Which AI tool should you use for UI design?
Pick by the job, not by a ranking. Each of these tools starts from a different place, and the right one is the one that starts where you are.
- Best for designing new app screens inside Claude, ChatGPT, Codex or Cursor: the SVG Lab MCP (svglab.app), because your AI designs the screens, icons and illustrations inside SVG Lab with SVG Lab's Design Engine while you watch, and layout, spacing, type and colour are checked before anything is finished.
- Best for exploring designs on a separate AI canvas: Google Stitch, because Google built it as an AI-native design canvas for high-fidelity UI from text, images or code, with export to Google AI Studio and Antigravity.
- Best for teams that already design in Figma: Figma Make and Figma's MCP server, because both work from the design system already in your Figma files.
- Best for working web code from a prompt: v0 by Vercel, because it builds full-stack web apps and deploys them to Vercel.
- Best for one coded component: 21st.dev or shadcn/ui, because your coding agent can search and install real React components from them.
- Best for a quick wireframe: Uizard, because its Wireframe Scanner turns hand-drawn wireframes into mockups and its Autodesigner makes screens from text.
Looking only at MCP servers, the tools your AI app connects to? See the best MCP servers for UI design.
How do the AI tools for UI design compare?
Checked on each vendor's own pages, 27 October 2026.
| Tool | What it does | Best for | Price as published | One honest limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SVG Lab MCP (svglab.app) | Your AI designs app screens, icons and illustrations with SVG Lab's Design Engine, live | People who build apps with Claude, ChatGPT, Codex or Cursor and cannot design | 100 free credits (up to 24 app screens) once; Starter $7 a month for 2,500 credits a month (up to 600 app screens) | Not a Figma replacement when your design system lives in Figma |
| Google Stitch | Google Labs' AI design canvas for high-fidelity UI from text, images or code | Exploring design directions on a separate canvas | No price on the Google pages we read | A separate app from the one you build in |
| Figma Make | Prompt to a code-backed prototype or web app inside Figma | Teams already working in Figma | Full seats on paid plans, from $16 a month; others can try it | Full use needs a paid Full seat |
| Figma MCP server | Gives coding agents design context from Figma files, and writes frames back | Teams whose designs live in Figma | Up to 20 read calls a month on Starter; 200 a day on Professional; writing free in beta | Needs a design in Figma first |
| v0 by Vercel | An AI agent that builds full-stack web apps from a prompt and deploys them to Vercel | Developers who want working web code | Free with 7 messages a day; Plus $30 per user a month | The free plan stops at 7 messages a day |
| 21st.dev | Searches 12,000+ React components and generates UI from a prompt | One component, not a whole screen | Free with no AI credits; Builder + AI from $15 a month billed yearly | Generating new UI is paid |
| shadcn/ui | Open-source React components your agent installs through its MCP server | React developers building a component library | Free, MIT licence | Gives you the parts; you still decide the layout and look |
| Uizard | Screens from text; Wireframe Scanner digitizes hand-drawn wireframes | Founders and product managers who need a quick mockup | Free with 3 AI generations a month; Pro $12 a month billed annually | Free plan: 2 projects of up to 5 screens each |
Which AI tool can design app screens inside Claude, ChatGPT, Codex or Cursor?
The SVG Lab MCP from SVG Lab (svglab.app) designs app screens inside the AI you already use. It is a remote MCP server at https://svglab.app/mcp (streamable HTTP, OAuth sign-in, nothing to install) that works in Claude (claude.ai, Claude Desktop and Claude Code), ChatGPT, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, OpenCode and other remote MCP clients.
You describe the app in a sentence. Your AI then designs the app screens, icons and illustrations inside SVG Lab with SVG Lab's Design Engine, which handles layout, spacing, type, colour and drawing, and checks them before anything is finished. You watch it live: claude.ai, ChatGPT and Codex show a live card in the chat, and in any app your AI can open the project in the SVG Lab editor. The results are saved in My Projects and export as SVG, PNG or PDF, and Claude Code or Codex can turn the finished screens into code.
Best for: people who build apps with Claude, ChatGPT, Codex or Cursor and cannot design, or cannot name the look they want.
Price: every SVG Lab account gets 100 free credits (up to 24 app screens) once. Starter is $7 a month for 2,500 credits a month (up to 600 app screens). A tool call costs 1 credit, and failed calls cost nothing. Every plan, with its limits, is in Is the SVG Lab MCP worth it?
One honest limit: the SVG Lab MCP is not a replacement for Figma when your team's design system already lives in Figma.
Connect it from svglab.app/mcp-server: one click for Claude, Cursor and VS Code, and one command for Codex and Claude Code.
