Chakra UI vs Material 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
A React component library for building accessible web apps and design systems quickly.
Open source · MIT
A React component library of ready-made UI pieces built on Google's Material Design.
The short answer
Choose Chakra UI if you need…
- React developers who want prebuilt UI components instead of styling from scratch
- Teams building web apps or internal design systems in React
- Developers who care about accessibility and want components that aim to handle it
- Projects using Next.js that want to try React Server Components support
Choose Material UI if you need…
- React developers who want a consistent, prebuilt set of UI components
- Teams that want to follow Material Design guidelines
- Projects that need a large, documented component set
- Developers who want to extend basic components with more complex ones from the companion MUI X library
Side-by-side
| Chakra UI | Material UI | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Library | Library |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 40.7k | 99.3k |
| Setup difficulty | Intermediate | Intermediate |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Install with a package manager |
| Main language | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last code update | 4 days ago | 4 days ago |
What each one is
Chakra UI
Chakra UI is a set of ready-made React components, such as buttons and form controls, that developers can assemble into web interfaces. The README says the components are accessible and that the library works with Next.js RSC. It is aimed at building web apps and design systems more quickly.
Material UI
Material UI is a collection of React components, such as buttons, menus and form controls, that follow Google's Material Design visual system. Developers add these pieces to a React web app instead of building every interface element from scratch. The README describes it as a mature project with thousands of contributors and an MIT license.
Best for
Chakra UI
- React developers who want prebuilt UI components instead of styling from scratch
- Teams building web apps or internal design systems in React
- Developers who care about accessibility and want components that aim to handle it
- Projects using Next.js that want to try React Server Components support
Material UI
- React developers who want a consistent, prebuilt set of UI components
- Teams that want to follow Material Design guidelines
- Projects that need a large, documented component set
- Developers who want to extend basic components with more complex ones from the companion MUI X library
Strengths
Chakra UI
- The README states the components are accessible, and the topics list includes WAI-ARIA and a11y
- MIT licensed with a large community and active repository, per the metadata
- Installation is a single package plus its peer dependency, with commands shown for Yarn, npm, pnpm and Bun
Material UI
- Large, well-documented component set based on a known design system
- Long development history and a large contributor base, according to the README
- Free under the MIT license
Not ideal for
Chakra UI
- People who are not writing React code, since the library is specific to React
- Developers who want a fully custom look without any component framework, since the library provides its own design system
- Projects that cannot take on a dependency on Emotion, since the install requires @emotion/react as a peer dependency
Material UI
- People who are not writing React code, since the library is built for React specifically
- Teams that want a completely custom visual style without Material Design, because the components follow that look by default
- Beginners with no JavaScript or React background, who should learn the basics first
Trade-offs
Chakra UI
- The README is short on technical detail, so specifics like theming options and bundle size are not covered here
- Requires learning the library's own component APIs and conventions
- Depends on Emotion as a peer dependency, which adds to the setup
Material UI
- Tied to React, so it does not help with other frameworks
- Its default look is recognizably Material Design, which takes extra work to restyle
- Advanced components are in a separate project, MUI X, which may need its own setup
Getting started
Chakra UI
Install with npm
npm i @chakra-ui/react @emotion/reactInstall with Yarn
yarn add @chakra-ui/react @emotion/reactMaterial UI
Install the package from npm (command not shown in the README excerpt; this is the standard npm form)
npm install @mui/material @emotion/react @emotion/styledFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between Chakra UI and Material UI?
Chakra UI: A React component library for building accessible web apps and design systems quickly. Material UI: A React component library of ready-made UI pieces built on Google's Material Design. Chakra UI suits react developers who want prebuilt ui components instead of styling from scratch, while Material UI suits react developers who want a consistent, prebuilt set of ui components.
Are Chakra UI and Material UI free?
Chakra UI: Free and open source. Material UI: Free and open source.
Is Chakra UI or Material UI more popular?
Material UI has more GitHub stars (99.3k) than Chakra UI (40.7k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to Chakra UI and Material UI?
Other options people compare them with include Mantine, React-Bootstrap, BootstrapVue, Base UI, downshift.
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.