The 10 Best Alternatives to NextUI in 2025

In the ever-evolving landscape of web development, finding the right UI framework can be a daunting task. While NextUI has gained some traction, there are numerous other options that might better suit your specific needs.

This article explores ten alternatives to NextUI, each offering unique features and capabilities. Whether you're looking for more customization, better performance, or a different design philosophy, these alternatives provide a range of choices to consider.

What is NextUI?

HeroUI, previously known as NextUI, is a React UI library that offers a collection of components for building accessible and customizable web applications. It is designed to be fast and modern, leveraging Tailwind CSS to ensure no runtime styles and efficient performance.

HeroUI features automatic dark mode recognition, exceptional accessibility support through React Aria, and a fully-typed API for type-safe applications. It also includes unique developer experience enhancements like managed focus and keyboard navigation.

What to Consider When Selecting a NextUI Alternative?

1. Customization: The ability to easily style and theme components to match your brand is crucial. Look for libraries that offer extensive customization options, such as semantic tokens and customizable typography.
2. Accessibility: Ensuring that components are accessible to all users is essential. Choose libraries that adhere to WCAG standards and provide comprehensive accessibility features, including keyboard navigation and screen reader support.
3. Performance: Fast performance with minimal overhead is important for a smooth user experience. Opt for libraries that are optimized for render performance and have no runtime styles.
4. Integration: Compatibility with existing tools and frameworks can save time and effort. Select libraries that integrate seamlessly with popular frameworks like React, Vue, and design tools like Figma.
5. Developer Experience: A fully-typed API and comprehensive documentation can significantly improve the developer experience. Look for libraries that offer TypeScript support, detailed guides, and interactive examples.

Best Alternatives to NextUI in 2025

1) Subframe

Subframe is a code-first design tool for building user interfaces quickly and efficiently. It features beautifully crafted components, a drag-and-drop visual editor, and generates pixel-perfect React + Tailwind code. With real-time collaboration and responsive design capabilities, Subframe bridges the gap between design and development, making it an essential tool for modern UI projects.

Pros of Using Subframe

Subframe offers a range of features that make it a standout choice for UI development.

• Design with real components: Use a visual UI editor that allows both designers and developers to drag-and-drop on an intuitive, responsive canvas, ensuring pixel-perfect UI every time.
• Stunning UI templates: Access a collection of templates inspired by world-class products, hand-crafted by designers, and built with reusable components, so you never have to start from scratch.
• High-quality code: 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.
• Start building UI visually for free: Begin your UI projects without any upfront costs or credit card requirements, making it easy to get started.
• Real-time collaboration: Work seamlessly with your team in real-time, enhancing productivity and ensuring everyone is on the same page.

These are just a few of Subframe's many features. Check them out here to learn more.

Who Should Use Subframe?

Subframe targets a diverse range of users, including founders, designers, developers, freelancers, and non-technical team members. It is particularly beneficial for growing teams, agencies, and large companies that need to ship quality UI quickly and efficiently.

Subframe Pricing

Subframe offers three pricing options:

• Free Plan: $0 per user/month
• Pro Plan: $29 per user/month
• Custom Plan: Pricing is not public; please contact support for a quote

Subframe Reviews

Subframe has received a stellar rating of 5 out of 5 stars on Product Hunt. Users are raving about its ease of use, especially for non-designers, and the high quality of the generated code. Dakota mentions, "I love how easy this is to get started, especially with templates." Dominic Whyte adds, "Having used both, I could not recommend Subframe more highly. It's way faster to build interfaces in Subframe and the quality of the generated Tailwind is much higher." Overall, users find Subframe incredibly useful for quickly turning ideas into production-ready UI without the need for extensive CSS knowledge.

2) Headless UI

Headless UI offers a collection of unstyled and fully accessible UI components that are designed to work seamlessly with Tailwind CSS. The components are available for React and Vue frameworks, providing flexibility and ease of integration for developers.

