Opportunities › Web-based design tools with performance at scale › Proposed app
Tilework
Browser design tool built to stay fast on very large design systems
- Score
- 62
- confidence 44
- Evidence
- 4
- items on the page
- Rivals
- 1
- named in sources
- First version
- 90 d
- estimate
- Type
- Desktop app
- PWA: runs in the browser, installs on Mac and Windows
- Market since
- 2016
- Established market · AI estimate
ScreensConcept
Desktop app: Design teams work in extended sessions with large component libraries, requiring keyboard shortcuts, multiple panels, and detailed editing of complex design systems. Sample screens on a computer, in the proposed brand. Their numbers are sample data.
Library health
Healthy1.8 s
About this appAI proposal
Tilework is a web-based design tool for teams whose design systems have outgrown their desktop software. It opens big libraries quickly, loads only the parts you are working on, and lets everyone edit the same file together.
It is for design teams and organisations moving off desktop design applications because of slow files and missing collaboration. Components, variants and tokens are the core of the product, not extras.
What is different: performance on large systems is the first feature. Load and edit timings are shown in the interface, so teams can see whether a library stays fast as it grows.
- Tagline
- Design systems that stay fast at any size.
- Voice
- DirectCalmPrecise
- Why this name
- Tiles are the repeating units of a design system, and tilework is craft built from them at scale. The name is plain, short and easy to say.
In the first version
Members say which features they would use. It tells PWAS what people want; it changes no score.
Load only what you touch
Large libraries open in pieces. You see the page you need at once, and the rest streams in behind it.
No member yet
Real-time co-editing
Several designers edit the same file together with live cursors and comments. No exports, no file handoffs.
No member yet
Component library at scale
Components, variants and tokens live in one library with search, usage counts and safe bulk updates.
No member yet
Performance meter
Each file shows open time and edit lag, and flags the layers or components that slow it down.
No member yet
Brand identityAI proposal
Check the name against trademark registers before using it.
Palette
#0F6B6BKiln Teal · primary#F6F3ECPaper · surface#1F2A2ESlate Ink · text#E0782BClay Orange · accent#7C8C2FMoss · data
Typography
Aa
Tilework
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 0123456789
Design systems that stay fast at any size.
PricingAI proposal
The material gives no competitor prices. These tiers, by team size and library scale as the opportunity suggests, are a starting point to test, not a benchmark.
Starter
Free
- Up to 3 editors
- 3 files
- Unlimited view links
- Performance meter
Team
$15 a month
- Per editor
- Unlimited files
- Shared component library
- Desktop file import
- Version history
Organisation
Contact us
- Very large libraries
- Single sign-on
- Audit log
- Priority support
Would you pay Team · $15 a month?
Your answer tells PWAS which prices people accept. It changes no score.
No answers yet.
What it could be worthEstimate
What a software business making this much sells for today, from real deals. Pick a monthly revenue.
If it makes
Worth about
$194,000
Sale range $132,000 to $263,000
$120,000 a year in revenue
From 87 software businesses listed and sold on Empire Flippers in the last year, revenue vetted by the broker: they sell for about 19× their monthly revenue, most between 13× and 26×.
Measured on profit, the middle deal is 32× monthly net profit: about 2.7 years of profit.
An estimate, not an offer or financial advice. A real price depends on profit, growth, churn, how much of the work is the owner's, and the buyer.
How it would growAI proposal
How the product would reach new customers through its own use, and how the first ones would be found. A plan to test, not a result.
- Built-in loop
- Users invite others. Designers invite teammates to co-edit files, and developers and stakeholders get view links to inspect specs and comment. Every project pulls more people into the product.
- Do they become customers?
- Invited designers can become paying editors. Link viewers mostly only see it. Test how many viewers go on to start a team workspace.
- First customers
- Design systems teams of 5 to 20 designers at software companies with libraries of several thousand components, who are slowed by desktop tools.
- Where to reach them
- Hacker News and design forums: Publish open-time benchmarks on large libraries and join threads where people discuss moving off desktop design tools.
- Design systems communities: Offer free migration of one real library to design system leads in return for feedback and a case study.
- First milestone
- Five teams migrate a real library of over 5,000 components, and three convert to a paid Team plan within 60 days.
Why people already pay for this
- Public claimUsers migrated from desktop applications to web-based design tools, with performance and collaboration as key drivers.
- Public claimImproved performance and support for large design systems were commonly cited reasons among paying customers for switching to web-based design tools.
- EstimateFramer: $100M Series D at $2B valuation (August 2025)
- EstimateFramer: Self-serve $5-20/seat; business $50-200/seat (2025)
Tech stack
Every proposal builds on the same PWA base, installable from the browser on any phone or computer. Dashed boxes are what this app adds.
- AppNext.js and TypeScript
- PWAManifest and service worker
- UITailwind CSS
- Data and authSupabase Postgres
- PaymentsStripe
- EmailResend
- HostingVercel
- This app · Real-time syncCRDT-based collaboration serviceLive multi-user editing with offline merge needs conflict-free document sync.
- This app · Canvas renderingGPU canvas renderer (WebGL or WebGPU)Smooth editing of very large files needs rendering outside the DOM.
RisksAI inference
- TechnicalMatching desktop speed in a browser on very large files is hard. A custom canvas renderer and chunked loading are a large build, and a slow first version would lose the one promise.
- CommercialThe material names one leader in this space. Teams may see little reason to switch unless speed on huge libraries is clearly better. Needs testing with real files.
- TechnicalImporting proprietary desktop file formats may convert imperfectly, and migration is the main way in for these customers.
- Intellectual propertyDesign-file formats and interface conventions could be covered by licences or patents. Review before building the import and editor.
- DataCustomers store unreleased product designs. Weak security or sync data loss would end trust quickly.
Everything marked AI proposal or AI inference was written by a model from the evidence on the opportunity page. The proposed name must be checked against trademark registers before it is used.