State of DESIGN.md 2026 | getdesign.md
NewState of DESIGN.md 2026The first data study on the AI-built design gap.→
The design<br>Gap<br>Building with AI has a design context problem.
State of DESIGN.md 2026<br>Across AI coding agents and web builders, one design request repeats: make it look more premium, more consistent, and less generic.<br>Based on 64K+ getdesign.md onboarding responses from developers and vibe coders exploring DESIGN.md to improve how their AI-built apps look.
About the survey
AI-assisted coding lets developers, founders, and vibe coders turn ideas into apps, landing pages, and product interfaces faster than ever.<br>The harder question comes after the first generated version: how do you make it look intentional, premium, and consistent enough to ship?<br>This report is based on onboarding responses from 64K+ users who joined getdesign.md in 11 weeks to improve the design of their AI-built apps and websites with DESIGN.md files.
102K+
GitHub stars
64K+
Registered users
Joined getdesign.md in 11 weeks
1M+
DESIGN.md downloads & usage
Registered and unregistered users
How are builders building now?
How are you building your website right now?#<br>AI coding assistants<br>Claude / ChatGPT / Cursor / Replit
64.3%
AI app platforms<br>Lovable / Bolt / v0
22%
No-code & CMS platforms<br>Framer / Webflow / Wix / Canva / WordPress / Squarespace / GoDaddy
9.1%
Other / not listed
4.6%
For non-technical builders, dedicated web builders are no longer the obvious default. The ones who chose 'Other / not listed' typed in their own stack. Common write-ins included Figma, Google Stitch, OpenCode, and Shopify.
0 in 0<br>Builds on AI app platforms
0.0%<br>Still starts in no-code or CMS platforms
Non-technical builders are starting outside the tools made for them.<br>Developers always lived in code. The surprise is everyone else: web builders were invented so people without code could ship, yet in the AI era they too go straight to the model, letting a coding agent like Claude Code or Codex build the site.
Consistent, premium design without a designer.<br>DESIGN.md puts design context in the prompt, and a vibe coder gets what used to take a design hire: consistency, taste, and interfaces that do not look AI-generated.
Which builder platforms are leading?
Web app builders, sized by their share of all builders#<br>Ranked by share of all builders, tile sizes eased so every tool stays readable · the 64.3% on AI coding assistants are excluded (see 01)<br>Lovable<br>13.7%
v0<br>5.1%
Other<br>4.6%<br>Figma<br>Stitch<br>Gemini<br>Shopify<br>Trae<br>Copilot<br>Kiro
Bolt<br>3.3%
Framer<br>2.5%
WordPress<br>2.3%
Canva<br>2.1%
Webflow<br>1.4%
Wix<br>0.4%
Squarespace<br>0.3%
GoDaddy<br>0.2%
Lovable<br>13.7%
v0<br>5.1%
Other<br>4.6%
Bolt<br>3.3%
Framer<br>2.5%
WordPress<br>2.3%
Canva<br>2.1%
Webflow<br>1.4%
Wix<br>0.4%
Squarespace<br>0.3%
GoDaddy<br>0.2%
AI app platforms: who wins the category?#<br>Lovable
61.9%
v0
23.3%
Bolt
14.8%
Lovable dominates inside AI app platforms, but AI app platforms are only 22% across all builder categories. The bigger market still starts outside dedicated app builders.<br>Share within category · 22% of everyone
0.0%<br>Lovable among all builders surveyed
0%<br>Vietnam's v0 share, against a flat 23% everywhere else
The tool race is not the design race.<br>Dedicated builders help people ship faster, but they do not automatically make the result feel premium, consistent, or distinct. The design gap remains after the site is built.
Which AI app builder leads by market?#<br>Lovablev0Bolt
All markets<br>100%62%<br>23%<br>15%
🇺🇸United States<br>16%61%<br>26%<br>13%
🇪🇺Europe<br>13.6%62%<br>24%<br>14%
🇬🇧United Kingdom<br>11%61%<br>25%<br>14%
🇰🇷South Korea<br>9.8%65%<br>18%<br>17%
🇯🇵Japan<br>6.4%61%<br>24%<br>15%
🇻🇳Vietnam<br>5.1%51%<br>32%<br>17%
🇸🇬Singapore<br>3.7%57%<br>29%<br>14%
🇮🇳India<br>3.4%66%<br>21%<br>13%
🇧🇷Brazil<br>3.2%65%<br>25%
🇭🇰Hong Kong<br>3.1%60%<br>27%<br>13%
🇮🇩Indonesia<br>3%59%<br>26%<br>15%
🇹🇭Thailand<br>1.9%59%<br>28%<br>13%
🇨🇳China<br>1.7%63%<br>26%<br>12%
🇹🇼Taiwan<br>1.7%59%<br>26%<br>14%
🇦🇺Australia<br>1.2%53%<br>27%<br>20%
🇨🇦Canada<br>0.9%58%<br>23%<br>19%
Bar: share on each tool within the market (sums to 100) · Right: market's share of all app builders · Europe is 48 countries combined, UK shown separately · 91 additional markets are included in the aggregate
No-code & CMS platforms: who wins the category?#<br>Framer
27.3%
WordPress
25.5%
Canva
22.7%
Webflow
15.2%
Others
9.3%
WordPress still holds the field.<br>Even among builders who jumped to AI, it stays the second most-used tool across no-code and CMS, and the only legacy platform anywhere near the top.
Framer leads, but the race is tight: WordPress and Canva sit just behind. No single tool owns the category, and Canva outranking Webflow shows how far design tools have moved into building real sites.<br>Share within category · 9.1% of everyone
What needs fixing?
What's your primary goal?#<br>Asked when builders sign up for getdesign.md to bring a DESIGN.md into their workflow.<br>Improve how my site looks
59.4%
Match a design I admire
23.6%
Use my design as a brand source
17%
Source: getdesign.md...