Sketch Review 2026: Is It Still Worth It for UI Designers?

Here's a bold claim to kick things off: Sketch might be the most unfairly written-off design tool in the industry right now. I've been using it on and off since 2018, and every year someone asks me the same question: "Is Sketch still relevant?" Honestly, fair question. The design tool market has exploded, Figma ate everyone's lunch for a few years, and yet here we are in 2026 — Sketch is still standing, still updating, and still pretty great for a specific kind of designer. Let me walk you through my day-to-day experience and give you the real picture — not the "Figma won, go home" take you'll find everywhere else.

Quick Overview: Sketch at a Glance

What Even Is Sketch Anymore?

Sketch launched back in 2010 from a small Dutch company called Bohemian Coding, and it basically invented the modern UI design workflow. Before Sketch, designers were shoehorning Photoshop into work it was never built for — which, if you lived through that era, was as painful as it sounds. Sketch changed everything: lightweight, vector-first, built specifically for screen design.

Here's the thing though: the market didn't stay still. Figma came along with its browser-based, real-time collaboration model and shook everything up. Sketch had to respond, and respond it did — adding web collaboration features, multiplayer editing, and a cloud platform that actually works pretty well now.

In 2026, Sketch positions itself as a premium desktop-first design tool with serious cloud capabilities. It's not trying to be everything to everyone, and honestly, I think that's the right call. That focused approach is both its biggest strength and its most significant limitation.

Key Features of Sketch (2026 Edition)

Vector Editing That Just Feels Right

Look, I've used a lot of design tools. Sketch's vector editing is still — and this is my hot take — the smoothest on the market for UI work. The Boolean operations are intuitive, the Pen tool doesn't fight you, and working with paths feels natural in a way that's hard to quantify but impossible to ignore once you notice it. If you're coming from Figma, you'll feel the difference within your first 20 minutes. It's one of those things where you can't go back.

Symbols and Nested Symbols

Symbols are Sketch's component system, refined over years of real-world use. You create a Symbol once, use it everywhere, and override properties — text, colors, images — at the instance level without breaking the master. Nested Symbols let you build genuinely complex, reusable design systems. It's not revolutionary in 2026, but it's executed with a maturity that newer tools sometimes lack. There's a difference between a feature that works and a feature that's been lived in for a decade.

Auto Layout

Sketch's Auto Layout lets your designs respond dynamically to content changes — buttons that resize with text, lists that grow as items are added. This stuff really matters when you're handing off to developers. The implementation is solid, though I'll be honest: Figma's version is slightly more intuitive to configure from scratch, especially if you're new to the concept. Sketch's feel more like something you learn once and then never think about again, which I actually prefer.

Sketch Libraries

Libraries let you share Symbols, Text Styles, and Color Variables across multiple documents and team members. Cloud Libraries sync automatically so your whole team stays on the same design system — and fun fact, this was a genuine game-changer when it launched around 2017 and it's still one of the smoothest design-system workflows I've used anywhere. You can mix internal libraries with third-party UI kits too, which is handy when you're building on top of something like an iOS or Material kit.

Prototyping

Sketch's prototyping is functional. You can link artboards, set transitions, add hotspots, and preview interactions in the Mirror app on iOS. It's not the deepest prototyping engine out there — if you need complex micro-interactions or conditional logic, you're reaching for Principle or ProtoPie regardless of what your primary design tool is. But for basic click-through prototypes to show stakeholders? It does the job without forcing you to switch apps, and sometimes that's all you need.

Real-Time Collaboration

This was the big gap for years — and I mean years, it was genuinely embarrassing — but Sketch has closed it considerably. In 2026, multiple editors can work on the same document simultaneously in the Mac app with real-time cursor visibility. It's not quite as snappy as Figma's collaboration (which has had years of optimization on browser infrastructure built for exactly this), but it works reliably and doesn't feel like a feature that was bolted on as an afterthought anymore.

Sketch for Web (Viewer + Comment Mode)

Non-Mac teammates and stakeholders can view documents, leave comments, and inspect design specs in the browser — no installation needed. Developers especially appreciate the inspect panel, which spits out clean CSS, measurements, and asset exports they actually trust. Worth noting: it's a viewer/commenter role only. Actual editing still requires the Mac app, which brings us to the elephant in the room we'll get to shortly.

