Vercel introduced v0 in 2023 to make the first version of an interface easier to build. Users described what they wanted, iterated on generated designs and copied React code into their applications. The early product used familiar frontend building blocks, including Tailwind CSS and shadcn/ui, rather than locking the result inside a proprietary design format.
The product later expanded from generating interface components to creating complete applications. Its move from v0.dev to v0.app marked that broader scope: taking an idea through UI, content, backend logic and deployment in one workflow.