Top 8 React Libraries for Building Beautiful and Functional UIs

React has transformed web development by making it easier to create complex user interfaces using reusable components. With its virtual DOM and one-way data flow, React has become a top choice for many developers who want to build scalable and high-performing web applications. However, building beautiful and functional user interfaces can still be time-consuming and challenging, especially for those new to React. That’s where React libraries can help.

This article will look at 8 React libraries that can help developers create stunning UIs with less effort. These libraries provide a variety of features that can save you time and increase your productivity, ranging from prebuilt components to customizable themes and styling.

React libraries:

1. Syncfusion React UI suite
2. React Bootstrap
3. Semantic UI React
4. Chakra UI
5. React Router
6. Storybook
7. Blueprint UI
8. Grommet

Furthermore, we’ll analyze the trade-offs associated with each approach, so you can select the one that aligns best with your project’s requirements.

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1. Syncfusion React UI suite

The Syncfusion React UI suite offers a comprehensive collection of 80+ high-performance, lightweight, modular, and responsive UI components in a single package. These components are meticulously designed to simplify the process of creating beautiful and functional user interfaces for React apps.

To integrate Syncfusion’s React UI suite into your project, execute the following command in your terminal.

npm install @syncfusion/ej2-react-buttons @syncfusion/ej2-react-grids // Install individual components as per requirement.

Once installed, you can effortlessly import and use the components in your React app.  

Syncfusion’s React UI suite boasts a diverse array of UI components, such as grids, charts, and inputs, letting developers create intuitive and visually appealing interfaces efficiently.

Refer to the following code example to see how the Button component can be utilized.

import React from 'react';
import { ButtonComponent } from '@syncfusion/ej2-react-buttons';

function MyComponent() {
  return (
    <ButtonComponent>Click me!</ButtonComponent>
  );
}

2. React Bootstrap

React Bootstrap is a popular frontend framework for React that reconstructs Bootstrap, eliminating the need for jQuery dependency. Despite removing the jQuery dependency, React Bootstrap leverages the Bootstrap core and integrates seamlessly with the entire Bootstrap stylesheet. This ensures compatibility with various Bootstrap themes. As one of the earliest React frameworks, React Bootstrap has evolved alongside React. Moreover, each component is created with accessibility in mind, making it an accessible-by-default design element.

To install React Bootstrap, execute the following command in your terminal.

npm install react-bootstrap bootstrap

After installation, the components can be easily imported and utilized. Refer to the following code example for how to import the Button component.

import Button from 'react-bootstrap/Button';

function MyComponent() {
  return (
    <Button variant="primary">Click me!</Button>
  );
}

Alternatively, multiple components can be imported at once using destructuring.

import { Button, Navbar, Nav } from 'react-bootstrap';

function MyComponent() {
  return (
    <Navbar bg="light" expand="lg">
      <Navbar.Brand href="#">My App</Navbar.Brand>
      <Navbar.Toggle aria-controls="navbar-nav" />
      <Navbar.Collapse id="navbar-nav">
        <Nav className="ml-auto">
          <Nav.Link href="#">Home</Nav.Link>
          <Nav.Link href="#">About</Nav.Link>
          <Nav.Link href="#">Contact</Nav.Link>
        </Nav>
      </Navbar.Collapse>
    </Navbar>
  );
}

Let’s see how to utilize the Stack component to arrange components horizontally with a gap of 2.

import { Stack, Button } from 'react-bootstrap';

function MyComponent() {
  return (
    <Stack direction="horizontal" gap={2}>
      <Button variant="primary">Button 1</Button>
      <Button variant="secondary">Button 2</Button>
    </Stack>
  );
}

A to Z about Syncfusion’s versatile React components and their feature set.

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3. Semantic UI React

Semantic UI React is the official React integration for Semantic UI, a CSS framework designed to streamline web development by providing intuitive tools. It offers a UI kit with over 100 components built on top of the Semantic UI CSS framework.

Key features

• Auto-controlled state: Eliminates the need for explicit code to manage state or events of stateful components.
• Shorthand props syntax: Allows for passing props in a concise manner, representing multiple values and reducing code complexity.
• Rendering flexibility: Components can be rendered as another component using the “as” props.
• Detailed documentation: Official documentation offers a list of components with examples to aid developers in getting started with Semantic UI React.