Plugins and Integrations

Sketch has a massive plugin ecosystem built up over more than 14 years. Zeplin, Abstract, Overflow, Anima — the integrations list is genuinely impressive. The community has built plugins for almost every workflow you can imagine. That said, some older plugins aren't actively maintained anymore, so it's worth checking compatibility before you build a critical workflow around one. I've been burned by this exactly once and it was not a fun afternoon.

Sketch Pricing in 2026

Sketch moved to a subscription model a few years back. Honestly, the pricing is reasonable compared to the competition — I was skeptical at first, but $10/month is hard to argue with.

There's no permanent free tier — that's the main thing to know upfront. The 30-day trial is genuinely generous and gives you full access, but after that you're paying. At $10/month per editor on annual billing, it's actually cheaper than Figma's Professional plan (~$15/month). Monthly billing is available but costs more per seat, so commit annually if you can.

Viewers and commenters don't need a paid seat, which matters a lot if you've got a big team with lots of stakeholders who just need to review work.

👉 Try Sketch free for 30 days: Sketch

What I Actually Liked About Sketch

• The Mac app experience is excellent. Fast, native, uses macOS conventions in a way browser-based tools never quite replicate. Keyboard shortcuts feel right in a way I find hard to explain to someone who hasn't used it.
• Design system tooling is mature. Libraries, Symbols, Color Variables — these features have been refined through years of real use and it shows in every interaction.
• Performance on large files. Sketch handles complex documents with hundreds of artboards significantly faster than browser-based competitors. Yes, I'm looking directly at Figma and its tendency to crawl on a heavy file.
• Plugin ecosystem depth. Fourteen-plus years of community-built plugins means there's almost certainly something for your niche workflow.
• Offline-first. Work without internet, sync later. For anyone who travels or deals with spotty WiFi — and honestly, hotel WiFi in 2026 is still somehow terrible — this matters more than people admit.
• Developer inspect panel. Clean, accurate CSS output and measurements that devs actually trust and don't constantly question.
• Pricing is genuinely fair. Ten bucks a month per editor is reasonable. Full stop.

What Frustrated Me About Sketch

• Mac only. This is the dealbreaker for many teams, and it's a hard one. If you've got a Windows colleague, a remote developer on Linux, or any stakeholder who needs to edit rather than just view, Sketch simply won't work. No workaround, no partial solution.
• Collaboration still lags behind Figma. Much better than it used to be — seriously, massively better — but real-time multiplayer editing in complex documents can still feel sluggish occasionally.
• No free plan. Thirty days is great, but if you're a student or a freelancer just testing things out, there's no free tier to fall back on afterward. This one stings.
• Prototyping is basic. If complex interactions are core to your workflow, you'll need a second tool. Sketch doesn't pretend otherwise, but it's worth flagging before you buy.
• Shrinking talent pool. Because Figma dominates team hiring conversations, finding Sketch-proficient designers is getting harder. If you're building a team of more than 3 or 4 people, this is genuinely something to think about.

Who Is Sketch Actually Best For?

Solo freelance UI designers on Mac. This is Sketch's home territory, full stop. You get the best design tool experience on macOS at a fair monthly price, with every feature you need for serious client work.

Small Mac-based design teams. If everyone on your team uses a Mac and you want a fast, mature tool with proper design system support, Sketch delivers without drama.

Designers who care about performance. Working on complex design systems with hundreds of components and your Figma files have started dragging? Sketch is worth seriously reconsidering. I'd put the tipping point somewhere around 50+ components in a shared library — that's where I personally notice Sketch pulling ahead.

Teams deep in the Apple ecosystem. Sketch integrates natively with macOS features and the Mirror app on iOS, which is genuinely handy for quick on-device previews during client presentations.

Who Should Probably Look Elsewhere

Don't buy Sketch if you or your team uses Windows or Linux. There's literally no editing path there. It's just not the tool for cross-platform teams, and no amount of wishful thinking changes that.

