MetaLab
Behind Slack, Uber, and Coinbase's interfaces, now owned by Andrew Wilkinson's Tiny.
Founded 2006 | Victoria, British Columbia, Canada (remote-first) | 160+ employees
product-designweb-designmobile-designdesign-systemsbranding
What is MetaLab?
Andrew Wilkinson started MetaLab in 2006; by January 2017 it had become a subsidiary of his holding company Tiny, a change worth flagging since the studio is no longer independently owned. From Victoria, British Columbia, a remote-first team of 160+ people spread across 17 countries has designed products for Slack, Uber, Coinbase, Robinhood, Nike, Midjourney, and Headspace — a portfolio most agencies twice its size can't match. Engagements typically run full-stack, covering research, strategy, UX, UI, and design systems inside one team.
MetaLab works primarily with clients in SaaS / B2B software, Financial services / fintech, Consumer products sectors. Its primary differentiator is: A Slack/Uber/Coinbase/Midjourney-caliber portfolio built by a 160-person studio, delivered full-stack from research through design systems.
MetaLab tech stack and services
FigmaFramerDesign systems/StorybookReactWebflow
| Service area |
|---|
| Product Design |
| Web Design |
| Mobile App Design |
| Design Systems |
| Branding |
MetaLab pricing
Short answer: MetaLab uses a fixed project, dedicated team pricing approach. Minimum engagement starts at $150K+ (per industry roundups; independently unverifiable).
| Engagement model | Typical range | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed project | From $150K+ (per industry roundups; independently unverifiable) | Well-defined scope |
| Dedicated team | Variable; depends on team size | Large programmes or team augmentation |
MetaLab does not publish a public rate card. Contact them directly via their website to get project-specific pricing.
MetaLab pros and cons
| Advantages | Things to consider |
|---|---|
| +Portfolio spans Slack, Uber, Coinbase, Robinhood, and Midjourney — remarkable for a 160-person studio | -No longer independently owned — became a Tiny subsidiary in 2017 |
| +Remote-first across 17 countries supports near-continuous delivery coverage | -Reported $150K+ typical minimum (per industry roundups; independently unverifiable) is out of reach for early-stage startups |
| +Full-stack model covers research through design systems without switching vendors | -High-profile client list can mean longer lead times for new engagements |
| +Nearly two decades operating under the same founding brand |
MetaLab vs alternatives
How MetaLab compares to the other top Product Design agencies.
| Company | Best for | Key difference | Rating | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phenomenon Studio | SaaS, fintech, healthcare, EdTech — senior-only team, no... | Built around 70+ senior specialists across USA, Estonia, and Switzerland entities — no junior bench to hand work off to — serving four deliberately chosen verticals: SaaS, fintech, healthcare, and EdTech | 4.8 | Full comparison |
| IDEO | Enterprises funding multi-year, cross-functional transformation. | Coined the human-centered design methodology the rest of the industry now runs on, still delivering it through roughly 24 studios worldwide three decades later | 3.8 | Full comparison |
| Frog | Enterprises, digital plus physical product design, one team. | Still designs physical hardware (IoT, automotive, medical devices) alongside software — a combined scope most of its peers have abandoned | 3.7 | Full comparison |
| R/GA | Global brands, product design bundled with brand strategy. | Fuses product design with marketing and brand strategy for large platforms, now operating independently for the first time in over two decades | 3.7 | Full comparison |
| Accenture Song | Regulated enterprises — banking, telecom, automotive — embedded... | 36 studios and 2,000+ specialists operating inside Accenture — the broadest global footprint and compliance coverage of any name on this list | 3.9 | Full comparison |
| Work & Co | Premium brands, design paired with production-grade engineering. | A client roster (Apple, IKEA, Nike, Disney) that outsizes its ~425-person headcount, delivered through an engineering-heavy design-and-build model | 3.8 | Full comparison |
| Huge Inc | Large enterprise brands, big agency mid-restructure. | One of the oldest agency names on this list, now rebuilt through a 2024 AEA Investors acquisition and Hero Digital merger | 3.6 | Full comparison |
| EPAM Continuum | Enterprises, design integrated with strategy and engineering. | Carries Continuum's decades-old industrial-design pedigree (the Reebok Pump) into EPAM's enterprise software engineering scale | 3.7 | Full comparison |
| Cantina | Financial services, health/life-science — strategic design plus development. | A financial-services-heavy client list (Charles Schwab, Fidelity, Empower) delivered through a combined strategy-design-development model | 4.0 | Full comparison |
| Doberman | Nordic/European enterprises, service design backed by EY network. | Nearly three decades of Nordic service-and-product-design work, now backed by EY's global consulting network after its majority-stake acquisition | 3.8 | Full comparison |
| Fireart Studio | Startups, mid-market — design plus full development, one... | 700+ delivered projects for 200+ clients, backed by Clutch's independently verified 'Leading UX Design Team' recognition | 4.4 | Full comparison |
