Hey community, I must ask: Why Sketch?
To give you a bit of context, I’ve spent the last 6 years working on Figma and doing personal projects on it, but due to the new prices, I just decided to check out again what Sketch has to offer after I saw some news about the last updates.
My question is simple: Why do you guys use Sketch? What do you guys love about it?
Thanks.
Hey! Honestly, explaining it properly would take a while… and at the same time, some things are just hard to put into words. Have you ever tried to explain why using a Mac feels so much better than using a PC, and someone replies with, “but you can do that on a PC too”? And you’re just thinking, “Yeah, but it wouldn’t feel the same”? That’s kind of what Sketch is like.
The people behind Sketch have a deep love for detail. If you read their posts about how they design features like “auto layout”, the problems they face, what they intentionally avoid, and how they resolve it all — you can tell there’s real thought and care behind it.
It’s hard to define Sketch without reducing it to this: it works.
Figma has a ton of great features. Some of them I’d love to see in Sketch. But honestly, they’re not central to my workflow. When I’m prototyping, I don’t even need everything Sketch offers — I use relatively few tools, and that’s more than enough. But it gives me peace of mind knowing everything else is there if I ever need it.
Speaking of peace of mind: that’s Sketch’s pricing model. It’s honest. With a very reasonable price, it covers all my needs. Adding users in Figma feels riskier than trading crypto — you never really know how much you’re going to end up paying.
And finally, the Sketch team listens. They’re here in the forums, and you can feel their presence. And this forum? It’s not filled with noise or debates from juniors who’ve never shipped a real project. It’s quiet — but that’s because it only has what’s necessary. Every thread is worth reading.
I probably made this longer than needed, but like I said — it’s hard to explain why I 
Sketch.
I’m fairly recently back in Sketch world and at that currently only for personal work, I’d say I like Sketch, but I don’t quite love it, not yet at least. I’m keen on where they’re going rather than where they are right now. I like an underdog and I like companies that actually put their customers first. Figma and Sketch are not Instagram, they aren’t eCommerce, they’re tools first and foremost and Figma are losing sight of that at the moment. Sketch are doing the opposite, doubling down and focusing on solving problems for users, rather than new markets through which they can squeeze more revenue to pay back hungry VC investors.
That being said, they have catching up to do. Sketch fundamentally is a nicer tool to work with, for the most part faster and more stable, and covers a lot of the bases of modern UX/UI workflows. But not all of them yet. It’s a product that existed while the industry it helped build was still nascent. That market is mature now, and FAR larger than in the 10’s. Prospective users have different, higher and firmer expectations now. Recent work is going a long way to addressing those, but there’s a way to go. I have faith in Paulo et al. These things are not news to the team.
I think they have their eye on the prize and while I don’t think there’s a world where Sketch regains some arbitrary “Biggest tool in the space” crown, they can hopefully continue to carve out a decent niche and win more people over. Competition is good and there’s room for alternatives, Sketch is still the most credible one. It definitely helps that they have a greater emphasis on security, privacy and transparency in their pricing.
Seems reasonable. 
I once was a Sketch user, but it was when I was in college, and I liked it a lot. before becoming a professional designer. Then, years passed by, and Figma kept pushing new unnecessary tools and charging for them.
Nowadays, I would say the reason I’m returning is exactly one of your points: they listen. It seems to be the ideal place for professionals; the forum is great and worth reading. So, I kinda understand why you like it so much.
Agreed. I have a similar opinion on the topic.
I prefer Sketch for several reasons, many of which have already been discussed. For me, it’s about supporting a diverse range of tools rather than conforming to a single, all-encompassing solution. I believe this fosters a healthier environment for everyone. Just consider Adobe and their monopolistic practices; it took me years to break free from their ecosystem, and since then, I’ve made a conscious effort to use a variety of different tools.
I’m also tired of the toxic startup culture in Silicon Valley and their relentless pursuit of growth, often at the expense of their customers. I recall the early days of Figma, when they leveraged Sketch’s open file format to create an import tool, only to later lock down their own file format. Even today, they employ dark patterns in their billing practices, despite the backlash they’ve received. Ultimately, Figma is a growth-focused company, and they will do whatever it takes to continue growing. If that means leaving designers behind at some point, I have no doubt they will.
This is why I advocate for a variety of specialized tools. Currently, I use Sketch, Pixelmator Pro, Affinity Publisher, Principle, Linear Move, Acorn, and others. I also use Figma when necessary, as it’s often a requirement. That’s the challenge with monopolies; once a tool gains dominance, it becomes incredibly difficult to move away from it. Figma has managed to lock in our entire industry, much like Adobe did before them.
Beyond these practical considerations, there are intangible reasons why I prefer Sketch over Figma. It’s hard to articulate, but using Sketch feels like working with a well-crafted tool, like a nice camera. While it may not have every possible feature, it feels good to use and also inspires a sense of craftsmanship in my work. I also think Figma’s endless features can sometimes lead designers into a mindset where using the tool becomes more important and time-consuming than the design itself.
Is Sketch perfect? No. They had a period of a few years where they let Figma out-innovate them. They were also sometimes a bit stubborn about implementing some of the essential Figma features into Sketch. However, that comes with the type of team they are – they will never just blindly copy other solutions; instead, they will try to create something they think is better. Many times that works, but sometimes it gets them into a blind alley.
I’m ok with that. 
Figma tools now looks more complex when compared with sketch.
Interesting point,
I think I’m going on a similar path since I also dumped Adobe a long ago. I also use multiple tools (In my case, Affinity, Sketch, and Framer, mostly).
At work, I still use Figma daily, but for a long time, I was upset about their tactics of removing almost all features from the basic free plan, obliging you to pay for the full bundle to have something that you had before (For example, now you have just one variable).
With Sketch, I have the feeling that my money is better spent.