Ant Design vs Chakra UI: What are the differences?

Ant Design and Chakra UI are both popular UI component libraries for building websites. Here are the key differences between the two.

1. Design philosophy: Ant Design follows a design philosophy that focuses on "middle-of-the-road" aesthetics, providing a more neutral and balanced visual style. On the other hand, Chakra UI adopts a more minimalist and modern design approach, favoring simplicity and cleanliness.

2. Component customization: Ant Design offers a wide range of pre-designed components with limited customization options. While it provides a smooth out-of-the-box experience, it might be less suitable for developers who require extensive customization. Chakra UI, on the other hand, emphasizes customizability, allowing developers to fine-tune components to match their specific design needs.

3. Documentation quality: Ant Design boasts comprehensive and well-maintained documentation, making it easier for developers to understand and use the library effectively. Chakra UI, while still maintaining decent documentation, may require additional effort to find specific information and examples.

4. Integration with other frameworks: Ant Design is primarily designed for integration with React.js, making it an excellent choice for React-based projects. Chakra UI is also React-based but provides official bindings for Vue.js and Nuxt.js as well, which expands its usability for developers working with different frameworks.

5. Component ecosystem: Ant Design has a larger component ecosystem compared to Chakra UI. This means that Ant Design has a broader selection of ready-to-use components, which can significantly speed up the development process. Chakra UI, although growing rapidly, currently has a smaller component ecosystem, which might require more custom implementation.

6. Accessibility considerations: Both Ant Design and Chakra UI prioritize accessibility in their design. However, Chakra UI goes a step further by implementing automatic accessibility features in its components. This makes it easier for developers to create accessible web applications without the need for additional efforts.

In summary, Ant Design is a comprehensive and feature-rich design system with a wide range of pre-built components. Chakra UI, on the other hand, is a lightweight and customizable library with a focus on simplicity and developer-friendly APIs.