collaboration with multiplayer editing and one-click publishing
- Free tier for personal projects hosted on a framer.site subdomain
- React component export for handing designs off to a development codebase
Framer is headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and operates under GDPR and EU data protection law. Sites are hosted on a globally distributed CDN, with data processing governed by European standards. As a Dutch company, Framer is subject to EU regulatory oversight and provides a DPA for business customers.
Trusted by startups, agencies, and companies including Perplexity, Miro, and Metalab for building marketing sites and landing pages without developer dependencies.
Why choose Framer over Figma?
The decisive argument is data jurisdiction. Figma is headquartered in US, which means personal data processed through it can be subject to non-EU legal regimes: the US CLOUD Act, FISA 702, or similar laws depending on the provider. After the 2020 Schrems II ruling, EU organisations must carry out a transfer impact assessment for every such data flow.
Framer removes that overhead. As a Netherlands-based provider, it operates natively under GDPR, and data stays inside the EU/EEA by default. For regulated sectors such as health, public administration, and finance, that's not a nice-to-have but a requirement. For everyone else, it's concentration-risk insurance: you avoid depending on a single non-EU jurisdiction that can change the rules without warning.