Figma Make vs v0: Prototype or Production Code?

The confusion between Figma Make and v0 comes from the same place: both use AI and both generate something that looks like a UI. But what they produce is completely different, and using the wrong one for your goal will waste your time.

What Figma Make actually is

Figma Make is Figma's built-in AI that generates interactive prototypes directly inside your Figma file. You describe a behavior — "make this drawer slide in from the right when the button is clicked" — and Figma Make wires up the interaction without you manually building every connection.

The output is a prototype. It lives inside Figma. Developers can't ship it. Stakeholders can click through it and understand how something should work, but no code leaves the building.

That's not a knock on it — that's the point. Figma Make is for the design phase. It compresses the time it takes to go from a static mockup to something interactive you can put in front of people.

What v0 actually is

v0, from Vercel, generates React component code. You describe a UI element — "a subscription pricing table with monthly/annual toggle and three tiers" — and v0 outputs a working React component built with Tailwind CSS and shadcn/ui. You copy that code into your project and ship it.

The output is code. Real, editable, production-deployable code. v0 has no design phase. It's not for stakeholder presentations. It's for skipping the boilerplate step of building a component from scratch.

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The real question: what are you building toward?

If you're in the design phase and need to demonstrate behavior to stakeholders, product managers, or user research participants — use Figma Make. The speed gain is significant. Building a multi-state prototype with transitions manually in Figma takes hours. Figma Make can generate a working version of that in minutes.

If you're past the design phase and building the actual product — use v0. The code it generates for standard UI patterns (forms, tables, dashboards, nav elements, cards) is often production-quality. You're not throwing it away — you're starting further down the road.

Where Figma Make wins

Speed to interactive prototype. If you already have designs in Figma and you want to turn them interactive quickly, nothing is faster. The context is already there — Figma Make works with your existing components and frames.

Stakeholder alignment. Showing a clickable prototype in a tool stakeholders can already open in a browser is lower friction than deploying a code demo. Figma Make keeps everything inside the tool your team already uses.

No code required. Designers who don't code can use Figma Make independently. v0 requires at minimum understanding of how to drop a React component into a project.

Where v0 wins

The output is useful after the meeting ends. A Figma Make prototype is great for the presentation — and then you still have to build the thing. v0 gets you a component that developers can actually use.

v0 is faster for component generation than writing from scratch. Even with Cursor helping, generating a novel UI pattern takes longer than describing it to v0. For teams moving quickly, that matters.

Pricing

Figma Make: Included in Figma plans that support AI features. Figma Professional starts at $15/editor/month.

v0: Free tier with limited generations. Pro plan is $20/month for unlimited generations.

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Who should use which

Use Figma Make if:

• You need an interactive prototype to show stakeholders or run user tests
• You're in the design phase and want to demonstrate behavior quickly
• You want to stay inside Figma without touching code

Use v0 if:

• You need code you can ship
• You're building new UI components and want a fast starting point
• You want to skip boilerplate on standard UI patterns

They're not competing. The teams that get the most value use Figma Make to align on what to build, then v0 to start building it.