Material Design Colors Online — Free Material Design Colors Tool
CodexFuse Team · 2026-11-01T15:04:34.262Z · 8 min read min read
Pick a consistent palette from Google's 19 material colour families and 254 swatches — with a worked example, nearest-match tips and honest limits.
Material design colors are Google's official colour system for digital products: 19 colour families, each graded from light to dark, designed so buttons, backgrounds and text stay readable on any screen. Instead of guessing hex codes or pulling shades from screenshots, you pick from one consistent palette and every shade already belongs together.
If the blue on your homepage does not match the blue in your app, or light-grey text vanishes on a white background, the problem is rarely taste — it is the absence of a system. This guide shows how to use CodexFuse's free Material Design Colors tool to pick a palette that holds together.
What are material design colors, exactly?
Material design colors are a set of 254 canonical swatches organised into 19 families such as Red, Indigo, Teal and Blue Grey. Each family runs from a pale 50 shade through a mid-tone 500 shade to a deep 900 shade, plus accent variants for highlights. The 500 shade is typically the family's main colour, lighter shades suit backgrounds, and darker shades suit text and emphasis.
Why do inconsistent colours cost a small business real money?
Inconsistent colours cost a small business real money because every mismatch erodes trust and slows decisions: visitors subconsciously read a patched-together palette as a patched-together business, developers waste hours debating shades, and rebrands become expensive rework. A fixed palette removes that debate. One primary, one secondary, one set of neutrals, written down once and reused everywhere, is cheaper than a new colour decision on every page.
The pain shows up in ordinary places:
- Mismatched marketing: the Instagram graphic, the website header and the invoice template each use a slightly different blue.
- Unreadable text: a pale shade chosen for a background gets reused for body text, and conversion drops because nobody can read the offer.
- Endless revisions: without agreed shades, every design review reopens the colour question instead of the content.
- Developer guesswork: a developer handed a screenshot picks the nearest hex by eye, and the live site drifts further from the design with each release.
How do you pick a palette with the Material Design Colors tool?
To pick a palette with the tool, browse or search the 19 families, click a swatch to copy its code, and use the nearest-colour finder when you already have a brand shade to match. Start with one primary family for actions and headings, add one secondary family for accents, and finish with a neutral family for backgrounds and text.
The tool's own steps are deliberately short:
- Browse or search families: scroll the full Google palette or search for the family you have in mind.
- Click a swatch to copy: click the shade you want and copy its code straight into your design file or stylesheet.
- Find your nearest match: if you already have a brand colour, use the nearest finder to locate the closest canonical swatch.
Write your chosen shades down in one place — primary 500, primary dark 700, light background 50, accent, and neutral greys — and share that short list with everyone who touches your site. A palette nobody can find is the same as no palette.
Worked example: a food-delivery startup picks its palette in 20 minutes
Meet Ayesha, a fictional founder building a small food-delivery website. Her logo is warm orange, her developer used a random blue for buttons, and her menu pages use three different greys. Customers say the site "looks fine but feels messy".
Here is exactly what she does with the Material Design Colors tool:
- She starts from what exists: her logo orange is closest to Deep Orange, so she searches that family first rather than starting from scratch.
- She picks the primary: Deep Orange 500 becomes the main action colour — used for "Order Now" buttons and links only, never for large backgrounds.
- She softens it for backgrounds: Deep Orange 50, the palest tint in the family, becomes the tinted background behind promotional banners, so the page feels warm without shouting.
- She adds depth: Deep Orange 700 handles hover states and footer headings, giving buttons a darker pressed look that still matches.
- She adds one contrast partner: Teal 500 becomes the secondary accent for success messages and delivery-status badges, because it sits clearly apart from the orange without clashing.
- She settles the neutrals: Blue Grey 900 for headings, Blue Grey 700 for body text, and Blue Grey 50 for page backgrounds replace her three random greys.
