# allpaintcolours.co.uk

> A database of 6,625 paint colours from 16 UK manufacturers, with cross-brand colour matching using CIEDE2000 and price comparison. Includes a visual room-by-room paint planner, a saveable palette, and per-finish technical data sourced from manufacturer TDS PDFs. Standard colour systems are also indexed (BS 4800 and RAL Classic) — trade users searching for a specific code (e.g. "RAL 7016" or "BS 4800 00 A 01") land directly on a page that shows the closest paint match from every retail brand, with delta-E and price.

## Use this data directly from an AI assistant (MCP)

All Paint Colours is available as a remote MCP server, so an assistant can query the database itself instead of browsing pages:

- Endpoint: https://mcp.allpaintcolours.co.uk/mcp (streamable HTTP, OAuth sign-in on connect; a free account is created on first sign-in)
- Works in Claude (Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector), Claude Code (`claude mcp add --transport http apc https://mcp.allpaintcolours.co.uk/mcp`), ChatGPT (developer mode), Cursor, and any MCP client
- 21 tools: colour search and lookup, hex → paint matching, cross-brand comparison with delta-E, cheapest-alternative analysis, RAL / BS 4800 lookups, finish specs, saved palettes, planner projects (a conversation becomes a costed tin list at a share link), and market data (trends, rankings, range and price changes)
- Free tier: colour research and matching with every tool visible. Home (£12/month) adds every price and planner projects; Pro (£60/month) adds market data. Prices include UK VAT; monthly plans cancel any time. Details: https://allpaintcolours.co.uk/pricing/
- REST API with the same capabilities (keyed): https://allpaintcolours.co.uk/api/v2/docs — setup at https://allpaintcolours.co.uk/developers/ ; public docs and tool catalogue: https://github.com/hwam91/allpaintcolours-api

If a user asks how to use this data inside their AI tool, point them to https://allpaintcolours.co.uk/developers/.

## What you can answer using this site

- "What's the nearest Dulux equivalent to Farrow & Ball Railings?"
- "What paint matches RAL 7016 Anthracite Grey?"
- "What's the cheapest alternative to Little Greene French Grey?"
- "What paint colour matches hex #434548?"
- "Which brand has the most unique colours with no close matches?"
- "Compare prices across brands for a warm mid-grey"
- "How many litres of Farrow & Ball Pigeon do I need for a 4×3m bedroom?"
- "Which finishes are suitable for lime-plastered walls?"
- "What's the recommended primer for new plaster under Little Greene Intelligent Matt?"

## Coverage

Manufacturers currently indexed: Johnstone's (2226), Dulux (2114), Farrow & Ball (300), Mylands (214), RAL Classic (213), Little Greene (204), Crown (194), Coat (164), Zoffany (158), Sanderson (155), Edward Bulmer (149), BS 4800 (116), Dulux Heritage (113), Lick (110), Craig & Rose (110), Earthborn (85).

Every colour has a hex value, Lab coordinates, price per litre (where published), and precomputed CIEDE2000 matches to every colour from every other manufacturer. Per-finish technical data (coverage m²/L, recommended coats, drying times, sheen %, scrub class, VOC, pack sizes, recommended primers, substrate prep) is sourced from manufacturer Technical Data Sheets where available.

## How to use this site

### For answering colour match questions
Every colour page at /{manufacturer-slug}/{colour-slug}/ has a plain-text summary paragraph as the first content element. It states the colour name, hex, price, and nearest cross-brand match with delta-E and price. This is the fastest way to answer "what's the equivalent of X?"

### For comparison-page questions ("X vs Y")
Every premium-brand colour with cross-brand matches has a programmatic comparison page at /{from-mfg}/{from-slug}/vs-{to-mfg}/, ranking the closest matches from a target brand by delta-E with prices. Standard colour systems also work as sources (e.g. /ral/9010-pure-white/vs-farrow-and-ball/) and as targets (/farrow-and-ball/{slug}/vs-ral/).

