# Backlight vs Theo

**Leader by Vioscale score:** Backlight

| Attribute | Backlight | Theo |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 56.5 (37% (low)) | 42.2 (29% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | - | 0 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | - | 165 |
| adoption.github_stars | - | 1,988 |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | A code-centric platform for designing, collaborating on, and publishing design systems with integrated visual review and Figma plugin support. | Theo is an open-source design token transformation tool that enables teams to maintain design system values like colors, fonts, and spacing in a single source of truth. It automatically generates formatted output for different platforms and languages, including Sass, CSS, Android XML, and JavaScript. |
| features.capabilities | `{"architecture_model":"managed_cloud_saas","w3c_design_token_format_specification_support":true,"markdown_and_mdx_custom_documentation_authoring":true,"visual_regression_testing_and_component_history":true,"design_token_variable_translation_engine_figma_to_code":true}` | `{"pricing_model":"free_open_source","architecture_model":"open_source_framework","mit_or_apache_permissive_oss_license":true}` |
| integrations.count | 3 | - |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"GitHub","native":true,"category":"version_control","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"GitLab","native":true,"category":"version_control","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Figma","native":true,"category":"design","direction":"outbound"}]` | - |
| language.primary | - | JavaScript |
| license.spdx | - | BSD-3-Clause |
| market.availability | `{"hqCountry":"FR","primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | - |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` | `{"cli":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Starter","summary":"Free","features":["Unlimited users","Up to 2 design systems","Online IDE and Command-line","Instant share","GitHub & GitLab integrations","Visual review of Pull Requests","100 Visual regression reports","Publish on scope @backlight-dev","Markdown, MDJS, MDX2, MDVue, MDsveX and Nunjucks support","Real-time editing","Auto-versioning","Community support on Discord"],"contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Pro","summary":"$149/mo (billed annually) or $186/mo (monthly)","features":["All Starter features","Up to 5 design systems","1000 Visual regression reports","Publish to any registry","Publish to any scope","Publish private packages","Export documentation static site","Email support"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":149,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"Custom pricing (contact sales)","features":["All Pro features","Unlimited design systems","Unlimited Visual regression reports","Email support with SLA","story.to.design (automatically generate and maintain Figma UI Kits)"],"contactSales":true}],"summary":"Free starter plan. Pro from $149/mo (billed annually) or $186/mo (monthly). Enterprise custom pricing.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://backlight.dev/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-09-01T16:10:31.708Z","startingPrice":{"amount":149,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` | `{"type":"free","sourceUrl":"https://github.com/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-09-01T14:45:08.462Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | - |
| pricing.model | freemium | free |
| pricing.price_level | high | free |
| pricing.starting_price | `{"amount":149,"currency":"USD"}` | - |
| pricing.transparent | yes | - |
| release.cadence_days | - | 20 |
| release.history | - | `[{"url":"https://github.com/salesforce-ux/theo/releases/tag/v8.1.5","date":"2020-01-27T20:04:05Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.1.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/salesforce-ux/theo/releases/tag/v8.1.4","date":"2019-07-31T17:08:47Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.1.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/salesforce-ux/theo/releases/tag/v8.1.3","date":"2019-05-28T17:40:47Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.1.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/salesforce-ux/theo/releases/tag/v8.1.1","date":"2018-12-20T15:21:17Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.1.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/salesforce-ux/theo/releases/tag/v8.0.1","date":"2018-11-27T15:55:37Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.0.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/salesforce-ux/theo/releases/tag/v8.0.0","date":"2018-10-25T14:39:59Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/salesforce-ux/theo/releases/tag/v8.0.0-beta.2","date":"2018-07-13T14:10:53Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v8.0.0-beta.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/salesforce-ux/theo/releases/tag/v8.0.0-beta.1","date":"2018-07-10T15:01:33Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v8.0.0-beta.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/salesforce-ux/theo/releases/tag/v7.0.1","date":"2018-02-28T21:19:25Z","type":"stable","version":"v7.0.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/salesforce-ux/theo/releases/tag/v7.0.0","date":"2018-02-28T20:33:05Z","type":"stable","version":"v7.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/salesforce-ux/theo/releases/tag/v6.0.0","date":"2018-01-31T16:52:49Z","type":"stable","version":"v6.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/salesforce-ux/theo/releases/tag/v5.0.0","date":"2017-01-18T02:37:14Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/salesforce-ux/theo/releases/tag/v5.0.0-rc.7","date":"2017-01-11T22:24:09Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v5.0.0-rc.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/salesforce-ux/theo/releases/tag/v5.0.0-rc.6","date":"2017-01-11T19:37:46Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v5.0.0-rc.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/salesforce-ux/theo/releases/tag/v5.0.0-rc.5","date":"2016-12-21T22:54:54Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v5.0.0-rc.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/salesforce-ux/theo/releases/tag/v5.0.0-rc.4","date":"2016-12-21T01:04:21Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v5.0.0-rc.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/salesforce-ux/theo/releases/tag/v5.0.0-beta.7","date":"2016-12-20T20:18:54Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v5.0.0-beta.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/salesforce-ux/theo/releases/tag/v5.0.0-beta.6","date":"2016-12-20T07:11:41Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v5.0.0-beta.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/salesforce-ux/theo/releases/tag/v5.0.0-beta.5","date":"2016-12-19T23:59:10Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v5.0.0-beta.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/salesforce-ux/theo/releases/tag/v5.0.0-beta.4","date":"2016-12-16T02:32:22Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v5.0.0-beta.4"}]` |
| security.gdpr | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | - | 3.5 |
| security.trust_center | https://backlight.dev/legal/privacy-policy | https://github.com/security |
| security.vulnerabilities | - | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=theo&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Design Systems)

| Capability | Backlight | Theo |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Capabilities** |  |  |
| Architecture model | Managed cloud saas | Open source framework |
| Design token variable translation engine figma to code | ✓ | - |
| Interactive storybook react component embedding | - | - |
| Continuous integration ci github gitlab token sync | - | - |
| Visual regression testing and component history | ✓ | - |
| Markdown and mdx custom documentation authoring | ✓ | - |
| Brand asset management hub for logos and fonts | - | - |
| Version control and releaseing for brand guidelines | - | - |
| W3c design token format specification support | ✓ | - |
| Multi tenant theme support for white labeling | - | - |
| SOC2 type ii | - | - |
| Mit or apache permissive oss license | - | ✓ |
| Pricing model | - | Free open source |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T17:55:46.774Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*