Pros of Using Headless UI

• Completely unstyled components: Headless UI provides components without any pre-defined styles, giving developers the freedom to apply their own custom styles.
• Fully accessible by default: Each component is designed to meet accessibility standards out of the box, ensuring that your application is usable by everyone, including those with disabilities.
• Seamless integration with Tailwind CSS: The components are built to work perfectly with Tailwind CSS, making it easier for developers who are already using this popular utility-first CSS framework.

Cons of Using Headless UI

• Steep Learning Curve: Headless UI provides unstyled components, which means developers need to have a good understanding of CSS and Tailwind CSS to style the components effectively. This can be challenging for beginners or those not familiar with Tailwind CSS.
• Lack of Pre-built Styles: Since Headless UI components come without any pre-defined styles, developers must invest additional time and effort to style each component from scratch. This can slow down the development process, especially for projects with tight deadlines.

Headless UI Pricing

Headless UI's pricing is not public. Contact their support for more info.

Headless UI Reviews

Headless UI has no reviews available on Product Hunt, resulting in no number score out of 5. Users have not provided any opinions or comments about the company, leaving no common themes or issues to report.

3) Tetrisly

Tetrisly is a design system that offers user-friendly components designed for effortless integration, fully compatible with Tetrisly for Figma, providing a seamless design and development experience.

Pros of Using Tetrisly

• Seamless Integration with Figma: Tetrisly allows for effortless synchronization between design and development by converting Figma Variables into React-ready code, ensuring a consistent and streamlined workflow.
• Comprehensive TypeScript Support: Enhanced type safety, autocompletion, and IDE support make development more efficient and reduce the likelihood of errors, providing a smoother coding experience.
• Ready-to-use Components: Pre-packaged UI elements enable quick project initiation without the need for extensive design input, saving time and accelerating the development process.

Cons of Using Tetrisly

• Steep Learning Curve: The need for extensive documentation and FAQs suggests that users might face challenges in understanding or using the system effectively, which can be time-consuming and frustrating for beginners.
• Limited Out-of-the-Box Functionality: The emphasis on customization and the requirement for a Figma plugin to export variables indicate that the system might not offer sufficient functionality without additional setup, potentially slowing down the development process.

Tetrisly Pricing

• Business Plan: $99 per user/month
• Enterprise Plan: $199 per user/month
• Custom Plan: Pricing is not public; please contact support for a quote

Tetrisly Reviews

Tetrisly has a rating of 5 out of 5 stars on Product Hunt. Users generally mention the need for extensive documentation and FAQs, indicating potential challenges in understanding or using the system effectively.

4) Blueprint

Blueprint is a React-based UI toolkit designed for web development, offering a collection of UI components and tools to help developers create consistent and visually appealing user interfaces.

Pros of Using Blueprint

• Comprehensive Component Library: Blueprint offers a wide range of pre-built, high-quality components that are designed to be both visually appealing and highly functional, making it easier for developers to create consistent and polished user interfaces.
• Advanced Theming Capabilities: With Blueprint, you can easily customize the look and feel of your application through its robust theming system, allowing for extensive customization to match your brand's identity.
• Detailed Documentation and Examples: Blueprint provides thorough documentation and a plethora of examples, which significantly reduces the learning curve and helps developers quickly understand how to implement and utilize its components effectively.

Cons of Using Blueprint

• Steep Learning Curve: Blueprint's extensive component library and advanced theming capabilities can be overwhelming for beginners, requiring significant time and effort to master.
• Limited Customization Options: While Blueprint offers advanced theming, it may not provide the level of granular customization that some developers need, potentially limiting its flexibility for highly specialized projects.

Blueprint Pricing

Blueprint's pricing is not public. Contact their support for more info.

Blueprint Reviews

Blueprint has no reviews available on Product Hunt, resulting in no number score out of 5. Users have not provided any opinions or comments about the company, leaving no common themes or issues to report.

5) Ark UI

Ark UI is a headless UI library offering over 45 customizable and accessible components designed to build reusable, scalable design systems compatible with various JavaScript frameworks like React, Solid, Vue, and Svelte.

