While constructing a contemporary web application, choosing the most suitable UI library for React is not an individual preference but a strategic decision with implications for performance, user experience and development speed. There are numerous libraries in 2025 and each of them promises that it will be simple to create gorgeous, functioning interfaces. But how to choose the best React UI library for your project?
UI React libraries include pre-written components, styles and functional solutions, which speed up the process quite a lot by allowing to focus on business logic. However, any library has its own features, pros and cons, and it is required to consider them while making a decision.
Today in this article, we and Celadonsoft are going to discuss the most popular UI libraries for React, their essential features, benefits, and flaws, and where one library can be a better alternative to another. We’ll walk you through selecting the ideal tool for your project and taking full advantage of each library to the highest degree.
Overview of Leading UI Libraries for React
There are several popular UI libraries available in the React ecosystem that can provide something valuable. The best React UI library has the potential to greatly speed up development, improve the user interface with the best React Frameworks and simplify code support. Consider some of the most widely used solutions in 2025:
Material-UI
Description and features:
Material-UI, or MUI, is the most popular and mature React UI library. Material-UI is a library that follows Google’s Material Design and has a rich collection of finished components. MUI will help you build interfaces that are responsive and modern on different devices and screens.
Pros:
- Complete set of elements. Has all the elements of the interface that are required: buttons, forms, cards, navigation bars and so on.
- Easy to customize. With features such as thematization and styled via the sx system, MUI is easy to integrate into your project requirements.
- Rich docs and active support. MUI is well-maintained and well-documented, easy to use and implement.
Cons:
- Increased library size. MUI is at times bulky in relation to some of its competitors, and this at times affects the boot time of the application.
- Multifaceted projects can suffer from performance issues. Complicated applications with numerous components can be further optimized.
When to use MUI:
MUI is suited when you’re working on a big project and you want to keep the interface consistent and stick to modern design patterns. In case you really need immediate access to a great number of well-documented UI components, then MUI is an excellent choice.
Ant Design
Description and characteristics:
Ant Design is a rich-feature UI library developed with corporate-level applications in mind. It consists of stylish and modern components with the ability to be customized and feature provision of intricate tables, graphs, and forms.
Strengths:
- Pre-built corporate solutions. Ant Design enables a lot of higher-level components like shapes, tables and fashion windows with more utility in corporate-level solution building.
- Flexibility of theme and design. The thematization system accommodates complete personalization of component looks.
- International standards’ compliance. The library offers many facets for accommodating numerous languages and formats of data.
Disadvantages:
- Too extensive for small projects. Ant Design is designed for big applications and can be an overkill in small or minor projects.
- Installment complexity. Some complain that too much personalization will consume a lot of time.
Use Ant Design:
Celadonsoft: “If you’re building complex, business applications where you need to support a lot of data and complex interactions, Ant Design will be an excellent choice due to its features and support for multi-level components.”
Chakra UI
Description and features:
Chakra UI is a modern, minimalist library with a high priority on performance and accessibility. Developers can design interfaces quickly that are beautiful and all-accessible and follow all the accessibility guidelines through the use of Chakra UI.
Benefits:
- Availability by default. Chakra UI puts higher priority on accessibility, thereby making the apps more accessible to individuals with disabilities.
- Intuitively readable customization. Props-based design system allows immediate and effortless alteration of component appearance without additional styles.
- Easy to use. Chakra UI is suitable for a fast start with fewer configs and easy components.
Disadvantages:
- Fewer component number. Although Chakra UI contains all the components one might require, their number is fewer than in larger libraries.
- May not be suitable for complex UI. For applications with a lot of specific components in complex business applications, the Chakra UI may not be robust enough.
When to use the Chakra UI:
Celadonsoft: “Chakra UI is best suited for small and medium-sized projects where high availability and performing application development is important. It will also be appropriate for startup businesses that are concerned with speed of development.”
React Bootstrap
Description and features:
React Bootstrap is a spin-off of the popular Bootstrap library to make it work with React. It provides all the advantages of classic Bootstrap, including grids, shapes and components, but with even tighter integration with React.
Benefits:
- Popularity and custom. Bootstrap is the de facto standard for web development, and React Bootstrap preserves all its advantages by allowing you to integrate regular components seamlessly.
- Support for all Bootstrap functionality. You are free to use tested grids and components without writing your own layout.
