Figma

Category: AI Image/Design

The design standard, with AI credits that run out fast.

Figma is where most digital design happens, and marketers encounter it as the place campaign assets, landing pages and brand systems live. The collaborative canvas, components and shared libraries are the core; Dev Mode hands specifications to engineers. The AI surface has expanded substantially, with Make for generating working prototypes from a prompt, Sites for publishing designs as websites, Buzz for marketing asset production at scale from templates and brand kits, Draw for illustration, and newer additions covering motion and code layers. Several of these remain in beta. Figma listed on the New York Stock Exchange in July 2025. There is a first-party MCP server, hosted and remote with OAuth, available on all plans including the free tier, though read calls are rate-limited by seat type and the write-to-canvas capability is still in beta.

Our verdict

Unavoidable if you work with designers, and Buzz is the piece most relevant to marketers, producing on-brand asset variations at volume from a template and brand kit rather than asking a designer for each one. The MCP server is better than most people realise, available on every plan including free and not restricted to Dev Mode, which several third-party guides get wrong. Two real cautions. The AI credit allowances are tight enough to be a genuine constraint, and Figma's own community forum carries examples of two prompts consuming most of a monthly allowance; add-on packs have grown but seat allowances have not, and the backlash over this has not been resolved. More important for a UK agency: content training is on by default for Starter and Professional teams and cannot currently be turned off, while Organization and Enterprise are excluded. If you are a freelancer or small agency working on client files, you are opted in by default, which is worth knowing before you upload something confidential.

Best for: Marketing teams who work with designers daily and need to review, comment on and hand off work in the same place it is made.

Pros

  • First-party MCP server on every plan including free, not restricted to Dev Mode
  • Buzz produces on-brand marketing asset variations at volume from templates
  • The collaborative canvas remains the industry standard for a reason
  • Make generates working prototypes from a prompt
  • GBP pricing available, which many competitors do not offer
  • Dev Mode makes design-to-engineering handoff genuinely workable

Cons

  • Content training is on by default for Starter and Professional and cannot be turned off
  • AI credit allowances are tight, with two prompts able to consume most of a month
  • The credit backlash is unresolved, with add-on packs growing but seat allowances static
  • Several headline AI features remain in beta, including Sites and write-to-canvas
  • Figma's own docs warn against relying on Sites for legal accessibility compliance
  • MCP read calls are rate-limited by seat type, with view seats capped very low

Pricing: Free + paid from $15/seat/mo (Freemium)

Rating: 4.5/5