We just shipped a Template Gallery for Cloudpen — here's why we built it
Every time someone tried Cloudpen for the first time, the feedback followed a pattern.
They liked the editor. They liked the one-click deploy. But a surprising number of people got stuck at the very beginning — staring at a blank project, unsure how to structure it for Cloudpen's build system.
That friction was on us. So we fixed it.
What we shipped
Cloudpen now has a Template Gallery — a curated library of ready-made starter projects you can preview live and fork into your workspace in one click.
Every template is a real deployed project. Before you commit to anything, you can open a live preview of exactly what it looks like and how it behaves. If it's what you need, you fork it. A full copy — all files, folder structure, and dependencies — lands in your workspace instantly and the editor opens.
No scaffolding. No config. You start from something that already works.
What's in the gallery
The initial library covers the starters developers actually reach for:
- React + Vite
- Vue + Vite
- Vanilla JS
- Portfolio templates
- Landing page starters
- More being added based on feedback
Official vs Community templates
Templates are split into two types.
Official templates are built and maintained by the Cloudpen team. They're verified to build correctly, deploy without issues, and follow the project structure Cloudpen's build system expects. They carry a verified badge.
Community templates are built by Cloudpen users and shared publicly. They go through a review before appearing in the gallery, but they're maintained by their authors. This is also how you can submit your own — deploy a public project, submit it, and if it passes review it goes live in the Community tab.
Why we built it this way
We made a deliberate call to make every template a live deployed project rather than just a ZIP file or a code snapshot. The preview had to be real — you're seeing the actual running output, not a screenshot.
The fork had to be instant. The moment you click Fork, the editor opens. There's no loading screen, no "initializing project" spinner. You're in.
And your fork is completely independent. Changes you make never touch the original template.
Try it and tell us what's missing
The gallery is live now at cloudpen.dev.
We're actively building out the library and we're prioritising based on what people actually ask for. If there's a framework, stack, or starter you wish was already there — drop it in the comments. We read everything.
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