Built to scale with you. Worth more as you grow.

One system, three ways to run it. Connect the free MCP, own your copy in your repo, or serve your customized system to your whole team.

Free: $0

Hosted by us. Always current.

Solo: $999 one-time

Own it. The whole system, in your repo.

Team: Custom

Run it. Your system, served to your team.

Frequently asked questions

About Aestheria

What is Aestheria, exactly?

Aestheria is a design context layer. A new kind of product built specifically for shipping enterprise software with AI codegen. It sits between your AI editor (Claude Code, and any agentic editor that follows the AGENTS.md standard) and your codebase, giving your AI the tokens, components, charts, patterns, templates, and design rules it needs to ship on-system code every prompt. The design system, the documentation, and the AI playbook, unified into one source your AI reads natively and your team can edit.

This is genuinely a new category. The closest comparison isn't a UI kit or a Figma library; it's the internal design system + governance layer that mature engineering organizations spend $200K–$500K building in-house. Aestheria gives you that infrastructure, pre-built, for one purchase.

What is a design context layer?

A design context layer is the structured, machine-readable source an AI coding agent reads to understand how your product should look, feel, and behave: the tokens, components, patterns, states, and implementation rules, with the context an agent needs to apply them correctly. It sits between your AI editor and your codebase, so generated screens come out on-system from the first prompt instead of approximated from screenshots or scattered docs.

Aestheria is a design context layer. A traditional design system is made to be read by people; a design context layer is made to be read by agents too, and consulted on every build rather than pasted into a prompt once and forgotten.

Why does this exist? Why not just use a UI kit?

UI kits give you components. They don't give your AI the context to compose them correctly. Every prompt becomes a re-explanation: "use this token, this spacing, this motion pattern." Without persistent design context, AI codegen drifts. Your fifth screen doesn't quite match your first, your tenth feature feels like a different product.

Aestheria solves that by making the design system readable by your AI on every prompt. Three markdown files at your project root give your AI the rules, the substance, and the specialized expertise it needs to ship code that's on-system without you reminding it. The longer you build with Aestheria, the more consistent your product gets. The opposite of how AI-generated UI usually works.

Is this a code-based system or Figma-based?

Code-based. Aestheria ships as production React and TypeScript: components, charts, patterns, and full templates that drop into your repo and run. Motion, accessibility, and interaction states are wired in by default. The Studio (a live, browsable app) runs locally so you can edit tokens, switch themes, and preview the system. You can use Aestheria alongside Figma if your team designs there, but Figma isn't required. Your AI reads Aestheria from the code, not from design files.

How is this different from Tailwind UI, shadcn, or Untitled UI?

Those are UI kits: beautiful, well-engineered collections of components you copy into your project and stitch together by hand or by prompt. Aestheria is the context layer underneath a kit like that. Tokens, components, charts, patterns, and templates are structured in machine-readable form so your AI uses them correctly across every prompt, every screen, every feature. Plus six AI specialists for design system, accessibility, motion, usability, architecture, and direction. Expertise your AI consults automatically, the same way a real design team would.

The difference shows up most over time. A UI kit gives you a strong start; Aestheria gives you compounding consistency as your product grows.

What makes this worth the price?

A custom internal design system typically runs 6–12 months and $200K–$500K to build in-house: design tokens, component library, charting system, documentation, governance, the whole stack. A Storybook + Chromatic + custom token setup costs $500–$2,000/month in tooling alone, plus the team to maintain it. Aestheria gives you that infrastructure pre-built, in one place, for a one-time purchase. Whether you're a solo founder skipping six months of build work or a team replacing an entire internal-tooling line item, the math works out fast.

Who is this actually for?

Solo founders, indie hackers, design-led teams, and engineering teams shipping enterprise software with AI codegen. Specifically the people building complex interfaces, data-dense dashboards, multi-product portfolios, and agent-driven product surfaces. The work where generic UI kits start to feel inadequate around feature five.

If you're building a marketing site or a portfolio, Aestheria is overkill. If you're building a real product, something complex, opinionated, and meant to scale, it's calibrated for you.

