Introduction

Most designers tend to get their ideas from the same old places—Dribbble, Behance, and Pinterest. Are they easy to use? Of course. But are they really enough? Not really. These sites only solve a small amount of design problems because static screenshots don’t show how things move, how interactions work, or give you source files. Plus, they definitely don’t show how a product’s look changed over time.

TL;DR
Most “inspiration” platforms freeze design into pretty screenshots—no motion, no states, no context, no iteration. This article collects 23 services that expose the mechanics behind great interfaces: recorded user journeys, downloadable Figma files, email sequences, component code, redesign timelines, and practical best practices—so you can learn from what actually ships.

So, I went searching. I checked out over 50 platforms, broke down what they do, saw how helpful they were, and tested what they can really do when you’re designing something real—not just for show. And here’s the thing: Dribbble and Behance are just a small part of what’s out there.

Why Deep Visual Literacy Matters

Once you’ve reviewed 500 onboarding flows, you stop guessing—you start recognizing patterns. After scanning 100 pricing pages, you understand what persuades, what confuses, and what silently kills conversion.

The issue with mainstream reference hubs is structural:

• Dribbble displays glossy concepts that often collapse in real products.
• Pinterest is a chaotic collage—pretty, context-free, and frequently useless.
• Behance tends to showcase final outcomes, while the messy iteration trail stays hidden.

The tools below unlock a different tier of learning:

• Video instead of frozen frames
• Figma source files rather than mere exports
• Version history rather than a single snapshot
• Real code instead of only visuals
• Best-practice explanations rather than “look how nice”

1. Mobbin — Video User Flows Instead of Screenshots

Core advantage: full user-flow recordings. You don’t merely view screens; you observe transitions, button states, error messaging, micro-interactions, and motion timing. A static capture cannot communicate pull-to-refresh behavior or the rhythm of a modal entrance.

Scale: 500,000+ screenshots from 1,000+ mobile apps, refreshed weekly. Teams from Airbnb, Pinterest, and Uber reportedly rely on it.

Figma copy-paste: paste visuals straight into Figma without hoarding files or downloading competitor apps.

Granular taxonomy: onboarding, forms, settings, notifications, payment flows—finding 50 variations of “reset password” takes minutes.

How to use: designing a sign-up flow? Watch 50+ real-world examples, compare edge cases, and extract recurring structures.

Weak points:

• pricey for freelancers or students
• mobile-first; web coverage is thinner
• no desktop app references

Price: $12/month
Link: mobbin.com

2) Screen Gallery — Russia & CIS-Focused App References

Core advantage: one of the few large-scale libraries centered on apps from Russia, CIS, and nearby regions. While Mobbin and Refero skew Western, Screen Gallery gives local benchmarks—essential if you design for Russian-speaking markets.

Structure: four major sections—Apps, Patterns, UI Elements, Scenarios—built for surgical searching.

Video flows: like Mobbin, it shows animated journeys, not just still frames.

Daily updates: new releases appear continuously, keeping examples fresh.

How to use: building fintech for Russia? Compare Raiffeisen, Tinkoff, Sber. Need food delivery patterns? Study Yandex.Eda, Delivery Club, SberMarket.

Weak points:

• smaller archive than Mobbin
• local bias isn’t ideal for global products
• less visible internationally

Price: 500 ₽/month
Link: scrn.gallery

3) SaaSFrame — Emails + Internal Product Interfaces

Core advantage: this is not merely a landing gallery—it also covers email communication and product UI internals. That makes it rare. You’ll find:

• 246 onboarding emails
• 83 welcome emails
• 81 free-trial emails
  Plus password reset, feature announcements, invoices, abandoned carts, and more.

Because the customer journey doesn’t end at the landing page. You need the full chain: sign-up → welcome email → onboarding UI → retention messaging.

Product UI: includes onboarding screens, signup flows, and patterns like modals, inputs, progress indicators.

Flow organization: screens are grouped into connected journeys, not disjointed fragments.

Figma downloads: you can download a page’s Figma file—inspect layer structure, components, naming conventions, and spacing logic.

