Material UI vs shadcn/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 of ready-made UI pieces built on Google's Material Design.
Open source · MIT
Copy-in React UI components you customize as your own code, built on Tailwind CSS.
Our verdict
Material UI is a prebuilt React component library that gives you ready-made pieces in Google's Material Design look, installed as a package you use as-is. shadcn/ui is a set of React components that you copy into your own project as editable source code and style with Tailwind CSS. Pick based on whether you want a consistent, ready-made look or full control over the code and appearance.
Pick Material UI if you are building a React app, want a consistent prebuilt component set, and are happy with the Material Design style.
Pick shadcn/ui if you are building with React or Next.js and Tailwind CSS, and want to own and freely restyle the component code yourself.
| Key difference | Material UI | shadcn/ui |
|---|---|---|
| How you get it | Install as a package with a package manager | Copy components into your project as source code |
| Visual style | Follows Material Design by default; restyling takes extra work | Built to be restyled; uses Tailwind CSS as its styling base |
| Updates | Updated through the package you install | You are responsible for updating copied components yourself |
| Documentation | Large, well-documented component set; advanced parts in MUI X | Short README; detailed setup and features are on the external docs site |
| Main language and stack | JavaScript, React only | TypeScript, React and Tailwind CSS, with Next.js noted |
Written with AI from both products' catalogue entries · updated 2026-10-29
Who each one is for
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
Choose shadcn/ui if you need…
- Developers building React or Next.js interfaces who want full control over component code
- Teams that want a consistent design system they can change freely
- Designers working with developers who need components that match a custom look
- Projects already using Tailwind CSS, which the topics list suggests is the styling base
Side-by-side
| Material UI | shadcn/ui | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Library | Library |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 99.3k | 127k |
| Setup difficulty | Intermediate | Intermediate |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | See the README |
| Main language | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last code update | 4 days ago | 4 days ago |
What each one is
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.
shadcn/ui
shadcn/ui is a collection of UI components (buttons, forms and similar pieces) that you add to your own project as source code rather than installing as a locked package. You can then edit, extend and restyle them. The README describes it as a starting point for building your own component library.
Best for
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
shadcn/ui
- Developers building React or Next.js interfaces who want full control over component code
- Teams that want a consistent design system they can change freely
- Designers working with developers who need components that match a custom look
- Projects already using Tailwind CSS, which the topics list suggests is the styling base
Strengths
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
shadcn/ui
- Component code lives in your project, so you can change it without waiting on an upstream release
- The README states the components are open source and MIT licensed
- Large community interest, with over 120,000 stars on GitHub
Not ideal for
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
shadcn/ui
- People who want a finished, unstyled-free app or website template; this is a set of building blocks
- Developers who do not use React, since the topics point to a React-focused stack
- Beginners without basic web development knowledge, as adapting components requires reading code
Trade-offs
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
shadcn/ui
- Because you own the code, you are responsible for updating components yourself
- The README provided is short, so detailed setup and feature information lives on the external docs site
- Relies on a specific stack (React and Tailwind) as indicated by the topics, which limits use elsewhere
Getting started
Material 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/styledshadcn/ui
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/shadcn-ui/uiFrequently asked questions
Should I use Material UI or shadcn/ui?
Material UI is a prebuilt React component library that gives you ready-made pieces in Google's Material Design look, installed as a package you use as-is. shadcn/ui is a set of React components that you copy into your own project as editable source code and style with Tailwind CSS. Pick based on whether you want a consistent, ready-made look or full control over the code and appearance. Pick Material UI if you are building a React app, want a consistent prebuilt component set, and are happy with the Material Design style. Pick shadcn/ui if you are building with React or Next.js and Tailwind CSS, and want to own and freely restyle the component code yourself.
What is the difference between Material UI and shadcn/ui?
Material UI: A React component library of ready-made UI pieces built on Google's Material Design. shadcn/ui: Copy-in React UI components you customize as your own code, built on Tailwind CSS. Material UI suits react developers who want a consistent, prebuilt set of ui components, while shadcn/ui suits developers building react or next.js interfaces who want full control over component code.
Are Material UI and shadcn/ui free?
Material UI: Free and open source. shadcn/ui: Free and open source.
Is Material UI or shadcn/ui more popular?
shadcn/ui has more GitHub stars (127k) than Material UI (99.3k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to Material UI and shadcn/ui?
Other options people compare them with include Chakra UI, Ant Design, Mantine, Base UI, React-Bootstrap.
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.