| Qubstudio | Fintech, logistics, healthcare — MVP to enterprise redesign. | Currently Clutch's #1-ranked UX/UI agency worldwide for 2026, with Red Dot Design Award recognition layered on top | 4.6 | Full comparison |
| Excited | SaaS/fintech teams, Clutch-ranked specialist, accessible rates. | A sustained Top 5 global UX agency ranking on Clutch, with about 70% of reviews specifically citing quality and creativity | 4.6 | Full comparison |
| Gapsy Studio | Fintech, SaaS, healthcare — 5.0-rated boutique, deep track... | A perfect 5.0/5.0 Clutch rating across 52 reviews, backed by 13+ international awards, from a studio that doesn't publish its own headcount | 4.5 | Full comparison |
| Goji Labs | Startups, entrepreneurs, nonprofits — strategy-led, accessible pricing. | A 2025 Inc. 5000 honoree that explicitly serves nonprofits and entrepreneurs, not only funded startups | 3.9 | Full comparison |
| Eleken | SaaS teams, subscription embedded designer, no fixed-price haggling. | A SaaS-only subscription embedded-designer model (~$6,599/month) with a 4.9 Clutch rating across 200+ projects | 4.1 | Full comparison |
| Fresh Tilled Soil | Mid-market, enterprise — long-tenured Boston UX boutique. | 700+ delivered projects over two decades from a compact 11–50 person team, now operating inside the ADK Group | 3.9 | Full comparison |
| UXDA | Banks, fintech — exclusively financial-services UX. | The only studio in this roster built exclusively around financial-services UX, with 150+ banking and fintech platforms shaped across 39 countries | 4.3 | Full comparison |
| Onething Design | Companies wanting BFSI, healthcare, automotive — one studio,... | Covers five distinct industries — BFSI, consumer, enterprise, healthcare, automotive — from one team with both US and India delivery presence | 3.8 | Full comparison |
| UX studio | B2B SaaS teams, research-first before UI. | A research-first methodology comparable in rigor to Phenomenon Studio's own discovery-first approach, applied specifically to complex B2B SaaS products | 4.3 | Full comparison |
| Halo Lab | E-commerce, web apps — #1 Dribbble-ranked studio. | Currently the #1-ranked Dribbble Team globally, backed by 70+ design awards and a 4.9 Clutch rating | 4.4 | Full comparison |
| Spaceberry Studio | Budget-conscious SaaS/AI teams, low-commitment subscription. | One of the most accessible entry points in this roster via a subscription model rather than a large upfront fixed-price contract | 3.7 | Full comparison |
| ANML | B2B, healthcare, AI startups — tiny senior team. | One of the smallest teams in this roster, giving clients the highest senior-to-client ratio for B2B, healthcare, and AI work | 3.8 | Full comparison |
| Momentum Design Lab | Clients wanting a long-tenured Silicon Valley studio. | Nearly a quarter-century of continuous operation, one of the oldest boutiques in this roster by founding date | 3.9 | Full comparison |
| The Gradient | Fintech, healthcare, retail — AI-native, limited roster for... | A deliberately small, AI-native studio with a notable client list (Qatar Airways, Philips, Daimler AG) unusual for its self-limited scale | 4.2 | Full comparison |
MetaLab FAQ
What is MetaLab?
Behind Slack, Uber, and Coinbase's interfaces, now owned by Andrew Wilkinson's Tiny.
How much does MetaLab charge?
MetaLab uses fixed project, dedicated team pricing. Minimum engagement starts at $150K+ (per industry roundups; independently unverifiable). A discovery call is required to get project-specific quotes.
What tech stack does MetaLab use?
MetaLab works with Figma, Framer, Design systems/Storybook, React, Webflow. Primary industries served include SaaS / B2B software, Financial services / fintech, Consumer products.
Is MetaLab right for enterprise?
Well-funded SaaS/fintech, full-stack design through design systems. 160+ team size. Key consideration: No longer independently owned — became a Tiny subsidiary in 2017.
What are the best MetaLab alternatives?
The best alternatives to MetaLab depend on your use case. Top options are:
- Phenomenon Studio: built around 70+ senior specialists across usa, estonia, and switzerland entities — no junior bench to hand work off to — serving four deliberately chosen verticals: saas, fintech, healthcare, and edtech
- IDEO: coined the human-centered design methodology the rest of the industry now runs on, still delivering it through roughly 24 studios worldwide three decades later
- Frog: still designs physical hardware (iot, automotive, medical devices) alongside software — a combined scope most of its peers have abandoned
Compare MetaLab with other Product Design agencies
MetaLab vs Phenomenon Studio MetaLab vs IDEO MetaLab vs Frog MetaLab vs R/GA MetaLab vs Accenture Song MetaLab vs Work & Co MetaLab vs Huge Inc MetaLab vs EPAM Continuum MetaLab vs Cantina MetaLab vs Doberman MetaLab vs Fireart Studio MetaLab vs Qubstudio MetaLab vs Excited MetaLab vs Gapsy Studio MetaLab vs Goji Labs MetaLab vs Eleken MetaLab vs Fresh Tilled Soil MetaLab vs UXDA MetaLab vs Onething Design MetaLab vs UX studio MetaLab vs Halo Lab MetaLab vs Spaceberry Studio MetaLab vs ANML MetaLab vs Momentum Design Lab MetaLab vs The Gradient
Verify all details directly with MetaLab before making a decision.