/FAQ

FAQ

Questions, answered.

Everything worth knowing before you ship your first component. Start free, install with one command, and upgrade only when AI Canvas is already paying off.

Getting started

New here? Start with these. Learn what AI Canvas is, who it is for, and how to get your first component into your project in under a minute.

AI Canvas is a registry of animated React components, design systems, and templates you can install straight into your project. Open source and free to start: every free component ships with its full source code, so you use it as is or rebuild it your way. Premium adds more components, complete design systems, and templates. React is a popular tool for building modern products’ user interfaces.

No. If you can copy and paste, you can use AI Canvas. And if you do not write code, paste the install command into your AI agent and it will pull the component, design system, or template into your project for you.

Open any component page, click Copy CLI to grab its install command, paste it into your terminal, and run it. The component drops into your project as real, editable code, and a free account unlocks unlimited one-command installs, free forever.

A CLI, or command-line interface, is a text box where you type one short command to make your computer do something. With AI Canvas you run one command and a finished component lands in your project, ready to use.

A design system is a complete visual language where every color, spacing, and style comes from one shared source, so everything looks like it belongs together. Explore Andromeda, our live design system, to see one in action.

MCP is a standard that connects an AI coding tool like Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor directly to AI Canvas, so it can browse and install components for you inside the chat. See the AI Canvas MCP section for setup.

Yes. Browsing, previewing, copying prompts, and remixing with AI are always free, and a free account unlocks unlimited one-command installs, free forever. Premium adds the closed-source premium components, design systems, and templates at $8.99 per month or $49.99 per year when you want more.

Installing components

Three easy ways to get any component into your project: one CLI command, your AI agent, or a copy and paste of the source. All open source, all React.

Open any component page and copy its install command, then run it in your terminal. The command uses the shadcn CLI to drop the real, editable source straight into your project. You can also have your AI coding agent run it for you, or copy the source by hand.

Yes. Paste the install command into Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or any AI coding tool and it can run it for you. For an even smoother flow, connect the AI Canvas MCP and your agent can browse, inspect, and install components without leaving the chat.

Absolutely. Each component page has a Manual tab that lists the packages to install and the full source to paste in. The free library is open source under MIT, and that source is never hidden. Premium is proprietary: a durable licence to use and ship, not to redistribute.

Components are React with TypeScript, styled with Tailwind CSS and animated with Framer Motion, and some 3D ones use Three.js. They are built for the Next.js App Router and work in any modern React setup, so you can drop them into most React projects.

A registry is a place the shadcn CLI can pull components from by URL. AI Canvas serves its components in this format, which is why one command installs any of them as real source code, not a screenshot to rebuild.

One command pulls in a finished, fully typed component plus its dependencies and places the editable source right in your project. Starting from a finished component turns the job from generate into adapt, which means fewer AI tokens and fewer back and forth rounds on every build.

A free account unlocks unlimited one-command installs, uncounted, and remix with AI is free forever. When you want more, Premium adds the closed-source premium components, full design systems, and templates, the natural next step once AI Canvas is already paying off.

AI Canvas MCP

Connect your AI coding agent to AI Canvas so it can browse and install finished components for you, right inside the chat.

MCP, short for Model Context Protocol, is a standard way for AI tools to plug into outside services. The AI Canvas MCP is a small server that connects your AI coding agent to AI Canvas, so it can find and install components without you leaving the chat. It is free to use.

Setup is one command. Grab the exact command for Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor on the MCP page.

It works with Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor, the three coding agents shown on the AI Canvas MCP page. Any other tool that supports MCP can connect by running the same command.

Your agent gets eight read-only tools to browse categories, search components, inspect a component's details and source, list design systems and templates, and get the exact install command. The right code lands in your project from inside the chat, with nothing changed on our side.

The shadcn CLI is a single command you run yourself to add a component, while the MCP lets your AI agent search, inspect, and install components for you inside the chat. Both deliver the same real, open-source code, so you pick whichever fits how you build.

New components reach your connected agent about five minutes after they ship, since the MCP reads from the live AI Canvas registry with a short cache. After that your agent can browse and install them like any other component.

Yes, the MCP is free and browsing component details is never metered. Pulling actual component, design system, or template source needs a free account, which gives you unlimited one-command installs. Premium adds the closed-source premium components, design systems, and templates at $8.99 per month or $49.99 per year.

Design systems

What AI Canvas design systems give you, how they save build time, and how to install a whole system at once.

A design system is a full, matching visual language built around one shared token file, a single place that defines every color, spacing, and font so the whole set looks consistent. You get that token file plus all the React components that follow it, ready to install as real code.

