Open Source
Free
- Full platform access
- Desktop app and CLI
- React project integration
- Claude Code handoff
Glue — No-Code AI Builders Platform
Founded 2025|San Francisco, CA|2-10 people|Open Source
What is Glue?
Glue is an open-source design editor that gives AI coding agents an infinite canvas to create and iterate on UI components, then export production-ready code in real time. Part of YC W2026, it was founded by Perbhat Kumar (ex-Amazon Kindle, ex-Microsoft Copilot Studio) and Tejas Priyadarshi (ex-Microsoft, ex-Meta).
The tool addresses the design-to-code gap that coding agents struggle with. Developers hover and click on UI elements in the Glue desktop app, add specific visual annotations (colors, spacing, layout changes), and the tool exports those annotations with source file and line number data as readable specs for coding agents. The handoff command generates plugin files for Claude Code, with Codex and Gemini CLI support coming soon.
Glue integrates with existing React projects (Next.js 14+ and Vite 5+) as devDependencies with zero production impact. The founders position it as "the first design tool with AI as the primary user" — rather than bolting AI onto traditional design tools, Glue is built from the ground up for human-agent collaboration in the collapsing EPD (Engineering, Product, Design) workflow.
Key features
Core capabilities this platform advertises.
- Infinite design canvas
- Agent-driven UI creation
- Production code export
- Claude Code & Codex integration
- Open source
Strengths and tradeoffs
What this tool does well, and the limitations to keep in mind.
Pros
- Novel approach as the first design tool built with AI agents as the primary user
- Open source with zero-cost adoption and zero production impact (devDependencies only)
- Visual annotation workflow provides higher fidelity than text prompting for UI changes
- Strong founder backgrounds from Amazon, Microsoft Copilot Studio, and Meta
- Non-destructive integration that works with existing React projects without modification
Cons
- Very limited framework support — currently only Next.js 14+ and Vite 5+ React projects
- Only Claude Code handoff works today — Codex and Gemini support coming soon
- Extremely early stage with 2-person team and unclear monetization path
- Annotation-based workflow may not scale for large redesigns requiring many UI changes
Plans & pricing
What's included in each plan, and how the tiers compare.
Common use cases
Designers and developers building UI with AI agents
- UI component design
- Visual prototyping with agents
- Design-to-code workflow
- Agent-assisted interface building
Using Glue with Respan
Glue helps coding agents create better UI components through visual annotations. Respan can monitor the LLM calls made by the coding agents that consume Glue specs, tracking cost and quality of AI-generated code.
- Monitor LLM calls made by coding agents processing Glue design specs
- Track the cost of AI-powered UI generation workflows
- Evaluate quality of agent-generated code from Glue annotations
Best Glue alternatives & competitors
Top companies in No-Code AI Builders you can use instead of Glue.
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Voiceflow
Visual conversation design canvas
Botpress
Open-source chatbot platform
Langflow
Flowise
Open-source visual LLM workflow builder
Stack AI
Marblism
Pickaxe
Relevance AI
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Wordware
Sparkles
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Rivet
Compare Glue
Side-by-side comparisons with other tools in this category.
Best integrations for Glue
Companies from adjacent layers in the AI stack that work well with Glue.
Last verified: March 27, 2026