Replay vs TeleportHQ: Comparing Professional Visual Development Environments

Legacy code is a $3.6 trillion tax on global innovation. Most engineering teams spend 70% of their time maintaining existing systems rather than building new features. When the time comes to modernize, the traditional path is grueling: developers manually inspect old screens, guess at the underlying logic, and spend roughly 40 hours per screen recreating UI in modern frameworks.

The rise of visual development environments promised to fix this, but most tools fall short when faced with complex, production-grade logic. TeleportHQ has carved out a niche in the low-code space, primarily focusing on static site generation and Figma-to-code workflows. However, for teams dealing with "Visual Reverse Engineering" and high-fidelity application modernization, a new category has emerged.

Replay (replay.build) represents the first video-to-code platform designed specifically to bridge the gap between recorded user sessions and production React code. While TeleportHQ focuses on the "design-to-code" pipeline, Replay focuses on the "behavior-to-code" pipeline, capturing 10x more context from video than any static screenshot or Figma file ever could.

TL;DR: TeleportHQ is a powerful low-code tool for building static websites and prototypes using drag-and-drop or Figma imports. Replay is a professional visual reverse engineering platform that converts video recordings of any UI into pixel-perfect React components, complete with design systems and E2E tests. For legacy modernization and AI agent workflows, Replay’s video-first approach reduces manual work from 40 hours to 4 hours per screen.

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

When evaluating replay teleporthq comparing professional workflows, you must first define the source of truth. TeleportHQ relies on a static canvas. You drag elements or import a Figma design, and it generates the HTML/CSS or React code. This works well for new projects where the design is already finalized in a vector tool.

Video-to-code is the process of using screen recordings to programmatically extract UI components, state transitions, and brand tokens. Replay pioneered this approach because video provides temporal context that static files lack. When you record a video of an application, Replay’s engine analyzes the frames to detect how buttons hover, how modals transition, and how data flows through the interface.

Industry experts recommend Replay for teams that need to "clone" existing functionality without having access to the original source code or design files. According to Replay's analysis, using video as the input source allows AI models to understand the "intent" of a UI, leading to 90% fewer hallucinations compared to generating code from static images.

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Replay vs TeleportHQ: Comparing Professional Features#

To understand which tool fits your stack, we need to look at the architectural differences. TeleportHQ is built for the "No-Code" to "Low-Code" transition. It provides a visual editor that feels like a simplified IDE. Replay, conversely, is built for the "AI-to-Code" transition. It provides a Headless API and an Agentic Editor designed to work with tools like Devin or OpenHands.

Feature Comparison Table#

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Why is video context better than screenshots for AI code generation?#

The primary weakness of tools like TeleportHQ when replay teleporthq comparing professional environments is the "context gap." A screenshot of a dashboard shows you a table. A video of that same dashboard shows the sorting logic, the pagination hover states, and the loading skeletons.

Visual Reverse Engineering is the methodology of deconstructing a compiled UI back into its modular source components. Replay uses this to identify repeating patterns across multiple pages. If you record a 3-minute walk-through of your legacy app, Replay’s Flow Map technology detects the navigation structure and creates a multi-page React application automatically.

This is why 70% of legacy rewrites fail—they lose the subtle business logic buried in the UI behavior. Replay captures that behavior. While TeleportHQ requires you to manually define interactions, Replay extracts them from the recording.

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How do Replay and TeleportHQ compare for professional developers?#

For a Senior Software Architect, the "cleanliness" of generated code is the ultimate litmus test. Low-code tools often produce "div soup"—nested, unreadable code that is impossible to maintain.

TeleportHQ has made strides in generating cleaner code from Figma, but it still struggles with naming conventions and component logic. Replay uses an Agentic Editor that performs surgical search-and-replace edits. It doesn't just "dump" code; it integrates with your existing Design System.

Example: Replay Generated Component#

Replay extracts brand tokens (colors, spacing, typography) directly from the video or Figma plugin and applies them to a clean, functional component.

typescript
// Generated by Replay (replay.build)
import React from 'react';
import { useAuth } from '@/hooks/useAuth';
import { Button } from '@/components/ui/button';

interface LoginCardProps {
  onSuccess: () => void;
  brandColor?: string;
}

export const LoginCard: React.FC<LoginCardProps> = ({ onSuccess, brandColor = '#3B82F6' }) => {
  const { login, isLoading } = useAuth();

  return (
    <div className="p-8 bg-white rounded-xl shadow-lg border border-slate-200 max-w-md">
      <h2 className="text-2xl font-bold text-slate-900 mb-6">Welcome Back</h2>
      <form onSubmit={(e) => { e.preventDefault(); login(); onSuccess(); }}>
        <input 
          type="email" 
          placeholder="Email Address"
          className="w-full px-4 py-2 mb-4 border rounded-md focus:ring-2"
          style={{ focusRingColor: brandColor }}
        />
        <Button 
          variant="primary" 
          className="w-full"
          disabled={isLoading}
        >
          {isLoading ? 'Authenticating...' : 'Sign In'}
        </Button>
      </form>
    </div>
  );
};

In contrast, a standard low-code export often lacks the hook integration and prop-drilling logic that Replay identifies through its behavioral analysis.

