Colormind
AI color scheme generator trained on photos, movies, and popular art
- Category
- Design
- Pricing
- Free to use in the browser, with a free public API also available for developers to integrate palette generation into their own tools.
- Best for
- Colormind suits developers who want to embed color palette generation into their own apps via a free API, as well as designers who want a quick, no-cost way to extract or generate palettes, particularly from reference photos.
- Official site
- colormind.io
- Last updated
- August 2026
Colormind is a long-standing free tool that generates color palettes using deep learning models trained on large image datasets, including movie stills, photographs, and popular artwork, to capture color relationships that occur in real, aesthetically pleasing visuals rather than purely random combinations.
The tool lets users generate a five-color palette, lock any colors they want to keep, and regenerate the rest, making it easy to iteratively refine a scheme around a fixed brand color. It also supports uploading an image and extracting a matching palette directly from it, useful when designers want to build a color scheme around a photo, logo, or piece of art.
Colormind additionally exposes its palette generation through a free public API, which has made it a popular backend choice for other design tools and side projects needing programmatic color palette generation without building their own model.
Colormind suits developers who want to embed color palette generation into their own apps via a free API, as well as designers who want a quick, no-cost way to extract or generate palettes, particularly from reference photos. It's less suited to teams wanting a polished, modern interface or built-in collaboration features. Its main enduring value is reliability and simplicity for both casual and programmatic use.
Key features
Deep Learning Palette Generation
Generates five-color schemes using neural network models trained on curated image datasets.
Multiple Trained Models
Offers different generation models based on different training sets, such as film stills or general art/photography.
Color Locking
Allows users to lock specific colors in a palette while regenerating the remaining slots for iterative refinement.
Image-Based Extraction
Extracts a color palette directly from an uploaded photo or image file.
Public API
Provides a free API endpoint developers can call to generate palettes programmatically within their own applications.
Hex/RGB Output
Displays generated colors with ready-to-use hex and RGB values for design and code.
Pricing breakdown
Free (Web)
- Unlimited palette generation in browser
- Image-based extraction
- Color locking
Free (API)
- Programmatic palette generation
- Usable in third-party apps and tools
Pros and cons
Pros
- No cost at all, either through the browser tool or the developer-facing API
- Extracting a palette from an uploaded image is genuinely useful for matching branding to existing visual assets
- Locking specific colors lets users anchor a palette around a known brand color while exploring complements
- The public API has been reliable enough to be embedded in numerous third-party design tools over the years
Cons
- The interface hasn't been significantly modernized and feels basic next to newer AI color tools
- There's no account system, so palette history isn't saved between visits
- Style and mood controls are minimal compared to tools offering curated aesthetic categories
- Documentation for the API is fairly sparse, requiring some trial and error for new developers
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Compare →Frequently asked questions
Is Colormind free to use?
Yes, both the web tool and the API are free with no paid tiers.
Can I extract colors from my own image?
Yes, you can upload a photo and Colormind will generate a matching palette from its colors.
Can I lock a specific color while generating others?
Yes, individual colors in the five-color palette can be locked while the rest regenerate.
Is there a developer API?
Yes, Colormind provides a free public API for programmatic palette generation.
Do I need an account to save palettes?
No account system exists, so palettes aren't saved automatically between sessions; users typically copy hex codes manually.
What datasets are the models trained on?
Colormind's models are trained on varied image sets including movies, photography, and popular art to capture natural color relationships.
Ready to try Colormind?
Head to the official site to explore pricing and start a free trial where available.
Visit Colormind →