About The Design Tools
Why this directory exists, how tools get chosen, and why we started building our own.
What this is
Hundreds of design tools, reviewed one at a time by an actual person. Every listing says where the tool falls short, not just what it is good at, and nobody can pay to be here. Most directories read like advertising — this one tells you when not to buy something.
The tools we built
Ten free browser tools we built and host ourselves: colour palette generator, contrast checker, CSS gradient generator, design system generator, CMF spec sheet generator, invoice generator, image compressor, favicon generator, Make It Pretty, and logo maker. No account, nothing uploaded — and each has its own listing with its own drawbacks.
How a tool gets in
Hand-picked, never auto-scraped. Pricing, learning curve, integrations and honest drawbacks are checked before anything earns a place. New tools go in as they are found, not to a schedule.
Money, trust and corrections
Some outbound links are affiliate links — it never affects listings, rankings or drawbacks. The Design Tools is a small, independent directory run from the EU; every guide is written or reviewed by a person who opened the tool. Something wrong? Tell us and it gets fixed. Full editorial policy. Contact: hello@thedesigntools.site.
Frequently asked questions
Everything you might want to know before submitting or trusting a listing.
No — tools carry different pricing models: Free, Freemium, Paid or Quote-only. Every card shows the pricing model as a badge before you click through, and each tool page states the actual price where the vendor publishes one.
Every tool is reviewed individually and written up with real strengths and real drawbacks — no tool is added just to inflate the count. Nobody can pay to be listed; sponsored placements exist but are labelled "Sponsored" and kept visually separate from the editorial directory.
Yes — use the submission form below. Tell us what it does and why it belongs here. Submissions are reviewed by hand, so getting to the point in the "why it deserves a listing" field genuinely helps.
New tools are added on an ongoing basis, and existing entries are periodically re-checked for dead links, pricing changes and outdated claims.