AdminLTE vs Keen Dashboards
Which should you use? A side-by-side look at what each one does, who it suits, what it costs, how hard it is to set up, and where each falls short.
Open source · MIT
Free Bootstrap 5 admin dashboard template with responsive layouts and dark mode.
Open source · MIT
Free, responsive HTML/CSS Grid dashboard templates you can copy and fill with your own charts.
The short answer
Choose AdminLTE if you need…
- Developers building an internal admin panel or back-office tool quickly
- Teams that already use Bootstrap and want a consistent dashboard look
- Developers who want a template in their framework, such as React, Vue, Laravel or Django, via the listed sibling editions
- Projects that need dark mode and right-to-left (RTL) layout out of the box
Choose Keen Dashboards if you need…
- Developers who need a starting layout for an internal analytics dashboard
- Front-end developers who want responsive grid layouts without writing CSS from scratch
- Teams already using Keen IO's keen-dataviz.js and keen-analysis.js libraries
- People who want to see example dashboards for specific domains before choosing one
Side-by-side
| AdminLTE | Keen Dashboards | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Library | Library |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 45.7k | 11k |
| Setup difficulty | Beginner | Intermediate |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Clone and build from source |
| Main language | Astro | HTML |
| Last code update | 5 days ago | 5 years ago |
What each one is
AdminLTE
AdminLTE is a free, MIT-licensed set of ready-made dashboard pages and components built on Bootstrap 5.3, used as the starting point for admin panels and back-office screens. It is responsive across phone and desktop sizes and uses vanilla JavaScript without jQuery. People use it to avoid designing an admin interface from scratch.
Keen Dashboards
This project is a set of pre-built dashboard layouts made with CSS Grid, plus example pages showing how they look with charts. You copy a template's HTML and CSS, then place chart containers in it and connect them to your data. The README says the templates are built to work well on different screen sizes and are designed to be pointed at Keen IO's charting libraries, though they can also be used with other data sources or charts.
Best for
AdminLTE
- Developers building an internal admin panel or back-office tool quickly
- Teams that already use Bootstrap and want a consistent dashboard look
- Developers who want a template in their framework, such as React, Vue, Laravel or Django, via the listed sibling editions
- Projects that need dark mode and right-to-left (RTL) layout out of the box
Keen Dashboards
- Developers who need a starting layout for an internal analytics dashboard
- Front-end developers who want responsive grid layouts without writing CSS from scratch
- Teams already using Keen IO's keen-dataviz.js and keen-analysis.js libraries
- People who want to see example dashboards for specific domains before choosing one
Strengths
AdminLTE
- Ships a broad set of prebuilt admin pages and components, reducing starting effort
- Available through CDN, npm and Composer, so it fits several workflows
- Released under the MIT license, which permits commercial use
Keen Dashboards
- Uses CSS Grid, so layouts adapt to different screen sizes with little custom CSS
- Ships with multiple ready-made layouts and domain examples to start from
- MIT license allows reuse in commercial and personal projects
Not ideal for
AdminLTE
- People who want a finished application with a backend, database or login system already built, since this is a front-end template
- Projects not using Bootstrap, since the template is built on Bootstrap 5.3 and its styles would need to be adapted
- Designers looking for a fully custom visual identity, as the default look is a standard admin theme
Keen Dashboards
- Non-developers who want a finished dashboard with no coding, since the README assumes editing HTML and wiring up scripts
- Teams that need active maintenance: the last push was 2021-11-02, so the code may be out of date with current libraries
- Anyone who wants a hosted analytics product, since this is a set of templates rather than a service
Trade-offs
AdminLTE
- The README describes a documentation overhaul and frequent releases, so checking the version you use against the changelog is advisable
- Being a template, most of its value is in its look and layout; you still need to supply the data and server logic
- The README's development section lists specific Node.js version requirements that you must match to build from source
Keen Dashboards
- The last push was in November 2021 and the README references older setup steps, so parts may be outdated
- Setup requires editing HTML and attaching scripts by hand, which takes some web development knowledge
- The README is tied to Keen IO's libraries and says templates are streamlined for them, so other charting tools need extra work
Getting started
AdminLTE
Install from npm (version 4)
npm install admin-lte@4Install from Composer
composer require almasaeed2010/adminlteKeen Dashboards
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/keen/dashboards.gitBuild the Docker image
docker build -t keen/dashboards .Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between AdminLTE and Keen Dashboards?
AdminLTE: Free Bootstrap 5 admin dashboard template with responsive layouts and dark mode. Keen Dashboards: Free, responsive HTML/CSS Grid dashboard templates you can copy and fill with your own charts. AdminLTE suits developers building an internal admin panel or back-office tool quickly, while Keen Dashboards suits developers who need a starting layout for an internal analytics dashboard.
Are AdminLTE and Keen Dashboards free?
AdminLTE: Free and open source. Keen Dashboards: Free and open source.
Which is easier to set up, AdminLTE or Keen Dashboards?
AdminLTE is easier to get started with (rated beginner); Keen Dashboards is rated intermediate and usually needs more setup.
Is AdminLTE or Keen Dashboards more popular?
AdminLTE has more GitHub stars (45.7k) than Keen Dashboards (11k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to AdminLTE and Keen Dashboards?
Other options people compare them with include Tabler, Gentelella, Bootstrap, Bootswatch, Bootstrap Table.
Keep comparing
Built from our catalogue entries for both products: open-source details come from each project's README (AI-assisted, refreshed weekly) and GitHub data; AI-tool details are editorial. Spotted something wrong? Let us know from either product's page.