Onlook

Capabilities

• Visual DOM editing with code write-back Select elements in a browser-like canvas and adjust layout, styling, and text while the editor maps each element to its code location and updates the source.[1][2]

• AI chat with project access An assistant reads and indexes the loaded code and uses tools to understand and edit it, including queuing multiple messages at once.[1]

• Text, image, or template project starts Create a Next.js app in seconds starting from a prompt, a reference image, or prebuilt templates.[1]

• Branching and checkpoints Experiment on branches and save and restore from checkpoints without leaving the editor.[1]

• In-app deployment and sharing Deploy directly from the application, generate shareable links, and connect a custom domain.[1][2]

• Brand and theme management Manage brand assets, design tokens, pages, layers, and project images through the editor theme system.[1][2]

• Real-time collaboration Multiple collaborators edit the same project together in real time; commenting is still on the roadmap.[1]

• Self-hosted Apache-2.0 codebase Run the open-source codebase yourself with documented single-machine, Docker Compose, and cloud deployment paths, keeping data placement under your control.[1][2]

Who it fits

• Designer-developer pairs on React and Tailwind codebases can evaluate Onlook because designers edit the live product directly while developers review real diffs, removing the mockup-to-code handoff the vendor was founded to bridge.[1][2]

• Product teams prototyping in production code can evaluate Onlook because text, image, and template starts plus branching and checkpoints compress the prototype-to-shippable path inside one Next.js project.[1][2]

• Organizations that require self-hosting can evaluate Onlook because the Apache-2.0 codebase with single-machine, Docker Compose, and cloud guides gives infrastructure teams control over deployment and data placement.[1][2]

Boundaries to check

• Teams with no React codebase or web developers should avoid Onlook because its documented value centers on Next.js, React, and Tailwind CSS, which other stacks cannot use as documented.[1][2]

• Buyers needing a managed tool today should avoid Onlook for now because the hosted cloud version is in closed beta with custom team pricing, so immediate self-serve signup and published per-seat rates do not exist.[1]

• Teams needing documented compliance and support terms should hold off because data locations, enterprise SLAs, and offline behavior are unpublished, so regulated buyers cannot complete diligence from public sources alone.[1][2]

How it compares