Color Palette Generator

A well-chosen color palette is the difference between a design that feels polished and one that feels random. Our free color palette generator applies proven color theory to produce harmonious, ready-to-use palettes from any base color — with HEX, RGB, and HSL values you can drop straight into your CSS, Figma, or design system.

The 8 Color Harmony Types Explained

• Complementary: Two colors on opposite sides of the color wheel. Creates maximum contrast and visual energy. Great for call-to-action buttons and attention-grabbing designs.
• Analogous: Colors adjacent on the color wheel. Creates a cohesive, natural look — think sunsets and forests. Ideal for calm, harmonious interfaces.
• Triadic: Three colors equally spaced on the wheel (120° apart). Vibrant and balanced. Used widely in print and digital design for colorful but structured layouts.
• Tetradic (Square): Four colors at 90° intervals. Rich and complex. Works best when one color dominates and the others serve as accents.
• Split Complementary: Your base color + two colors flanking its complement. High contrast like complementary, but more nuanced and easier to work with.
• Monochromatic: Varying hue, saturation, and lightness of a single color. Ultra-clean and sophisticated. Perfect for minimal UI design.
• Shades: Progressively darker variations of your base color. Great for dark mode backgrounds, hover states, and depth effects.
• Tints: Progressively lighter variations. Ideal for light backgrounds, disabled states, and subtle highlights.

Understanding Color Models: HEX, RGB, HSL

• HEX (#3b82f6): The most common format for web design. A 6-digit hexadecimal code representing red, green, and blue values (00–FF each).
• RGB (59, 130, 246): Defines color as red, green, blue values from 0–255. Used directly in CSS with rgb(59, 130, 246).
• HSL (217°, 91%, 60%): Hue (0–360°), Saturation (0–100%), Lightness (0–100%). The most intuitive model for generating harmonies — all harmony math is done in HSL.

How to Use the CSS Export

Click the CSS button to get your palette as CSS custom properties ready to paste into your stylesheet:

:root {
  --color-1: #3b82f6; /* hsl(217, 91%, 60%) */
  --color-2: #f6983b; /* hsl(37, 91%, 60%) */
  --color-3: #3bf668; /* hsl(137, 91%, 60%) */
}

Reference these anywhere in your CSS with var(--color-1). Change the palette once in :root and it updates site-wide — the foundation of a proper design token system.

Color Palettes for Common Use Cases

• Brand identity: Use Complementary or Triadic for a bold, memorable brand color set.
• UI design (web/app): Use Monochromatic or Analogous for backgrounds, cards, and interactive elements.
• Data visualization: Use Triadic or Tetradic so different data categories are clearly distinguishable.
• Dark mode: Use Shades to build depth — darker shades for backgrounds, lighter for elevated surfaces.
• Illustrations & art: Use Analogous for natural, painterly palettes or Complementary for dramatic contrast.