A designer of 25 years cancels his personal Figma subscription

I just cancelled my private Figma subscription.

I've been a designer for 25+ years. Fireworks, Sketch, InVision, Figma. I've used them all.

My side-project stack is now three things:
→ ChatGPT Images for concept art
→ Claude Design for screens
→ Claude Code or Codex for everything else

That last one does a lot more than write code. With MCPs and command-line access, the same agent drives Unity, Blender, Tripo3D for 3D models, and asc for App Store launches.

It didn't happen in one decision. It happened one habit at a time.

First I stopped designing before building. Now I build an ugly working prototype, use it on my phone, and only design what survives.

Then I stopped exporting designs into Figma. Every export meant cleaning up layers, and the next prompt would regenerate them anyway.

Then I tried most of the new AI design tools. MagicPath, Superdesign and others. Good tools. But every new tool is another place my context gets stuck, and another subscription.

I don't even keep Claude and Codex both. I switch my one Pro subscription to whichever model is best that month. My project notes live in plain markdown files, so the next agent picks up where the last one left off.

To be clear: at work, Figma is still the source of truth, and it should be. A team with a design system needs one shared file everyone trusts.

But for one person shipping apps at night, the design file became the app.

Designers: are you still paying for Figma yourself?