10 Best UI Libraries for Modern Web Design in 2025 (With Real-World Tips)

High‑quality UI today means clarity + speed + motion — and shipping that repeatedly across products is hard without a reliable component foundation. That’s why most teams lean on UI libraries: reusable, accessible components with consistent design tokens and enough flexibility to match your brand.

This guide curates the 10 best UI libraries for 2025, explains when to choose each, and shows Next.js + pnpm setup snippets so you can start building right away. We’ve also included decision criteria, performance notes, and SEO‑friendly internal references to help you build faster and smarter.

Related reading:

• Web Design Best Practices
• Web Application Design
• UI Libraries
• UI Animation

What is a UI Library (and why you should use one)?

A UI library is a collection of reusable interface components — buttons, inputs, cards, dialogs, menus, tables, navigation — that are styled and engineered to be accessible, responsive, and consistent. Instead of hand‑rolling every interaction, you compose these pieces, customize with design tokens, and focus on your product logic.

Key benefits

• Speed to market: Ship production UI without rewriting the basics.
• Consistency: A single source of truth for spacing, color, and motion.
• Accessibility: ARIA patterns and keyboard support from day one.
• Scalability: Theming and tokens help you scale across teams and apps.
• Lower maintenance: Let an active ecosystem maintain primitives while you build features.

Want motion as a first‑class citizen? See our animation‑centric resources:
Website Animation Examples · Text Animation CSS · Web Design Trends

How to choose a UI library (quick checklist)

1. Design fit — Can it match your brand without fighting defaults?
2. Accessibility — WCAG‑friendly components and keyboard paths.
3. Theming — Tokens for color, typography, radius, motion.
4. Performance — Tree‑shaking, code‑splitting, low layout thrash.
5. Ecosystem — Docs, examples, community, maintenance cadence.
6. Interactivity — Support for motion, gestures, complex overlays.
7. Licensing — OSS vs. commercial (e.g., Tailwind UI components).
8. Stack alignment — React/Next.js compatibility, TypeScript types.
9. Internationalization — RTL support, locale formats.
10. Long‑term risk — Clear roadmap and release stability.

The 10 Best UI Libraries for 2025 (re‑ordered & expanded)

We’ve changed the order from our earlier list to reflect broader use cases and to help you compare options with fresh context.

1) MUI — Enterprise‑grade React components

MUI (Material‑UI) implements Google’s Material Design with a rich component set, robust theming, and an enormous community.

Best for: Enterprise dashboards, complex data entry, admin tools.
Highlights: Data grid ecosystem, responsive grid, dark mode, design tokens.
Install (pnpm):

pnpm add @mui/material @emotion/react @emotion/styled

Why pick MUI: Mature, well‑documented, and reliable for large teams.
Watch out for: The Material look is opinionated — plan theming early.

2) RuixenUI — Motion‑first library for product and marketing sites

RuixenUI is free & open source and designed for design engineers who want animation and interactivity without extra plumbing. Built with React, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, and Framer Motion, it ships over 20 animated components plus a Startup Landing Page template.

Best for: Landing pages, product sites, polished marketing experiences.
Highlights: Micro‑interactions by default, TypeScript types, accessible patterns, clean theming.
Install (pnpm):

pnpm add ruixen

Get started: Use the Startup template and customize tokens to match your brand.
Why pick RuixenUI: Animation is baked in — you’ll feel the difference in perceived performance and engagement.

3) Radix UI — Headless, accessible primitives

Radix offers unstyled primitives (dialogs, popovers, menus) with accessibility guarantees. You bring the styling (Tailwind, CSS‑in‑JS) and get robust behavior.

Best for: Teams building their own design system from primitives.
Highlights: Composable, focus management, collision handling, consistent APIs.
Install (pnpm):

pnpm add @radix-ui/react-dialog @radix-ui/react-popover @radix-ui/react-tooltip

Why pick Radix: Total style control with rock‑solid a11y mechanics.

4) Chakra UI — Developer‑friendly theming & a11y

Chakra emphasizes simplicity, composability, and accessibility. Its props‑driven styling and well‑structured theming system make it pleasant for rapid builds.

Best for: SaaS apps, startups, teams that want a gentle learning curve.
Install (pnpm):

pnpm add @chakra-ui/react @emotion/react @emotion/styled framer-motion

Why pick Chakra: Great ergonomics and batteries‑included patterns.

5) Ant Design — Scalable business design language

Ant Design delivers a consistent business‑first component system with strong table/form patterns and internationalization.

Best for: Complex back‑office interfaces, enterprise admin suites.
Install (pnpm):

pnpm add antd

Why pick AntD: Polished patterns for data‑heavy screens.

6) shadcn/ui — Copy‑paste components built on Radix + Tailwind

shadcn/ui is a code‑as‑components approach: you generate and own the code, styled with Tailwind and powered by Radix primitives.

Best for: Next.js projects that want full control of source.
Install (pnpm):

pnpm dlx shadcn@latest init
# then add components you need, e.g.:
pnpm dlx shadcn add button card dialog input

Why pick shadcn/ui: Ownable source code, modern patterns, Tailwind synergy.

7) Mantine — Full‑featured React toolkit with hooks

Mantine provides a wide component surface, hooks, color schemes, and unstyled base if needed. It’s pragmatic and productive.

Best for: Product teams seeking a balance of features and customization.
Install (pnpm):

pnpm add @mantine/core @mantine/hooks

Why pick Mantine: Good DX, theming controls, versatile components.

