In one paragraph
Piye is a desktop app for Mac and Linux (Windows is coming along with Arcade) where you build real software with AI. It has two sides that open the same project. Visual is for building by describing: you say what you want, Piye builds it, and you shape it by looking at it. Code is a full IDE for developers, with the Code agent working beside you. A project is a normal folder on your computer, so nothing is locked inside Piye: a website made in Visual is a real website project that any developer can open.
The parts of Piye
| Part | What it is | Who it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Visual | Build websites and phone apps by describing them. See them in a live preview, change them by asking or by clicking, then publish. | Founders, designers, anyone with an idea |
| Code | A full IDE: editor, terminal, source control, debugger, simulators, deploy and operations, with the Code agent. | Developers |
| Piye Studio | A window for running the Code agent on many projects at once, side by side. | Developers |
| Piye Cloud | The AI service behind Piye. It runs the AI models for you, paid with credits. | Everyone signed in |
| piye.dev | The website and web console: your account, plan, credits, invoices, team, downloads. | Everyone |
How it works, end to end
- You install Piye on your computer from piye.dev/download. The first time it opens, it asks whether you want to build visually or write code. You can switch any time.
- You sign in with your Piye account. New accounts start on Starter, with free credits when you claim them, and again every 6 months. See Sign in and your account.
- You start a project. In Visual you describe an idea or pick a template. In Code you open a folder, clone a repository or start a new project.
- The AI works on your computer. Piye's agents read and write the project's files, run its commands and open it in a preview on your machine. Only the request to the AI model leaves your computer, through Piye Cloud or through your own API key. See Privacy.
- You see it running. Websites run in a live preview. Phone apps run in a phone frame, on iPhone and Android simulators, and on your own phone.
- You ship it. Visual publishes websites to a host and phone apps to the App Store and Google Play, on your own accounts. Code has Deploy and Operations for the same, with every detail visible.
- You bring people in. Handoff sends the project to a developer or a partner with a written brief. See Handoff and invites.
One project, two sides
Visual and Code are two views of the same files, not two products that sync. Switch with the Visual and Code buttons at the top of the window. Nothing is exported or converted:
- A change the Visual agent makes is a real change in the project's files. A developer sees it in Code and in source control.
- A change a developer makes in Code shows up in Visual's preview.
- The project's plan, its Blueprint and Piye's notes live in a
.piyefolder inside the project, so both sides read the same facts.
This is what lets a founder and a developer work on one product without screenshots, exports or rewrites.
What Piye builds
In Visual, Piye builds:
- Websites and web apps: full-stack Next.js apps with pages, a database, sign-in, email and payments when the idea needs them, or a light site for a portfolio, blog or CV.
- Phone apps for iPhone and Android: with Expo (one app for both phones), or as native apps written in Swift for iPhone and Kotlin for Android.
- Both together: a website and phone apps that share one server, one database and one sign-in.
In Code you work on any project you have: Piye's language support covers web, mobile, backend and systems languages. See Languages and code intelligence.
Where your work lives
- Your projects are folders on your computer. Close Piye and they are still ordinary projects.
- Piye's notes about a project (its plan, Blueprint, chats and memory) are in the project's
.piyefolder. - Your API keys and sign-ins are kept in your computer's own secure storage, never in your project.
- Your account, plan and invoices are on piye.dev, with payments through Stripe.
Piye is free; AI is what you pay for
The app and every feature in it are the same on every plan. What a plan buys is credits for Piye's AI. Starter gives 750 credits once to try everything, and paid plans start at €25 + VAT a month. You can also use your own API keys or local models in Code. See Plans and pricing and Credits and usage.