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Fluent UI vs Ant Design: Which One is Better in 2025?

Choosing between Fluent UI and Ant Design? Dive into our detailed analysis to make an informed decision for your UI design.

When it comes to choosing a UI framework, developers often find themselves torn between Fluent UI and Ant Design. Both offer robust features and a range of customization options, but which one is the right fit for your project?

This article delves into a detailed comparison of Fluent UI and Ant Design, examining their features, pricing, and limitations. By the end, you'll have a clearer understanding of which framework aligns best with your development needs.

Overview of Fluent UI and Ant Design

What is Fluent UI?

Fluent UI

Fluent UI React Components is a set of UI components and utilities designed to unify various React-based component libraries, specifically `@fluentui/react` and `@fluentui/react-northstar`. These components are customizable, performant, optimized for bundle size, accessible, and aligned with the Fluent Design Language.

Key features include easy customization to integrate your own brand and theme, optimized render performance, and compliance with WCAG 2.1 accessibility standards. Additionally, the components are designed to be lightweight, allowing developers to include only the necessary packages and dependencies.

What is Ant Design?

Ant Design

Ant Design is a React UI framework that helps designers and developers build functional products. It provides a comprehensive set of components and tools to create user interfaces efficiently.

Main features include CSS-in-JS technology for dynamic and mixed theme capabilities, and flexible theme customization options. The framework also offers rich, customizable components and supports multiple platforms, including React, Angular, and Vue.

Features of Fluent UI & Ant Design

Similarities

Exploring the similarities between Fluent UI and Ant Design reveals several key features that both frameworks share.

  • Component Libraries: Both frameworks offer extensive component libraries designed to meet diverse needs, including elements like modals, date pickers, and alerts.
  • Customization: They provide flexible theme customization options, allowing developers to easily integrate their own brand and design preferences.
  • Performance Optimization: Both frameworks emphasize performance, with Fluent UI focusing on lightweight components and Ant Design utilizing CSS-in-JS technology.
  • Design Guidelines: Each framework adheres to comprehensive design guidelines to ensure consistency and usability across applications.
  • Accessibility: Fluent UI and Ant Design both prioritize accessibility, with Fluent UI explicitly complying with WCAG 2.1 standards and Ant Design focusing on performance improvements that can enhance accessibility.

Differences

Here are the biggest differences in features between Fluent UI and Ant Design:

  • Theme Customization: Fluent UI offers a Theme Designer tool for customizing themes, while Ant Design uses CSS-in-JS technology for dynamic and mixed theme capabilities.
  • Component Integration: Fluent UI components are optimized for smaller bundle sizes and faster performance, whereas Ant Design supports integration with multiple frameworks, including React, Angular, and Vue.
  • Accessibility: Fluent UI explicitly complies with WCAG 2.1 standards and includes dedicated accessibility configurations, while Ant Design generally follows best practices without specific compliance details.
  • Design Tokens: Fluent UI stays up to date with Fluent Design Language changes via Design Tokens, a feature not highlighted in Ant Design.
  • Sub-Projects: Ant Design offers various sub-projects like Ant Design Mobile and AntV for data visualization, which are not part of Fluent UI's offerings.

Pricing of Fluent UI & Ant Design

Fluent UI Pricing

Fluent UI offers a range of features and tools, but specific pricing details are not readily available on their website.

  • For detailed pricing information, you will need to contact the company's support team directly.

Ant Design Pricing

Ant Design offers a comprehensive set of tools and components, but specific pricing details are not readily available on their website.

  • For detailed pricing information, you will need to contact the company's support team directly.

Reviews of Fluent UI & Ant Design

Fluent UI Reviews

Overall, users have given Fluent UI a mixed rating of 3 out of 5. While some appreciate the effort to unify Microsoft's design, others find the performance and consistency issues frustrating.

"The lack of a Chief Design Officer at Microsoft is evident in the fragmented design efforts." - andrewmcwatters, 2/5

"Microsoft's handling of stylus input and the overall user experience on Windows 11 is disappointing." - WillAdams, 3/5

Ant Design Reviews

Overall, users have given Ant Design a mixed rating of 3 out of 5. While some appreciate its comprehensive component library, others find performance issues and difficulties in customization frustrating.

