# How to Vibe Code Your Own Kittl (and Stop Paying for It)

> The AI-First Design Platform for Creators

- Site: https://kittl.com
- Category: Design & AI Tools
- Platforms: Web app
- Verdict: **Serious undertaking** (32/100 vibecodeable)
- Estimated effort: 4-6 months of serious part-time development

## Verdict

Build a simple browser design scratchpad with AI image generation, but keep paying for Kittl if you need professional vector editing and templates.

Replicating Kittl is a monumental engineering feat for a solo developer primarily because of the vector graphics editor core. While an AI coding agent can quickly spin up a Next.js shell, auth, and API wrappers for fal.ai or Ideogram, building a browser-based vector manipulation engine with non-destructive text effects and path editing requires deep graphics programming (Fabric.js, Paper.js, or raw WebGL/Canvas) that standard AI assistants struggle to architect cleanly without severe performance bottlenecks. Furthermore, syncing multi-user canvas state in real time requires complex CRDT plumbing.

### What you can't replicate

- The 100M+ curated enterprise asset, mockup, and licensed font ecosystem
- The polished, lag-free non-destructive vector manipulation engine
- Enterprise print-ready export pipelines and deep partner font integrations

## What it does

An AI-first collaborative graphic design and branding platform offering multi-model generative AI tools, non-destructive vector editing, and automated typography.

### Core features

- Infinite vector design canvas with non-destructive path editing
- Automated advanced typography and text effects (curved, shadow, retro lettering)
- Multi-model AI generation suite (Flux, Ideogram, OpenAI, Seedream, Google)
- Background removal and image vectorization pipelines
- Template and asset marketplace (fonts, graphics, mockups)
- Real-time multiplayer collaboration workspace

## The business

### Pricing

- Free: $0 / month
- Pro: $15 / month
- Expert: $30 / month

### Funding

$50M raised.
- Seed (Oct 2021)
- Series A (Jan 2023)
- Series B (Jan 2024)
Investors: IVP, Left Lane Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Speedinvest, Magma Partners

Founded 2020.
Team size: 120-160+.

## The hard parts

- Building a high-performance vector graphics rendering engine in the browser without UI lag
- Abstracting and orchestrating multiple disparate third-party AI image and vector generation models
- Implementing real-time multi-user canvas syncing via CRDTs or operational transformation
- Handling print-ready vector and CMYK color export pipelines

## How to vibe code Kittl

### Prerequisites

- Node.js (free): Runtime environment for building and running the full-stack web application.
- GitHub (free): Source control and integration with Vercel for continuous deployment.

### Recommended AI tools

- Claude Code: Best-in-class agentic coding tool for scaffolding complex full-stack architectures and writing intricate canvas state management hooks.
- Cursor: Essential AI editor for fine-tuning complex React UI components, canvas rendering loops, and Tailwind CSS layouts.

### Stack

- Frontend: Next.js
- Backend: Next.js Server Actions / API Routes
- Database: Turso
- Auth: better-auth
- Payments: Stripe
- Other: Vercel AI SDK, Fabric.js or Konva.js for Canvas manipulation, fal.ai API, Ideogram API, Liveblocks

### Hosting

- Vercel (Hosting the Next.js frontend, API routes, and edge functions with zero-config preview deployments.): $0-20/mo
- Turso (Serverless SQLite database for storing user projects, design metadata, and user accounts.): $0/mo

### Build guide

1. **Project Scaffolding & Database Schema** — Initialize the Next.js application with Tailwind CSS, configure Turso database connectivity, and establish the user and project data models.

```
Initialize a new Next.js project using TypeScript and Tailwind CSS. Set up Turso for database connectivity using Drizzle ORM. Create the database schema for users, projects, and design assets (storing canvas JSON state, thumbnails, and creation metadata). Ensure proper environment variable configuration and write a health-check endpoint to verify database queries work seamlessly.
```

2. **Authentication System Setup** — Integrate better-auth for secure user registration, session management, and login handling.

```
Configure better-auth within the Next.js app to support email/password authentication and Google OAuth login. Connect the auth adapter to your Turso/Drizzle database schema. Create protected dashboard layouts and user profile management pages with proper session verification middleware.
```

3. **Design Canvas Core Setup** — Integrate a robust HTML5 canvas library (Fabric.js or Konva.js) into a dedicated workspace view to handle shape rendering, layer management, and basic transformations.

```
Build a full-screen design workspace view in Next.js using Fabric.js or Konva.js wrapped in a React component. Implement a layer management sidebar, an infinite panning/zooming canvas container, and basic shape creation tools (rectangles, circles, custom text boxes). Add state persistence to save the canvas JSON structure directly to the backend database when clicking a 'Save Project' button.
```

4. **Multi-Model AI Generation Pipeline** — Build backend endpoints using the Vercel AI SDK and fal.ai/Ideogram APIs to generate images and vector graphics directly into the active design workspace.

```
Create server-side API routes that interface with fal.ai (for Flux image generation) and Ideogram API (for text-rendered graphics and logos). Build a generative AI modal sidebar in the frontend UI allowing users to input prompts, select model parameters, and automatically import the resulting generated image as a movable layer onto the active canvas.
```

5. **Real-time Collaboration Integration** — Incorporate Liveblocks to sync canvas states and active user cursors across multiple sessions for real-time co-editing.

```
Integrate Liveblocks into the Next.js design workspace to enable multiplayer real-time collaboration. Sync canvas element positions and user presence cursors across active browser sessions using Yjs and Liveblocks storage providers, ensuring concurrent multi-user edits do not cause state corruption.
```

6. **Export and Polish** — Implement client-side export pipelines for PNG, JPEG, and SVG formats, and apply final styling polish across the dashboard and editor UI.

```
Implement export functionality on the canvas editor allowing users to download their active design workspace as high-resolution PNG, JPEG, or SVG files. Polish the dashboard interface with smooth transitions, error boundaries, loading skeletons, and responsive layouts to mimic a professional SaaS application.
```

### Cost vs paying

**Starting costs (one-time):**

- Domain name registration: $12 one-time
- AI API initial developer credits (fal.ai / Ideogram): $20 one-time
- Total: ~$32 one-time

**Ongoing costs (monthly):**

- Vercel Hobby / Edge Hosting: $0/mo
- Turso Database: $0/mo
- AI generation API usage (fal.ai / Ideogram): ~$10/mo
- Total: ~$10/mo

- Paying for the SaaS instead: $15/mo (Pro)
- Build time: 80-120 hours
- AI tool credits: $20/mo (Claude Pro / Cursor)
- Break-even: Not about money — build only for learning canvas architecture and AI pipelines

## Sources

- [Kittl Official Website](https://www.kittl.com)
- [Kittl Blog: Series B Announcement](https://www.kittl.com/blog)
- [PitchBook Company Profile for Kittl](https://pitchbook.com)