What's included

What ships with the kit?

The full token system, the React component library, a complete chart and visualization kit on a perceptually-grounded OKLCH color system, interaction patterns, full-page templates, six AI specialists, and three themes (Ink, Lapis, Amber). Plus the local Studio: a live, browsable application you run on your machine to edit tokens, switch themes, and preview everything. Three markdown files at your project root tie it all together for your AI to read.

What is the Studio?

The Studio is a living, browsable view of the whole system, run locally or self-hosted: tokens, components, charts, patterns, and templates in one place to see, read, and reference, so you and your agents work from one current source instead of scattered docs. You can adjust and preview the system here, and some parts are editable in the UI, like agent skills. Deeper customization happens in the source, which lives in your repo alongside your code.

What are the 6 specialists?

Six SKILL.md files that give your AI specialized expertise: direction (UX architecture), architecture (system structure), accessibility, design system, motion, and usability. When you prompt your AI, it consults the relevant specialist for that task. Building a form? Aura (accessibility) and Umbra (usability) weigh in. Adding motion to a transition? Mira handles that. The specialists are how Aestheria stays consistent across different kinds of work, without you having to remember every detail of your design system every time you prompt.

Which editors does this work with?

Any editor that reads the AGENTS.md standard works with Aestheria today: Cursor, GitHub Copilot, OpenAI Codex, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, and the agents that come after them. Claude Code gets the VIP treatment through a tool-native config the kit ships (a CLAUDE.md that imports the system), since Claude Code reads CLAUDE.md rather than AGENTS.md. No plugin, no API key, no SDK to learn.

Pricing & licensing

Is the MCP really free? What is the catch?

Free forever, with an Aestheria account. Your agent reads the system live from our hosted endpoint: every theme, every release, the moment it ships, with no files to pull or version to pin. The account is the whole requirement; there is no card on file and no trial clock.

Self-host is the paid product: the kit you buy once and run from your own repo, yours to fork, pin, and customize. Use the free MCP to build on the shared system; buy self-host when you want to own it.

Is self-host a one-time purchase or a subscription?

One-time purchase. Buy your tier once, own your copy forever. The self-host kit isn't built around recurring revenue; that pressure model would compromise the product. Twelve months of new releases are included. After that, extending updates is optional: $300/year for Solo, priced per seat for Team. Your copy keeps working forever either way. (The hosted MCP is free with an account and always current.)

Which tier is right for me?

The three tiers differ on one axis: who runs the system and who gets to change it. Free is use it: connect the hosted MCP and build on the shared system, stock and always current, with nothing to buy. Solo ($999, one-time) is own it: the full kit in your repo, all three themes, the Studio running locally, and the six specialists, customizable end to end. Team is run it: you host the Studio, a private MCP points at it, and every teammate you invite (and every agent they use) generates from your customized system instead of stock Aestheria. Priced per seat; talk to us for a quote sized to your team.

How does the updates window work?

Every new release in your window (new components, visualizations, templates, bug fixes, and improvements) lands in your copy at no extra cost. Releases ship on a regular cadence; meaningful additions land every few weeks. Solo and Team both include 12 months. After your window ends, your copy keeps working forever exactly as it is. If you want to keep receiving new releases, extend for $300/year on Solo, or per seat on Team. Extending is always optional. New themes are the one separate item: when a new theme ships, add it to your kit at a discount, whenever you want. (The hosted MCP never has a window; it is always current, new themes included.)

What happens if I don't extend updates?

Nothing breaks. Your copy of Aestheria keeps working exactly as you have it. Every component, every token, every template you bought continues running indefinitely. You just stop receiving new releases. Many teams use Aestheria for years without extending, then extend once when they want a specific new feature.

How does Team's private MCP work?

Your team hosts the Studio, and a dedicated MCP endpoint points at it. From then on, every teammate you invite (and every agent they run) reads your customized system: your tokens, your theme variants, your component overrides, not stock Aestheria. Your design decisions become the source of truth the whole team builds from. Setup is guided; we walk your team through hosting the Studio and wiring the pipeline. Invites and seat management live with your license.

