DESIGN.md tools compared

Design Extractor builds a DESIGN.md from any public URL. The file follows Google's DESIGN.md spec and ships each component it picks from the page as an HTML and CSS recipe your coding agent can rebuild. Each recipe is checked against the live site or flagged with the reason. It also works on sites that only answer visitors from certain countries.

Other tools take different routes. Collections such as getdesign.md and Refero Styles offer ready-made files for sites they have already analyzed; designmd.me generates one from a URL; TypeUI's Chrome extension fills its own template from the styles in your tab. Each comparison lists what we checked and when. New to the format? Read what a DESIGN.md is.

Why Design Extractor

  • Follows Google's DESIGN.md spec

    The YAML front matter uses only the properties the spec defines, with no custom top-level keys. The canonical sections come in the spec's order, from Overview to Do's and Don'ts. Component entries in the front matter use only the spec's eight properties, with literal values. Check any file with the free DESIGN.md Validator.

  • A recipe for each component it picks from the page

    The header, footer, buttons, inputs, cards and other components picked from the page each ship as a recipe: distilled HTML and CSS with literal values, inside the Components section of the DESIGN.md. Each recipe lists its parts and the hover and focus states seen on the site, so your coding agent can rebuild the component instead of guessing it.

  • Verified against the live site

    Each recipe is rendered on its own and checked against the live site: a structural match of the rendered parts against what was measured on the page, and a pixel comparison with a fresh capture of the real element. A recipe that fails is rebuilt and checked again. One that still does not pass is flagged with the reason, never shipped as verified. The result page shows how closely the components match and how many of the site's colors and text styles are covered: see Stripe in the gallery.

  • Works on region-restricted sites

    Some sites only answer visitors from certain countries. When a run fails that way, the result page offers a country picker, with the countries the page was found to load from first, and runs the same extraction through a browser in the country you choose. A country run costs the Pro price plus a 6-credit surcharge (16 credits). If the extraction fails, we refund your credits.

Comparisons

  • getdesign.md vs Design Extractor

    A curated collection of ready-made DESIGN.md files compared with a spec-compliant DESIGN.md, with component recipes checked against the live site, from any URL.

  • designmd.me vs Design Extractor

    Two URL-to-DESIGN.md generators compared on spec compliance, component recipes, checks against the live site and price.

  • Refero Styles vs Design Extractor

    A large free library of website styles compared with a spec-compliant DESIGN.md, with component recipes checked against the live site, from any URL.

  • TypeUI vs Design Extractor

    TypeUI's free Chrome extension, which fills its own template from the styles in your tab, compared with a spec-compliant DESIGN.md with component recipes checked against the live site.