8) Tailwind UI — Production components for Tailwind CSS (commercial)

Tailwind UI offers professionally designed components for marketing sites and apps. You combine it with your own Tailwind setup.

Best for: Teams that want beautiful, ready‑made markup and patterns.
Install basics (pnpm):

pnpm add -D tailwindcss postcss autoprefixer

Why pick Tailwind UI: Excellent visual quality and consistent structure.

9) Flowbite — Tailwind components + plugin

Flowbite ships Tailwind components (and a plugin) for forms, nav, modals, and more.

Best for: Tailwind users who prefer a ready component layer.
Install (pnpm):

pnpm add flowbite

Why pick Flowbite: Quick scaffolding atop Tailwind utilities.

10) daisyUI — Tailwind plugin with themes

daisyUI adds pre‑built themes and components on top of Tailwind.

Best for: MVPs and prototypes where fast theming matters.
Install (pnpm):

pnpm add -D daisyui

Why pick daisyUI: Many themes, minimal wiring, rapid iteration.

Quick start: Next.js + pnpm setup (works with the libraries above)

Assumes Next.js 14/15 App Router. Create the project and add a UI library.

# 1) Create Next.js app
pnpm create next-app@latest my-app --ts --eslint --app --no-tailwind
 
# 2) Enter the project
cd my-app
 
# 3) (Optional) Add Tailwind if your chosen library uses it
pnpm add -D tailwindcss postcss autoprefixer
npx tailwindcss init -p
# Configure content paths in tailwind.config.js
 
# 4) Add your UI library
pnpm add ruixen  # or antd / @mui/material / @chakra-ui/react etc.
 
# 5) Run dev
pnpm dev

For Tailwind‑based libraries (RuixenUI, shadcn/ui, Flowbite, daisyUI), make sure your tailwind.config.js includes the package paths in content.

Performance tips (bundle size, CSS, motion)

• Tree‑shake: Import only the components you use.
• Code‑split: Lazy‑load heavy routes or rarely used components.
• Motion discipline: Keep animations subtle and purposeful; prefer transform/opacity to avoid layout thrash.
• Image strategy: Use Next.js Image and responsive sizes.
• CSS budget: Avoid mixing multiple heavy UI libraries in one app.
• Accessibility with motion: Respect prefers-reduced-motion and provide fallbacks.

Deep dives:
How To Make An Interactive Website ·
Best Web Design Tools

Decision matrix (skim‑friendly)

Real‑world integration notes

• Design tokens first: Decide spacing, radius, color, and motion before theming.
• One library per surface: Avoid mixing multiple full libraries; supplement with Radix primitives if needed.
• Route boundaries: Code‑split complex pages (charts, editors).
• Accessibility audits: Keyboard traps, focus order, color contrast — test them early.
• Internationalization: Check RTL flipping and date/number localization.
• Testing: Snapshot‑test components and add Playwright checks for key flows.

Using RuixenUI to accelerate animated design systems

If motion matters, RuixenUI gives you animated, accessible components out of the box:

What you get

• Motion‑ready primitives (Buttons, Cards, Modals, Accordions, Nav).
• Framer Motion under the hood with tasteful defaults.
• TypeScript types, Tailwind tokens, and theming utilities.
• A Startup Landing Page template that ships in hours, not weeks.

Install (pnpm)

pnpm add ruixen

Example (Button with animation intent)

import { Button } from "ruixen";
 
export default function CTA() {
  return (
    <Button variant="primary" motion="fadeInUp">
      Get Started
    </Button>
  );
}

Explore more: RuixenUI Templates ·
React UI Animation Techniques

SEO checklist for UI library articles (what we applied here)

• Descriptive H1/H2 with primary keywords (“UI libraries”, “2025”).
• Semantic sections (benefits, how to choose, performance, matrix, FAQs).
• Internal links to adjacent content across ruixen.com.
• Actionable snippets (pnpm installs, Next.js steps).
• Media with alt context for image blocks.
• FAQ block capturing long‑tail queries.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which UI library is best for a marketing site with animations?

If motion and perceived performance matter, start with RuixenUI (React + Tailwind + Framer Motion). For fully custom visuals, combine Radix UI primitives with your Tailwind tokens and add motion selectively.

What’s the easiest library for a small SaaS dashboard?

Chakra UI offers a very friendly developer experience and straightforward theming. MUI is excellent if you need richer data components and established enterprise patterns.

Can I mix libraries?

You can, but do it carefully. Use one primary library for surface styling and Radix for primitives where you need more control. Mixing multiple heavy kits often bloats CSS and creates visual drift.

How do I keep bundles small?

Tree‑shake imports, code‑split heavy routes, and avoid importing entire icon packs. Prefer transform/opacity animations and audit your CSS with tools like @next/bundle-analyzer.

Are Tailwind‑based kits mandatory?

No. Tailwind‑based kits are popular for speed and consistency, but libraries like MUI, Chakra, and Mantine work great without Tailwind. Choose based on your team’s comfort and brand needs.

Final thoughts

Picking a UI library isn’t just about component count — it’s about fit. Match the library to your design language, team workflow, and performance goals. If your project lives and dies by first impressions, choose a motion‑forward option like RuixenUI; if you need enterprise‑grade patterns, MUI or Ant Design are very hard to beat.

When you’re ready to build, start with tokens, decide your animation strategy, and wire up a11y from the outset. You’ll ship faster — and your UI will feel intentional, fast, and on‑brand.

Keep exploring:
How To Make An Interactive Website ·
Web Design Trends ·
Tailwind CSS Components