Applitools Eyes is a visual testing platform. Your tests add visual checkpoints, Eyes compares each one with an approved baseline using Visual AI, and your team accepts or rejects the differences. Design Bug Bot, made by 21st, is a GitHub App that reviews changed React UI code against the components, tokens, spacing and type scale your repository already has, then suggests fix code.
So Design Bug Bot is a complement, not a like-for-like Applitools alternative. Use Applitools Eyes to protect approved screens across browsers, devices and documents; add Design Bug Bot when new UI keeps shipping that looks fine but ignores your own design system, including screens with no baseline yet.
Disclosure: This comparison is published by 21st, which makes Design Bug Bot. It is based on official Applitools and 21st documentation checked on September 14, 2026. It is not a head-to-head benchmark and makes no accuracy claims about either product.
Applitools Eyes and Design Bug Bot at a glance
| Question | Applitools Eyes | Design Bug Bot |
|---|---|---|
| What does a review answer? | Does this checkpoint still match its baseline? What is Eyes | Does this changed code fit the repo's components and tokens? |
| What is the reference? | Baselines per branch, falling back to the parent branch. Branching | Existing components, tokens, spacing and type scale |
| How is sensitivity tuned? | Match levels such as Strict, Layout, Ignore Colors, Dynamic and Exact, per page or region. Match levels | No match levels; findings cite file and line when available |
| What does it cover? | Web, native mobile and PDFs; 100+ browser, viewport and device combinations. Eyes | Changed React pages and components at desktop and mobile widths, when the render succeeds |
| What else does it check? | Figma design-to-code comparison and visual WCAG checks. Eyes | Layout risks and unnecessary dependencies |
| How does it help fix? | CSS and DOM root cause; diff data for coding agents. Eyes | Suggested fix code; can push a branch for a fix pull request |
| What shows on the pull request? | A status that passes once differences are accepted. GitHub | One updated comment and an advisory check per reviewed commit |
| What setup does it need? | Eyes SDK in Playwright, Cypress, Selenium, WebdriverIO, Appium or Storybook tests. Eyes | Connect GitHub in 21st, choose repositories, enable reviews |
| How is it priced? | By checkpoints or active pages; Starter has a listed price. Pricing | 5 free successful reviews, then AI credits. Details |
What Applitools Eyes does well
Eyes replaces element-by-element assertions with visual checkpoints, and applies that model to websites, web apps, native mobile apps and PDFs. What is Applitools Eyes
Match levels decide what counts as a difference. Strict aims for no change the human eye would notice, Layout checks that elements keep their relative positions, Ignore Colors is Strict without color, Dynamic recognizes patterns such as dates, email addresses and URLs, and Exact compares pixel to pixel. Each can apply to a page or to a single region. Match levels
The Ultrafast Grid captures UI state once and renders it across more than 100 browser, viewport and device combinations. Eyes can also compare an implementation with a Figma design and check contrast, font sizes and overlap against WCAG. Applitools Eyes
Upkeep is built in. Identical changes across viewports can be accepted in one click, baselines follow your Git branches, and the GitHub status passes once differences are accepted. Applitools Eyes, GitHub integration
Eyes also feeds agent workflows, sending visual diff data and DOM root-cause context back to coding agents such as Cursor, Claude Code and Copilot. Its MCP server documents 23 tools: setup tools currently support the Playwright Fixtures SDK, and tools that change baselines require explicit approval. Applitools Eyes, MCP server docs
Where Design Bug Bot differs
Every Eyes comparison starts from a reference image, either an approved baseline or a Figma frame. That is the right model for catching change, but it says little about how a screen was built. A hand-rolled card that renders exactly like the approved one produces no visual difference, even if the repo already has a Card component.
Design Bug Bot uses your code as the reference. It reviews the changed UI against the repository's components, tokens, spacing and type scale, and looks for layout risks such as horizontal overflow, fixed widths and actions hidden on mobile. Because nothing has to be approved first, a page can be reviewed on the pull request that creates it.
