What is Design Mode?
Design Mode is built for two primary use cases:1. Visual design & rapid prototyping
Perfect for: PMs, designers, and product teams Create beautiful interactive front-end prototypes to speed up product development and improve handoff between product, design, and engineering. Show stakeholders clickable demos instead of static mockups or lengthy PRDs.2. Simple websites & landing pages
Perfect for: Entrepreneurs, local businesses, professionals who need a personal site Build beautiful, professional websites in under 2 minutes. Deploy on a custom domain and iterate quickly without technical complexity.Why Design Mode?
Design Mode addresses key pain points that made Replit too slow or not good enough for rapid visual work:- Faster first results: Get to your first visual checkpoint in under 2 minutes (previously ~10 minutes for full apps)
- Faster iteration: Make visual changes instantly without rebuilding backend logic
- Better design quality: Built with Gemini 3 for superior visual output—better looking than previous Replit designs and competitive with dedicated design tools
- Purpose-built for visuals: No backend overhead means rapid prototyping that was previously too slow on Replit
Key capabilities
- Under 2 minutes: Go from prompt to live interactive design
- Powered by Gemini 3: Optimized for speed and superior visual quality
- Instant deployment: Publish as a static site with zero build time
- Quick iteration: Make visual changes without backend complexity
- One-click conversion: Upgrade to a full app when you need backend functionality
Design Mode creates front-end only designs—no backend, databases, or integrations. If you request functionality (like login), Agent will mock up the visuals without building the backend, keeping you focused on fast design iteration.
Getting started
1
Start from the homepage
Navigate to the Replit homepage and select the Design tab.