Top TypeScript UI Libraries

Ant Design is a popular React UI library with a set of high-quality components and design resources for building elegant user interfaces.

Code Example

import { Button } from 'antd';

const MyComponent = () => (
  <Button type="primary">Click me</Button>
);

Pros

• Comprehensive component library with a wide range of pre-built, customizable UI elements
• Strong community support and regular updates, ensuring compatibility and new features
• Excellent documentation and examples, making it easy for developers to implement and customize

Cons

• Relatively large bundle size compared to some lightweight alternatives like Tailwind CSS
• Opinionated design system may require more effort to customize for unique brand identities
• Steeper learning curve for developers not familiar with React or component-based architecture

Storybook is an open-source tool for building UI components and pages in isolation, making it easier to develop, test, and document UI components.

Code Example

import { Button } from './Button';

export default {
  component: Button,
  title: 'Components/Button',
};

export const Primary = () => <Button primary>Button</Button>;

Pros

• Provides a sandbox environment for developing and testing UI components in isolation, unlike many other projects that focus on complete UI frameworks or specific component libraries.
• Offers extensive documentation and a large ecosystem of addons, making it more versatile than some specialized UI tools like Editor.js or Draw-a-UI.
• Supports multiple frontend frameworks (React, Vue, Angular, etc.), unlike framework-specific projects like Ant Design or Ionic.

Cons

• Requires additional setup and configuration compared to all-in-one UI frameworks like Ant Design or Vuetify.
• Focuses primarily on component development and documentation, lacking the full application structure provided by projects like Vue Vben Admin or Directus.
• May have a steeper learning curve for beginners compared to simpler UI libraries or design systems like Shadcn UI or Magic UI.

Ionic Framework is an open-source UI toolkit for building performant, high-quality mobile and desktop apps using web technologies (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript).

Code Example

<ion-content>
  <ion-button>Click Me</ion-button>
  <ion-list>
    <ion-item>Item 1</ion-item>
    <ion-item>Item 2</ion-item>
  </ion-list>
</ion-content>

Pros

• Offers a comprehensive set of pre-built UI components specifically designed for mobile and desktop applications.
• Provides excellent cross-platform compatibility, allowing developers to build apps for iOS, Android, and web from a single codebase.
• Integrates well with popular JavaScript frameworks like Angular, React, and Vue.

Cons

• May have a steeper learning curve compared to some other UI libraries due to its mobile-first approach and specific component structure.
• Performance can be slightly slower than native apps, especially for complex applications with heavy animations.
• While versatile, it may not offer as many specialized components as some domain-specific libraries (e.g., data visualization libraries like recharts).

Vuetify is a popular Material Design component framework for Vue.js applications.

Code Example

<template>
  <v-app>
    <v-btn color="primary">Click me</v-btn>
  </v-app>
</template>

Pros

• Offers a comprehensive set of pre-built Material Design components, making it easier to create polished Vue.js applications quickly.
• Provides excellent documentation and a large community, ensuring good support and resources for developers.
• Integrates seamlessly with Vue.js, offering a smooth development experience for Vue developers.

Cons

• Limited customization options compared to more flexible UI libraries like Tailwind CSS or styled-components.
• Larger bundle size compared to some lightweight alternatives, which may impact initial load times.
• Strictly follows Material Design guidelines, which may not be suitable for projects requiring a unique visual style.

Directus is an open-source headless CMS and API platform for managing and delivering content across various applications and platforms.

Pros

• Offers a flexible and customizable backend with a user-friendly admin interface, unlike many UI-focused projects in the list.
• Provides a comprehensive API for content management, which is not the primary focus of most UI libraries mentioned.
• Supports multiple database types and can be self-hosted, offering more control compared to some cloud-based solutions.

Cons

• Lacks built-in UI components for frontend development, unlike Ant Design, Vuetify, or Ionic Framework.
• May require more setup and configuration compared to all-in-one solutions like Vue Vben Admin or Flowbite.
• Has a steeper learning curve for developers who are primarily focused on frontend development, compared to pure UI libraries.

Code Example

const Directus = require('@directus/sdk');
const directus = new Directus('https://api.example.com');
await directus.auth.login({ email: 'admin@example.com', password: 'password' });
const articles = await directus.items('articles').readMany();