How to use: designing SaaS onboarding? Pull UI examples, download files, then match them with the email cycle for consistency.

Weak points:

• fewer examples than Mobbin
• screenshot quality varies
• no video flows

Price: $14/month
Link: saasframe.io

4) Awwwards — The Industry’s Most Prestigious Web Award

Core advantage: arguably the most recognized accolade in web design. Winners include Mercedes-Benz, Bloomberg, Bose, Warner Brothers, Google. Being featured implies serious global validation.

Award system: Site of the Day / Month / Year. Judging criteria cover design quality, usability, creativity, and content.

Developer Award: co-run with Microsoft, focusing on performance, accessibility, and cross-platform engineering.

Annual book: “The 365 Best Websites Around the World” — a physical showcase of top projects.

How to use: study the award winners, and more importantly: analyze why they scored high.

Weak points:

• heavy bias toward conceptual agency work
• less e-commerce and B2B
• can drift from practical commercial reality

Price: Free
Link: awwwards.com

5) Muzli — Inspiration in Every New Tab

Core advantage: a Chrome extension that replaces your new tab with a design-centric feed. You don’t have to remember to “go look for references.” Every browser tab becomes a micro-dose of visual input.

160+ sources aggregated: pulls from major platforms, curated into one stream with personalization.

Muzli Picks Journal: human-curated highlights instead of pure algorithm.

Workflow fit: inspiration becomes ambient, not a separate ritual.

How to use: open your browser 1,000 times over a long project—you’ll passively absorb hundreds of patterns without deliberate effort.

Weak points:

• can derail focus
• limited topic filtering
• occasional irrelevant content

Price: Free
Link: muz.li

6) Refero — 100,000+ Web & iOS Screenshots

Core advantage: 100K+ high-resolution (@2x) screenshots with AI-powered organization.

Coverage: dashboards, onboarding flows, e-commerce, marketing pages—solid production patterns.

Lifetime option: unlike monthly-only competitors, Refero offers a lifetime plan.

How to use: need advanced data tables, bulk actions, complex form logic? Refero gives real implementations from mature products.

Weak points:

• less mobile depth compared to Mobbin
• no video flows
• UI feels less polished than top competitors

Price: €14/month or €250 lifetime
Link: refero.design

7) Component Gallery — 95 Design Systems With Real Code

Core advantage: 2,680 examples across 95 design systems, including accessibility issues and implementation code. This isn’t visual wallpaper—it’s functioning engineering reality.

Tech filters: React, Vue, Web Components, Tailwind CSS.

Accessibility issues shown: you can see what fails and why—contrast problems, broken keyboard navigation, and other pitfalls.

Open-source tags: many systems link to full repos.

How to use: building a design system? Compare how 95 companies solve buttons, dropdowns, states, and interactions—then craft a version with fewer mistakes.

Weak points:

• lacks polished component previews
• not every system stays updated
• complex layout compositions are limited

Price: Free
Link: component.gallery

8) Land-Book — Design Changes Over Time

Core advantage: tracks how websites morph across time. You don’t just see Stripe’s current homepage; you see what it looked like last year, and what changed.

Pro features: mobile previews, downloads, personal boards, filters by color, typography, style, and industry.

Marketplace: templates for startups and agencies—usable assets, not only inspiration.

How to use: analyze Notion’s homepage over multiple versions: what was removed, what was added, and what was rewritten.

Weak points:

• not all sites are tracked consistently
• version history focuses on popular brands
• Pro tools locked behind subscription

Price: free plan available, PRO $6/month
Link: land-book.com

9) Landing Love — 1,840+ Full-Page Landing Videos

Core advantage: full-page video recordings of landing pages. Motion, scroll choreography, hover states, transitions—captured as they truly behave.

How to use: designing an animated landing? Study timing, easing, density of effects, and where motion becomes noise.

Weak points:

• smaller library than major competitors
• no filtering by animation type
• landing-only; no apps or internal UI

Price: Free
Link: landing.love

10) Page Flows — The Giants Merged

Core advantage: in 2024, Screenlane and Page Collective combined into one platform. Result: a more consolidated, all-in-one resource library.

