stagewise

What do they actually do

Stagewise is an open‑source tool you run alongside a web app in development. It injects a small toolbar into the app in your browser; you click a UI element, type a short instruction, and the tool attempts to edit your local frontend code to implement the change docs, homepage, GitHub, HN launch.

You start your dev server as usual, run the CLI (e.g., npx stagewise), and it proxies your dev server to add the toolbar and enrich edits with page context. It runs locally and edits your codebase, supports their own agent and third‑party agents (e.g., Cursor, GitHub Copilot) via an open interface, and recently added chat‑style interactions in the toolbar docs, repo/README, news. There’s a freemium model with a listed Pro plan at €20/month pricing.

Who are their target customer(s)

• Frontend developers: They make many small visual/layout changes and lose time jumping between the browser and editor to find the right files/lines. Stagewise lets them click elements in the browser and have local code updated directly docs, repo.
• Backend developers who touch the UI: They need occasional UI fixes but may not know component trees or CSS well enough to change things safely. Stagewise aims to enable safe visual edits without deep frontend expertise YC profile, HN.
• Designers and product people: They want to iterate in a real app instead of handing off mockups that slow experimentation. Stagewise’s in‑browser editing and new chat interactions aim to shorten that loop YC profile, news.
• Users of prototyping builders moving to production code: Prototype tools are fast but don’t yield production code, so teams must redo work. Stagewise targets this gap by applying visual changes to a real codebase rather than a prototype HN, repo.
• Teams with large or multi‑file frontends: Coordinated edits across many files often fail with current automation, forcing manual fixes. Users ask for better multi‑file accuracy and finer controls, which Stagewise is actively improving HN, [repo/issues + news](https://github.com/stagewise-io/stagewise, https://stagewise.io/news).

How would they acquire their first 10, 50, and 100 customers

• First 10: Personally invite top GitHub stargazers/contributors and engaged HN and YC commenters into a private beta, offering a brief Pro trial in exchange for live feedback and a short case study repo, HN, YC, pricing.
• First 50: Publish 3–4 framework‑specific “stack recipes” with one‑click demos, run two webinar demos for frontend meetups, and convert GitHub stars via practical walkthroughs using the CLI/docs and chat toolbar to smooth onboarding docs, repo, news.
• First 100: Offer paid pilots to small startups and agencies with hands‑on onboarding and a success checklist; publish 2–3 case studies, list IDE/plugins (e.g., VS Code), and sponsor one meetup or online hackathon to keep the pipeline warm pricing, repo, news.

What is the rough total addressable market

Top-down context:

There are ~47M developers globally, with ~23M working on web/front‑end/back‑end apps; designers/product users can be proxied by Figma’s reported 10–13M user base SlashData, [Figma user proxies](https://research.contrary.com/company/figma, https://sqmagazine.co.uk/figma-statistics/). Price points range from Stagewise Pro at €20/month to team/enterprise comps like Copilot/Gemini (€20–€50+/seat/month) pricing, Copilot plans, Gemini Code Assist/duet pricing.

Bottom-up calculation:

At individual pricing (€240/year), converting 10% of web developers plus 5% of designer/product users yields roughly €0.7B/year; at team/enterprise pricing (€360–€540/seat/year), adopting 10–15% of professional developers supports ~€1–€3B+/year SlashData, pricing, [Copilot/Gemini comps](https://github.com/features/copilot/plans, https://cloud.google.com/duet-ai/pricing).

Assumptions:

• Adoption scenarios of 5–15% across target segments; actual conversion will vary by accuracy, UX, and integrations.
• Designer/product counts are proxied from Figma and overlap with developer counts; real TAM requires de‑duplication.
• Average enterprise seat price between €30–€45/month with typical volume discounts.

Who are some of their notable competitors

• Cursor: AI‑first code editor and agent inside the IDE that can make multi‑file edits and run commands; overlaps on autonomous code changes but is editor‑centric rather than a live in‑browser toolbar features, browser/agent.
• GitHub Copilot: In‑editor AI assistant/agent that generates and edits code, PRs, and can be driven via IDE/CLI; strong GitHub/IDE integration but not focused on click‑to‑edit in a live browser page overview, features.
• Framer: Visual design and site builder that outputs production React components and can export code; design‑first workflow versus editing an existing local codebase in place Framer, React Export.
• Builder.io: Visual headless CMS/editor enabling non‑developers to change live pages and preview in browser; focuses on content/experience editing rather than editing local source files via a dev toolbar Visual Editor 101, preview URL.
• Anima: Design‑to‑code tool (Figma plugin/web) that converts designs into React/HTML and prototypes; starts from design files rather than editing a running local app Anima Figma plugin, Figma marketplace.