There has been another year full of new things in the React UI library world. If you have been watching the scene, you know that 2025 brought some notable changes. Shadcn UI got even higher in the rankings. NextUI rebranded to HeroUI. At the same time, big libraries like MUI and Ant Design kept putting out updates to stay ahead.
Looking back at my 2025 roundup, I see that the main names are still doing well. A few new ones have also made their mark. Accessibility has shifted from a good-to-have to an absolute must-have.
Whether you are starting a new project or making changes to your stack, picking the right UI library for 2026 is about what fits best with how you work. Let us look at what is popular, what has worked well, and what you should keep in mind this year. 🚀
📄 Quick Note: React PDF for Document Viewing
Before we start talking about the best UI libraries, a quick mention of React PDF.
If you need to view PDF documents in your React app, this tool makes it easy. You can just add the React PDF Viewer component, link your PDF, and that's it. It works well on different screen sizes, you can change its style, and it is a good fit with Next.js.
When you are looking at ui libraries, React PDF is one you should not miss.
Alright, let's talk about the libraries you came here for. 😊
Leading React.js UI Libraries in 2026
Each library you see here stands out with its own style and benefits. These five libraries are at the top in the React ecosystem this year. They are ranked based on weekly npm downloads and GitHub stars.
1. Material-UI (MUI) and Its Continued Dominance
This will not be news for many people. Material-UI, or MUI for short, is still the top choice when it comes to React UI libraries. There are many good reasons for this. It is built around Google’s Material Design principles. MUI gives you clean, good-looking components you can use right away. Each part is ready to go and looks good out of the box.
What keeps MUI at the top:
Easy Customization: You can change things like themes, colors, and text styles in MUI with little effort. It does not matter if you want a classic feel like Material Design or you have a new look in mind. MUI lets you do both without trouble.
Massive component selection: Buttons, modals, tables, navbars. If you need it, MUI almost certainly has it. Think of it as the all-in-one toolkit for UI development.
Great community and resources: You get excellent documentation with multiple tutorials, and an engaged community of developers ready to help.
MUI X for harder jobs: When you are using complex data grids, advanced date pickers, or charts, MUI X has what you want. It delivers enterprise-level components for demanding use cases.
Who is it for:
Developers who want a mature UI framework that is scalable and usable for any size of project.
Teams looking for production-ready components that work out of the box and customization options to change them how they like.
As of January 2026, MUI is still at the top. It now has more than 97,000 GitHub stars, and there are over 4.5 million downloads every week. 📈
Learn more on https://mui.com/
2. Shadcn UI: The Year's Biggest Story
Building on its 2025 success, shadcn/ui is now a top name in the ecosystem. This library has completely reshaped how developers approach component libraries, and the stats back it up.
What makes shadcn/ui so compelling:
Your Code, Your Control: shadcn/ui is not like other libraries. Here, you copy and paste what you need, right into your own code. The components sit in your project, so you have full control. There are no hidden extra pieces to keep track of, and you do not need to wait for someone else to fix things.
Standing on Shoulders: It pairs Tailwind CSS for design and Radix UI for accessibility. These two tools work together really well.
Polished by Default: The components look sharp, feel modern, and they production-ready. Since everything is in your code, you can change whatever you want, anytime.
Speedy CLI: Adding components to your project is very quick when you use the shadcn CLI. Just run
npx shadcn@latest add buttonand it will be there for you to use.
Who is it for:
Developers who complete ownership of their UI code but want to skip the tedious groundwork.
Teams that build custom design systems and need building blocks that are easy to use and built well.
Tailwind CSS users who want good-looking, ready-made components that slot right in.
As of January 2026, shadcn/ui is one of the fastest-growing projects on GitHub. The project is about to reach 104,000 or more stars on GitHub. People also download it more than 560,000 times on npm each week.
Learn more on https://ui.shadcn.com/
3. Ant Design: A Versatile and Feature-Rich UI Library
Ant Design is more than just for enterprise apps. It is a robust and easy-to-use UI library. You can use it for all types of projects, small or large. It started at Alibaba. and evolved to one of the most used React UI frameworks thanks to its vast components collection, clean looks, and adaptability.
What sets Ant Design apart:
Extensive component collection: There are a lot of ready-made components you can use for almost any situation. You will see things like date pickers, data tables, and more.
Flexible theming: It comes with its own look, but you can change the design fast because of the simple token-based theming.
Global-ready: It works with many languages from the start. This makes it work well for applications with international audience.
Enterprise-proven: People have used it for the massive scale at Alibaba. So you know it will work under the tough needs of the real world demands.
Who is it for:
Developers who create enterprise-level apps that need to be scalable with polished interfaces.
Teams who want a well-made UI framework with clear documentation on how to use it and strong community support.
Anyone looking for a comphrehensive and solid design system and does not want to start from zero.
As of January 2026, Ant Design keeps doing well. It has a lot of support on GitHub, with over 97,000+ stars. People like to use it, and there are more than 1.7 million weekly downloads.