Video flows: onboarding, upgrades, checkout, subscription management—complete journeys, not fragments.

Premium learning content: UI/UX case studies and practical resources.

How to use: building a SaaS checkout flow? Compare 50+ real checkout journeys from cart to success state.

Weak points:

• much of the good content sits behind paywalls
• subscription pricing is higher than Mobbin
• interface still maturing post-merge

Price: $13/month
Link: pageflows.com

11) Lapa Ninja — OG Images + Massive Video Archive

Core advantage: 82 Open Graph image categories with technical best practices—dimensions, file constraints, meta-tag implementation. This is especially useful because OG images are not “decorations”; they influence click behavior dramatically.

Extras:

• access to older design versions
• free design books (UI Design Roadmap, Design Engineering Handbook)
• 7,300+ full-site videos and 15,000+ screenshots

How to use: create stronger OG images by studying patterns, then validate them against technical specs.

Weak points:

• interface feels dated
• some categories are thin
• limited mobile references

Price: Free
Link: lapa.ninja

12) CSS Design Awards — Global Jury & Certificates

Core advantage: judged by 200+ international designers; winners receive certifications and trophies.

More than a gallery: includes an academy, job listings, and a professional directory.

How to use: explore award winners and interpret what experts reward.

Weak points:

• lower visibility compared to Awwwards
• smaller archive
• inconsistent quality across entries

Price: Free
Link: cssdesignawards.com

13) Really Good Emails — Filter by HTML Text

Core advantage: a dedicated email design archive recommended by email marketers. Its standout feature is filtering by HTML text, which helps avoid image-heavy layouts that trigger spam filters.

How to use: crafting welcome emails? Filter by text density and study structural hierarchy.

Weak points:

• industry categorization is limited
• no effectiveness metrics
• performance data is absent

Price: Free (all Pro features free since 2025 after Beefree acquisition)
Link: reallygoodemails.com

14) LandingFolio — Search by Color Palette

Core advantage: search landing examples by dominant color schemes. If a client’s brand color is #FF6B35, you can find pages with similar chromatic logic.

Component library: many sections available for one-click copying, including FAQ, stats, steps, hero blocks, pricing, and more.

How to use: match brand color requirements to real landing references instead of guessing.

Weak points:

• smaller collection
• components may require refinement
• some examples feel average

Price: full access via subscription ($49/quarter or $59 lifetime)
Link: landingfolio.com

15) Landing Gallery — Filter by No-Code Builders

Core advantage: filter examples by how they were built: Webflow (324+), Tilda (20+), etc. This saves you from designing layouts that your chosen platform can’t realistically reproduce.

Mobile versions: available free, unlike some competitors.

Email newsletter: periodic curated drops.

Weak points:

• not every example is high quality
• limited Tilda presence
• lacks support for other builders

Price: Free
Link: landing.gallery

16) SaaSPages — Best Practices Attached to Each Block

Core advantage: each landing section (Hero, Features, Pricing, CTA) includes best-practice explanations—not just examples. This is “what + why,” which is rare.

How to use: build pricing sections with proven logic: highlighting one plan, defaulting annual billing, showing savings properly.

Weak points:

• small library
• best practices are basic
• incomplete coverage across all sections

Price: Free
Link: saaspages.xyz

17) One Page Love — 8,850 One-Pagers + Learning Content

Core advantage: a huge one-page collection paired with tutorials and interviews. Founder Rob Hope curates entries manually—no algorithmic sludge.

How to use: build startup one-pagers while learning from creator interviews.

Weak points:

• narrow specialization
• subjective curation
• some examples feel outdated

Price: Free
Link: onepagelove.com

18) Scrnshts — App Store Screenshot Mastery

Core advantage: an archive dedicated to App Store screenshots—handpicked and categorized. Those 5–10 images often decide whether an app gets installed.

Categories: Business, Education, Entertainment, Finance, and more.

Best-practice insights: conversion-oriented design notes.

