
Onlook
Open-source 'Cursor for designers' — visually build and edit React apps with AI, in real code.
About
Onlook is an open-source, AI-first visual editor for React and Tailwind projects, often described as the Cursor for designers. You drag, resize, and restyle elements directly in a live preview, and every change syncs to clean production-ready React code — no design-to-code handoff. It supports Figma and GitHub imports, live previews with version history, AI-assisted layout generation, and one-click deployment with custom domains. The onlook-dev/onlook repo (Apache 2.0) has roughly 27,000 stars, and the company went through Y Combinator's Winter 2025 batch.
The honest picture: it is React-and-Tailwind-only — Vue, Svelte, or plain CSS projects need not apply. The hosted product aimed at AI-native designers was in early access as of 2026, so some of the slickest workflows still sit behind a waitlist. Visual editing is great for layout and styling, but complex state logic and data fetching remain code-first work. As with any young startup tool, roadmap velocity depends on the team staying funded.
What it can do
- Visual drag-and-drop editing of live React apps
- AI generation and editing of layouts and components
- Figma and GitHub import
- Every edit syncs to real, production-ready code
- Live preview, version history, and one-click deploys
Setup
Clone onlook-dev/onlook from GitHub and run it locally, or sign up for the hosted product. Connect a GitHub repo or import from Figma, then edit visually or prompt the AI.
Prerequisites
A React + Tailwind project (Next.js recommended). For AI features, an API key for a supported model provider.
Use cases
Works with
Trust score — 9/10
Scored 9/10 (verified tier, metrics-v1). Evidence: Verified via vendor site/docs/GitHub and reputable coverage, wave 52; Trending score 88/100 from researcher assessment.
★ 26,869 GitHub stars
Sources
Every fact above was checked against these sources. Where a claim comes from the provider and couldn't be independently verified, the text says so.