Learn more on https://ant.design/
4. Chakra UI: Accessibility and Usability First
If Chakra UI is not in your toolkit yet, this could be a good time to try it out. Chakra UI is known for its easy-to-use API and focus on accessibility. With Chakra UI, you can build modern and inclusive React applications without much trouble.
What developers appreciate about Chakra UI:
Accessibility from the start: Every component ships ready for screen readers and keyboard accessibility. You do not need to do anything extra.
Intuitive styling system: Chakra UI lets you style things easily with its prop-based setup, without having to write complex CSS.
Scales with your needs: You can use Chakra UI for quick prototypes or full-scale production apps. It works well for any project you are building.
Developer-friendly experience: The API is simple, so you read less and build more, shipping features out fast.
Who is it for:
Developers who want modern, easy-to-use, and clear UI components that let them work without much trouble.
Teams who need a design system that can grow smoothlly across different projects.
As of January 2026, Chakra UI has over 40,000 GitHub stars. It also gets more than 700,000 downloads every week. This shows that Chakra UI is still strong and people continue to use it a lot.
Learn more on https://chakra-ui.com/
5. HeroUI: Beautiful, Fast, and Modern
HeroUI, previously known as NextUI, rebranded in January 2025. The team changed the name because they started doing more than just working with Next.js. The library is growing fast now. A lot of people like it because it looks good, works well, and was built for contemporary development workflows.
What makes HeroUI special:
Tailwind at Its Core: HeroUI is built fully with Tailwind CSS. This means you can add it to any new project with ease. If you use Tailwind CSS in your setup, HeroUI will feel right at home.
Accessibility Included: HeroUI uses React Aria behind the scenes. So, every part follows the right accessibility rules for you.
Gorgeous Defaults: The pieces are good-looking from the start. You get smooth animations, dark mode support, and a design language that looks high-end.
Works Everywhere: While HeroUI links back to NextUI, it also works with Vite, Remix, Astro, or any React build.
Who is it for:
Developers who want easy-to-use and good-looking components that do not need a lot of styling work.
Teams that use Tailwind CSS and want a component library that fits well with how they work.
Anyone building modern web applications who wants their sites to look nice and accessible.
As of January 2026, HeroUI has got more than 27,000 stars on GitHub. It also gets over 120,000 downloads on npm each week. The growth is strong, and it does not look like it will slow down soon, with plans new components and support for Tailwind CSS v4.
Learn more on https://heroui.com/
(Bonus) Headless UI: Tailwind's Perfect Partner
Headless UI works in a different approach. It gives you accessible components that have no built-in styles, so you can make them look how you want. Built by Tailwind Labs, Headless UI support both React and Vue projects. This makes it a good choice if you want accessible components, not just for React, but for other projects.
What draws developers to Headless UI:
Zero Styling Opinions: You get all the features you want, like menus, dialogs, listboxes, and tabs. It comes with no fixed style, so you can design it any way you like.
Made for Tailwind: Coming straight from Tailwind Labs, it is built from the ground up to fit right with Tailwind CSS utility classes.
Bulletproof Accessibility: Each part uses WAI-ARIA best practices right away. It has keyboard navigation, focus control, and works well with screen readers. All these are built in.
Lean and Purposeful: Headless UI does not try to do everything. It focuses only on those hard, interactive components that are tough to make accessible yourself.
Who is it for:
The developers who want full styling control but need to keep accessibility in their work.
The teams that use Tailwind CSS and want good accessible features without fighting built-in styles.
Anyone making a custom design system who doesn't want to start over with accessibility.
As of January 2026, Headless UI counts 28,000+ GitHub stars and over 2.6 million weekly downloads.
Learn more on https://headlessui.com/
Conclusion
So, which React.js UI library is best for your next project? Here’s a quick look:
Go with MUI when you want a mature, professional library that is packed with many components and powerful theming.
Choose Shadcn UI if you want amazing and accessible components with full code control. It works great for people who use Tailwind.
Pick Ant Design when building large enterprise applications or when your project needs many features.
Opt for Chakra UI if you care most about accessibility and usability. It's good if you want something that scales well.
HeroUI brings you stylish and Tailwind-native accessible components. It looks good from the start.
Bonus: Headless UI gives you unstyled, accessible components for both React and Vue.
Each library on this list does well in its own way. The best one for you will depend on what your project needs. Some libraries are fast, some are flexible, and others have strong tools for enterprise use. You will find one here that works for you.
📢 One More Thing: React PDF
I talked about the React PDF Viewer component earlier. I would be happy if you could give it a try. We made it so you can view PDFs in React apps easily, with theme customization, responsive layouts, and smooth Next.js integration. No extra dependencies, no complicated setup.
If you need a library to work with PDF in your project, give it a try! Your support helps us keep improving the library and creating content for the React community 🙏
Now go build something amazing, and may your components always render flawlessly! 🚀
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