To install Semantic UI React, use the following command.

# Yarn
yarn add semantic-ui-react semantic-ui-css

# Or NPM
npm install semantic-ui-react semantic-ui-css

To import the Semantic UI CSS file, add the following line to your component.

import "semantic-ui-css/semantic.min.css"

To utilize a Semantic UI React component, import it and incorporate it into your JSX code. Refer to the following code example for how to use the Button component and customize it with props such as color and size.

import { Button } from "semantic-ui-react";

const MyButton = () => (
  <Button color="blue" size="huge">
    Click Here
  </Button>
);

You can also utilize shorthand props to make the code more concise. For instance, instead of using <Button type=”primary” />, you can use <Button primary />.

Finally, you can enhance components by rendering them as another component using the “as” prop. Refer to the following code example to see how to render a Header component as an h3 element.

import { Header } from "semantic-ui-react";

const MyHeader = () => <Header as="h3">Hello World</Header>;

4. Chakra UI

Chakra UI is a library of React components designed to streamline coding. It offers accessible, modular, and user-friendly UI components suitable for various application types.

Key features

• Accessibility: Components adhere to WAI-ARIA standards, ensuring accessibility for all users.
• Customizability: Components can be easily customized to match design specifications.
• Theme options: The library provides both light and dark UI themes.
• Composition focus: Emphasizes composition as the primary goal, facilitating the creation of new components and promoting code reusability.

To install the library, execute the following command.

npm i @chakra-ui/react @emotion/react @emotion/styled framer-motion

As an example, if you need to create a form for users to submit their personal information, you can use prebuilt UI components to do so. First, you would import the necessary components from Chakra UI.

import { Box, FormControl, FormLabel, Input, Button } from "@chakra-ui/core";

Then, you can use these components to create a simple form.

function PersonalInfoForm() {
  return (
    <Box maxW="md" mx="auto" mt="8">
      <FormControl>
        <FormLabel>Name</FormLabel>
        <Input type="text" placeholder="John Doe" />
      </FormControl>

      <FormControl mt="4">
        <FormLabel>Email address</FormLabel>
        <Input type="email" placeholder="johndoe@example.com" />
      </FormControl>

      <FormControl mt="4">
        <FormLabel>Phone number</FormLabel>
        <Input type="tel" placeholder="123-456-7890" />
      </FormControl>

      <Button mt="8" colorScheme="blue">
        Submit
      </Button>
    </Box>
  );
}

In this example, the PersonalInfoForm component contains three form controls for name, email, and phone number. The FormControl component is used to group each form control with its label, while the Input component is used to create the actual input fields. Finally, the Button component generates a submit button.

By leveraging Chakra UI’s prebuilt components, you can create a simple yet functional form. Furthermore, since Chakra UI adheres to accessibility standards, the resulting form will be usable by a broad range of users.

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5. React Router

React Router offers a comprehensive routing library for React with a wide range of features.

Key features

• Versatile integration: It integrates with React Native, node.js servers, and web applications.
• Efficient client-side routing: React Router facilitates client-side routing, enabling dynamic URL updates without additional server requests.
• Efficient rendering and data fetching: With React Router, applications can efficiently render new UI components and fetch data.
• Enhanced user experience: Leveraging features such as animation, React Router enhances user experiences by delivering dynamic and fast interactions.
• Good browsing experience: By eliminating the need for the browser to request new documents or re-evaluate CSS and JavaScript files for each page transition, React Router enhances the overall browsing experience.

To install React Router, use the following command.

npm i react-router

Refer to the following example that demonstrates how to implement React Router.

import { BrowserRouter as Router, Route, Switch, Link } from "react-router-dom";

const Home = () => {
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Welcome to the Home page</h1>
      <Link to="/about">Go to About page</Link>
    </div>
  );
};

const About = () => {
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>About Us</h1>
      <p>We are a team of developers passionate about creating great software.</p>
      <Link to="/">Go back to Home page</Link>
    </div>
  );
};

function App() {
  return (
    <Router>
      <Switch>
        <Route exact path="/" component={Home} />
        <Route exact path="/about" component={About} />
      </Switch>
    </Router>
  );
}

export default App;

6. Storybook

Storybook is a widely used tool within the React UI framework. It functions not as a component framework, but rather as an open-source tool that enables the development of UI components in isolation for React and various other technologies and platforms.