Weak points:

• iOS only
• small archive
• no conversion metrics

Price: Free
Link: scrnshts.club

19) Collect UI — Daily UI Archive Condensed

Core advantage: a curated archive based on Daily UI prompts, often sourced from Dribbble shots.

Daily UI Challenge: 100 prompts across patterns like signup, calculator, profiles, settings, 404 pages.

Component filters: quick lookup for specific UI pieces.

Weak points:

• heavy on concept design
• production readiness varies
• Dribbble aesthetics dominate

Price: Free
Link: collectui.com

20) Godly — Cutting-Edge Web Aesthetics

Core advantage: an intensely curated catalog of visually powerful sites with modern interaction style.

Animated previews: combines motion and stills to show “feel” quickly.

Daily updates: steady flow of current trends.

Weak points:

• agency-heavy
• fewer commercial examples
• usability sometimes sacrificed for spectacle

Price: Free
Link: godly.website

21) Httpster — Experimental Web Design

Core advantage: showcases unconventional, boundary-pushing web design—useful when clients demand “something different.”

Filters: style, type, industry.

Weak points:

• niche aesthetics
• low applicability for business sites
• often impractical

Price: Free
Link: httpster.net

22) Dribbble — The Old Foundation

Core advantage: fast “shot” sharing and a rare feature: video intros for profiles.

Templates: niche templates for portfolio quick starts.

Community: huge network for feedback and professional visibility.

Weak points:

• many unrealistic concepts
• low context
• oversaturation of “pretty-but-unusable”

Price: free plan + PRO ($3/month)
Link: dribbble.com

23) Behance — Deep Case Studies

Core advantage: detailed project pages with narration, images, video—essentially a mini-blog for each case.

Hiring advantage: recruiters often prefer Behance with 3–4 strong case studies.

Adobe integration: works seamlessly inside Creative Cloud workflows.

Weak points:

• no flow videos
• little iteration history
• rarely shows real living products

Price: free + PRO (€13/month)
Link: behance.net

Comparative Snapshot

Quick Checklist: Which One Should You Use?

• Designing a mobile app? → Mobbin (global) or Screen Gallery (Russia/CIS)
• Need email campaigns? → Really Good Emails + SaaSFrame
• Building a design system? → Component Gallery
• Searching for motion-heavy ideas? → Landing Love + Lapa Ninja
• On a tight budget? → Muzli + Godly + Component Gallery
• Building B2B SaaS? → SaaSFrame + Refero
• Launching an iOS app? → Scrnshts
• Studying design evolution? → Land-Book
• Want prestige-grade benchmarks? → Awwwards
• Want reasoning, not just visuals? → SaaSPages + One Page Love

A Practical Consumption System (So You Don’t Drown)

You don’t need to open 23 sites daily. A lightweight rhythm beats frantic hoarding.

Every day:

• Muzli (automatic via new tab)

Every week:

• Awwwards (macro-trend awareness)
• Godly (current aesthetic language)

Before starting a project:

• Mobbin / SaaSFrame / Refero (pattern research)
• Component Gallery (if building system logic)
• Page Flows (if you need full user journeys)

Once a month:

• Httpster (creative disruption)
• Land-Book (evolution study)

When necessary:

• Really Good Emails (email patterns)
• Scrnshts (App Store presentation)
• LandingFolio (brand color matching)
• Landing Gallery (builder constraints)

Final Takeaway

Every platform above delivers something distinctive—flow recordings, version timelines, downloadable sources, accessibility notes, or real code. And that’s the point: visual literacy isn’t an event; it’s a habit.

After six months of this approach, you won’t be reinventing the wheel. You’ll spot a problem and instantly recall five viable solutions. Better still: you’ll be able to justify your choices with clarity, not intuition.

Source: habr.com

If you’re looking for design ideas and things you can use ASAP, Creative Fabrica is a good place to look. They have lots of stuff you can use for work, with both free and paid choices. You can find fonts, pictures, templates, mockups, and all sorts of design pieces. It’s a great spot to visit when you need new ideas or things to use for your own or client projects.

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