Zeplin vs Zeroheight: Handoff Tool or Documentation Platform?

Both Zeplin and Zeroheight are design documentation tools. But they operate at completely different levels. One is a screen — here's how this modal should look, here are the spacing values. The other is a system — here's our Button component, here's when to use each variant, here's the code.

Zeplin: screen-level handoff

Zeplin was built to answer one question: "Designer, what exactly should I build?" You upload a screen from Figma or Sketch, and Zeplin shows the developer every spec they need — spacing, colors, font sizes, border radii, and CSS snippets for each element.

The workflow is screen-centric. A designer exports the checkout flow. Developers open Zeplin, look at each screen, and implement. Comments can be added to specific elements. Versions are tracked.

This is the right tool when your work is feature-based. Every sprint, you're designing new screens and handing them off to developers. Zeplin fits that production rhythm well.

Zeroheight: system-level documentation

Zeroheight operates at a higher level. You're not documenting a single screen — you're documenting your design system. The Button component. The color tokens. The typography scale. The spacing system. Usage guidelines for when to use a Modal vs a Drawer.

Zeroheight connects to Figma natively. You embed Figma frames in your docs, write usage guidelines, add do/don't examples, and link to Storybook or code documentation. Non-technical stakeholders can browse the design system like a website.

For organizations maintaining a shared component library that multiple teams consume, Zeroheight is built for exactly that. Teams contribute to the docs, stakeholders can find answers without asking a designer, and new team members can onboard through the documentation.

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Where the overlap gets confusing

Both tools document design. Both integrate with Figma. Both create something developers can reference. The confusion comes from teams trying to use one where the other would be more appropriate.

Using Zeplin as a design system documentation tool means you're creating a separate screen for every component state, which doesn't scale. There's no place to put usage guidelines, token documentation, or component decision rationale.

Using Zeroheight for screen-by-screen feature handoff means you're creating a doc page for every feature, which is more overhead than the workflow needs. Zeroheight's structure is built for system documentation, not sprint-level handoff.

The real-world scenario

A product team doing Agile feature work: Design team builds a checkout redesign, exports to Zeplin, developers inspect and build. Repeat for the next feature. Zeplin fits this perfectly.

A design team maintaining a shared component library: Button, Input, Modal, Toast — all documented with usage guidelines, token references, and code snippets. Multiple product teams consuming the library need to look up how to use a component correctly. Zeroheight is built for this.

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What about Figma Dev Mode?

Figma Dev Mode (included in Professional plans) now covers most of what Zeplin does for screen-level handoff. If your team is already on Figma Professional, Zeplin's value proposition has shrunk significantly. Zeroheight still has clear value because Figma Dev Mode doesn't provide the design system documentation layer.

Pricing

Zeplin: Free for 1 project. Starter at $12/editor/month. Growing Business at $17/editor/month.

Zeroheight: Free plan with limited pages. Startup at $149/month. Business at $599/month.

Zeroheight's price is steep for small teams. But its target is organizations maintaining a design system used by multiple teams — at that scale, $149/month is a rounding error.

Who should use which

Use Zeplin if:

• Your work is screen-by-screen feature handoff
• You're on Sketch and need a handoff tool that works with it
• Your team isn't maintaining a shared component system

Use Zeroheight if:

• You maintain a design system consumed by multiple teams
• You need usage guidelines, do/don't examples, and component rationale
• You want non-technical stakeholders to browse your system

Document Your Design System with Zeroheight