Figma vs. Autodesk: Which Design SaaS Stock is a Safer Bet?

Figma FIG and Autodesk ADSK operate as providers of design software, operating in widely different markets. While Figma operates in collaborative digital product design, Autodesk provides engineering and industrial design software.With the rising use of AI use cases, both Figma and Autodesk are implementing this new technology for value creation. While Figma is leveraging AI to expand creative productivity and user adoption, Autodesk uses AI for engineering optimization and risk reduction.Let's dive deeper and compare these companies to uncover growth prospects and strategies so investors can make an informed bet.The Case for Figma StockFigma is investing heavily in making its product suite valuable by integrating AI features. Figma took a leap in AI image generation and editing by integrating Gemini 3 Pro with Nano Banana Pro into its design workflows. Figma also collaborated with OpenAI so editors can prompt ChatGPT to create visual assets and further riff on these in Figma Buzz.Figma and ChatGPT’s collaboration is enabling users to generate FigJam diagrams directly from ChatGPT conversations. Other AI features of Figma products allow editors using Figma products to make targeted adjustments while retaining the visual characteristics of the image, like lassoing image objects and isolating, erasing or expanding them for desired output.Figma also acquired Weavy to enable its users to benefit from the leading AI models and editing tools on a single online canvas while giving users the flexibility to choose models like Seedance, Sora, Veo, Nano-Banana and Seedream per their needs. These features have made the Figma platform powerful and unbeatable in the competitive image editing market.New AI-integrated products like Figma Make, Figma Draw, Figma Sites and Figma Buzz have enabled FIG to grow its customer base robustly. As of Sept. 30, 2025, the company had 12,910 paid customers with more than $10,000 in annual recurring revenues (ARR) and 1,262 paid customers with more than $100,000 in ARR. Figma commanded a net dollar retention rate of 131% for customers spending $10,000 or more annually in the third quarter of 2025.However, Figma’s non-GAAP operating profit contracted 28.9% year over year to $34.02 million. The non-GAPP operating profit margin contracted to 12% from 24% in the year-ago quarter. The contraction in the margin is attributable to cost pressures emerging from the rollout of Figma Make and other AI features in the platform. Despite these, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Figma’s 2025 earnings has been revised upward in the past 60 days.Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchThe Case for Autodesk StockAutodesk is uniquely positioned to leverage decades of proprietary design, engineering, architecture and construction data to train its AI models. The integration of generative design, predictive analytics, and automated workflows powered by AI is transforming how professionals are able to deliver measurable productivity gains that justify premium pricing.Autodesk’s management guidance highlights accelerating adoption of AI-powered tools across AutoCAD, Revit, and Fusion platforms. For instance, ADSK’s AI-based Sketch AutoConstrain in Fusion has been able to deliver more than 2.6 million constraints since its launch. ADSK is able to score more than 60% acceptance rate with nearly 90% of sketches fully constrained.With these factors, ADSK will be able to position itself to benefit from incremental AI monetization, consumption-based monetization for machine execution, APIs, MCPs and subscription revenues. However, ADSK’s aggressive push into cloud infrastructure and AI integration demands substantial capital deployment for data centers, computing resources, and specialized talent acquisition.Research and development costs remain stubbornly elevated as Autodesk attempts to maintain competitive positioning against emerging threats. Sales and marketing expenditures have intensified to defend market share, while administrative costs associated with global operations expand relentlessly, creating a squeeze on operating leverage.Despite these factors, ADSK's bottom line is growing in double digits. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ADSK’s fiscal 2026 earnings implies a year-over-year rise of 20.5%. The estimate for fiscal 2026 has been revised upward in the past 30 days.Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchFIG vs. ADSK: Price Performance and ValuationIn the past three months, FIG shares have lost 25.7% compared with the 5.4% decline in ADSK shares.Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchOn the valuation front, FIG trades at a forward 12-month P/S multiple of 12.51X, higher than ADSK’s 8.12X.Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchConclusion: FIG vs. ADSKWhile both Figma and Autodesk are experiencing cost-related headwinds, these challenges are largely temporary and expected to ease over time. Given Autodesk’s significantly larger scale and market capitalization, the company is better positioned to absorb near-term cost pressures and subsequently monetize its investments, making it a comparatively safer bet at the present stage, as investors will face less volatility in this AI growth phase. Figma and Autodesk carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) each at present. 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Today, you have a rare chance to position your portfolio at the forefront of this opportunity.See Top Quantum Stocks Now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Figma, Inc. (FIG): Free Stock Analysis Report Autodesk, Inc. (ADSK): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks