Material vs Materialize
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 Swift UI framework for iOS apps with Material Design-style components and animations.
Open source · MIT
A CSS framework that gives web pages ready-made styled parts based on Google's Material Design.
The short answer
Choose Material if you need…
- iOS developers who want Material Design-style components without building them from scratch
- Developers maintaining existing Swift projects that already use Material
- Projects that need Material's card, text field, or navigation drawer components
Choose Materialize if you need…
- Developers building a web page or app who want a Material Design look quickly
- Teams that want a ready-made component set instead of custom styling
- Developers who need broad older-browser support, since the README lists IE 11+
Side-by-side
| Material | Materialize | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Library | Library |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 12k | 38.8k |
| Setup difficulty | Intermediate | Beginner |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Install with a package manager |
| Main language | Swift | JavaScript |
| Last code update | 4 years ago | 3 months ago |
What each one is
Material
Material is a UI/UX framework for building iOS apps in Swift. It provides ready-made interface components such as cards, text fields, navigation drawers, toolbars, and floating action menus, styled after Google's Material Design look. It also uses the separate Motion library to handle animations and transitions.
Materialize
Materialize is a free, open-source CSS framework built on Material Design, Google's visual design system. It provides pre-styled components and layout tools so you can build web pages that look consistent without writing all the styling yourself. It is installed by download, npm, or a CDN link and is documented on its website.
Best for
Material
- iOS developers who want Material Design-style components without building them from scratch
- Developers maintaining existing Swift projects that already use Material
- Projects that need Material's card, text field, or navigation drawer components
Materialize
- Developers building a web page or app who want a Material Design look quickly
- Teams that want a ready-made component set instead of custom styling
- Developers who need broad older-browser support, since the README lists IE 11+
Strengths
Material
- Covers many common components (cards, drawers, tabs, search bar, snackbar) in one package
- Includes sample projects in a separate repository to learn from
- MIT license permits use in commercial projects
Materialize
- Free and MIT-licensed, so it can be used in commercial work
- Documented on an official site with a getting-started guide
- Available through several channels: direct download, npm, cdnjs, and Git clone
Not ideal for
Material
- Teams starting a new app today, since the README lists iOS 8.0+ and Swift 4.0+ and the last push was in May 2022
- Android or cross-platform projects, since this is iOS-only
- Developers who need SwiftUI support, which the README does not mention
Materialize
- Projects that need a distinctive custom look, because the framework imposes Material Design styling
- Anyone wanting a non-coding design tool; this is a code library
- Projects needing the newest browser features only, since the README lists older browser minimums that may not match modern needs
Trade-offs
Material
- The README targets old tooling (iOS 8.0+, Xcode 8.0+) and the last push is from 2022
- Documentation is mostly sample links and GIFs; the README gives little API detail
- The latest release lists no binaries, so you install through a dependency manager or by copying source
Materialize
- The README marks the Bower install method as deprecated
- The README mentions a beta branch alongside the stable 1.0.0 release, so users must choose a version carefully
- The README does not describe the full list of components in detail, so fit should be checked in the docs
Getting started
Material
Install CocoaPods
gem install cocoapodsInstall the pod (after adding pod 'Material', '~> 3.1.0' to your Podfile)
pod installMaterialize
Install with npm
npm install materialize-cssClone the repo
git clone https://github.com/Dogfalo/materialize.gitFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between Material and Materialize?
Material: A Swift UI framework for iOS apps with Material Design-style components and animations. Materialize: A CSS framework that gives web pages ready-made styled parts based on Google's Material Design. Material suits ios developers who want material design-style components without building them from scratch, while Materialize suits developers building a web page or app who want a material design look quickly.
Are Material and Materialize free?
Material: Free and open source. Materialize: Free and open source.
Which is easier to set up, Material or Materialize?
Materialize is easier to get started with (rated beginner); Material is rated intermediate and usually needs more setup.
Is Material or Materialize more popular?
Materialize has more GitHub stars (38.8k) than Material (12k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to Material and Materialize?
Other options people compare them with include SnapKit, Motion, Material Design In XAML Toolkit, RAMAnimatedTabBarController, FoldingCell.
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.