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All three bring AI agents to the design canvas. Where they run, what a design is and what you pay for is where they part ways. Every answer comes from each product's own site, checked on November 9, 2026.
A creative playground for real code, as a Mac app. You prompt, mold it by hand and ship real code.
For you if you're on a Mac, already have Claude Code, and want every design to be real code in your own repo.
A design tool whose canvas is HTML and CSS, made for teams and the agents they connect.
For you if your team designs together, live, in one hosted file.
A design canvas that agents work on, with a file format of its own.
For you if you want a desktop app you can download today, with many models to pick from.
Tap what you care about, from 14 questions with a straight answer. All three answer each pick from the table below: yes, partly, no or not listed.
0 of 14 picked
Nothing picked yet.
Your picks
Nothing picked yet.
Playdo
–yes
Paper
–yes
pen.dev
–yes
Nothing picked yet.
Tap what matters to you. Each pick lands here, answered by all three, from the same rows as the table below.
A count of yes marks among what you picked, nothing weighted. Not listed means we didn't find it, not no.
Grouped by what you'd ask first. Playdo's column is the Mac app as it stands today, gaps and all. Your picks are lit.
YesPartlyNoNot listed: we didn't find it on their pages
| Topic | Playdo | Paper | pen.dev |
|---|---|---|---|
| The basics | |||
| What it is | A creative playground for real code, as a Mac app. You prompt, mold it by hand and ship real code. | A design tool whose canvas is HTML and CSS, made for teams and the agents they connect. | A design canvas that agents work on, with a file format of its own. |
| Where it runsRuns on Windows or Linux? | NoA Mac app. There is no Windows or Linux version yet. | YesIn the browser, or as Paper Desktop on macOS, Windows and Linux. | YesA desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux, an editor extension, and a web version. |
| Account | Yes. You sign in with a code sent to your email. | Yes. You sign up with an email. | Yes. You sign in with an email code or a password. |
| Designing with AI | |||
| How a design gets made | Type a prompt on the canvas and Claude Code designs it. Your own agent can drive the canvas too. | Your own agent designs on the canvas through Paper's MCP server. | An agent on the canvas, or your own agent over MCP or the command line. |
| What pays for the AIRuns on your own AI plan? | YesOn the Mac, the Claude Code or Codex plan you already have. On the web, Playdo's cloud or your own Anthropic key. | YesYour agent's own plan, inside Paper's weekly allowance of tool calls. | YesYour own Claude or ChatGPT plan, an API key, or hosted models. |
| Working in parallel | Up to four designs from one prompt, or every screen of a flow, at once, on every plan. | Up to your agent. | Up to 6 agents at a time. |
| ModelsModels beyond Claude? | PartlySonnet, Opus and Haiku through Claude Code, and Codex if it's installed. | YesWhichever your agent uses. | YesMany: Claude, OpenAI, Gemini, Grok and more. |
| Image generationGenerates images? | NoNo. Bring images as files, as references or from Figma. | YesYes, built in. | YesYes, images and SVG. |
| Files and code | |||
| What a design isIs the design HTML and CSS? | YesAn HTML file with Tailwind classes. It opens in any browser or editor. | YesA file in Paper, on a canvas made of HTML and CSS. | NoA .pen file: JSON, drawn by its own WebGL renderer. |
| Where it livesCan the design live in your repo? | YesIn your project folder, next to your code. | NoIn Paper, shared by URL. | YesOn your disk. It can sit in your Git repo. |
| Code out | It already is code. Also a zip of plain HTML and CSS, or a React project with typed components. | Its site says a design exports as code, and agents read it over MCP. | Export to HTML with CSS or Tailwind. |
| Hand-off to your codebase | A skill for Claude Code rebuilds the design with your app's own components, as a diff you review. | Your agent reads the design over MCP and writes the code. | Your agent reads the file over MCP or the command line and writes the code. |
| Images out | PNG, JPEG and WEBP at 1x, 2x or 3x, and PDF. | Video export. Image formats: not listed. | PNG, JPEG and WEBP at 1x, 2x or 3x, and PDF. |
| Editing by hand | |||
| EditorA full editor by hand? | YesInspector, layers, drawing tools, a pen, booleans, masks, snapping and measuring. | YesA full design editor, vector editing included. | YesA full design editor: pen tool, flex layout, masks, snapping, a pixel grid. |
| Color and typeP3 and OKLCH color? | YesAn OKLCH picker that reaches P3. Variable font axes and OpenType features. | YesP3 and OKLCH color. Variable fonts and OpenType features. | Not listedVariables and themes; linear, radial, angular and mesh gradients. |
| Shaders and effects | Shader fills, mesh gradients and grain. | Paper Shaders, CSS filters and backdrop filters. | Shaders and effects. |
| Components and tokens | Components with slots, pushed to every copy. Tokens live in DESIGN.md, a file in your repo. | Tokens and themes. Agents sync tokens and components with your codebase. | Components with overrides and slots, variables, themes and UI libraries. |
| Flows and prototypesA click-through prototype? | YesOne prompt plans and links 2 to 6 screens. Click through them as a prototype. | Not listed | Not listedSlides and a presentation mode. A click-through prototype: not listed. |
| Bringing work in | Figma files and clipboard, live web pages, and images and websites as references. | Paste from Figma and from HTML. A browser extension copies web components in as layers. | Figma files and clipboard, web pages through a built-in browser, a Chrome extension. |
| Agents and automation | |||
| MCP serverMCP works with the app closed? | Yes18 tools to read, make and edit designs. It works with the canvas closed. | NoYes, with setup built in for nine agent clients. Paper Desktop has to be open with the file. | NoYes. It connects to the running app or editor with the file open. |
| Command lineA command line? | NoNot on its own yet. Agents reach the app through its MCP server. | YesA command that links your agent to Paper Desktop. | YesA command line with a headless editor and an agent skill. |
| Teams | |||
| Working togetherLive editing together? | YesLive cursors, selections and edits in the same project, on the Mac and the web, with a workspace and roles. | YesReal-time multiplayer by shared URL. | Not listedWorkspaces and organizations with roles. |
| Sharing for reviewComments on a shared design? | YesComments with @mentions on the canvas for anyone in the project, guests too. A share link anyone can comment on lasts 30 days. | Not listedShare the file's URL. | YesShare by link, with comments and versions. |
| DownloadsOut for download today? | NoA Mac app. It isn't out for download yet; early access is open. | YesPaper Desktop for macOS, Windows and Linux. | YesDesktop apps for macOS, Windows and Linux, and editor extensions. |
YesPartlyNoNot listed: we didn't find it on their pages
Every line about Paper and pen.dev comes from each product's own site and docs, read on November 9, 2026 and written in our own words. “Not listed” means we didn't find it on the pages we read, not that the product can't do it.
Products change. Check paper.design and pen.dev before you decide. Playdo isn't affiliated with either.
Playdo is a Mac app that designs on the Claude plan you already have. It's on its way, and early access is open now.