Every piece already shares the same colors, spacing, and type, so your screens look like one coherent product instead of mismatched parts. Starting from a finished, consistent set means your AI agent adapts rather than generates from scratch, which uses fewer tokens and fewer rounds to ship.

Individual components from a system install with a free account just like any standalone component, with unlimited one-command installs. Installing a whole system in one command, plus the premium components and templates, is part of Premium.

Premium turns a design system into a one-command install for the entire set and unlocks the closed-source premium components and templates built on top of it. It is the natural next step once a system is already saving you time, priced at $8.99 per month or $49.99 per year.

Plans and Premium

What you get with a free account, and what Premium unlocks.

A lot. Browsing components, previewing them, copying AI prompts, using the MCP, the Lab, and saving favorites are all free. A free account also unlocks unlimited one-command installs, and you can remix with AI for free, forever.

Install means pulling a component’s real source code into your own project, usually with one command. You get the actual code to edit and ship, not a screenshot to copy by hand.

Yes, a free account. Browsing, previewing, and remixing with AI are public and need no account, but the one-command install runs against your account, which unlocks unlimited installs at no cost. Run the install anonymously and the CLI returns a friendly placeholder asking you to create a free account, not an error.

Yes. Remix with AI is free and public at every tier, with no account required.

Premium unlocks the closed-source premium components, full design systems you can install as a whole system in one command, and premium templates.

Premium is $8.99 per month or $49.99 per year, and the yearly plan is a big saving. A free account stays $0 forever, so you only upgrade once AI Canvas is already paying off for you.

Start with a free account, since unlimited installs and remix with AI cover most early projects. When you want the closed-source premium components, full design systems, and templates, Premium is the natural next step.

Payments and billing

Honest answers about secure payments, taxes, and how easy it is to upgrade to Premium when you are ready.

Payments run through Paddle, a trusted billing company that acts as the seller of record, meaning it sells Premium and processes the payment on our behalf. Checkout happens in a secure Paddle popup right on the page, so it stays simple and quick.

Yes. Payment is handled entirely by Paddle, a professional billing company and seller of record, so your payment details go straight to them and never sit with us. Your account only unlocks Premium after Paddle confirms the payment, keeping everything verified and safe.

Yes. As the seller of record, Paddle calculates and handles any applicable taxes for your country at checkout, so the right amount is included automatically. You see the full total before you confirm, with nothing to file yourself.

Checkout uses Paddle's secure popup, which offers the payment options available in your region at the time you pay. You will see exactly which methods you can use right there before you confirm.

Yes. Premium renews automatically, and you can cancel whenever you like from your account settings. You keep full Premium access until the end of the period you already paid for.

About AI Canvas

What AI Canvas is built with, how it is licensed, who it is for, and why it fits the way you actually build.

The free library is open source under MIT, and that source is never hidden. Premium is proprietary: a durable licence to use and ship, not to redistribute. Either way, remix with AI stays free for everyone, and the public repository keeps the free source openly available to read, use, and change.

Free components are MIT, one of the most permissive open-source licences, so you can use them in personal and commercial projects, modify them freely, and ship them without giving credit. Premium is proprietary: a durable licence to use and ship, not to redistribute. Any third-party assets, fonts, or images a component references may carry their own terms, so check those before shipping.

Components are React with TypeScript, styled with Tailwind CSS and animated with Framer Motion, and some 3D ones use Three.js. TypeScript is JavaScript with type safety, Tailwind is a styling toolkit, and Framer Motion handles animation. They are built for the Next.js App Router but work in any modern React setup.

Most libraries serve one audience, but AI Canvas fits however you build: copy an AI prompt, run one command with the shadcn CLI, or hand it to an AI agent. The code lands as real open-source code in your project, not a screenshot to chase, so you can restyle, extend, or ship it as is.

It is built for three ways of working. Designers get a polished starting point and shape it toward their own goals. Developers install a component with one command. And AI agents like Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor browse and install components for you. Pick whichever fits how you work.

No. AI Canvas is an independent, solo-built project and is not sponsored by, partnered with, or endorsed by any of those tools. It simply works alongside them so your existing AI workflow gets finished components.

Because the blank screen is the hardest part, and I got tired of watching AI rebuild the same button worse every time. I wanted a starting point that is already good, finished and honest components you can trust and make your own. AI Canvas exists so you spend your energy on what makes your product yours, not on the boring eighty percent everyone redoes.

One person. AI Canvas is a solo project, built and cared for one component at a time by someone who worries about the easing curve more than is strictly reasonable. It is still early and still growing, and if it makes your work easier, going Premium is the most direct way to help one maker keep building it with the same care.

Still curious?

Start free, build now.

Browse the registry, install with one command, and remix with AI for free. Go Premium for full design systems and unlimited installs when you are ready.