# Sketchry vs Anthropic's frontend-design

> Anthropic's free frontend-design Skill supplies design judgement; a Sketchry Skill supplies a finished layout. What that changes, and when to use which.

Source: https://sketchry.app/compare/anthropic-frontend-design/

Anthropic's frontend-design is a free set of design instructions: it teaches Claude how to make visual decisions, so every run lands somewhere different. A Sketchry Skill is one decided layout whose finished result you can look at first. Both are plain text, so you can keep both.

## Side by side

WhatSketchryfrontend-design
PriceFrom US$6 a month, or US$99 for LifetimeFree, inside the public anthropics/claude-code repositoryWhat it gives youOne decided layout: section order, type, motion and the checks, all settledDesign judgement: brainstorm a plan first (4 to 6 named hex values, type roles, a layout concept), review it, then write codeSame result every run?The same structure, with your content in itDeliberately not: it asks for a visual direction specific to each briefCan you see it first?Yes. Every Skill shows its finished result and some open a live demo without signing inNo. It is a document of guidance, with nothing to previewWhat it coversWebsites, decks, marketing videos and app design: 71 SkillsAny frontend interface, including dashboards and settings screens that no template fitsDoes it ship assets?Some ship an asset pack and demo copyNo. The whole plugin is one SKILL.md, a README and a plugin manifest

Checked 2026-10-15. The other column comes from the pages listed at the end.

## What Sketchry does not do

- It costs money, and the Anthropic one does not
- One Skill is one direction. If you want a look made only for you, this is not the tool
- It covers sites, decks, videos and app screens. Dashboards and settings screens have no template here

## Where frontend-design is limited

- It supplies judgement, not a result: you cannot know what you will get until it finishes
- The same brief twice gives two different designs, so reproducing last week is hard
- No assets and no demo copy, so you still bring the content

## Who should pick which

- Use Anthropic's frontend-design when no template fits (a dashboard, a settings screen, an internal tool) or you want a one-off direction.
- Use Sketchry when the thing has a known shape (a product page, a restaurant site, a portfolio, a pitch deck): it is faster and you see the result first.

## Using both, or switching

- Keep both. They answer different questions and do not overwrite each other.
- A common split: Sketchry for the site, frontend-design for an app screen or an internal dashboard.

## Sources

Every figure above was read on the other company's own pages on 2026-10-15. Anything that could not be read is not stated.

- [github.com/anthropics/claude-code · plugins/frontend-design](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/tree/main/plugins/frontend-design) · checked 2026-10-15
- [frontend-design SKILL.md](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/anthropics/claude-code/main/plugins/frontend-design/skills/frontend-design/SKILL.md) · checked 2026-10-15
- [frontend-design README.md](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/anthropics/claude-code/main/plugins/frontend-design/README.md) · checked 2026-10-15

Last updated: 2026-10-15