Free vs Pro Comparison
This reference guide provides a detailed comparison between Frontend Mentor's free tier and Pro subscription to help you decide which option fits your needs.
Table of contents
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Free | Pro | |---------|------|-----| | Free challenges (Design + Product) | Yes | Yes | | Premium challenges (Design + Product) | No | 2/month (monthly) or unlimited (yearly) | | Design files (Design Challenges) | JPEG images and style guide | Figma files with design system | | Tablet layouts (Design Challenges) | No (mobile and desktop only) | Yes (mobile, tablet, and desktop) | | Solution reports | 2 AI-enhanced reports/month | Unlimited AI-enhanced reports | | Community solutions | After completing the challenge | After starting the challenge | | Private solutions | No | Yes | | Custom solution domains | No | Yes |
Challenge Access
Free: Access to the full library of free challenges across all difficulty levels, including both Design Challenges and free Product Challenges. Covers responsive layouts, component building, JavaScript interactivity, and spec-driven development.
Pro: Access to every challenge on the platform, including over 50 premium challenges across both Design and Product formats. Premium Design Challenges feature multi-page websites, fully-functional applications, a professional design system, and tablet layout designs. Premium Product Challenges feature complex, substantial applications with rich specifications.
Note
Some free Design Challenges are marked Free+, which means the Figma design file is included for all users regardless of subscription.
Design Files (Design Challenges)
Free: JPEG images of the design at mobile (375px) and desktop (1440px) sizes, plus a style guide markdown file with high-level information like common colors, font families, and a base font size.
Pro: Original Figma design files with exact specs — colors, spacing, fonts, and component details. Premium challenge design files also include a professional design system with all font sizes, shared components, and active states (hover, error, etc.), plus tablet layout designs in addition to mobile and desktop.
Note
Product Challenges don't include design files. Both free and Pro users receive the same materials: product specifications, brand kit, sample data, and starter CSS. The Figma access benefit applies to Design Challenges only.
Solution Reports
Free: 2 AI-enhanced reports per month that perform deeper analysis and catch up to 3x more issues than standard automated checks. After using your monthly credits, submissions receive standard automated reports.
Pro: Unlimited AI-enhanced reports on every submission. Each report explains the problem and how to fix it.
Community Solutions
Free: View other developers' solutions after you complete and submit your own. This encourages you to attempt the challenge independently first.
Pro: Browse community solutions immediately after starting a challenge. This is useful when you get stuck and want to see how others approached a specific problem.
Private Solutions
Free: All submitted solutions are public and visible on your profile and in community solutions.
Pro: Option to mark solutions as private. Private solutions don't appear in community solutions or on your public profile.
Who Benefits Most from Pro
Pro is ideal if you:
- Want portfolio-quality projects from premium challenges
- Prefer working with real Figma files like professional developers
- Value detailed code feedback to accelerate learning
- Need privacy for practice projects
Free works well if you:
- Are just starting your frontend journey
- Want to try Frontend Mentor before committing
- Have limited time for coding practice
- Primarily need foundational challenges to build core skills
Making the Decision
The free tier provides genuine value for learning frontend development. Many developers build strong skills using only free challenges.
Pro becomes valuable when you want to simulate professional workflows, tackle more complex projects, or get deeper feedback on your code. The Figma access alone transforms how you approach challenges, teaching skills directly applicable to professional work.
Consider starting with free challenges to experience the platform, then upgrading to Pro when you're ready to take on more ambitious projects.