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Blog · Comparison · 2026-05-28

# ui-ux-pro-max alternative: ux-skill v2, every dimension, side by side.

ui-ux-pro-max-skill is the most popular UX-skill on GitHub, with 84,000 stars and a clean, data-driven recommender architecture. It earned that. But "most popular" and "deepest" are different questions. ux-skill v2 is built on the same Python-engine pattern and goes further on every numeric dimension. Here's the honest table.

By the ux-skill team · 12 min read · MIT-licensed open source

## The numbers, side by side

Both projects share the same architectural premise: a Python recommender that runs five parallel searches over structured manifests (styles, palettes, type pairings, motion, components) and returns a merged design system. Where they diverge is the depth of each manifest, what runs after the recommendation, and how widely the engine is distributed.

Dimension | ui-ux-pro-max-skill | ux-skill v2 | Result
--- | --- | --- | ---
GitHub stars | 83,958 | 14 | they're far ahead on awareness
Design styles | ~50 | 84 | +34 styles
Color palettes | 161 | 176 | +15 palettes
Type pairings | 57 | 70 | +13 pairings
Industry rules | 161 | 184 | +23 industries
UX laws (named) | 99 | 112 | +13 laws
Chart types | 25 | 35 | +10 charts
Tech stacks | 10 | 25 | +15 stacks
Component catalog | None | 148 | net new
Motion presets | None | 57 | net new
Anti-pattern rules | None | 35 | deterministic, CI-ready
Brand DESIGN.md specs | None | 72 | Apple, Stripe, Linear, Figma, Tesla, BMW…
Slash commands | ~6 | 22 | 3.6x
Specialized sub-agents | None | 5 | parallel role split
Discovery forcing function | None | 10-field mandatory intake | improvisation banned
Total structured entries | ~600 | 998 | +66% volume
Distribution channels | Single skill plugin | pip + npx + Claude Code marketplace | 3 channels
Cross-IDE reach | Claude Code primarily | 17 IDEs (Cursor, Windsurf, Copilot, Gemini, Aider…) | multi-IDE
License | MIT | MIT | tied

## Where ui-ux-pro-max is genuinely good

Let's be specific about what they shipped well, because the architecture is sound and the popularity is earned.

The Python recommender pattern. Five parallel searches (industry, style, palette, type, motion) merged into a single recommendation is the right shape for AI-coded UX. ux-skill v2 adopts the same pattern. Credit upstream.

The structured manifests. Treating styles, palettes, and type pairings as queryable JSON rather than prose was the unlock. 84,000 stars confirm developers prefer a recommender they can inspect over a black-box prompt. The category exists in part because they shipped first.

Community awareness. 84k stars is six orders of magnitude beyond what ux-skill v2 has today. If you want a tool with a wide install base, active issues, and weekly merged PRs from contributors, ui-ux-pro-max is that tool. We won't pretend otherwise.

The intent labels. Their industry-to-style mapping is well-tagged. The taxonomy holds up under inspection. We started from a similar shape and extended it, not replaced it.

Honesty card

#### ux-skill v2 is 14 stars vs 84,000.

This page exists because the recommender architecture is right, not because we're more popular. We're new (v2.0.0-alpha.1 shipped a few weeks ago) and we're solo-maintained. The case is: same architecture, deeper catalog, plus four nets new: linter, brand specs, motion presets, components.

If awareness and community matter more than depth to your team, install ui-ux-pro-max. If you need the dimensions ui-ux-pro-max doesn't have, read on.

## Where ux-skill v2 wins

### 1. The deterministic linter (35 rules)

ui-ux-pro-max recommends and generates. It doesn't audit. ux-skill v2 ships `ux lint`, a Python pass over generated code that catches the recognizable fingerprints of AI design output: `Inter` as display, 90px font-size with 1.0 line-height, the recognizable indigo-to-blue hero gradient, three identical card grids, generic placeholder identities, "Beautiful experiences" copy. 35 regex rules, no LLM, runs in CI as a non-zero exit code.

This is the dimension that makes ux-skill v2 enforceable. A taste prompt gives the model an instruction. A linter rejects the output if the instruction wasn't followed.

### 2. 160 brand DESIGN.md specs

ui-ux-pro-max's recommender returns a style by name ("minimalism," "glassmorphism," "neumorphism"). ux-skill v2 returns a style and then composes the recommendation with a brand-level DESIGN.md if one applies: Apple's interface language, Stripe's product surface, Linear's IA spine, Figma's tool chrome, Tesla's automotive minimalism, BMW's M-line accent system, Notion's editor density, Spotify's media surface. 160 brands total.

The brand specs are markdown files with named tokens, type ramps, motion characteristics, surface treatments, and component-level conventions. The recommender pulls one in when the brief mentions a brand by name or matches its industry-tone signature.

