Compare
Material UI vs Shadcn UI Kit
Storybook helps develop and document components in isolation, while Shadcn UI Kit offers complete ready-made UI assets for production.
Material UIReact components implementing Material Design
Shadcn UI KitBuild faster with pre-built assets using the Shadcn UI KitWhich to pick
Pick Material UI if you want…
- Customizable React UI component library
- Component development and documentation
- Integrations with TypeScript, JavaScript or CSS (on Material UI's list, not Shadcn UI Kit's)
Pick Shadcn UI Kit if you want…
- Pre-built UI assets for shadcn/ui projects
- Integrations with Next.js, Astro or Vite (on Shadcn UI Kit's list, not Material UI's)
Side by side
- What it is
- Material UI:MUI is an open-source library of customizable, accessible React components that implement Material Design or your own design system.
- Shadcn UI Kit:Shadcn UI Kit provides ready-made admin dashboards, website templates, components, blocks and examples for React, Tailwind CSS and shadcn/ui.
- Best for
- Material UI:Customizable React UI component library
- Shadcn UI Kit:Pre-built UI assets for shadcn/ui projects
- Who it’s for
- Material UI:React developers building production-ready UIs, from startups to large product teams.
- Shadcn UI Kit:React developers building admin panels, SaaS apps or marketing sites with Tailwind CSS.
- Pricing
- Material UI:Freemium
- Shadcn UI Kit:Freemium
- Plans
- Material UI:Community Free · Pro $299 / year / dev per year per developer · Premium $599 / year / dev per year per developer · Enterprise $1,399 / year / dev per year per developer
- Shadcn UI Kit:Starter $0 · Pro $79 one-time payment · Team $199 one-time payment · Enterprise $499 one-time payment
- Open source
- Material UI:Yes, 99,122 GitHub stars
- Shadcn UI Kit:Yes
- Works with
- Material UI:React, TypeScript, JavaScript, CSS
- Shadcn UI Kit:React, Next.js, Astro, Vite, Remix, TanStack Start, Tailwind CSS, Radix UI
Material UI features
- Extensive component library. Over 40 free components and many advanced ones for data-rich apps, ready for production.
- Theming & customization. Full control over colors, typography and component behavior to match any design system.
- Accessibility focus. Components are built with accessibility standards and keyboard navigation support.
- Comprehensive documentation. Detailed docs with examples, contributed by over 2,000 community members.
- MUI X advanced components. Pro and Premium grids, charts, schedulers and other complex UI widgets.
- Design kits & templates. Ready-made UI templates and design-tool kits to jump-start projects.
Shadcn UI Kit features
- Admin dashboards. 16 production-ready dashboards covering finance, HR, analytics and more.
- Web app templates. 17 full-stack templates built with Next.js and Astro.
- Reusable components. 100+ components compatible with Radix UI and Base UI.
- UI blocks & sections. 432 blocks (e.g., hero, pricing table, footers) for rapid page assembly.
- Animated illustrations. Motion-enabled UI illustrations built with shadcn/ui and Tailwind CSS.
- Page Builder tool. Drag-and-drop blocks to create multi-page sites and export clean Next.js code.
Material UI vs Shadcn UI Kit FAQ
Is Material UI or Shadcn UI Kit free?+
Material UI has a free plan (Community) and paid plans. Shadcn UI Kit has a free plan (Starter) and paid plans.
Is Material UI or Shadcn UI Kit open source?+
Yes, both are open source: Material UI (mui/material-ui on GitHub, MIT license) and Shadcn UI Kit.
Do Material UI and Shadcn UI Kit integrate with the same tools?+
Partly. Both list React. Material UI also lists TypeScript, JavaScript and CSS; Shadcn UI Kit also lists Next.js, Astro, Vite, Remix and 4 more.
On DevHunt
Based on each tool's website and DevHunt data. Details may change; check the official sites.