Material Design In XAML Toolkit
Material Design styles and controls for building Windows desktop apps (WPF) in C# or VB.Net.
- Stars
- 16.3k
- Forks
- 3.5k
- Licence
- MIT
- Language
- C#
- Last update
- 4 days ago
- Type
- Library
What it is
This is a library of ready-made visual styles and controls that make Windows desktop apps built with WPF look like Google's Material Design. It adds themed buttons, cards, dialogs, and an icon pack, and lets you change the color palette at design time or while the app runs. Developers add it to a WPF project through NuGet.
- Style a WPF app's standard controls with a Material Design theme
- Pick a primary and secondary color palette in XAML and change it at runtime
- Add Material Design icons, cards, and dialogs to an existing WPF application
- Use the included demo apps as a reference for available controls
Great for
- Developers building Windows desktop apps with WPF
- Teams that want a Material Design look without writing styles from scratch
- Projects that already use Dragablz or MahApps, which the README says are compatible
Not ideal for
- Web or mobile developers, since it only targets Windows desktop (WPF) according to the README
- Anyone who needs to stay on older Visual Studio versions, because the guide assumes Visual Studio 2022
- Projects that depend on the internal namespace staying stable, because the README warns those types may change between versions
How to get it
- 1
Install with a package manager
You'll need: Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 · .NET desktop development workload · An existing WPF project
Install the NuGet package from the Package Manager Console
Install-Package MaterialDesignThemes - 2
Run it
- Create or open a WPF project in Visual Studio 2022.
- Install the MaterialDesignThemes package through NuGet.
- Add the BundledTheme and Defaults resource dictionary to App.xaml as shown in the README.
- Set the MaterialDesignWindow style on your MainWindow.xaml and run the project.
- 3
Get the most out of it
- Use the MaterialDesignDemo app as a reference when you are unsure which control to use
- Choose MaterialDesign3.Defaults.xaml instead of the MD2 file if you want Material Design 3 styling
- Use the palette configuration at design time and runtime to match your brand colors
- Try the MahAppsDragablzDemo app if you plan to combine the toolkit with Dragablz or MahApps
Downloads
Strengths
- Covers the standard WPF controls with Material Design styles, according to the README
- Includes a full Material Design Icons pack and demo applications in the source
- Installs through NuGet and is released under the MIT license
Trade-offs
- Windows desktop only; it does not apply to web or mobile apps
- The README says the Material Design 3 demo is still under development
- Types in the internal namespace are not guaranteed to stay compatible between versions
How it compares
| Project | Stars | Type | Level | Updated | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MaterialDesignInXamlToolkit (this) | 16.3k | Library | intermediate | 4 days ago | Developers building Windows desktop apps with WPF |
| materialize | 38.8k | Library | beginner | 3 months ago | Developers building a web page or app who want a Material Design look quickly |
| Material | 12k | Library | intermediate | 4.5 years ago | iOS developers who want Material Design-style components without building them from scratch |
| Avalonia | 31.7k | Framework | intermediate | 4 days ago | C# developers who already know XAML or WPF |
| components | 25k | Library | intermediate | 4 days ago | Angular developers who want ready-made, accessible UI components |
| mkdocs-material | 27.6k | Framework | beginner | 6 days ago | Open source maintainers who want a clean docs site for a project |
Stats synced from GitHub. The assessment above was drafted with AI from the project's README on 2026-10-29 and may miss recent changes — check the README before relying on a command. MIT licence: free to use, modify and distribute, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.