Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Zeplin VS FontStruct

Compare Zeplin VS FontStruct and see what are their differences

Zeplin logo Zeplin

Collaboration app for UI designers & frontend developers

FontStruct logo FontStruct

FontStruct. Build, Share, Download Fonts
  • Zeplin Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-19
  • FontStruct Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-28

Zeplin features and specs

  • Ease of Collaboration
    Zeplin facilitates seamless collaboration between designers and developers by providing a shared space where they can access design specifications, assets, and resources.
  • Design Consistency
    By offering detailed design specifications and exportable assets, Zeplin ensures consistency across different development platforms and helps maintain a unified design system.
  • Automated Asset Export
    Zeplin automatically generates assets in various formats and resolutions, which saves time and reduces the likelihood of errors during the handoff process.
  • Integration with Design Tools
    Zeplin integrates seamlessly with popular design tools like Sketch, Adobe XD, Figma, and Photoshop, making it easy for designers to upload and manage their projects.
  • Version Control
    The platform offers version control for design projects, enabling teams to track changes, revert to previous versions, and ensure they're always working with the most up-to-date designs.

Possible disadvantages of Zeplin

  • Pricing
    Zeplin's subscription model can be costly for smaller teams or individual freelancers, especially when compared to other design handoff tools available in the market.
  • Limited Prototyping Features
    Unlike some other design collaboration tools, Zeplin lacks advanced prototyping features, which might necessitate the use of additional tools for complete design validation.
  • Learning Curve
    New users may require some time to learn Zeplinโ€™s interface and features, which could be a challenge for teams that need to quickly onboard and get up to speed.
  • Dependency on Design Tools
    Zeplin relies heavily on imported designs from other tools rather than allowing for direct design creation within its platform. This dependency could be a limitation for teams looking for an all-in-one solution.
  • Limited Free Tier
    The free version of Zeplin is quite limited in terms of the number of projects and collaborators, which might not be sufficient for larger teams or complex projects.

FontStruct features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    FontStruct offers a highly intuitive, browser-based interface that makes creating custom fonts accessible even for beginners.
  • Free to Use
    The platform is completely free, providing a cost-effective way to design and share custom fonts.
  • Community and Sharing
    FontStruct boasts an active community where users can share their creations and find inspiration from others' work.
  • Ease of Export
    Once a font is created, it can be easily exported in TTF (TrueType Font) format for use on various platforms.
  • Pre-made Shapes
    The platform includes a large library of pre-made shapes and components, simplifying the font creation process.

Possible disadvantages of FontStruct

  • Limited Design Tools
    FontStruct is based on a modular, grid-based system, which can limit the complexity and creativity of the fonts you can create.
  • Web-based Performance Limitations
    Because it is a web-based tool, performance may suffer on slower internet connections or less powerful computers.
  • Limited Advanced Features
    Professional typographers may find FontStruct lacking in advanced features found in high-end font design software.
  • Dependency on Browser
    As a web application, users are dependent on their browsers for functionality and may encounter compatibility issues.
  • Lack of Direct Technical Support
    While the community can offer help, official, direct technical support options are minimal compared to paid software.

Analysis of Zeplin

Overall verdict

  • Zeplin is generally considered a good tool, especially for teams seeking better collaboration between designers and developers. Its features are highly appreciated for accuracy and efficiency in implementing design visions. However, its usefulness might depend on specific team needs and workflows.

Why this product is good

  • Zeplin is a popular tool among designers and developers for its ability to bridge the gap between design and development processes. It excels in organizing design files, annotations, and specifications, making it easier for development teams to implement designs accurately. It integrates seamlessly with design tools like Figma, Sketch, and Adobe XD, and provides features like automated design specs, style guides, and assets that streamline the workflow. Its collaborative features allow for efficient communication and feedback loops between team members.

Recommended for

    Zeplin is best suited for designers and developers working in teams where clear design specifications and organized collaboration are critical. It's particularly beneficial for teams using Figma, Sketch, or Adobe XD who want to ensure precise design implementation and reduce misunderstandings between design and development departments.

Zeplin videos

Zeplin Basics: Design Systems

More videos:

  • Demo - Zeplin Demo: What is Zeplin? (Video)

FontStruct videos

Fontstruct Advanced Tutorial

More videos:

  • Tutorial - FontStruct Intro and Tutorial
  • Review - Intro to Fontstruct

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Zeplin and FontStruct)
Design Tools
83 83%
17% 17
Prototyping
100 100%
0% 0
Image Marketplace
0 0%
100% 100
Design Collaboration
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Zeplin and FontStruct

Zeplin Reviews

Top 5 Zeplin Alternative
As aforementioned, Zeplin suffers some inherent drawbacks that may dent designersโ€™ hopes for faster, easy, and reliable UI design. To avert such scenarios, you donโ€™t have to get stuck with Zeplin as there are numerous other top-notch Zeplin alternatives. The following are some of the top 5 Zeplin alternatives.
Top 6 Figma Alternatives: Prototyping and UI/UX Tools
Zeplin is super affordable. It offers 2 plans: Team, which costs $8.00 per user per month, and Establishment, which costs $16.00 monthly. Zeplin also provides a feature-limited Free Plan and Enterprise Plan.
Source: fronty.com
9 Best InVision Alternatives to Switch to in 2024
Zeplin is a workspace collaboration tool to document what to build and how designs should behave in a central collaborative place for the entire dev team.
Source: designmodo.com
10 Best Adobe XD Alternatives (Free & Paid)
Zeplin is a smart Adobe XD alternative for code lovers. It is a code-based design app where you can source all your components from Storybook, Github, Bitbucket, SourceForge, and other repositories, so they are always code-ready. The app also integrates seamlessly with team collaboration and project management tools like Trello, Proofhub, Monday, Jira, and Slack, offering...
Top 10 Free Adobe XD Alternatives in 2021
One of the top alternatives to Adobe XD is Zeplin, a code-based design tool where your components can be sourced from GitHub, Storybook, and other repositories so they're always code-ready. You can view summaries of your components within your designs and easily see code snippets for how to initialize them. There are also extensive integrations with project management and...

FontStruct Reviews

13 of the Best Font Sites
FontStruct is a little different from other free font websites. It has both free fonts available for download, but it also enables a designer to create their own font if needed. Users can browse their font library for choices but can also use their tool to design a font if needed and tweak the font size as needed.
10+ Best Places to Find Free Fonts
FontStruct is actually a font building tool that allows you to create your own fonts with geometrical shapes. The tool generates TrueType fonts using your designs that can be used with any app and for any kind of work you want.
Source: designshack.net
20 Best Font Websites To Get Free Fonts Online
FontStruct is a free tool for creating fonts. Create your fonts with the FontStructor editor and share them with other users to download. You can also pick from a variety of available fonts, with more being added regularly.
Source: adsterra.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, FontStruct should be more popular than Zeplin. It has been mentiond 37 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Zeplin mentions (23)

View more

FontStruct mentions (37)

  • A few interesting modern pixel fonts
    A few different resources with various ways to go about it, one of which may be near what you were hoping for: - FontStruct: https://fontstruct.com/. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 months ago
  • Fran Sans โ€“ font inspired by San Francisco light rail displays
    Check out https://fontstruct.com/ and https://glyphdrawing.club/ for a few editors that work this way (i made glyphdrawing.club). But please make one for this! - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Help finding a font similar to this from early Pokemon games?
    If you wanted to find pixel fonts, I suggest you going to FontStruct and find one. A lot of people make pixel fonts there and I'm sure you'll eventually find the one that you liked. If you want one quickly, try RomByte, I made that on that FontStruct site, too. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Those of you who have created a writing system for your conlang and also made it for your keyboard so that you can write with it on the computer, can you showcase it? And can you share how you went about creating it on the computer?
    I know about FontStruct (https://fontstruct.com/) and maybe you do too, but personally I don't really like it in the sense that it's not very intuitive and even making curves is pretty complicated. Would you have any sites/software (free if possible) to recommend for creating decent characters? As well as sites/software that can be used to create your own keyboard? Source: about 3 years ago
  • Can I make a TTF-Font without paying money?
    Fontstruct.com - it'll let you make fonts from predetermined shapes and export as a TTF. Source: over 3 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Zeplin and FontStruct, you can also consider the following products

Invision - Prototyping and collaboration for design teams

FontForge - Free (libre) font editor for Windows, Mac OS X and GNU+Linux

Axure - The most powerful way to plan, prototype and hand off to developers, all without code. Download a free trial and see why professionals choose Axure RP 9.

BirdFont - Birdfont is a free font editor which lets you create vector graphics and export TTF, OTF, EOT and...

Balsamiq - Balsamiq. Rapid, effective and fun wireframing software.

FontCreator - This professional font editor allows you to create and edit TrueType and OpenType fonts.