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Posted by vecti 6 hours ago

Show HN: I spent 4 years building a UI design tool with only the features I use(vecti.com)
Hello everyone!

I'm a solo developer who's been doing UI/UX work since 2007. Over the years, I watched design tools evolve from lightweight products into bloated feature-heavy platforms. I kept finding myself using a small amount of the features while the rest just mostly got in the way.

So a few years ago I set out to build a design tool just like I wanted. So I built Vecti with what I actually need: pixel-perfect grid snapping, a performant canvas renderer, shared asset libraries, and export/presentation features. No collaborative whiteboarding. No plugin ecosystem. No enterprise features. Just the design loop.

Four years later, I can proudly show it off. Built and hosted in the EU with European privacy regulations. Free tier available (no credit card, one editor forever).

On privacy: I use some basic analytics (page views, referrers) but zero tracking inside the app itself. No session recordings, no behavior analytics, no third-party scripts beyond the essentials.

If you're a solo designer or small team who wants a tool that stays out of your way, I'd genuinely appreciate your feedback: https://vecti.com

Happy to answer questions about the tech stack, architecture decisions, why certain features didn't make the cut, or what's next.

196 points | 97 commentspage 3
dhumph 3 hours ago|
Your pricing makes it seem like $12 for a year.
willparks 6 hours ago||
Beautiful design! (makes sense for someone that does UI design). Congrats, I'll check it out.
jjcm 3 hours ago||
Ex-Figma.

I'd be worried about a lawsuit here, primarily due to the overall app architecture and property panel on the right. While there are differences between your implementation and Figma's, it's close enough that things are very clearly Figma-inspired. There've been a lot of Figma copycats, and Figma does have a track record of successful lawsuits against them.

Great work with the backend architecture (a lack of a proper wasm renderer is why penpot will never be competitive), but you're in dangerous territory with the UI.

vitaflo 2 hours ago|
Wasn't Figma's side panel just a ripoff of Sketch's? Always felt that way.
jjcm 2 hours ago||
Heavily influenced by Sketch's UX for sure. Sketch paved the way for the new wave of design tools. There were some significant architectural differences between the approaches though.

Just for comparison, here's a side by side of each: https://image.non.io/940a433a-3c25-4610-88e8-4eec810f2235.we...

th3o6a1d 4 hours ago||
Congrats on launching!
pawelwentpawel 5 hours ago||
Great job, congrats on the launch!
mettamage 6 hours ago||
Fun submission, will have a look :)
falloutx 6 hours ago||
Just tested a few things and I gotta say its fairly easy to pick up and do things. UI does feel like Figma for better or worse.

Congrats on completing this project and good luck.

popalchemist 6 hours ago||
It's beautiful. Great job. Congrats on having the persistence to see this through.
vecti 6 hours ago|
Thanks a lot. I appreciate it. It’s been quite a journey.
arkforge 5 hours ago|
[dead]
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