InstantGradient vs Coolors

You love Coolors for palettes. So do we (we borrowed the spacebar trick). But what happens after you pick your colors?

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Flat color swatches

Animated mesh gradient

Same five colors. Very different output.

The honest take

Coolors is a fantastic palette tool. If you need to find five colors that work together, it is one of the best options out there. The spacebar-to-shuffle UX is iconic. The community has generated over 10 million palettes. The Figma, Adobe, and mobile integrations make it part of any designer's toolkit. Their color pages are detailed and well-built.

But Coolors gives you colors. Flat swatches with hex codes. What you do with those colors after is entirely up to you. InstantGradient picks up where Coolors leaves off: it takes a palette and renders it as a WebGL shader-powered animated mesh gradient that you can export as 4K images, animated video, CSS, or Tailwind code. You go from palette to production asset in seconds.

Feature comparison

	Coolors	InstantGradient
Palette generation
Image-to-palette extraction
Colors per palette	Up to 10 (Pro)	Up to 8 (Pro)
Gradient preview		Animated WebGL shader
Export as image (PNG/WebP)		Up to 4K
Export as video (MP4)
Code export	HEX, RGB, HSL, CMYK, etc	CSS, Tailwind, JSON, HEX
Figma plugin
Adobe integration
Mobile app
Color info pages	Extensive	4,900+ pages
Community palettes	10M+ palettes	Growing
Visual effects		Dithering, halftone, pixelate, ASCII, fluted glass
React/JS shader export		Pro
REST API
Built by an indie developer
Pricing	Free / $5/mo Pro	Free, or $29 lifetime

When to use Coolors

If you need a Figma or Adobe plugin, Coolors has both and we do not (yet). If you need a mobile app, same thing. If your workflow is purely about picking harmonious colors, exporting in multiple color formats (HEX, RGB, HSL, CMYK), and browsing a massive community library, Coolors is more mature for that specific job. Their color info pages are also more detailed than ours today.

When to use InstantGradient

If you need the actual background asset, not just the palette. If you are building hero sections, social media graphics, app interfaces, or presentations and you want something that looks custom in seconds. If you want to export a living, animated gradient as video. If you want effects like dithering, halftone, pixelate, ASCII, or fluted glass applied to your gradient. If you care about having a palette ecosystem with collections, user profiles, and 4,900+ color exploration pages.

And if you are building a product that needs color data, InstantGradient ships with a REST API that lets you generate palettes, look up colors, and browse the community library programmatically. That means you can power your own palette picker, color search, or design tool with the same data that runs this site. Coolors does not offer API access at any tier. Read the API docs.

Pricing

Coolors is $5/mo as an auto-renewing subscription. InstantGradient is a one-time payment: $29 for lifetime access. No auto-renew, no surprise charges. Coolors Pro removes ads, unlocks 10-color palettes, and gives unlimited collections. InstantGradient Pro gives you 4K and native-size image exports, animated video with effects, React/JS shader code, and a REST API.

See it in action

This is what your palette looks like as a mesh gradient. Shuffle, save, or open it in the full generator.

Open

Try it free, no account needed

Already have a Coolors palette? Paste your hex codes into the generator and watch them come alive.

Frequently asked questions

Is InstantGradient a Coolors replacement?

They solve different problems. Both generate beautiful palettes, but InstantGradient goes further: it renders your palette as an animated mesh gradient and lets you export it as 4K images, video, CSS, or Tailwind code. Many people use Coolors for quick palette picks and InstantGradient when they need the actual visual asset.

Can I import my Coolors palettes?

Yes. Open the generator and enter your hex codes. The gradient adapts instantly. You can also save it to your library and export it in any format.

Does InstantGradient have a Figma plugin?

Not yet. It's on our roadmap. In the meantime, you can export as PNG or WebP and drop it into Figma directly.

Which is cheaper?

Coolors is $5/mo as an auto-renewing subscription. InstantGradient is a one-time $29 lifetime pass. No auto-renew. Coolors Pro removes ads, unlocks 10-color palettes, and gives unlimited collections. InstantGradient has free effects like dithering, halftone, pixelate, ASCII, and fluted glass up to 1080p, and Pro adds those effects inside MP4 video exports, plus 4K and native-size image exports, animated video, and unlimited palette saves.