AI tools for designers

A short list, organised by the work you are trying to do. No tool is best at everything, so each comparison says when to reach for which.

What each tool does restates its vendor’s own pages, checked on the date shown.
Good for, less suitable for and the comparisons are Shortcut’s reading. Tools are listed alphabetically and use the same template.

Which tool for the job

Craft guidance

“I want to turn my idea into a working prototype”

All four produce something you can click. They differ in where you start and what you are left with.

Figma Make
Use it when you already have frames in Figma and want them to come alive without leaving it.
v0
Use it when you have a screenshot or Figma file and want real, responsive web code you can deploy.
Lovable
Use it when the prototype needs a backend and data, and you have no engineer to hand.
Cursor
Use it when the prototype belongs in an existing codebase, and you are comfortable reading code or working beside someone who is.

“I want critique on a screen before I show it”

A general assistant gives the broadest critique. Specialist tools check one thing properly.

Claude
Use it when you want hierarchy, spacing, states and copy reviewed together, with findings typed by how much weight they carry.
Stark
Use it when the question is accessibility, and you want it checked in the file itself instead of estimated from an image.
Figma AI and the Figma agent
Use it when the problem is content: unrealistic placeholder text hiding layout issues.

“I want help making sense of research”

The choice depends on how much research you run and who needs to see it.

Dovetail
Use it when research is ongoing, several people contribute, and findings must stay linked to recordings and transcripts.
Claude
Use it when you have one round of notes and want a first pass at themes you will then verify by hand.

“I want generated UI to follow my design system”

Each tool has its own way of being told about your system. None follows it unprompted.

Figma AI and the Figma agent
Use it when your system lives in Figma libraries: set guidelines for the agent on each library.
Framer agent
Use it when you build in Framer: save your rules as a skill and reference your components and styles.
Claude
Use it when you want to import the system, then ask for a list of every token and component used.
v0
Use it when the system exists as coded components you want converted and reused.

Tools by job

Research

Also useful here: Claude

ChatGPT

OpenAI

A general assistant that OpenAI describes as chat, work and code in one place. Its overview lists drafting and editing writing, creating images and graphic designs from a prompt, writing and debugging code, voice, and connecting to work files and apps.

From ChatGPT overview(opens in a new tab)

Good for

Thinking through a problem or a decision in conversation
First drafts of copy, research plans and summaries
Quick visual directions from a prompt

Limits, and a first thing to try

Less suitable for

Anything that needs your own research data, unless you supply it
Final interface design inside your design system

Try it for

Paste your interview notes, ask for themes with the quotes behind each, then check every theme against the notes yourself.

Learning curve: Low
Platform: Web, desktop and mobile apps
Price: Not checked. See the official site.
Status: Verified 9 Oct 2026

Official site(opens in a new tab)

Dovetail

A customer-research platform. It describes turning studies and transcripts into shared customer intelligence, with automatic analysis that structures feedback.

From Dovetail website and changelog(opens in a new tab)

Good for

A shared home for interviews and feedback
First-pass analysis across many transcripts
Keeping findings traceable to their source

Limits, and a first thing to try

Less suitable for

One-off projects with a handful of notes
Replacing your own reading of the transcripts

Try it for

Upload a round of interviews, review the automatic analysis against the transcripts, and correct the themes before sharing.

Learning curve: Medium
Platform: Web
Price: Not checked. See the official site.
Status: Verified 7 Oct 2026

Official site(opens in a new tab)

UI generation

Also useful here: Claude, Figma Make, v0

Figma AI and the Figma agent

Figma

AI tools inside Figma Design: First Draft, rename layers, rewrite and translate text, replace content, add interactions, and image generation and editing. The agent can follow guidelines you set for your libraries. Figma notes that AI outputs may be misleading or wrong.

From Figma Help, Use AI tools in Figma Design(opens in a new tab)

Good for

Work that stays in your Figma file and libraries
Realistic placeholder content
Tidying files: naming, translating, resizing copy

Limits, and a first thing to try

Less suitable for

Prototypes that need real data or logic
Final copy without review

Try it for

Replace lorem ipsum across a screen with realistic content, then check the layout with the longest strings.

