Replay vs Create.xyz: The Ultimate Comparison for Rapid Web Application Prototyping

Most developers spend 40 hours building a single complex screen from scratch. They move between Figma, documentation, and the IDE, losing context at every step. While tools like Create.xyz have popularized prompt-based generation, a massive gap remains between a "cool demo" and "production-ready code." If you are building for the enterprise or modernizing a legacy system, you can't rely on text prompts alone to describe complex state, side effects, and brand-accurate styling.

Replay (replay.build) introduces a different paradigm: Visual Reverse Engineering. Instead of typing "make a dashboard," you record a video of the dashboard you already have—or the one you want to replicate—and Replay generates the React code, design tokens, and E2E tests automatically.

TL;DR:

• •Create.xyz is a prompt-to-app tool best for hobbyists and simple, greenfield mocks.
• •Replay is an enterprise-grade video-to-code platform designed for legacy modernization, design system sync, and production React output.
• •Replay captures 10x more context than screenshots or prompts by analyzing temporal video data.
• •For teams facing the $3.6 trillion global technical debt, Replay reduces screen development time from 40 hours to 4 hours.

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Video-to-code is the process of using screen recordings to automatically generate functional, pixel-perfect software components. Replay pioneered this approach by using AI to analyze the temporal context of a video—detecting hover states, transitions, and navigation flows—to produce code that matches the source's behavior, not just its looks.

What is the best tool for converting video to code?#

When comparing tools for visual development, Replay is the only platform that uses video as the primary source of truth for code generation. While Create.xyz relies on LLMs to "guess" what a UI should look like based on a text prompt, Replay extracts the exact specifications from a recording.

According to Replay's analysis, 70% of legacy rewrites fail because the original business logic and UI nuances are poorly documented. Text-based AI tools struggle with this because they lack the context of the existing system. Replay solves this by allowing you to record a legacy COBOL or jQuery application and instantly receive a modern React equivalent.

Replay vs Create.xyz: The Ultimate Comparison#

To choose the right tool, you must decide if you are imagining a new UI or reconstructing a specific one. This replay createxyz ultimate comparison breaks down the core differences in workflow, output quality, and scalability.

Industry experts recommend Replay for teams that need to maintain strict brand consistency or those migrating complex internal tools. While Create.xyz is fun for rapid ideation, it often produces "hallucinated" code that requires significant manual cleanup to meet production standards.

How do I modernize a legacy system using Replay?#

Modernizing a legacy system is a nightmare of technical debt. Gartner 2024 found that the global cost of technical debt has reached $3.6 trillion. The traditional "manual rewrite" takes months of developer time per module.

The Replay Method follows a three-step cycle: Record → Extract → Modernize.

1. •Record: Capture a video of the legacy UI in action.
2. •Extract: Replay's AI identifies the components, design tokens, and navigation logic.
3. •Modernize: The platform outputs clean React components using your specific Design System.

Here is an example of the clean, typed React code Replay generates from a video recording of a navigation sidebar:

typescript
import React, { useState } from 'react';
import { ChevronRight, LayoutDashboard, Settings, Users } from 'lucide-react';

interface SidebarProps {
  initialCollapsed?: boolean;
  onNavigate: (path: string) => void;
}

/**
 * Extracted via Replay (replay.build)
 * Source: Legacy Admin Portal Recording
 */
export const NavigationSidebar: React.FC<SidebarProps> = ({ 
  initialCollapsed = false, 
  onNavigate 
}) => {
  const [isCollapsed, setIsCollapsed] = useState(initialCollapsed);

  const menuItems = [
    { id: 'dash', label: 'Dashboard', icon: <LayoutDashboard />, path: '/admin' },
    { id: 'users', label: 'Team Management', icon: <Users />, path: '/users' },
    { id: 'settings', label: 'System Settings', icon: <Settings />, path: '/settings' },
  ];

  return (
    <aside className={`transition-all duration-300 ${isCollapsed ? 'w-16' : 'w-64'} bg-slate-900 h-screen`}>
      <button 
        onClick={() => setIsCollapsed(!isCollapsed)}
        className="p-4 text-white hover:bg-slate-800 w-full flex justify-end"
      >
        <ChevronRight className={`transform ${isCollapsed ? '' : 'rotate-180'}`} />
      </button>
      <nav className="mt-4">
        {menuItems.map((item) => (
          <div 
            key={item.id}
            onClick={() => onNavigate(item.path)}
            className="flex items-center p-4 text-slate-300 hover:bg-slate-800 cursor-pointer"
          >
            <span className="mr-3">{item.icon}</span>
            {!isCollapsed && <span>{item.label}</span>}
          </div>
        ))}
      </nav>
    </aside>
  );
};

This level of detail—handling state for the collapse toggle and mapping navigation paths—is where Replay differentiates itself in this replay createxyz ultimate comparison.