Key features

• Efficient development: By facilitating work on a single component, Storybook significantly speeds up the development process, leading to faster iterations.
• Quality assurance: With automated visual tests and documentation features, Storybook ensures component quality and reduces the likelihood of bugs, enhancing overall software reliability.
• Extensibility: Storybook’s functionality can be enhanced with a variety of add-ons.

To install Storybook, execute the following command.

npx sb init

Refer to the following code example to see how Storybook can be used to create stories for a Button component.

// Button.stories.js

import { action } from '@storybook/addon-actions';
import { Button } from '@storybook/react/demo';

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

export const Text = () => <Button onClick={action('clicked')}>Hello Button</Button>;

export const Emoji = () => (
  <Button onClick={action('clicked')}>
    <span role="img" aria-label="so cool">
      😀 😎 👍 💯
    </span>
  </Button>
);

The Text and Emoji stories are created as separate components that render the Button with different props. The action function is used to log when the button is clicked. These stories can then be viewed in the Storybook UI to test and showcase the Button component.

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7. Blueprint UI

Blueprint UI offers a collection of prebuilt React components, so you don’t need to do extensive manual coding when building desktop applications.

Key features

• Consistent design language: It provides a consistent design language for React projects, ensuring uniformity and cohesion in the user interface design.
• Comprehensive documentation: Blueprint UI comes with comprehensive documentation and resources, providing guidance for developers.
• Easy integration: With its comprehensive documentation and resources, Blueprint UI can easily be integrated into your React application, speeding up the development process and ensuring consistency in design.

To install Blueprint, run the following command.

npm install --save @blueprintjs/core

In this example, we import the Button and Card components from Blueprint UI and use them to build a simple app. We also use the Elevation enum to add a shadow to the card. Finally, we import the Blueprint UI CSS styles to maintain visual consistency throughout the application.

import { Button, Card, Elevation } from "@blueprintjs/core";
import "@blueprintjs/core/lib/css/blueprint.css";

function App() {
  return (
    <div style={{ padding: 20 }}>
      <Card elevation={Elevation.TWO}>
        <h1>My App</h1>
        <p>Welcome to my app built with Blueprint UI!</p>
        <Button intent="primary" text="Click me" />
      </Card>
    </div>
  );
}

export default App;

8. Grommet

Grommet is a React-based UI library that offers a variety of components to facilitate the quick initiation of your project.

Key features

• Robust theming capabilities: Grommet provides robust theming capabilities, allowing developers to customize the component library according to their preferred layout, color scheme, and typography.
• Grommet Design Kit: The Grommet Design Kit is a tool that simplifies the design process by offering a drag-and-drop interface for creating layouts and components. It includes resources such as sticker sheets, app templates, and icons.

To set up Grommet in your React app, run the following command in your terminal.

npm install grommet styled-components --save

This will install the necessary packages for using Grommet and styled components in your project. After installation, you can import and use Grommet components in your React app.

The following code example demonstrates the creation of a responsive navigation bar using the Grommet UI library.

import { Grommet, Box, Heading, Nav, Anchor } from "grommet";
import { Menu } from "grommet-icons";

const theme = {
  global: {
    colors: {
      brand: "#7D4CDB"
    },
    font: {
      family: "Roboto",
      size: "18px",
      height: "20px"
    }
  }
};

function App() {
  return (
    <Grommet theme={theme}>
      <Box direction="row" align="center" pad={{ vertical: "medium", horizontal: "large" }}>
        <Heading level="3" margin="none">Logo</Heading>
        <Box flex="grow" justify="end" direction="row" responsive={false}>
          <Nav direction="row">
            <Anchor href="#" label="Home" />
            <Anchor href="#" label="About" />
            <Anchor href="#" label="Contact" />
          </Nav>
          <Menu />
        </Box>
      </Box>
    </Grommet>
  );
}

export default App;

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Conclusion

React offers a vast ecosystem of libraries that aid developers in constructing beautiful and functional user interfaces. The eight libraries discussed in this blog provide a diverse array of features and benefits, ranging from predesigned components and themes to customizable theming tools and robust form management solutions.

Selecting the appropriate library for your project will depend on your distinct requirements and preferences. However, with numerous options at your disposal, finding a library that aligns with your design and functionality criteria is easily attainable. Thank you for reading!

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