Pros of Using Ark UI

• Zero-Styling Freedom: Allows developers to start with a blank canvas for each component, giving them complete control over the design and styling.
• Truly Composable: Components are designed to be modular, enabling developers to build complex UIs effortlessly by combining different components.
• State Machine Powered: Utilizes state machines to ensure predictable behavior and reduce bugs, making component interactions more reliable.

Cons of Using Ark UI

• Steep Learning Curve: Ark UI's zero-styling freedom and state machine-powered components require a deep understanding of CSS and state management, which can be challenging for beginners or those not familiar with these concepts.
• Limited Framework Support: While Ark UI supports React, Solid, and Vue, the lack of immediate Svelte compatibility can be a significant drawback for developers who rely on Svelte for their projects.

Ark UI Pricing

• Personal Package: $249
• Discounted Personal Package: $199
• Team Package: $649
• Discounted Team Package: $599

Ark UI Reviews

Ark UI has a rating of 3 out of 5 stars on Product Hunt. Users generally mention the need for better documentation and support, indicating potential challenges in understanding or using the system effectively.

6) Park UI

Park UI is a UI component framework designed to help users build their own design systems with beautifully crafted components that work seamlessly with JavaScript frameworks like React, Vue, and Solid.

Pros of Using Park UI

• Framework Compatibility: Park UI supports React, Solid, and Vue, making it versatile for different development environments.
• Real-time Collaboration: The document sharing feature allows team members to collaborate in real-time, with options to set access levels (Read, Write).
• Integration with Panda CSS: Utilizes Panda CSS for styling, providing a modern and efficient approach to CSS management.

Cons of Using Park UI

• Steep Learning Curve: Park UI's extensive customization options and technical setup can be overwhelming for beginners or non-developers, requiring significant time and effort to master.
• Limited Pre-built Styles: The framework's reliance on Panda CSS for styling means that developers must invest additional time to style components from scratch, which can slow down the development process.

Park UI Pricing

• Starter Plan: $19/month

Park UI Reviews

Park UI has a rating of 2 out of 5 stars on Product Hunt. Users generally mention the need for better documentation and support, indicating potential challenges in understanding or using the system effectively.

7) Ariakit

Ariakit is an open-source library designed for building accessible web applications using React. It offers unstyled, primitive components along with styled examples, making it easier for developers to integrate accessibility into their projects.

Pros of Using Ariakit

• Unstyled and Primitive Components: Ariakit provides unstyled, primitive components that give developers the flexibility to apply their own custom styles, ensuring a unique and tailored user interface.
• Accessibility by Design: Each component is built with accessibility in mind, making it easier to create web applications that are usable by everyone, including those with disabilities.
• Styled Examples for Easy Integration: Ariakit offers a collection of styled examples that can be easily integrated into projects, helping developers quickly implement accessible components without starting from scratch.

Cons of Using Ariakit

• Steep Learning Curve: Ariakit's unstyled, primitive components require developers to have a strong understanding of CSS and accessibility principles, which can be challenging for beginners or those not familiar with these concepts.
• Limited Pre-built Styles: The lack of pre-defined styles means developers must invest additional time and effort to style each component from scratch, potentially slowing down the development process.

Ariakit Pricing

• Promotional Price: $214 (original price $237, save 10%)
• Purchase Type: One-time purchase
• Access: Lifetime access with free updates

Ariakit Reviews

Ariakit has a rating of 2 out of 5 stars on Product Hunt. Users generally mention the need for better documentation and support, indicating potential challenges in understanding or using the system effectively.

8) Fluent UI

Fluent UI is a set of customizable, performant, and accessible React-based UI components designed to align with the Fluent Design Language through Design Tokens, ensuring smaller bundle sizes and faster performance.