Learning curve: Low
Platform: Figma Design
Price: Not checked. See the official site.
Status: Verified 7 Oct 2026

Official site(opens in a new tab)

Framer agent

Framer

An agent inside Framer that can reference the pages, components and styles in your project. Skills let you save instructions for your design system, writing style or CMS workflow and reuse them.

From Framer updates, Skills(opens in a new tab)

Good for

Websites you will publish from Framer
Keeping generated pages on your own styles
Repeated content and CMS tasks

Limits, and a first thing to try

Less suitable for

Application UI with complex logic
Teams whose site is not built in Framer

Try it for

Save your section spacing and heading rules as a skill, generate a new page, and compare it with one you built by hand.

Learning curve: Low
Platform: Framer
Price: Not checked. See the official site.
Status: Verified 7 Oct 2026

Official site(opens in a new tab)

Webflow AI

Webflow

Webflow says its AI can build a site, modify page designs, generate copy, generate code and optimise for conversion. It lists an AI site builder, React components generated with AI and then edited visually, and generated CMS collection items.

From Webflow AI page(opens in a new tab)

Good for

Marketing sites and landing pages
Teams already building in Webflow
Generating a component, then adjusting it visually

Limits, and a first thing to try

Less suitable for

Application UI with complex state
Teams whose site is not on Webflow

Try it for

Generate a first version of a landing page, replace every line of generated copy with your own, then test it on a phone.

Learning curve: Medium
Platform: Web
Price: Not checked. See the official site.
Status: Verified 9 Oct 2026

Official site(opens in a new tab)

Prototyping

Also useful here: Cursor, Framer agent

Figma Make

Figma

A prompt-to-app tool that turns ideas and existing Figma designs into interactive apps. You can attach your designs, components and other files to a prompt. Figma notes it may include third-party content such as fonts, packages or images.

From Figma Help, Explore Figma Make(opens in a new tab)

Good for

Turning a designed frame into something clickable
Designers who want to stay in Figma
Exploring several solutions quickly

Limits, and a first thing to try

Less suitable for

Changing an existing production codebase
Anything you will publish without checking content rights

Try it for

Attach a designed frame, ask for the interaction you cannot show statically, and test it with a colleague.

Learning curve: Low
Platform: Figma
Price: Not checked. See the official site.
Status: Verified 7 Oct 2026

Official site(opens in a new tab)

Lovable

A full-stack AI development platform for building, iterating on and deploying web applications using natural language. Each project produces a codebase that can be synced to GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket.

From Lovable documentation(opens in a new tab)

Good for

A working app from a description, including a backend
Founders and designers without an engineering team
Prototypes you may hand to developers as code

Limits, and a first thing to try

Less suitable for

Following an existing design system closely
Fine visual control

Try it for

Describe one end-to-end task, build it, and run a usability test on the working version.

Learning curve: Medium
Platform: Web
Price: Not checked. See the official site.
Status: Verified 7 Oct 2026

Official site(opens in a new tab)

Replit Agent

Replit

Replit says Agent turns ideas into apps, designs, slides and more from plain language. Its documentation describes it setting up the project, writing code, setting up infrastructure, testing the result and publishing, with project types including web app, mobile app, slides and design.

From Replit documentation, Agent(opens in a new tab)

Good for

A working, hosted prototype from a description
People without a development environment of their own
Small internal tools

Limits, and a first thing to try

Less suitable for

Following an existing design system closely
Work that has to fit an existing codebase

Try it for

Describe one task end to end, publish it, and put it in front of five people before refining anything.

Learning curve: Medium
Platform: Web
Price: Not checked. See the official site.
Status: Verified 9 Oct 2026

Official site(opens in a new tab)

v0

Vercel

An AI agent that creates real code and full-stack apps. Its documentation says it can clone pages from screenshots or Figma files, convert design-system components into code, and deploy in one click.

From v0 documentation(opens in a new tab)

Good for

Going from a screenshot or Figma file to working UI
Responsive prototypes in real code
Teams that deploy on Vercel

Limits, and a first thing to try

Less suitable for

Non-web platforms
Visual exploration before you know what you want

Try it for

Give it a Figma frame and your tokens, ask for the responsive behaviour, and resize the result to find where it breaks.