If your organization treats simultaneous multiplayer editing as a core daily workflow — think 5 or more designers in one file at the same time — Figma is still the smoother choice. Sketch has improved enormously here, but Figma's infrastructure for this use case is more battle-tested.

Students and hobbyists who need a free tool should look at Figma's free tier or Penpot, which is fully open source and surprisingly capable. Sketch just doesn't have an ongoing free option.

And if advanced prototyping is non-negotiable for your process, honestly, you'll probably end up running a second tool regardless of which primary design app you pick — so it might be worth considering whether that primary tool should have deeper motion and interaction support built in from the start.

Sketch vs. The Alternatives

Sketch vs. Figma (Try Figma): Figma wins on cross-platform accessibility and collaboration infrastructure — there's no debate there. Sketch wins on native Mac performance and, in my experience, vector editing feel. For Mac-only teams, the choice is genuinely closer than the internet discourse suggests in 2026.

Sketch vs. Adobe XD (Adobe Xd): Adobe XD is bundled with Creative Cloud subscriptions, which sounds appealing if you're already paying for CC. But here's the deal — Adobe hasn't invested heavily in XD's development in a while, and its future roadmap looks murky compared to Sketch's active, consistent update cadence. I'd be hesitant to build a serious workflow around it right now.

Final Verdict: Is Sketch Worth It in 2026?

Rating: 4/5

Sketch isn't dead. Not even close. What it is, is specialized — and in a world where every tool tries to do everything for everyone all at once, there's real value in that kind of focus. It's a mature, fast, beautifully designed Mac-native UI tool with a serious design system workflow, 14-plus years of plugin ecosystem behind it, and pricing that doesn't make you wince when the invoice lands.

The limitations are real, though. Mac-only is a genuine dealbreaker for cross-platform teams, and Figma has a substantial head start on collaboration infrastructure that Sketch is still working to close.

My honest recommendation: if you're a Mac-based designer or leading a small Mac-first design team, Sketch is absolutely worth paying for in 2026. If you've got Windows users on the team or need battle-tested simultaneous multiplayer editing for large groups, Figma is probably the smarter default — and I say that as someone who genuinely likes Sketch.

Give the 30-day trial a proper workout — not just a quick poke around, actually run a real project through it — Sketch — and see how it fits your specific workflow. You might be surprised how good it feels to use a native app again.

Frequently Asked Questions About Sketch (2026)

Is Sketch still relevant in 2026?

Yes, genuinely. Sketch has continued to evolve with real-time collaboration, improved cloud features, and native Mac performance that browser-based tools can't fully match. It's not the dominant market player it once was, but it's a mature, actively developed tool with a loyal professional user base that isn't going anywhere.

Does Sketch work on Windows?

No — and this isn't a "sort of, with workarounds" situation. Sketch is macOS only for editing. Non-Mac users can view documents and leave comments via the Sketch for Web browser app, but creating or editing designs on Windows or Linux is simply not possible. Hard stop.

Is there a free version of Sketch?

No permanent free tier exists. Sketch offers a full-featured 30-day trial with no credit card required, which is genuinely generous — but after that you're on a paid subscription starting at approximately $10/month per editor on annual billing. If free is a requirement, Figma or Penpot are your options.

How does Sketch compare to Figma in 2026?

This is honestly the question I get most often. Figma has broader platform reach (any OS), a more mature real-time collaboration experience, and a free tier. Sketch counters with better native Mac performance, smoother vector editing, and a slightly lower price point for small teams. For Mac-only teams, the choice is closer than you'd think from reading most tech coverage.

Can developers use Sketch without a paid plan?

Yes. Developers can use Sketch for Web — the browser-based viewer — to inspect designs, pull CSS measurements, and download assets without a paid seat. Only editors who actually create and modify designs need a subscription.

What happened to Sketch's one-time license model?

Sketch moved away from the one-time license to a fully subscription-based model, and that ship has sailed — there's no longer an option to buy Sketch outright. The subscription starts at approximately $10/month per editor billed annually. Honestly, given how much the product has continued to develop, I think the subscription model is fair, even if the transition annoyed a lot of people at the time (myself included).