If I customize my copy on Solo, does the MCP serve my changes?

No. The hosted MCP serves stock Aestheria, always current. On Solo, your customizations live in your repo, where your agent reads them directly from the files; that's the point of owning the source. A served MCP for your customized system is the Team capability: your MCP, pointed at your Studio.

Can I upgrade tiers later?

Yes. Pay the difference between your current tier and the new tier (at current pricing), and your license upgrades immediately. Any customization you've done (tokens, themes, components) carries over with no migration needed. The kit is the same across tiers; what changes is seats, support level, and a few tier-specific features.

Do you offer refunds?

Yes. Full refund within 14 days of purchase, no questions asked. After that, your purchase is final. We'd rather you take the two weeks to actually try Aestheria and decide than gate you with sales calls.

Can I redistribute or resell Aestheria?

Use it freely in your own products, internal tools, and client work, commercially, across the projects your tier covers. The one line not to cross: don't republish or resell Aestheria itself as a standalone kit, template, or component library. Build with it, don't repackage it. Full terms are on the Licensing page.

Ownership & flexibility

Can I edit Aestheria's components and tokens?

Yes, and most teams do within the first week. Your copy of the kit is yours to fork inside your repo, edit, version with your code, and evolve. Aestheria's three-layer token system (palette, semantic, theme) is specifically designed so you can change the palette tokens once and every component, chart, and template follows. We expect customization. That's the point.

What if I want to use my own brand colors and typography?

Built in. Change the palette tokens in tokens.css and the entire system updates: every component, every chart, every theme. Typography is the same: swap the type tokens and every text style follows. Most teams ship a custom brand on top of Aestheria within their first day. If your brand is complex enough that you need help, send us a brief and we can build a custom theme for you.

Can I use Aestheria in commercial products?

Yes, that's exactly what it's built for. Solo covers one builder's commercial work. Team covers your whole team. Use Aestheria to ship paid products, internal tools, client work, anything. There are no royalties or revenue caps.

What if I leave the company or sell my product?

Your license is tied to a seat. Solo is single-user and not transferable. Team allows seat transfers within the same organization: when an employee leaves, their seat can go to a new hire. If you sell a product built with Aestheria, the buyer needs their own license to continue receiving updates, but the version shipped with your product keeps running for them.

Support

What support is included?

Free MCP accounts get community support and the full docs. Solo includes email support at help@aestheria.com with a one business day response time. Team adds dedicated support: a direct line to the Aestheria team.

Is there documentation?

Yes. Full documentation at aestheria.design/docs. Installation guides for every supported editor, the three-file format explained, theme customization walkthroughs, component reference, troubleshooting, and a growing library of patterns. The docs are also part of what your AI reads when it consults Aestheria, so good documentation makes for better AI output.

What if I find a bug?

Email help@aestheria.com with what you saw and how to reproduce it. Critical bugs get hotfixed within days; smaller issues land in the next regular release. All bug fixes ship to customers within their update window, no extra cost.

Getting started

How do I install Aestheria?

Drop the kit at your project root. It ships CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, and DESIGN.md: AGENTS.md for editors that read the standard, CLAUDE.md so Claude Code reads it natively, and DESIGN.md for the design language behind both. Open your AI editor. Start prompting. The kit reads itself into your AI's context automatically; you don't configure anything. If you want to use the Studio for browsing and editing, run one command to start it locally. That's the whole setup.

Do I need to be technical to use this?

You need to be comfortable opening a code editor and running an AI tool like Cursor or Claude Code. You don't need to be a frontend engineer; Aestheria does the design system work for you. Your job is to describe what you're building; the AI plus Aestheria handles the rest. Solo founders without engineering backgrounds use it daily.

Can I try it before buying?

Yes: the free MCP is the evaluation. Connect it with an account and build real features on the shared system before spending anything. If you then buy Solo or Team, the 14-day refund window covers you too: install it, build something real, decide.