Figma has acquired the team behind Bud, a Y Combinator-backed vibe coding and AI agent platform formerly known as Orchids. The deal signals Figma’s aggressive push to evolve from a design collaboration tool into a full app-building platform.
“Figma is one of, if not the, defining product companies of our time to capitalize on this. It’s where ideas start, iterate, and come to life, and a natural home for this exciting new era of work,” Bud’s CEO Kevin Lu posted on X.
What Was Bud?
Bud started life as Orchids, a vibe-coding platform that let users create apps for mobile, web, Slack, and browsers through natural language prompts. The concept was straightforward: describe what you want, and the platform builds it. No coding experience required.
The startup later rebranded as Bud and pivoted toward becoming an AI agent platform. The expanded scope included web browsing, code writing, and task automation across multiple services. Users could set up agents that connected to various APIs and performed multi-step workflows.
Under the terms of the acquisition, both Bud and Orchids will shut down by July 18. Users need to migrate their projects before that deadline.
Why This Matters for Figma
Figma has been steadily moving beyond static design mockups for the past two years. In 2025, the company released Figma Make for creating web apps directly from its canvas. Earlier in 2026, Figma integrated with OpenAI’s Codex and Anthropic’s Claude Code, letting designers generate functional prototypes from their designs.
In May 2026, Figma rolled out its own AI agents for collaborative canvas editing. The Bud acquisition adds another layer: a team experienced in building autonomous AI agents that can write code, browse the web, and automate tasks.
The pattern is clear. Figma wants to own the entire journey from initial concept to working application, without designers ever leaving its platform.
A Security Red Flag in Bud’s History
There’s a wrinkle in this acquisition. Earlier in 2026, the BBC reported, citing a security researcher, that apps created on Orchids were susceptible to cyberattacks. The report raised questions about the security posture of the platform’s code generation capabilities.
Figma didn’t address the security findings in its announcement. For a company that handles design files for some of the world’s largest enterprises, integrating a team with a documented security vulnerability history is a notable choice.
The Vibe Coding Landscape in 2026
Figma’s move comes as the vibe coding market is heating up. Companies like Replit, Bolt, Base44, Lovable, Cursor, and Windsurf are all competing in the AI-powered prototyping and app-building space. The AI coding tools market itself doubled in 18 months, reaching roughly $12.8 billion in 2026.
GitHub recently switched Copilot from flat-rate subscriptions to usage-based billing, which could reshape how developers pay for AI coding assistance. Meanwhile, 30% of engineers have already hit usage limits on AI coding tools, according to a Pragmatic Engineer survey.
Figma’s bet is that design and code are converging, and the platform that bridges both wins. By acquiring Bud, they’re not just buying a vibe-coding tool. They’re buying a team that understands how to build autonomous AI agents, which is the next frontier for creative and development tools.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens to existing Bud and Orchids projects?
Both Bud and Orchids will shut down by July 18, 2026. Users need to export and migrate their projects before that date. Figma has not announced any migration tools or continuation plans for Bud’s existing services.
Will Figma release a vibe-coding feature?
Figma hasn’t confirmed a specific product roadmap for the Bud team. However, given the company’s recent moves with Figma Make, Codex integration, and AI agents, a vibe-coding feature built into Figma’s canvas seems likely.
How does this compare to Replit or Cursor?
Replit and Cursor focus on code-first workflows. Figma’s approach starts from the design layer. If the Bud team integrates vibe coding into Figma’s canvas, it would let designers generate working apps from visual mockups, which is a different entry point than code-first tools.
Why did Orchids have security vulnerabilities?
The BBC report found that apps created on Orchids were susceptible to cyberattacks, likely due to insecure code generation patterns. Figma has not commented on how it plans to address these security concerns in its integration.
