7 Best Websites for Finding Stunning Colour Palettes

Discovering the perfect colour palette can define the success of your project. These seven websites are trusted by designers for providing endless inspiration, from classic harmonies to AI-powered suggestions.

Whether you're looking for trends, accessibility guidance, or a colour from a breathtaking photo, these platforms have you covered.

1. Coolors

Famous for its speed and simplicity, Coolors is the ultimate tool for rapid palette generation and exploration. The intuitive interface lets you lock colours you like and generate complementary shades with a single keystroke, making it perfect for when you need quick, cohesive ideas.

• Best for: Lightning-fast brainstorming and generating trendy, modern palettes.
• Key Feature: The "spacebar generator" for instant inspiration and a vast gallery of user-created palettes.

2. Adobe Color

As the professional's comprehensive toolkit, Adobe Color excels at applying classic colour theory and extracting inspiration from images. Its integration with Creative Cloud makes it a powerhouse for designers building precise, harmonious systems.

• Best for: Creating rule-based harmonies (complementary, analogous) and extracting palettes from photographs.
• Key Feature: Deep integration with Adobe apps and advanced colour wheel controls.

3. Color Hunt

A beautifully curated, community-driven gallery of colour palettes. Its clean grid layout is perfect for visual browsing, showcasing fresh and popular combinations that reflect current design trends.

• Best for: Daily inspiration and discovering what's trending in the design community.
• Key Feature: A constantly updated, curated feed of four-colour palettes voted on by users.

4. Color Leap

Step back in time for truly unique inspiration. Color Leap presents historically accurate colour palettes from specific art periods, offering a rich source of timeless and story-driven combinations.

• Best for: Finding unique, historically-inspired palettes with depth and character.
• Key Feature: "Leaps" through history with palettes sourced from art and artefacts of different eras.

5. ColourLovers

More than just a palette gallery, this is a creative social network. It boasts a massive, user-generated repository of not just colours but also patterns, offering a deep well of eclectic and artistic ideas.

• Best for: Discovering highly creative, artistic, and unconventional colour ideas.
• Key Feature: A massive community archive of palettes, patterns, and shared creative work.

6. Canva Color Palettes

Perfect for beginners or theme-based projects, Canva offers expertly curated palettes with evocative, descriptive names. It's designed for practical application, making it easy to find a mood and apply it directly in designs.

• Best for: Beginners or anyone seeking ready-to-use, thematically-named palettes (e.g., "Ocean Sunrise").
• Key Feature: Beautifully presented, mood-based palettes that work seamlessly within the Canva editor.

7. Paletton

The master tool for understanding and visualising colour relationships in context. While it generates palettes, its real power is showing you exactly how they will work on a mock website or interface.

• Best for: Learning colour theory and pre-visualising how a palette will function in a UI layout.
• Key Feature: Live website mockup previews to test palettes in real-time.

How to Use These Sites Effectively

• Start with a Goal: Are you exploring trends (Color Hunt), need a themed palette (Canva), or building a system (Adobe Color)? Let your goal guide you.
• Look for Context: Tools like Paletton are invaluable because they show you colour proportion and usage, not just swatches.
• Build a Library: Use the save or favourite functions on these sites to curate your own personal inspiration library for future projects.
• Test Accessibility: Once you find a palette you love, use a contrast checker to ensure it's usable for all audiences.

Bookmarking these seven sites will equip you with a powerful toolkit for any colour challenge, ensuring you always have a source of stunning inspiration at your fingertips.