Design resources shortlist — 2026-04-20
Bookmarked from Marcel Kargul's design-websites tweet. Evaluated against RDCO's actual stack (Tailwind + shadcn + Magic UI + Astro/Cloudflare for SC v3) and spend tolerance.
Verdict by site
| Site | URL | Verdict | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mobbin | mobbin.com | ✅ USE, free tier | 400K+ searchable UI/UX screenshots from real shipped apps. Single most useful inspiration library for SC v3 + landing pages. Free tier sufficient. |
| Grainient | grainient.supply | 🟨 Skip sub, buy a few | Gradients + grain textures + AI backgrounds. $10/mo subscription rejected — better to buy 3-5 specific gradients we reuse. Or generate our own via Midjourney / DALL-E for one-off assets. |
| BentoGrids | bentogrids.com | 🟨 Reference only | Bento grid layout inspiration (Apple-style). Trendy but one-trick. Free — browse once for a specific landing-page layout, don't subscribe. |
| AlignUI | pro.alignui.com | ❌ Skip | Paid design system. Overkill for our stack. Tailwind UI + shadcn + Magic UI cover the same ground, free + dev-aligned. |
What we already have
- Tailwind UI — paid, we already own it (component library)
- shadcn/ui — free, primary Astro/React component library
- Magic UI + React Bits — free animated-component libraries (via
animation-components:*skills) - Rive — interactive animation (if needed for SC v3 hero)
- Lottie — JSON vector animation
Operating rule
Before adding any new design-tooling subscription: answer (a) what existing tool does this replace, (b) what does a one-time purchase cost vs monthly sub over 2 years, (c) does anyone on the team actually know how to use the added tool.
Default = skip. Add via explicit founder approval only.
Related
- [[2026-04-19-newsletter-platform-sanity-check-v3]]
- [[2026-04-11-garry-tan-thin-harness-fat-skills]]