Ratchet

What Ratchet does

Ratchet is an open-source mobile app prototyping framework that enables designers and developers to build realistic mobile app prototypes using standard HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The project originated in mid-2012 at Twitter, where three developers — Connor Sears, Dave Gamache, and Jacob Thornton — built HTML/CSS prototypes of the Twitter for iPhone app that evolved into a standalone framework released in November 2012. The framework ships pre-built mobile-optimized UI components (bars, lists, buttons, segmented controllers, forms, toggles, modals, sliders, table views), the Ratchicons icon set, the Push.js page-navigation engine (AJAX + History API with fade/slide transitions), and platform-specific CSS themes for iOS and Android styling. A complete rewrite (v2.0) in 2014 formally integrated Ratchet into the Bootstrap family, and the current production version is v2.0.2 released in 2015.

Ratchet is distributed free of charge under the MIT License (documentation under CC BY 3.0) via GitHub and the official documentation site goratchet.com. There is no commercial revenue model, no pricing tiers, no enterprise offering, and no disclosed funding. The project is community-maintained by Connor Sears, Connor Montgomery, and Mark Otto as part of the Bootstrap (Twitter/X) open-source family, with community engagement through Twitter (@GoRatchet) and Google Groups. The primary users are UX/UI designers, product teams, and web developers who need to produce app-like prototypes quickly without native mobile development skills; prototypes can be saved to a phone home screen for device testing.

From an investment perspective, Ratchet is best understood as a legacy community open-source artifact rather than an operating business. The last substantive release was v2.0.2 in 2015, no commercial monetization path has been articulated, and the project lacks the revenue mechanics, customer base, or growth signals required for a traditional investment thesis.

Name

Ratchet

Legal name

Ratchet

Website

https://goratchet.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Ratchet is an open-source HTML/CSS/JavaScript framework for prototyping mobile app interfaces, with iOS and Android themes and pre-built UI components. Created by Twitter developers in 2012 and now part of the Bootstrap family, it is distributed free under the MIT license with no commercial revenue model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Minneapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Open Source (No Revenue): Ratchet is an open-source project distributed free of charge under the MIT license. The project has no commercial revenue model and appears to be community-maintained without direct monetization.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Ratchet is an open-source mobile app prototyping framework that enables designers and developers to build mobile app prototypes using simple HTML, CSS, and JavaScript components. It provides pre-built mobile-optimized UI components, Push.js for multi-page navigation with native-like transitions, the Ratchicons icon set, and platform-specific themes that give prototypes a native iOS or Android look and feel. The framework is distributed free of charge under the MIT license.

Product overview

Ratchet is a single unified mobile app prototyping framework that enables building mobile app prototypes using simple HTML, CSS, and JavaScript components. The core product includes the Ratchet Framework, which provides UI components such as bars, buttons, lists, forms, toggles, modals, sliders, and popovers. Supporting sub-products include Ratchicons (custom icon set), Push.js (page navigation library), and platform-specific themes for iOS and Android styling. Users can download precompiled CSS/JS or source code, and access example app templates to get started.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Ratchicons: Icon set included with Ratchet framework for mobile app prototyping
• Push.js

Products and services

• Ratchet Framework An open-source mobile app prototyping framework that enables designers and developers to build mobile app prototypes using simple HTML, CSS, and JavaScript components. It bundles pre-built mobile-optimized UI components, Push.js for page navigation, the Ratchicons icon set, and platform-specific themes for iOS and Android styling. It is for UX/UI designers, product designers, and web developers who need to prototype mobile app experiences rapidly without native development.
• Push.js JavaScript engine included with the Ratchet framework that connects pages together using AJAX and the History API to enable multi-page prototype navigation with animations (fade, slide-in, slide-out). It is for designers and developers building interactive mobile app prototypes that feel like real native apps.
• Ratchicons Custom icon font set included with the Ratchet framework for use in mobile app prototypes, covering navigation, action, and utility icons. It is for designers and developers building mobile app prototypes.
• iOS Theme (ratchet-theme-ios.css) Platform-specific CSS theme included with the Ratchet framework that styles components to look like native iOS interface elements. It is for designers and developers prototyping iPhone app experiences.
• Android Theme (ratchet-theme-android.css) Platform-specific CSS theme included with the Ratchet framework that styles components to look like native Android Material Design interface elements. It is for designers and developers prototyping Android app experiences.
• Ratchet Example Apps Pre-built sample applications bundled with the Ratchet framework that demonstrate its capabilities, including a movie finder template, an iOS mail app template, and an Android notes app template. It is for designers and developers learning to build mobile app prototypes with Ratchet.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Others

• Origami Studio (Meta): Free desktop prototyping tool originally built by Facebook (Meta) for designing interactive mobile app prototypes; serves the same prototyping workflow but is distributed by a large platform owner rather than a community open-source effort.

Direct peers

• Marvel: Browser-based design, prototyping, and user testing platform used by product teams to build mobile app mockups and prototypes without coding — a direct functional competitor to Ratchet's HTML/CSS/JS prototyping approach.
• Justinmind: UI design and prototyping tool with dedicated mobile app prototyping features, competing for the same UX designer and product manager customer segments as Ratchet.
• Figma: Browser-based collaborative design and prototyping platform that directly competes with Ratchet's mobile app prototyping use case, but offers a far richer, actively maintained feature set with a freemium commercial model.
• InVision: Long-standing prototyping and design collaboration platform with mobile prototyping workflows aimed at the same UX/UI designer and product team segments as Ratchet.
• Sketch: macOS-native design tool widely used for UI design and mobile app prototyping; serves the same UX/UI designer persona as Ratchet but with a paid commercial license and active development.
• Proto.io: Specialized mobile app prototyping tool aimed at UX designers and product teams, offering high-fidelity interactive prototypes for iOS and Android — the same target use case as Ratchet's platform-themed framework.
• Framer: Design and prototyping platform with code-based components, directly serving the same web-developer-friendly mobile prototyping niche that Ratchet pioneered.

Broad incumbents

• Adobe: Through Adobe XD (now discontinued/merged into Figma ecosystem) and the broader Creative Cloud suite, Adobe serves the same mobile app prototyping and design workflow that Ratchet targets, but as part of a much larger creative software portfolio.

Emerging players

• Balsamiq: Low-fidelity wireframing tool focused on rapid sketching of application interfaces, adjacent to Ratchet's quicker-prototyping value proposition though emphasizing early-stage wireframes over higher-fidelity prototypes.

Market position

Strengths3 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/goratchet
• GitHubgithub.com/twbs/ratchet
• Facebookfacebook.com/rbaconsulting

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ratchet