Each finding explains the problem, points to the file and line when available, and includes suggested fix code you can inspect, copy or hand to a coding agent. Changed pages and components are rendered in a disposable sandbox. If the render succeeds, the review can include desktop and mobile screenshots; if it fails, findings are labeled as code-backed recommendations. Introducing Design Bug Bot
It does not keep approved baselines, run cross-browser regression, test native mobile apps or PDFs, or compare against Figma. It is React-focused, GitHub only and advisory, so it never blocks a merge.
Four situations that decide the split
The Figma frame matches, the code does not. A new pricing card passes a design-to-code check in Eyes, but it is a fresh component with inline hex values while the repo already has a Card and color tokens. Design Bug Bot can flag the duplicate and suggest the existing component. Once swapped, the card follows the next brand color change.
An agent restores the pixels. Through the agentic feedback loop on the Eyes page, a coding agent gets diff data and DOM context to repair a visual break. Whether the repair reused your spacing scale or added a one-off margin is the question a Design Bug Bot review asks of the same commit.
A new route with no approved image. A new settings page has no baseline on its first run, so the first acceptance decides what future runs protect. Reviewing that pull request against your type scale can catch an off-scale heading before it becomes the reference.
A Safari-only break or a changed invoice PDF. Design Bug Bot covers neither. If regressions across browsers, devices or documents are the risk you are paying to remove, buy Eyes first.
Looking for an Applitools alternative?
If you want another visual regression platform, Design Bug Bot is not in that category; our Chromatic, Argos and Percy comparisons cover those tools.
On Applitools vs Percy, the documented emphasis differs. Eyes documents per-region match levels, Figma comparison, visual WCAG checks and PDF testing. Percy documents DOM snapshots re-rendered in Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari, and a free plan with 5,000 screenshots a month. Percy SDK workflow, Percy browsers, Percy plans
Applitools pricing
Applitools lists Starter at $667 per month, paid annually, for 100,000 component checkpoints or 1,000 page checkpoints, with a free trial. Professional and Enterprise are quoted by sales, and all tiers include unlimited users and executions. These details were listed on Applitools pricing on September 14, 2026.
Design Bug Bot is not priced per checkpoint: new accounts get 5 successful reviews free, then reviews use AI credits on a subscription that includes AI. See the trial and billing details.
Run one pull request through both
- Pick a pull request that adds a screen built from several components, ideally with a Figma frame, and run both tools on the same commit.
- Note the match level of each Eyes region and whether Design Bug Bot rendered the change or returned code-backed recommendations. Both change what a clean result means.
- Apply one Design Bug Bot suggestion that changes pixels, such as swapping a one-off margin for a spacing token, rerun Eyes, and decide deliberately whether the difference becomes the new baseline.
- Track the time spent accepting baselines, verifying suggested code and repeating fixes.
The broader method is in visual regression testing vs AI design review.
Frequently asked
- Is Design Bug Bot an Applitools alternative?
- Only for one part of the job. Design Bug Bot reviews changed React UI code against your repository's components, tokens, spacing and type scale and suggests fixes. It does not keep baselines, run cross-browser or native mobile checks, or test PDFs, so teams that need visual regression coverage should compare Eyes with other visual testing platforms.
- Can Applitools Eyes tell whether a change uses our design tokens?
- Eyes compares rendered output with baselines or Figma frames and can show the CSS rule behind a visual difference. A hardcoded value that renders exactly like the token creates no difference to inspect. Design Bug Bot reviews the source against the tokens and components your repository already defines.
- How much does Applitools Eyes cost?
- On September 14, 2026, the Applitools pricing page listed Starter at $667 per month, paid annually, for 100,000 component checkpoints or 1,000 page checkpoints, with a free trial. Professional and Enterprise pricing comes from sales.
- Can Applitools Eyes and Design Bug Bot run on the same pull request?
- Yes. Eyes reports its visual status on the pull request through its GitHub integration, and Design Bug Bot adds one review comment and an advisory check. If you accept a Design Bug Bot fix that changes pixels, expect a new Eyes difference to accept or reject.