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Color Palette Generator

Generate accessible color palettes from harmony rules or random golden-ratio colors. Lock favorites, simulate color blindness, and export to CSS, Tailwind, or JSON.

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What is the Color Palette Generator?

Designing a website, app, or brand identity? The right color palette makes all the difference. This Color Palette Generator helps you create balanced, accessible color combinations instantly - no design skills required.

Choose from five classic color harmonies (analogous, complementary, triadic, tetradic, and monochromatic) or let the golden-ratio random generator surprise you. Lock colors you love and re-generate the rest until you find the perfect balance. Every palette comes with WCAG contrast ratios, so you know your text will stay readable.

What makes this tool useful?

  • Live color-blindness simulation - see your palette as someone with protanopia, deuteranopia, or tritanopia would.
  • One-click export - copy as a JSON array, CSS custom properties, or a Tailwind CSS config snippet.
  • No sign-up, no watermarks, no limits - just fast, private palette creation right in your browser.

How it works

  1. Choose a generation mode
    Select a color harmony rule from the dropdown (Analogous, Complementary, Triadic, Tetradic, Monochromatic) or go with Random for a palette based on the golden‑ratio conjugate.

  2. Pick a base color (harmony modes only)
    Use the color picker or type any hex code (e.g. #6366f1). The generator builds the whole palette around that starting point.

  3. Set the number of colors
    You can generate between 2 and 10 colors in a single palette. The tool will automatically fill the count with visually pleasing tints, shades, and tones.

  4. Lock colors that you like
    Click the lock icon on any color swatch. When you change settings or re‑generate, locked colors stay in place while the others update around them.

  5. Check accessibility
    Each swatch shows its highest contrast ratio against white or black, plus an AA pass/fail label. Use the Color Blindness Simulation dropdown to preview the palette through the eyes of people with different types of color vision deficiency.

  6. Export your palette
    Use the copy buttons below the palette to grab:

  • A plain JSON array of hex codes
  • A block of CSS custom properties (--color-1, --color-2…)
  • A Tailwind CSS extend.colors snippet ready to paste into your config

Examples

Analogous Palette from Indigo

Create a 5‑color analogous palette from the base color #6366f1.

Harmony: Analogous, Base: #6366f1, Colors: 5
 
#6366f1, #4f46e5, #6d28d9, #4338ca, #7c3aed

Frequently asked questions

What is the best color palette generator?

The best generator gives you creative control while handling technical details like contrast and export. This free tool combines classical color theory (analogous, complementary, triadic, etc.) with a golden‑ratio random mode, plus real‑time accessibility checks and color‑blindness simulation — all in a privacy‑first, no‑sign‑up interface.

Can I generate random color palettes?

Yes! Select Random (golden ratio) as the harmony mode and set your desired number of colors. Each click shuffles a new palette that always feels balanced because the hues are spaced using the golden‑ratio conjugate. You can lock any swatch before re‑rolling to refine your palette step by step.

How do I export my palette for Tailwind CSS or plain CSS?

Below the generated palette you’ll find three copy buttons: Hex Array, CSS Variables, and Tailwind Config.

  • Hex Array – a JSON array of hex codes
  • CSS Variables – ready‑to‑use --color-1 to --color-n declarations
  • Tailwind Config – a snippet that you can paste directly into tailwind.config.js under extend.colors

What color harmonies does the tool support?

You can choose from Analogous, Complementary, Triadic, Tetradic, and Monochromatic. Each one follows standard color theory rules based on your selected base color. The tool automatically creates tints and shades when you request more colors than the harmony naturally provides, so you always get a full, usable palette.

Can I see how color‑blind people will perceive my palette?

Absolutely. Use the Simulate color blindness dropdown to switch between normal vision, protanopia, deuteranopia, and tritanopia. The palette swatches update live so you can build palettes that work for everyone.

Is the color palette generator really free?

Yes — completely free. No account required, no download. Everything runs inside your browser, so your color choices never leave your device.

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