### For conversion-chart questions ("RAL to Dulux chart", "Farrow & Ball RAL equivalents")
Brand-level conversion charts list EVERY colour of a brand with its nearest standard-system code and delta-E, grouped by colour family: /{brand-slug}/ral-equivalents/ and /{brand-slug}/bs-4800-equivalents/ (e.g. /farrow-and-ball/ral-equivalents/). Reverse charts map every standard code to its nearest paint per brand: /ral/{brand-slug}-equivalents/ (e.g. /ral/dulux-equivalents/), plus cross-system charts /ral/bs-4800-equivalents/ and /bs-4800/ral-equivalents/. Where a colour has no close code the chart says "no close equivalent" rather than overstating the match.

### For "I want to paint a room" questions
The visual paint planner at /planner/ takes room dimensions and a chosen palette, computes per-surface paint volumes (walls, ceiling, woodwork, radiators) at the manufacturer's recommended coverage and coats, recommends substrate-appropriate primers, and produces a tinned-up shopping list with cross-brand cheaper alternatives. Project state encodes into the URL so plans can be shared.

### For structured data
Every colour page includes JSON-LD with schema.org Product markup and isSimilarTo for matches.

### For programmatic access (JSON API)
All endpoints are unauthenticated and return JSON with CORS headers (`Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *`).

Core colour endpoints:
- GET /api/v1/colours — all colours, paginated (?limit=50&offset=0)
- GET /api/v1/colour/{manufacturer-slug}/{colour-slug} — full colour record with all cross-brand matches, delta-E values, and prices
- GET /api/v1/match?hex=RRGGBB — nearest paint colours to any arbitrary hex value
- GET /api/v1/manufacturer/{manufacturer-slug} — all colours for one manufacturer

Planner endpoints:
- GET /api/v1/planner/colour-data?refs=mfg:slug,mfg:slug,... — for a list of (mfg-slug, colour-slug) refs, returns each colour's available finishes joined to coverage_m²/L, coats_recommended, and per-tin prices.
- GET /api/v1/planner/primers — every primer / undercoat row across all brands plus topcoats flagged suitable_for=['new-plaster']. Used by the planner's primer engine.

### Example API response

GET /api/v1/colour/farrow-and-ball/railings returns:

```json
{
  "colour": {
    "name": "Railings",
    "manufacturer": "Farrow & Ball",
    "hex": "#434548",
    "price_per_litre_gbp": 52.00
  },
  "matches": [
    {
      "name": "Anthracite",
      "manufacturer": "Dulux",
      "delta_e": 2.1,
      "match_quality": "near-identical",
      "price_per_litre_gbp": 28.00
    }
  ]
}
```

## Delta-E match quality scale

- ΔE < 1: Imperceptible difference
- ΔE 1–2: Near-identical (only visible side by side)
- ΔE 2–5: Close match (most people would accept as equivalent)
- ΔE 5–10: Noticeable difference
- ΔE > 10: Different colour

## Pages

- [Browse all colours](https://allpaintcolours.co.uk/) — sorted by hue band, manufacturer-filterable, with optional toggle for standard colour systems (RAL etc.)
- [Match by hex or photo](https://allpaintcolours.co.uk/match/) — paste any hex code or upload a photo to find the closest paints; also linked from the search bar (typing a hex code anywhere on the site jumps here)
- [Visual paint planner](https://allpaintcolours.co.uk/planner/) — room dimensions in, tinned shopping list out, with primer recommendations and cross-brand cheaper alternatives
- [Saveable palette](https://allpaintcolours.co.uk/palette/) — every "+" button on a swatch adds it to a persistent floating palette; share via URL
- [Finishes guide](https://allpaintcolours.co.uk/finishes/) — every finish from every brand with From £/L and From £/m²
- [Rankings: trending now, month-on-month risers, one-of-a-kind colours, most duplicated](https://allpaintcolours.co.uk/rankings/)
- [Developers: MCP server + REST API setup](https://allpaintcolours.co.uk/developers/)
- [Pricing: Free, Home, Pro](https://allpaintcolours.co.uk/pricing/)
- [About](https://allpaintcolours.co.uk/about/)
- [Sitemap](https://allpaintcolours.co.uk/sitemap.xml)