Pros of Using Fluent UI

• Lightweight Components: These components are designed to be lightweight, resulting in a smaller bundle size and faster performance, which is particularly beneficial for applications that need to load quickly and efficiently.
• New Tokens System: This system ensures frictionless cohesion across different OS themes, making it easier to maintain a consistent look and feel across various platforms.
• New Assets: These assets are specifically designed to enhance the user experience in Teams add-ins and M365 experiences, providing a more integrated and polished look.

Cons of Using Fluent UI

• Inconsistent User Interfaces: Multiple users pointed out that Microsoft's design systems, including Fluent UI, often result in inconsistent user interfaces across different applications and even within the same application.
• Performance Issues: Fluent UI's performance, especially with features like acrylic and mica, is criticized for being poor, particularly over Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).

Fluent UI Pricing

• Business Plan: $99 per user/month
• Enterprise Plan: $199 per user/month
• Custom Plan: Pricing is not public; please contact support for a quote

Fluent UI Reviews

Fluent UI has a rating of 2 out of 5 stars on Hacker News. Users generally express skepticism and criticism towards Microsoft's design efforts, citing inconsistent design and poor implementation.

9) Carbon Design

Carbon Design is IBM’s open-source design system that offers a comprehensive suite of tools and resources for designing and developing digital products, ensuring consistency and efficiency through reusable components, design kits, and guidelines.

Pros of Using Carbon Design

• IBM Design Language Foundation: Built on the robust and well-established IBM Design Language, ensuring a cohesive and professional design aesthetic across all components.
• Multi-Framework Compatibility: Provides a wide range of components that are compatible with various frameworks like React, Angular, Vue, and Svelte, offering flexibility for different development environments.
• Focus on Accessibility: Emphasizes accessibility in its guidelines and components, ensuring that digital products are usable by everyone, including those with disabilities.

Cons of Using Carbon Design

• Complex Documentation: The documentation for Carbon Design is intricate and challenging to navigate, making it difficult for developers to find the information they need quickly and efficiently.
• Theming Difficulties: Beyond basic color theming, making more extensive customizations is cumbersome and often brittle, with many components lacking theme variables, complicating the process further.

Carbon Design Pricing

Carbon Design's pricing is not public. Contact their support for more info.

Carbon Design Reviews

Carbon Design has a rating of 2 out of 5 stars on Open edX Community Wiki. Users generally mention the system's complexity, difficult documentation, and theming challenges, indicating it may not be the best choice for teams looking to move quickly.

10) ChakraUI

Chakra UI is a component library designed to help developers build web applications quickly and efficiently. It includes accessible React components and works seamlessly with frameworks like Next.js.

Pros of Using ChakraUI

• Built-in Dark Mode Support: Dark mode support is built-in and looks amazing.
• Focus on Accessibility: Great care for accessibility is a guiding principle of the design system.
• Subtle Animations: Includes subtle animations that enhance the user experience.

Cons of Using ChakraUI

• Limited Customization Options: While Chakra UI offers a range of components, some users find that it lacks the depth of customization needed for more complex or unique design requirements, which can be a limitation for projects that demand a high level of design specificity.
• Performance Issues: Some users have reported that Chakra UI can introduce performance bottlenecks, particularly in larger applications, which can affect the overall speed and responsiveness of the user interface.

ChakraUI Pricing

• Personal Plan: $299 (discounted from $349)
• Team Plan: $899 (discounted from $999)

ChakraUI Reviews

Chakra UI has a rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars on Product Hunt. Users generally mention the need for better documentation and support, indicating potential challenges in understanding or using the system effectively.

Which One Should You Go With?

Choosing the right UI framework ultimately depends on your specific needs and preferences. Each of the alternatives to NextUI offers unique features and capabilities that can cater to different aspects of web development. Whether you prioritize customization, accessibility, or performance, there's a suitable option for you.

If you're looking for a versatile and efficient tool, we recommend Subframe. Its code-first design approach, real-time collaboration, and high-quality code generation make it an excellent choice for modern UI projects. However, any of the alternatives mentioned can be a great fit depending on your requirements.