getdesign.md vs Design Extractor
Design Extractor builds a DESIGN.md from any public URL you give it. 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.
getdesign.md is a curated collection of ready-made DESIGN.md files for well-known brands. Here is how the two compare. New to the format? Read what a DESIGN.md is.
Checked on against getdesign.md, its request page, the Catalog Pass page and the awesome-design-md repository. Offers and prices change, so check their site before you decide.
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.
Side by side
| getdesign.md | Design Extractor | |
|---|---|---|
| Spec compliance | States that its files follow Google's official DESIGN.md spec. | Follows Google's DESIGN.md spec: front matter with only the spec's properties and no custom top-level keys, the canonical sections in the spec's order, and component entries limited to the spec's eight properties with literal values. |
| Component recipes | Each file covers components. We found no mention of per-component HTML and CSS on the site. | Each component it picks from the page, such as the header, footer, buttons, inputs and cards, ships as a recipe: distilled HTML and CSS in the Components section, so your coding agent can rebuild it. |
| Verified against the live site | We found no description of checks against the live site. | Yes. Each recipe is rendered on its own and checked against the live site: a structural match of its parts and a pixel comparison. A component that does not pass is flagged with the reason, never shipped as verified. |
| Region-restricted sites | Not described on the site. Files come from the catalog or from a private request. | Yes. When a site blocks visitors from some countries, the failed run offers a country picker, with the countries the page loads from first, and runs the same extraction through a browser there. A country run costs the Pro price plus a 6-credit surcharge (16 credits). |
| What it is | A curated collection of DESIGN.md files analyzed from real websites, maintained by the VoltAgent team. | A generator: you give it a public URL, it returns that site's DESIGN.md. |
| Any website on demand | Not instantly. For a site outside the free set you send a private request; the file is delivered to your inbox. No delivery time is stated. | Yes. Paste any public URL and the run starts right away. The DESIGN.md opens on the result page when it finishes. |
| Free files | Yes. A free set you can download or install with npx getdesign@latest add stripe. The same files are in the awesome-design-md GitHub repo (84 entries, MIT license). | Extractions are paid. The gallery of DESIGN.md files we already extracted is free to read and copy. |
| Coverage | A website catalog of 551 sites. The catalog entries we opened outside the free set offered a preview and a paid request, not a download. | Any public website, plus a small gallery of pre-extracted brands. |
| Price | Free set: free. Private DESIGN.md: $39 one-time (listed at $59). Catalog Pass: $99 a month for 45 curated files, with 5 or more added monthly. | Prepaid credits, no subscription. Packs start at $5 for 50 credits; a Pro extraction costs 10 credits. Credits never expire. |
| How the file is made | Described on each entry as an independent analysis of publicly observable patterns, curated as a starting point for inspiration. | Rendered from the live site in a browser at the time you run it. Pro samples the site's key pages. |
| Freshness | A snapshot from when the site was analyzed. The entries we opened show no analysis date. | As current as the moment you run it. A re-extraction later is a new, priced run. |
| Agent access | A CLI that installs a catalog file by name. We found no MCP server or API on the site. | An MCP server for Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, ChatGPT and other clients, and a Chrome extension for the tab you are on. |
| Extras | Live light and dark previews of each file, and starter kits (the website kit is $249 one-time, listed at $299). | Free tools: a DESIGN.md validator, a website font finder and a color palette extractor. |
What getdesign.md offers
- A free set of DESIGN.md files for well-known brands, also on GitHub as awesome-design-md under the MIT license.
- A one-line install from the terminal with npx getdesign.
- Live light and dark previews of each file.
- Private DESIGN.md files for other sites on request, delivered by email, and a monthly Catalog Pass.
- Starter kits, such as a website kit.
A collection vs any URL on demand
A collection is quick when the brand you want is in it. Your own product, a client's site or a small competitor is rarely in any catalog. getdesign.md answers that with a paid private request delivered by email.
Design Extractor answers it with an extraction you run yourself: paste the URL on the home page and the DESIGN.md is made from the live site, with recipes checked against it. See finished files in the gallery.
How to switch from getdesign.md
- Paste the site's URL on the Design Extractor home page and run a Pro extraction.
- Save the result as DESIGN.md in your repository root, replacing the old file, and keep the pointer in AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md. Check it with the free DESIGN.md Validator if you edit it by hand.
- Or let your agent do it: connect the MCP server and ask it to extract the site.
Verdict
Choose Design Extractor if you need a DESIGN.md for any site on demand, not only a catalog, with component recipes checked against the live site. It reads the site as it looks when you run it and follows Google's spec, with a recipe for each component it picks from the page; a recipe that does not pass is flagged with the reason. Your agent can start extractions itself over the MCP server.
Other comparisons
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
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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.
FAQ
getdesign.md vs Design Extractor: questions
Short answers about getdesign.md and Design Extractor, checked on 2026-10-14.
Partly. The free set on getdesign.md, also on GitHub as awesome-design-md under the MIT license, can be downloaded or installed with npx getdesign. A private DESIGN.md for another site costs $39 one-time, and the Catalog Pass costs $99 a month. Prices checked on 2026-10-14.
Yes, as a paid private request: you submit the URL and they deliver the file to your inbox. On 2026-10-14 the site had no instant, self-serve generator. Design Extractor generates a DESIGN.md from any public URL as soon as you run it.
Yes. The front matter uses only the spec's properties, with no custom top-level keys, the canonical sections come in the spec's order, and component entries use only the spec's eight properties with literal values. The free DESIGN.md Validator checks any file against the spec.
Each recipe is rendered on its own and compared with the live site: a structural match of its 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.
No. Extractions use prepaid credits: packs start at $5 for 50 credits and a Pro extraction costs 10 credits. Credits never expire and there is no subscription. Browsing the gallery and using the free tools cost nothing.
Yes. Both give you a DESIGN.md that you put in your repository and point your agent to. Switching to Design Extractor does not change your agent setup.
Get a DESIGN.md for the site you need
Paste any public URL. Pro samples the site's key pages and returns a spec-compliant DESIGN.md with component recipes checked against the live site.