"Using Ant Design brought this page to a standstill - massive performance issues, we’re talking >1 second between frames." - danielvaughn, 2/5

"It frustrated me that troubleshooting with specific code snippets would often bring me to Chinese-only Github issues / etc." - gradyfps, 3/5

Subframe, a Better Alternative to Fluent UI and Ant Design

Subframe

Subframe is a code-first design tool that allows users to build user interfaces quickly using a drag-and-drop visual editor. It generates pixel-perfect React and Tailwind CSS code, making it a favorite among designers and developers.

Pros of Subframe

Subframe stands out as a unique design tool that bridges the gap between designers and developers, offering a seamless experience for building user interfaces.

  • Design with real components: Subframe's visual UI editor allows users to drag-and-drop on an intuitive, responsive canvas, ensuring pixel-perfect UI every time.
  • Stunning UI templates: Inspired by world-class products and hand-crafted by designers, Subframe offers reusable components so you never have to start from scratch.
  • Skip handoff: With Subframe, you can copy and paste front-end code directly into your codebase, allowing you to focus more on building and less on pixel-pushing CSS.
  • High-quality code: Subframe generates pixel-perfect React and Tailwind CSS code, making it easy to integrate into your projects.
  • Start for free: You can begin building UI visually without needing a credit card, making it accessible for everyone to try.

Subframe's Pricing

Subframe offers three distinct pricing plans to cater to different needs:

  • Free: $0 per user/month - Includes 1 project, up to 3 page designs, up to 3 team members, and access to 200+ UI templates & snippets.
  • Pro: $29 per user/month - Includes up to 3 projects, unlimited page designs, unlimited team members, custom components, and access to 200+ UI templates & snippets.
  • Custom: Let's talk - Includes unlimited projects, unlimited page designs, custom fonts, integration of your own components, dedicated Slack support, and a Figma plugin.

For more information, visit our pricing page. Ready to see Subframe in action? Book a demo with us today!

What Are Others Saying?

Users have given Subframe an overall rating of 5 out of 5. They appreciate its ease of use, especially with templates, and its ability to quickly turn ideas into production-ready UI.

  • "Subframe saved us a lot of time by letting me ship frontend code and control the product experience." - Alex Lee
  • "Subframe is like chipotle. Even if you have no taste (me) you can put things together and it still comes out pretty good." - Andrew Wang
  • "Subframe was a game changer for us. We went from design/UI being our Achilles' heel to it becoming one of the strengths of our product." - Fawad Khaliq

Why Choose Fluent UI, Ant Design or Subframe?

If you prioritize customizability, performance, and accessibility, Fluent UI might be the right choice for you. It's particularly suited for developers and designers working on projects that integrate with Microsoft Teams and M365 experiences.

On the other hand, if you need a framework with flexible theme customization and a wide range of practical components, Ant Design could be your go-to. It's ideal for designers and developers looking to quickly build web applications with robust support for multiple frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue.

However, if you're looking for a tool that bridges the gap between design and development, Subframe offers a unique advantage. With its drag-and-drop visual editor and pixel-perfect React and Tailwind CSS code generation, it's perfect for teams that want to build UI quickly and efficiently without compromising on quality.

Fluent UI, Ant Design, or Subframe: Which is The Best Tool For You?

Choosing between Fluent UI, Ant Design, and Subframe ultimately depends on your specific needs and project requirements. Each framework offers unique advantages, from Fluent UI's seamless integration with Microsoft products to Ant Design's extensive component library and multi-framework support.

However, if you're looking for a tool that bridges the gap between design and development, Subframe stands out. With its intuitive drag-and-drop visual editor and pixel-perfect React and Tailwind CSS code generation, Subframe makes it easier than ever to build high-quality user interfaces quickly and efficiently. We recommend giving Subframe a try to experience its unique benefits firsthand.

Join thousands of happy builders.

Subframe lets you build stunning UI with beautifully crafted components and a drag-and-drop visual editor.