Side by side

Carbon Design System vs Terrazzo

Both stand on design system software. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.

Carbon Design System

Free plan Web

Carbon provides a broad set of design and development resources, with tools for both interface planning and implementation. Teams should account for the fact that pattern code does not cover every possible scenario.

Visit Carbon Design System

Terrazzo

Free plan iPhoneMacWeb

Terrazzo combines token generation and linting in an open-source CLI, with inputs, outputs, and integrations spanning several formats and tools. Consider the experimental status of Swift support and the Figma authentication requirement if those workflows matter to your team.

Visit Terrazzo

The facts

	Carbon Design System	Terrazzo
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Open source	Not published	Not published
Runs on	Web	iPhone, Mac, Web
Lowest paid plan	Free or on request	Free or on request
Plans published	1	1
Maker	Not published	Not published
Website	carbondesignsystem.com	terrazzo.app
On design system software	#5 of 22	#9 of 22

Carbon Design System: what it does well

Open source and free to use and contribute to.
Figma kits receive library updates automatically.
Web components work with Angular or Ember.
UI Builder can export frontend code.
Components follow the IBM Accessibility Checklist.

What to know first

Code is not available for every pattern scenario.
Product-layer components are built with React.

Terrazzo: what it does well

Free to use forever under the MIT license
Accepts JSON, JSONC, and YAML token files
Lint rules cover naming, duplicates, and accessibility criteria
Can run in continuous integration
Supports documented Tailwind and Vanilla Extract integrations

What to know first

The Swift plugin is experimental
Figma import requires an account and authentication token
Design Lab is listed as coming soon

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