Base UI vs Headless UI
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
Unstyled, accessible React UI components you style yourself.
Open source · MIT
Unstyled, accessible UI components (React and Vue) that you style yourself, often with Tailwind CSS.
The short answer
Choose Base UI if you need…
- React developers who want accessible components without a fixed visual style
- Teams building a custom design system
- Projects that already have their own CSS or styling approach
Choose Headless UI if you need…
- React or Vue developers building custom-designed interfaces
- Teams already using Tailwind CSS who want accessible widgets that match their styling
- Projects that need keyboard and screen reader support without writing it from scratch
Side-by-side
| Base UI | Headless UI | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Library | Library |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 11.3k | 28.8k |
| Setup difficulty | Intermediate | Intermediate |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Install with a package manager |
| Main language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last code update | 4 days ago | 7 months ago |
What each one is
Base UI
Base UI is a library of user interface components for React, such as the building blocks for menus, dialogs and similar controls. It handles structure, behavior and accessibility but ships with no visual styling, so developers can make the components match their own design. It is aimed at teams building their own design systems or web apps.
Headless UI
Headless UI is a set of interface building blocks such as menus, dialogs and similar widgets for React and Vue. The components come with behavior and accessibility built in but no visual styling, so you control the look with your own CSS, typically Tailwind CSS. It is used by developers who want accessible components without adopting a fixed design system.
Best for
Base UI
- React developers who want accessible components without a fixed visual style
- Teams building a custom design system
- Projects that already have their own CSS or styling approach
Headless UI
- React or Vue developers building custom-designed interfaces
- Teams already using Tailwind CSS who want accessible widgets that match their styling
- Projects that need keyboard and screen reader support without writing it from scratch
Strengths
Base UI
- Built by the team behind Radix, Floating UI and Material UI, per the README
- Unstyled, so visual design stays fully under your control
- Licensed under MIT
Headless UI
- Components are unstyled, so they fit into any visual design
- The README describes the components as fully accessible
- Maintained by the Tailwind Labs team and published under the MIT license
Not ideal for
Base UI
- People who want a ready-made look out of the box, since the components are unstyled and need styling work (the README describes them as unstyled)
- Non-React projects, since the README describes a React component library
Headless UI
- Anyone who wants ready-made, good-looking components out of the box, since the README says the components are completely unstyled
- Projects not using React or Vue, since the README lists only those two packages
- Beginners with no web development background, since the components require writing your own markup and styles
Trade-offs
Base UI
- Requires you to supply all styling yourself
- Documentation and details live on an external site, so the README alone gives limited specifics
- The README is truncated, so some details could not be verified
Headless UI
- Requires you to write your own styling, so it is not a quick visual solution
- The README lists only React and Vue packages and does not describe other frameworks
- Insiders builds do not follow semver, so their APIs may change
Getting started
Headless UI
Install the React package (latest release)
npm install @headlessui/react@latestInstall the Vue package (latest release)
npm install @headlessui/vue@latestFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between Base UI and Headless UI?
Base UI: Unstyled, accessible React UI components you style yourself. Headless UI: Unstyled, accessible UI components (React and Vue) that you style yourself, often with Tailwind CSS. Base UI suits react developers who want accessible components without a fixed visual style, while Headless UI suits react or vue developers building custom-designed interfaces.
Are Base UI and Headless UI free?
Base UI: Free and open source. Headless UI: Free and open source.
Is Base UI or Headless UI more popular?
Headless UI has more GitHub stars (28.8k) than Base UI (11.3k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to Base UI and Headless UI?
Other options people compare them with include HyperUI, shadcn/ui, BootstrapVue, Chakra UI, Material UI.
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.