The finished system fits in a small table she pastes into her project notes:
| Role | Family and shade | Where it is used |
|---|---|---|
| Primary action | Deep Orange 500 | Buttons, links, key calls to action |
| Primary dark | Deep Orange 700 | Hover states, footer headings |
| Light background | Deep Orange 50 | Promo banners, tinted sections |
| Secondary accent | Teal 500 | Success messages, status badges |
| Headings | Blue Grey 900 | Page and section headings |
| Body text | Blue Grey 700 | Paragraphs, menu descriptions |
| Page background | Blue Grey 50 | Page and card backgrounds |
What about matching a colour you already have?
Matching an existing colour is where the nearest-colour finder earns its keep. Compare your existing shade in the tool, and it points you to the closest canonical swatch in the 254-swatch set. Use that swatch — and its lighter and darker siblings — as your digital standard.
Be honest about what this gives you: a nearest match is an approximation, not an exact reproduction. If your brand colour sits between two shades, the tool gives you the closest one. For most small businesses a consistent near-match beats an exact colour used in only one place; keep the exact code for print where it truly matters, and note the difference in your brand notes.
If mismatched colours are making your website look patched together, CodexFuse gives you the free colour tools plus fully managed hosting, email and security on credits — one platform, so your brand, your site and your inbox stop drifting apart.
Get Started with CodexFuseWhat the tool does not do — and what to do instead
Honest limits matter: the tool gives you Google's fixed palette; it does not invent a new colour for your brand, and it does not check whether your combination passes accessibility contrast tests. Treat those as separate steps:
- It will not create a unique brand colour: if you need a colour no one else uses, a designer should develop it first, and this tool then helps you find its nearest usable shades.
- It will not test readability for you: after picking shades, check light text on coloured backgrounds yourself before launch, especially for buttons and small labels.
- It will not replace a design system: the palette is one ingredient. Spacing, typography and imagery still need their own decisions, documented alongside the colours.
None of that diminishes the tool. Its job is narrow — give every project one reliable, copy-ready palette — and it does that job without cost or complexity. If you also need branded graphics built around your new palette, the banner maker and the QR code generator with logo are natural next steps.
For the bigger picture on why a redesign stalls, read the complete guide to website redesign — its lessons on scope and consistency apply well beyond property sites.
How does a colour palette connect to managed hosting and IT?
It connects through the same root problem: unmanaged things drift. A palette chosen from a screenshot, a server patched by hand, an inbox never monitored — each diverges until fixing it costs more than setting it up properly. On CodexFuse the same managed platform handles hosting, business email, backups and security on credits, so the site behind your new palette stops drifting too.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Material Design Colors tool really free?
Yes. The tool page states it is free and unlimited. You will need a free CodexFuse account to use it, which is also how your other free tools on the platform are accessed.
How many colours does the tool include?
It includes the full Google palette: 19 families and 254 canonical swatches, from pale 50 tints to deep 900 shades, plus accent variants.
Which shade should I use as my main brand colour?
Start with the 500 shade of your chosen family. It is designed as the family's main tone — strong enough for buttons and links, but not so dark that it only works as text.
Can I match my existing logo colour?
Yes, with the nearest-colour finder. It points you to the closest canonical swatch. Expect a near match rather than an exact reproduction if your logo colour falls between two standard shades.
Do material colors work for websites, not just Android apps?
Yes. Although the system originated with Google's mobile design language, the shades are ordinary hex colours and work identically on websites, emails, presentations and print-adjacent graphics.
Pick your palette today, then stop re-deciding it
Open the Material Design Colors tool, search your brand's family, and write down seven shades: primary, primary dark, light background, secondary accent, heading, body text and page background. Paste that list into your project notes and share it with anyone who designs, builds or markets for you.
Then move the rest of the mess to the same place: move your hosting, business email and security to CodexFuse today, on credits for only what you use, and let the managed platform handle servers, backups and monitoring. Your next page should reuse the palette, not reinvent it.