Learning curve: Medium
Platform: Web
Price: Not checked. See the official site.
Status: Verified 7 Oct 2026

Official site(opens in a new tab)

Coding

Also useful here: ChatGPT, Lovable, Replit Agent, v0, Webflow AI

Cursor

Anysphere

A coding agent that understands a codebase, plans and builds features, fixes bugs and reviews changes. Its changelog lists a live browser preview and a design mode.

From Cursor documentation and changelog(opens in a new tab)

Good for

Changing an existing codebase
Prototypes that need real logic
Working alongside developers in their tool

Limits, and a first thing to try

Less suitable for

Designers with no code experience starting alone
Quick visual exploration

Try it for

Ask the agent to add one missing state to an existing component, review the diff with a developer, and test it in the preview.

Learning curve: High
Platform: Desktop app, with cloud agents
Price: Not checked. See the official site.
Status: Verified 7 Oct 2026

Official site(opens in a new tab)

Design critique

Claude

Anthropic

A general assistant. Its release notes say you can ask for designs, decks or documents in any conversation, with on-canvas editing and importing your design system.

From Claude release notes(opens in a new tab)

Good for

Structured critique of a screen
Organising research notes
Edge cases, states and behaviour documentation
UX copy from real rules

Limits, and a first thing to try

Less suitable for

Measuring contrast or pixel values from an image
Replacing an accessibility audit

Try it for

Paste a flow and ask for edge cases per step, then ask for behaviour documentation with open questions listed separately.

Learning curve: Low
Platform: Web, desktop and mobile apps
Price: Not checked. See the official site.
Status: Verified 7 Oct 2026

Official site(opens in a new tab)

UX writing

Also useful here: ChatGPT, Claude, Figma AI and the Figma agent, Webflow AI

Images

Also useful here: ChatGPT, Figma AI and the Figma agent

Adobe Firefly

Adobe

Creates and edits images, videos, audio and vector graphics from text prompts. Adobe states its models are trained on licensed Adobe Stock and public-domain content.

From Adobe Firefly product page(opens in a new tab)

Good for

Placeholder and concept imagery
Vector graphics from a description
Work where the training source matters to your client

Limits, and a first thing to try

Less suitable for

Interface layouts
Imagery that must match an existing illustration style exactly

Try it for

Generate three hero-image directions for a concept, pick one, and brief a designer or photographer from it.

Learning curve: Low
Platform: Web, and inside Adobe apps
Price: Not checked. See the official site.
Status: Verified 7 Oct 2026

Official site(opens in a new tab)

Canva AI

Canva

Canva describes Canva AI 2.0 as going from idea to finished design in one conversation. It says every generated text box, image and graphic is fully editable, and that a memory learns your Brand System, style and preferences.

From Canva AI page(opens in a new tab)

Good for

Marketing and social graphics from a description
Staying on brand without a designer checking each piece
Non-designers who need something presentable quickly

Limits, and a first thing to try

Less suitable for

Product UI and interaction design
Work that has to live in a design system or in code

Try it for

Describe the piece you need, let it draft, then edit the layers by hand until it says what you mean.

Learning curve: Low
Platform: Web and apps
Price: Not checked. See the official site.
Status: Verified 9 Oct 2026

Official site(opens in a new tab)

Accessibility

Stark

A suite of accessibility tools that integrates with Figma, FigJam, Sketch, browsers and GitHub. It describes continuous scanning of design files and code, with AI-powered suggestions.

From Stark website(opens in a new tab)

Good for

Checking accessibility where you already work
Catching issues in the design file before build
Tracking issues from design through to code

Limits, and a first thing to try

Less suitable for

Replacing manual testing with assistive technology
Judging whether a flow makes sense to a disabled user

Try it for

Scan a file before handoff, fix what it finds, and list for the tester what a scan cannot check.

Learning curve: Low
Platform: Figma, FigJam, Sketch, browser extensions, GitHub
Price: Not checked. See the official site.
Status: Verified 7 Oct 2026

Official site(opens in a new tab)

Documentation

Also useful here: Claude