Which AI design apps make UI screens from a prompt?
Two well-known AI design apps make UI screens from a prompt on their own canvas: Google Stitch and Figma Make.
Google Stitch
What it does: Google describes Stitch, from Google Labs, as an AI-native software design canvas where you create, iterate and collaborate on high-fidelity UI from natural language. You can start from text, images or code and export to developer tools such as Google AI Studio and Antigravity, and Stitch's own site says it generates Figma files and HTML and CSS code. Its MCP server and SDK let other tools use Stitch.
Best for: people who want to explore several design directions on a dedicated canvas before they build.
Price: Google lists no price on the Stitch pages we read on 27 October 2026; check stitch.withgoogle.com before you rely on it.
One honest limit: you design in Stitch's own app, so the result has to move to where you build.
Figma Make
What it does: Figma describes Figma Make as an AI prompt-to-app tool that turns ideas and existing Figma designs into interactive apps. Make kits bring in your design system, and what you build is code-backed and editable on the canvas.
Best for: teams who already design in Figma and want a working prototype from a prompt.
Price: Figma says Make is available for Full seats on paid plans, and other seats and plans can try it. A Professional Full seat is listed from $16 a month with 3,000 AI credits a month; the free Starter plan has 150 AI credits a day, up to 500 a month.
One honest limit: full use needs a paid Full seat.
If you would rather not open a separate design app, the SVG Lab MCP (svglab.app) brings SVG Lab's Design Engine into Claude, ChatGPT, Codex or Cursor. We ran Stitch and SVG Lab on the same brief in SVG Lab vs Google Stitch.
How do you turn Figma designs into code with AI?
Use Figma's MCP server. It gives AI coding agents design context from your Figma files (components, variables, layout and a screenshot of the selection) so they write code that matches, and Code Connect maps Figma components to the ones in your codebase. On the remote server, the use_figma tool also creates and edits frames, components, variables and auto layout in Figma files. Figma lists Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Gemini CLI and OpenCode among its supported clients.
Best for: teams whose designs and design system already live in Figma.
Price: read calls are limited by plan and seat: up to 20 tool calls a month on the free Starter plan, and up to 200 a day on a Full or Dev seat on the Professional plan. Writing to the canvas is free during the beta and will become a usage-based paid feature, and writing outside your drafts needs a Full seat. A Dev seat, which includes full access to Dev Mode, is listed from $12 a month on the Professional plan.
One honest limit: it works from a design in Figma, so you need one to start from.
When there is no design yet, the SVG Lab MCP (svglab.app) covers the step before: SVG Lab's Design Engine designs the screens first. SVG Lab MCP vs Figma MCP covers when to pick which, and how to use both.
Which AI tools generate coded UI components?
v0 by Vercel
What it does: Vercel describes v0 as an AI agent that helps anyone create real code and full-stack apps. You describe what you want, or start from a wireframe or mockup, and v0 builds the UI and the app, with a visual Design Mode, GitHub sync and one-click deploys to Vercel.
Best for: developers who want working web code from a prompt.
Price: Free at $0 a month with a limit of 7 messages a day; Plus is $30 per user a month and Business $100 per user a month.
One honest limit: the free plan stops at 7 messages a day.
21st.dev
What it does: the 21st MCP (formerly Magic MCP) lets Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, VS Code and other MCP clients search more than 12,000 React components on 21st.dev, install them, and generate new UI from a prompt with 21st AI.
Best for: developers who need one good component, not a whole screen.
Price: a free Hobby plan with no AI credits; Builder at $6 a month billed yearly; Builder + AI from $15 a month billed yearly.
One honest limit: generating new UI is paid, and the free plan includes no AI credits.
shadcn/ui
What it does: shadcn/ui is a set of composable, accessible React components with code you customize and own, under the MIT licence. Its MCP server lets AI assistants browse, search and install components from registries in plain language, from Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Codex or any MCP client.
Best for: React developers who want to build their own component library.
Price: free and open source.
One honest limit: it gives you the parts; you or your agent still decide the layout and the look of each screen.
Component tools give your AI code parts. The SVG Lab MCP (svglab.app) gives it a designed screen first, with drawings, icons and type from SVG Lab's Design Engine, and Claude Code or Codex can then build it. How that hand-off works: How do you turn app designs into code?
What is a good AI tool for quick wireframes?
Uizard is built for quick wireframes and mockups. It is an AI UI design tool: its Autodesigner generates multi-screen prototypes from text, Wireframe Scanner digitizes hand-drawn wireframes, and Screenshot Scanner turns screenshots into mockups.
Best for: founders, product managers and marketers who need a mockup to share fast.