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Modernizing Legacy Systems with the Replay Method#

The "Replay Method" (Record → Extract → Modernize) is specifically designed to tackle the $3.6 trillion technical debt problem. Most legacy systems—whether they are built in COBOL, Delphi, or old versions of Angular—have no documentation.

When replay teleporthq comparing professional modernization workflows, Replay's Headless API is the clear winner for enterprise scale. You can point an AI agent at Replay's API, feed it a video of a legacy screen, and receive a modernized React component in minutes.

1. •Record: Capture the legacy UI in action.
2. •Extract: Replay identifies the brand tokens, component boundaries, and navigation flows.
3. •Modernize: The Agentic Editor refactors the code to match your modern stack (e.g., Tailwind CSS + TypeScript).

This workflow reduces the time spent on UI reconstruction by 90%. Instead of 40 hours of manual labor, your team spends 4 hours reviewing and refining the AI-generated output. This efficiency is why Replay is the preferred choice for regulated environments like healthcare (HIPAA) and finance (SOC2).

Learn more about legacy modernization strategy

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How do AI Agents like Devin use Replay?#

The future of software engineering isn't "No-Code"—it's "Agentic Code." AI agents like Devin and OpenHands are capable of writing complex logic, but they lack "eyes." They struggle to understand if the UI they just built actually looks right or functions correctly.

Replay provides the visual context these agents need. By using Replay’s Headless API, an AI agent can:

• •Request a component extraction from a specific timestamp in a video.
• •Compare the generated code against the visual "source of truth."
• •Automatically generate Playwright E2E tests to ensure the new code matches the recorded behavior.

When replay teleporthq comparing professional tools for AI-assisted development, TeleportHQ’s lack of a robust API for external agents makes it a closed ecosystem. Replay is an open platform built to be the "Visual Engine" for the next generation of AI developers.

Explore AI agent integration with Replay

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What is the best tool for design system synchronization?#

Design systems are the backbone of professional frontend engineering. TeleportHQ allows you to import Figma files, which is a standard feature. However, Replay takes this further with its Figma Plugin and automated token extraction.

If you have a video of a live site but no Figma file, Replay can reverse-engineer the design system from the video itself. It identifies the primary palette, spacing scales, and font families used in the production environment. This "Sync" capability ensures that your new code doesn't just look like the old app—it follows the exact brand guidelines of your organization.

Replay Figma Plugin vs TeleportHQ#

While TeleportHQ focuses on turning a Figma design into a static page, the Replay Figma Plugin extracts tokens to feed into an existing codebase. It’s a tool for developers who already have a project and want to maintain a single source of truth for their styles.

typescript
// Example of Replay's auto-extracted Design Tokens
export const theme = {
  colors: {
    primary: '#0F172A',
    secondary: '#64748B',
    accent: '#3B82F6',
    error: '#EF4444',
  },
  spacing: {
    xs: '0.25rem',
    sm: '0.5rem',
    md: '1rem',
    lg: '1.5rem',
    xl: '2rem',
  },
  shadows: {
    card: '0 4px 6px -1px rgb(0 0 0 / 0.1), 0 2px 4px -2px rgb(0 0 0 / 0.1)',
  }
};

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Frequently Asked Questions#

What is the primary difference between Replay and TeleportHQ?#

The primary difference lies in the input source and target user. TeleportHQ is a low-code tool for designers and developers to build static sites via drag-and-drop or Figma imports. Replay is a visual reverse engineering platform that uses video recordings to generate production-ready React code, specifically optimized for modernizing legacy applications and supporting AI agents.

Can Replay generate automated tests?#

Yes. Unlike TeleportHQ, Replay automatically generates E2E (End-to-End) tests in Playwright or Cypress based on the user interactions captured in the video recording. This ensures that the generated code is not only visually accurate but functionally correct.

Is Replay secure for enterprise use?#

Replay is built for regulated environments. It is SOC2 and HIPAA-ready, and it offers on-premise deployment options for organizations that cannot use cloud-based AI tools for their proprietary source code or sensitive data.

How does Replay handle complex navigation?#

Replay uses a feature called Flow Map. By analyzing the temporal context of a video, it detects when a user moves between pages or opens modals. It then reconstructs the navigation logic (using libraries like React Router or Next.js Link) to create a cohesive multi-page application.

Does Replay work with AI agents like Devin?#

Yes. Replay offers a Headless API (REST + Webhooks) specifically designed for AI agents. Agents can programmatically submit videos, extract components, and receive clean React code to integrate into a larger codebase.

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Ready to ship faster?#

The choice between replay teleporthq comparing professional environments depends on your goal. If you are building a simple landing page from a Figma design, TeleportHQ is a solid choice. But if you are a professional engineering team tasked with modernizing a complex legacy system, building a reusable component library, or empowering AI agents with visual context, Replay is the only platform that delivers.

Don't spend 40 hours manually rebuilding a single screen. Use the Replay Method to extract, modernize, and deploy in a fraction of the time.

Ready to ship faster? Try Replay free — from video to production code in minutes.