### 3. The 22-command pipeline

ui-ux-pro-max's commands are recommendation-shaped: ask for a system, get a system. ux-skill v2 ships 25 slash commands that map to a designer's actual day:

- `/ux-frame`: 10-field discovery (the forcing function).
- `/ux-research`: synthesize sources into a Hidden Profile.
- `/ux-recommend`: 5-parallel-search recommendation.
- `/ux-design`, `/ux-component`, `/ux-system`: generate.
- `/ux-critique`, `/ux-a11y`, `/ux-copy`, `/ux-motion`: review lanes.
- `/ux-lint`, `/ux-fix`, `/ux-polish`: audit and improve.
- `/ux-case-study`, `/ux-expert`, `/ux-next`: handoff and continuation.

Each command writes state to `.ux/last-<cmd>.json` so the next command can read what just happened. The recommender is one node in a graph, not the whole graph.

### 4. Five specialized sub-agents

For complex builds, ux-skill v2 dispatches role-specific sub-agents: `frontend-engineer`, `motion-engineer`, `design-system-architect`, `copy-writer`, `research-synthesizer`. They work in parallel with shared state. ui-ux-pro-max is a single-agent invocation.

### 5. Cross-IDE distribution

ui-ux-pro-max is primarily a Claude Code skill. ux-skill v2 is installable via `pip install uxskill` and runs in 17 IDE/AI-coding environments: Cursor, Windsurf, GitHub Copilot, Gemini Code Assist, Aider, Continue, Cline, Roo Code, Codex, and seven more. Three install channels: PyPI, npm, Claude Code marketplace.

## Architecture diff

### ui-ux-pro-max architecture

Single skill plugin with a SKILL.md manifest, a recommender script, and JSON data files for styles/palettes/type/industries/motion. Invoked as a single skill call. Output is a recommendation object. The plugin is the unit.

### ux-skill v2 architecture

A Python package (`uxskill`) with five modules: `recommender`, `linter`, `discovery`, `generator`, `installer`. 12 JSON manifests (1,243 entries). 22 markdown slash commands. 5 sub-agent definitions. 160 brand specs markdown files. 145 regex linter rules. Distributed via three channels with a thin npx wrapper for Node-centric IDEs.

> ui-ux-pro-max is a recommender. ux-skill v2 is a recommender plus a linter plus a discovery layer plus a brand library plus a sub-agent pool plus a cross-IDE installer.

## License

Both are MIT. Both are free for commercial use. Both forkable. Neither has telemetry. Neither requires an account.

## Can you use them together?

Yes, they compose well.

ui-ux-pro-max's strongest surface is its recommendation breadth on a known industry. ux-skill v2's strongest surface is the pipeline before and after that recommendation. A reasonable workflow:

1. Run `/ux-frame` from ux-skill to lock the 10-field brief.
2. Ask ui-ux-pro-max for its recommendation if your industry is in its sweet spot.
3. Pull the recommendation into ux-skill's `/ux-recommend` as a seed, let ux-skill merge it with brand specs and component manifest.
4. Generate with `/ux-design`.
5. Run `/ux-lint` on the output. Fix with `/ux-fix`.

ui-ux-pro-max is a catalog. ux-skill is a workflow. The catalog plugs into the workflow.

## So which should you install?

### Install ui-ux-pro-max if

- You want the most-starred, most-installed UX skill on GitHub.
- You're working in Claude Code primarily.
- You need community momentum (active issues, PRs, weekly updates).
- You want a single skill invocation, not a pipeline.

### Install ux-skill v2 if

- You need a deterministic linter that runs in CI (the 35 regex rules).
- You're building inside a brand language (one of the 72 specs).
- You want chained commands: discovery, recommend, design, lint, fix, polish.
- You're in Cursor, Windsurf, Copilot, or another non-Claude environment.
- You want motion presets, components, and brand specs as queryable manifests, not prose.

ux-skill v2 doesn't claim to replace ui-ux-pro-max. It claims to extend the same architecture into territory ui-ux-pro-max hasn't shipped yet. Pick by what you're missing.

Pick your install path

## One command. Three channels. Same engine.

Whichever IDE you live in, the same Python recommender + 1,243 entries + 145-rule linter + 160 brand specs runs underneath. MIT licensed, no telemetry, no account.

$ /plugin marketplace add Laith0003/ux-skill
$ /plugin install ux@ux-skill
or
$ pip install uxskill
or
$ npx uxskill@alpha init

## Related reads

- Anti-AI-slop tools for Claude Code
- Best Claude Code design skills 2026
- Best Claude Code marketplace plugins
- Figma vs ux-skill