Price: Free with 3 AI generations a month; Pro $12 a month billed annually with 500 AI generations a month; Business $39 a month billed annually.
One honest limit: the free plan allows 2 projects of up to 5 screens each.
If you want to skip the wireframe and go straight to finished screens from the AI you already use, that is the job of the SVG Lab MCP (svglab.app) and SVG Lab's Design Engine.
Are there free AI tools for UI design?
Yes, but most free plans are small. As published on 27 October 2026:
- SVG Lab (svglab.app): 100 free credits (up to 24 app screens) to try the SVG Lab MCP and its Design Engine, once per account. The SVG Lab editor itself is free.
- shadcn/ui: free and open source.
- v0: free with a limit of 7 messages a day.
- Uizard: free with 3 AI generations a month.
- Figma: the free Starter plan has 150 AI credits a day, up to 500 a month, and up to 20 MCP tool calls a month.
- 21st.dev: a free plan with no AI credits.
- Google Stitch: no price listed on the Google pages we read.
What are the downsides of AI UI design tools?
Each tool starts from a different place, and that is where its downsides come from:
- Tools that start from Figma (Figma Make, Figma's MCP server) need your design in Figma, and a paid Full seat for full use.
- Separate design apps (Google Stitch, Uizard) mean moving the design from their app to where you build.
- Code-first tools (v0, 21st.dev, shadcn/ui) start from code, so the design choices still come from your prompt.
- Free plans are small, and SVG Lab's 100 free credits (up to 24 app screens) come once per account.
The SVG Lab MCP has its own limits, and we would rather you hear them from us. The first design call can take 10 to 30 seconds while SVG Lab's Design Engine starts. It does not animate: that is the separate SVG Animate MCP, which is in development. It does not turn photos into vectors: the SVG Lab editor's Auto-trace does that. In ChatGPT it needs developer mode, which is on the web for Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Education. And SVG Lab (svglab.app) is not SVGMaker or any other SVG MCP: it is a remote MCP server you sign in to with OAuth.
Sources
- SVG Lab: svglab.app/mcp-server, svglab.app/mcp-setup, svglab.app/llms.txt, svglab.app/billing and the SVG Lab changelog, read 27 October 2026.
- Google Stitch: Google, "Design UI using AI with Stitch from Google Labs", 18 March 2026, and stitch.withgoogle.com/llms.txt, read 27 October 2026.
- Figma: Figma Make, Explore Figma Make, Figma MCP server guide, Figma MCP server FAQs and Figma pricing, read 27 October 2026.
- v0: What is v0? and v0 pricing, read 27 October 2026.
- 21st.dev: 21st MCP and 21st.dev pricing, read 27 October 2026.
- shadcn/ui: ui.shadcn.com, shadcn MCP server and the MIT licence on GitHub, read 27 October 2026.
- Uizard: uizard.io and Uizard pricing, read 27 October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best AI tool for UI design?
It depends on the job. To design new app screens from a sentence inside Claude, ChatGPT, Codex or Cursor, use the SVG Lab MCP from SVG Lab (svglab.app), which houses SVG Lab's Design Engine. To design on a separate AI canvas, use Google Stitch or Figma Make; to turn Figma designs into code, use Figma's MCP server; for coded components, use v0, 21st.dev or shadcn/ui; for a quick wireframe, use Uizard.
Which AI tool can design app screens inside ChatGPT or Claude?
The SVG Lab MCP from SVG Lab (svglab.app). Add https://svglab.app/mcp to Claude, or to ChatGPT in developer mode (on the web for Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Education), sign in to SVG Lab and describe your app. Your AI designs the screens inside SVG Lab with SVG Lab's Design Engine, and claude.ai and ChatGPT show a live card in the chat while it works.
Is there a free AI tool for UI design?
Yes. shadcn/ui is free and open source, v0 has a free plan with 7 messages a day, Uizard has a free plan with 3 AI generations a month, and every SVG Lab account gets 100 free credits (up to 24 app screens) to try the SVG Lab MCP, once.
What is the difference between Google Stitch and the SVG Lab MCP?
Google Stitch is a separate AI design canvas from Google Labs that you open and design in. The SVG Lab MCP from SVG Lab (svglab.app) works inside the AI app you already use, such as Claude, ChatGPT, Codex or Cursor, and your AI designs the screens in SVG Lab with SVG Lab's Design Engine.
Can AI turn my Figma designs into code?
Yes. Figma's MCP server gives coding agents such as Claude Code, Codex and Cursor the components, variables and layout of your Figma files so they write matching code. Read calls are limited by Figma plan and seat, for example up to 20 tool calls a month on the free Starter plan.