ColorsMine vs Figma variables
If you are comparing these two, you want to know whether a plugin adds anything over what Figma already does.
The short version. Figma variables is the native variable system in Figma, which stores and switches values by mode. ColorsMine starts where a palette ends: it turns colour into a token system and then measures whether that system is usable. They overlap less than the search suggests.
Use Figma variables when
you already have a validated palette and only need somewhere to put it — Figma alone is enough. That is a real job and this page is not going to pretend otherwise.
What ColorsMine adds
What Figma does not decide for you: which colours, at which stops, aliased how, and whether each pairing passes.
What ColorsMine actually produces
| From | You get |
|---|---|
| One brand hex | 8 primitive ramps and 57 semantic variables — surface, text, border, primary, secondary, accent, and success / info / warning / danger — in light and dark |
| An image | Ten semantic roles with an 11-step OKLCH scale each, deterministically: the same image always gives the same palette |
| An existing palette | A grade out of 100 across contrast, colour-blind safety, harmony, distinctness and tonal range, plus the single change that moves it most |
| A Figma collection | Every mode graded, every canvas layer scanned for real contrast failures, and a proof frame that renders in both themes |
| A repository | npx colorsmine check --min B --wcag — the same engine as a build gate |
What it is checked against
- WCAG 2.2 — 4.5:1 for body text (1.4.3), 3:1 for large text and non-text contrast (1.4.11), 7:1 for AAA.
- APCA Lc, which accounts for polarity and disagrees with the ratio often enough to be worth reading.
- Protanopia, deuteranopia, tritanopia, and greyscale.
Cost and access
ColorsMine is free, needs no account, and makes no network calls — the palette engine, the 10,368,048-palette catalogue and the grading all run locally. Nothing you open leaves your machine.
This page describes Figma variables at the level of what kind of tool it is, not as a feature comparison — tools ship and a feature table written today is wrong by next quarter. Check its own site for what it does now.
Other comparisons
Try it on a colour you already have
Paste a hex and see the whole system it implies, graded, in about a second.
Open ColorsMine