Color Palette Generator

Generate harmonious color palettes from a base color. Choose a harmony type and instantly create beautiful color schemes for your projects.

#3B82F6

rgb(59, 130, 246)

#F6AF3C

rgb(246, 175, 60)

CSS Variables

:root {
  --color-1: #3B82F6;
  --color-2: #F6AF3C;
}

You picked a primary brand color and now need four more that don't fight it. Or a marketing page needs a hero, accent, and CTA that read as a family rather than three random hex codes. The Color Palette Generator turns one base color into a coordinated palette using the same rotations a designer would walk through on the color wheel — complementary, analogous, triadic, split-complementary, and monochromatic.

Harmony types are recipes, not rules. Complementary delivers high contrast for calls-to-action, analogous keeps a mood (sunsets, oceans), triadic adds energy without chaos, and monochromatic is the safe pick for serious B2B products. The sections below cover when each one earns its keep — plus the WCAG contrast reminder so "pretty" doesn't silently lock out users.

How to Use

Pick a base color — Enter a HEX code (e.g., #3b82f6) or use the color picker. This becomes the anchor for the whole palette.
Choose a harmony type — Select Complementary, Analogous, Triadic, Split-Complementary, or Monochromatic depending on the mood you want.
View your palette— Generated swatches appear with HEX and RGB values. The order reflects each color's angular position on the wheel relative to your base.
Copy colors — Click any swatch to copy its HEX, or export all of them as CSS custom properties for a :root block.
Randomize — Use the Random button to surface a fresh starting point when you have no preconceived brand color.

Harmony types: when to reach for each

Complementary (180° apart)

Maximum contrast. Use for CTAs, alerts, or a single accent on an otherwise neutral page. Risk: applied to large areas it vibrates and exhausts the eye — reserve for small, high-attention spots.

Analogous (adjacent on the wheel, ±30°)

Calm and cohesive. Picks colors that already live near each other — think blue + teal + green. Great for moody landing pages, but pick one as dominant so the layout has a clear focal point.

Triadic (120° apart)

Energetic but balanced — like the primary trio used in children's books and many sports brands. Use one as the dominant color, the other two as accents at roughly 60/30/10 weighting.

Split-complementary (150° and 210°)

Complementary contrast without the vibration. The two colors flanking the direct complement give you a usable accent palette with less visual tension. Safest harmony when you need contrast plus a third option.

Monochromatic (single hue)

Variations of saturation and lightness on the base. The professional default for dashboards, fintech, and B2B. Pair the resulting palette with one strong accent (often a complementary color) for CTAs.

Brand palette structure (the 60/30/10 rule)

A common designer convention: 60% dominant (backgrounds, large surfaces), 30% secondary (sections, cards), 10% accent (CTAs, links, badges). Most product palettes also need neutrals (a near-black for body text, a near-white for the page, and 3-5 grays in between) plus semantic colors (success green, warning amber, danger red). Generate the harmony first, then bolt the neutrals and semantics onto it.

WCAG contrast quick reference

Use	Minimum ratio	Standard
Body text on background	4.5:1	AA Normal
Large text (18pt+ or 14pt+ bold)	3:1	AA Large
Body text (strict)	7:1	AAA Normal
UI components, focus outlines	3:1	AA Non-text

After generating a palette, verify text/background pairs in the WCAG Contrast Checker before you ship.

Common pitfalls

Pure complementaries on large surfaces. Red text on green background is the cliché — they vibrate and create afterimages. Reduce saturation or restrict complementary pairs to small accents.
Skipping neutrals. A 5-color harmony is not a complete brand palette. You still need a body-text color, a page background, and a gray scale.
Ignoring color blindness. ~8% of men and ~0.5% of women have red-green deficiency. Never encode information by hue alone — pair color with icons, labels, or shape.
Forgetting dark mode. A palette that pops on white can wash out on near-black. Generate dark-mode variants by reducing lightness on backgrounds and bumping saturation slightly on accents.
Hex picked, contrast ignored. A beautiful pair can still fail AA at body-text size. Always run text/background combinations through a contrast checker.

Related guides

Color formats explained: HEX, RGB, HSL, and when each wins

Why HSL is the format you want for generating tints and shades, and how RGB gamma trips up "average two colors" math.

WCAG color contrast, demystified

How the 4.5:1 rule is calculated, what AA vs AAA actually buys you, and the gotchas around large text and non-text contrast.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is color harmony and why does it matter?

Color harmony refers to aesthetically pleasing color combinations based on their positions on the color wheel. Harmonious palettes create visual balance and are more memorable than random combinations. The harmony you pick also sets emotional tone: analogous schemes feel calm and natural, triadic feels playful, monochromatic reads as serious and professional.

Q: What is the difference between complementary and split-complementary?

Complementary colors are directly opposite on the color wheel (180 degrees apart), creating maximum contrast that can vibrate on large surfaces. Split-complementary swaps the direct complement for its two neighbors (150 and 210 degrees), keeping strong contrast with less visual tension and giving you three usable colors instead of two.

Q: How do I make sure my palette is accessible?

Generate the harmony first, then test every text-on-background combination in a WCAG contrast checker — body text needs 4.5:1, large text 3:1. For color blindness, simulate with a Deuteranopia/Protanopia preview and never encode data by hue alone (always add an icon, label, or pattern). Add at least one neutral plus a dedicated focus outline color that hits 3:1 against any adjacent surface.

Q: How many colors should be in a brand palette?

Typical SaaS palettes ship with 1 primary, 1 accent, 4-6 grays (from near-white to near-black), and 3 semantic colors (success, warning, danger). That gives you about 10-12 named tokens total. Generating five harmony colors is the starting point — the rest are neutrals and semantics you layer on top.

Q: Can I use these palettes in my CSS directly?

Yes. The CSS export emits ready-to-use custom properties under :root, named --color-1 through --color-5. Rename them to semantic tokens (--color-primary, --color-accent) before shipping — semantic names survive rebranding far better than positional ones.

Q: Should I generate dark mode variants separately?

Yes. Don't just invert colors — backgrounds need to be slightly desaturated grays (not pure black) to reduce eye strain, and accent colors often need a lightness boost to stay legible. Generate the light palette first, then duplicate and adjust each color's lightness in HSL for the dark variant. Use the same hue and saturation; only lightness changes.

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WCAG Color Contrast: What 4.5:1 Actually Means and How to Hit It9 min read