Drawbacks:
- Less flexible capitalization. Unlike other libraries, React Bootstrap can limit customization and require extra effort for deep design changes.
- Not always suitable for modern design. The appearance of components can be out of date, especially in case of complex applications with special requirements.
When to use React Bootstrap:
React Bootstrap will be your friend for small projects or when you just need to quickly apply a standard set of components without having to worry about taking your design bespoke. It is perfectly suited to applications where speed of development is more important than the uniqueness of the interface.
Semantic UI React
Description and features:
Semantic UI React is a React adaptation of the popular Semantic UI library, which prioritizes the application of semantic HTML elements and improved user interaction. The library provides ease in building intuitive and accessible interfaces.
Advantages:
- Code purity and semantic elements. Semantic development raises the readability and maintainability of code.
- Intuitively understandable design. Semantic UI React components are easily adoptable and intuitively understandable for developers familiar with the concepts of Semantic UI.
Disadvantages:
- Less community active. Compared to competitors, Semantic UI React is less community active and less updated.
- Limited customization. For deep changes in appearance and functionality may require additional effort.
When to use Semantic UI React:
Celadonsoft: “This library is well suited for small and medium-sized projects where clear and comprehensible code is necessary, and the usability of standard components.”
Key Aspects When Choosing UI Library
In choosing the best React UI library, there are some key aspects to consider that will guarantee the success of the development and maintenance of the project.
Adaptability and Customization
The most important aspect in choosing a library is its responsiveness. Today, user interfaces must be responsive and adaptable, able to serve multiple devices, screens and resolutions. Libraries such as Material-UI and Chakra UI come with built-in support for adaptive components, and it becomes very simple for you to adapt the interface to varying screen sizes.
Customization is also a crucial factor. Certain libraries, such as Ant Design, provide a wide range of options for theme, style and component customization, which is especially necessary when crafting unique interfaces that identify with the brand or product.
Support of Components and Functions
Another important factor is the number and variety of completed components. The UI of libraries should offer not only the typical components such as buttons and shapes, but also more composite items such as tables, modal windows, carousels, sliders, menus, etc. The bigger the library is in components, the faster it is to develop an interface. Material-UI, for example, has a very huge collection of components that can satisfy most needs of any project.
Community Documentation
Library the best selection is crucial and plays a very significant role in library selection – documentation. An extensively documented library significantly saves study time and is easier to adopt into the project. Since React development is technology-intensive and very dynamic, fresh documentation prevents arising issues. Watching out for activity in the community, availability of forums, presence of chat rooms, repositories where solution example sources are kept, should also be taken into consideration. Community libraries such as Ant Design and Chakra UI provide their users with access to a wide variety of solutions.
When to Select One Library, and When to Select More
Use of one library:
Having a single library throughout the project is suitable when task and interface requirements are standardized enough. In such a case, one library is able to address all the project’s needs and provide a common stylistic guidance, which is required for support simplicity and homogeneity. For example, when your project has to build simple corporate apps that have ordinary UI components, the best pick among Material-UI or Ant Design would be okay since both can provide the total solution for creating the interface and save your time
Several libraries’ usage:
But sometimes a project needs more diverse solutions. For example, if you have some UI requirements in different parts of the application, or you want to use special components, then it is wise to combine libraries. For example, you can use the Material-UI for common components and the Chakra UI to create highly adaptive custom widgets. This approach offers the versatility to combine the strengths of multiple libraries, mitigating their shortcomings and obtaining the optimal solution for each individual instance.
Best Cases in UI React Library Usage
Best Practices for Configuration and Integration
To make the integration of the library UI into the project as effective as possible, best practices must be observed. First, it is required to clearly set out the project’s requirements for the interface and on this basis to choose a library that best meets these requirements. When you’re integrating, mind adhering to the structure established in the library documentation in order to avoid potential conflicts with other dependencies and parts.
Proper works with themes and styles is one of the major aspects of the configuration. The majority of libraries, including Chakra UI, allow you to easily personalize the project theme based on your brand.
Performance Optimization
Optimization of the performance of the UI library is no less important. Even the most advanced libraries can become slow if their components are not effectively used. Over-rendering of components is one of the usual problems. In order to restrict it, optimization with React.memo and useMemo and “simple” library loading, for example, through code splitting, should be applied.
Also note to load only-only-essential dependencies (minimum set of dependencies) and don’t load unused components.
