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Headless UI vs Radix: Which One is Better in 2025?

Choosing between Headless UI and Radix? Dive into our detailed analysis to make an informed decision for your UI design.

In the rapidly evolving world of web development, choosing the right UI component library can make or break your project. This article delves into a detailed comparison between Headless UI and Radix, examining their features, pricing, and limitations.

Whether you're a seasoned developer or just starting out, understanding the nuances of these two popular libraries will help you make an informed decision. Let's explore what each has to offer.

Overview of Headless UI and Radix

What is Headless UI?

Headless UI

Headless UI provides completely unstyled, fully accessible UI components that are designed to integrate seamlessly with Tailwind CSS. It offers a variety of components for both React and Vue, allowing developers to build custom-styled interfaces.

Key features include unstyled components for full customization and a strong emphasis on accessibility. The library supports multiple frameworks and includes a wide range of UI elements such as menus, dialogs, and form controls.

What is Radix?

Radix

Radix UI is an open-source component library designed for fast development, easy maintenance, and accessibility. It allows developers to import and use components with minimal configuration.

Key features include a variety of UI components, comprehensive documentation, and a playground for testing. Radix UI also emphasizes accessibility, ensuring that all components are usable by everyone.

Features of Headless UI & Radix

Similarities

Both Headless UI and Radix offer a range of features that cater to modern web development needs.

  • Accessibility: Both libraries prioritize accessibility, ensuring their components are usable by everyone.
  • Component Variety: Each offers a wide array of UI components, from buttons and dialogs to more complex elements like dropdown menus and tabs.
  • Customization: Headless UI provides unstyled components for full customization, while Radix allows for theme-based customization.
  • Framework Support: Headless UI supports both React and Vue, whereas Radix focuses on React but offers extensive documentation and examples.
  • Documentation: Both libraries provide comprehensive documentation to help developers integrate and customize components effectively.

Differences

When comparing Headless UI and Radix, several key differences in their features stand out.

  • Styling Approach: Headless UI offers unstyled components for full customization, while Radix provides pre-styled components that can be themed.
  • Framework Support: Headless UI supports both React and Vue, whereas Radix is exclusively designed for React.
  • Team Management: Radix includes features for managing team members and notifications, which are not available in Headless UI.
  • Pricing Plans: Radix offers tiered pricing plans with different levels of features, while Headless UI does not have a pricing structure.
  • Financial and Activity Tracking: Radix provides tools for financial performance tracking and recent activity logs, features absent in Headless UI.

Pricing of Headless UI & Radix

Headless UI Pricing

Headless UI offers a range of unstyled, fully accessible UI components designed to integrate seamlessly with Tailwind CSS. However, specific pricing details are not readily available on their website.

  • Headless UI does not list explicit pricing plans on their website.
  • For detailed pricing information, you will need to contact the company's support team.

Radix Pricing

Radix offers a variety of pricing plans designed to cater to different needs and team sizes.

  • Basic: $0 / mo
    • 3 team members
    • Expense tracking
    • Invoicing
    • Payment tracking
    • Transaction recording
    • Basic reports
    • Email support
  • Growth: $49 / mo
    • 10 team members
    • Online payments
    • Recurring invoices
    • Bill management
    • Inventory tracking
    • Detailed reports
    • Phone support
  • Pro: $99 / mo
    • Unlimited team members
    • Custom invoices
    • Multi-business
    • Team collaboration
    • App integrations
    • Advanced security
    • Priority support

Reviews of Headless UI & Radix

Headless UI Reviews

Currently, there are no user reviews available for Headless UI on Product Hunt. As a result, there is no overall rating or specific feedback regarding what users found frustrating or helpful.

Radix Reviews

Overall, users have given Radix a rating of 5 out of 5. While they appreciate its ease of use and great documentation, some users have found certain aspects frustrating, such as the lack of exposed underlying React Contexts for easier modification.

"Would love for them to expose the underlying React Contexts of their components for easier modification." - Wouter Raateland, 5/5

"No customization needed. Would love for them to expose the underlying React Contexts of their components for easier modification." - Moritz Tomasi, 5/5

Subframe, a Better Alternative to Headless UI and Radix

Subframe

Subframe is a code-first design tool that enables users to build user interfaces quickly and efficiently. With features like a drag-and-drop visual editor, real-time collaboration, and pixel-perfect React + Tailwind code generation, Subframe bridges the gap between design and development, making it a favorite among designers and developers alike.

Pros of Subframe

Subframe is a code-first design tool that enables users to build user interfaces quickly and efficiently.

  • Design with real components: Subframe offers a visual UI editor that allows designers and developers to drag-and-drop on an intuitive, responsive canvas, ensuring pixel-perfect UI every time.
  • Stunning UI templates: With templates inspired by world-class products and hand-crafted by designers, Subframe ensures you never start from scratch again.
  • High-quality code generation: Skip the handoff process by copying and pasting front-end code directly into your codebase, allowing you to focus more on building and less on pixel-pushing CSS.
  • Real-time collaboration: Subframe supports real-time collaboration, making it easier for teams to work together seamlessly on UI projects.
  • Free to start: Begin building UI visually without the need for a credit card, making it accessible for everyone to try.

Subframe's Pricing

At Subframe, we offer flexible pricing options to suit your needs:

  • Free: $0 per user/month
    • 1 project
    • Up to 3 page designs
    • Up to 3 team members
    • 200+ UI templates & snippets
  • Pro: $29 per user/month
    • Up to 3 projects
    • Unlimited page designs
    • Unlimited team members
    • Custom components
    • 200+ UI templates & snippets
  • Custom: "Let's talk"
    • Unlimited projects
    • Unlimited page designs
    • Custom fonts
    • Integrate your own components
    • Dedicated Slack support
    • Figma plugin

For more details, 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, time-saving capabilities, and high-quality output. Here are some of the sentiments shared by our customers:

  • "I love how easy this is to get started, especially with templates." - Dakota
  • "Turning ideas into code is one of the most critical tasks I've ever had. Subframe is super useful and user-friendly." - Germán Merlo
  • "Now this I like. Congratulations. Finally something that's not just a mockup." - Aris Nakos

Why Choose Headless UI, Radix or Subframe?

If you are a developer who values full customization and prefers to style your components using Tailwind CSS, Headless UI is the ideal choice for you. It is perfect for those who prioritize accessibility and want unstyled components to create a unique design.

On the other hand, if you are looking for an open-source component library that offers pre-styled components and requires minimal configuration, Radix is the way to go. It is especially suited for teams that need fast development and easy maintenance with a strong focus on accessibility.

As part of Subframe, we believe that if you want a tool that bridges the gap between design and development, Subframe is your best bet. It is perfect for designers and developers who need a drag-and-drop visual editor, real-time collaboration, and high-quality code generation to build user interfaces quickly and efficiently.

Headless UI, Radix, or Subframe: Which is The Best Tool For You?

Choosing between Headless UI, Radix, and Subframe ultimately depends on your specific needs and preferences. Each tool offers unique advantages, whether it's the full customization of Headless UI, the pre-styled components of Radix, or the seamless design-to-code workflow of Subframe.

However, if you're looking for a tool that bridges the gap between design and development with features like a drag-and-drop visual editor, real-time collaboration, and high-quality code generation, we recommend giving Subframe a try. With its user-friendly interface and robust capabilities, Subframe is designed to make building user interfaces both quick and efficient.

Join thousands of happy builders.

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