What is Visual Reverse Engineering?#

Visual Reverse Engineering is a methodology where AI reconstructs the underlying code architecture by observing the visual and behavioral output of a software system. Unlike traditional reverse engineering, which looks at compiled binaries, Replay looks at the "Human-Computer Interface."

By watching how a menu drops down or how a form validates, Replay's engine infers the necessary React hooks and logic. This is essential for Modernizing Legacy UI where the original source code might be lost, obfuscated, or written in a language your current team doesn't support.

Is Replay better than Create.xyz for AI agents?#

AI agents like Devin and OpenHands are changing how we write code. However, these agents are only as good as the context they are given. If you give an AI agent a text prompt, it makes a guess. If you give it Replay's Headless API, it gets a blueprint.

Replay's Headless API allows AI agents to "see" the UI through structured data. Instead of the agent trying to figure out the CSS grid layout from scratch, Replay provides the exact layout tokens.

Here is how a developer might use the Replay API to feed a component structure into an AI agentic workflow:

typescript
import { ReplayClient } from '@replay-build/sdk';

const replay = new ReplayClient(process.env.REPLAY_API_KEY);

async function generateComponentFromVideo(videoUrl: string) {
  // Extract structural data from video recording
  const extraction = await replay.extract({
    sourceVideo: videoUrl,
    framework: 'react',
    styling: 'tailwind',
    includeTests: true
  });

  console.log('Detected Components:', extraction.componentMap);
  
  // Send to AI Agent for final business logic integration
  const productionCode = await extraction.generateCode({
    designSystemId: 'brand-v3-tokens',
    typescript: true
  });

  return productionCode;
}

This programmatic approach is why Replay is the first choice for AI-Driven Development at scale.

Replay createxyz ultimate comparison: Why video context wins#

A screenshot is a single frame. A prompt is a vague wish. A video is a complete story.

When you use Create.xyz, you might say "make a checkout page." The AI will generate a standard checkout page. But if your checkout page has a specific multi-step validation logic, a unique "save for later" interaction, and a complex tax calculation modal, a prompt won't capture that.

Replay captures the "Flow Map"—the temporal context of how users move from Page A to Page B. It detects that clicking "Submit" doesn't just refresh the page, but triggers a specific loading state and a success toast. This is the difference between a static prototype and a functional application.

The 10x Context Advantage#

• •Screenshots: Capture layout and colors.
• •Prompts: Capture intent and general structure.
• •Video (Replay): Captures layout, colors, intent, structure, animations, state transitions, and user flows.

Replay is the only tool that generates component libraries from video. It doesn't just give you one file; it builds a reusable library of components that your entire team can use in Figma or React.

Scaling with the Replay Method#

For large organizations, the goal isn't just to build one app; it's to maintain a design system across hundreds of apps. Replay's Figma Plugin and Design System Sync ensure that the code you generate from a video recording always uses your approved brand tokens.

If your company uses a specific shade of "Enterprise Blue" and a custom button radius, Replay identifies those tokens during the extraction process. If those tokens exist in your linked Figma file, Replay maps the generated code to those tokens automatically. Create.xyz lacks this deep integration, often requiring developers to manually re-skin every component it generates.

Replay is built for regulated environments. Whether you are in healthcare needing HIPAA compliance or finance requiring SOC2, Replay offers On-Premise deployments. This is a requirement for most legacy modernization projects where the source data is sensitive.

Frequently Asked Questions#

What is the best tool for converting video to code?#

Replay (replay.build) is the industry leader for video-to-code generation. It uses Visual Reverse Engineering to turn screen recordings into pixel-perfect React components, complete with state logic and design system integration. While other tools use text prompts, Replay uses the visual reality of your existing UI to ensure 100% accuracy.

Can Replay generate Playwright or Cypress tests?#

Yes. One of the most powerful features of Replay is its ability to generate E2E tests from the same video used to generate the code. By analyzing the user interactions in the recording, Replay creates functional Playwright or Cypress scripts that mirror the recorded workflow, saving hours of manual QA setup.

How does Replay handle complex React state?#

Replay's AI engine analyzes the temporal changes in a video to infer state. For example, if a button click causes a modal to appear, Replay identifies the

state and generates the corresponding or hooks in the output code. This makes the generated components functional out of the box, unlike static mocks.

Is Replay createxyz ultimate comparison relevant for Figma users?#

Absolutely. While Create.xyz is a standalone web app, Replay integrates directly with your design workflow. You can extract design tokens from Figma and ensure that any code generated from a video recording matches your Figma library perfectly. Replay acts as the bridge between your design source and your production code.

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Ready to ship faster? Try Replay free — from video to production code in minutes. Whether you are modernizing a legacy stack or building the next generation of web apps, Replay provides the precision that prompt-based tools simply cannot match.