Material Kit vs Material UI: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this article, we will compare the key differences between Material Kit and Material-UI, two popular front-end frameworks based on Google's Material Design principles.

1. Component Library: Material Kit is a free UI kit available as a set of pre-built components for HTML and CSS. It provides a wide range of ready-to-use elements such as buttons, cards, forms, and navigation bars, allowing developers to quickly build user interfaces. On the other hand, Material-UI is a comprehensive React component library that implements Material Design components in React. It offers a rich collection of customizable components that can be easily integrated into React applications.

2. Design Philosophy: Material Kit is focused on providing a clean and minimalistic design, emphasizing simplicity and ease of use. It follows the material design guidelines closely, ensuring consistency and familiarity to users. Material-UI, on the other hand, not only adheres to the material design principles but also adds some additional features and improvements to enhance the user experience. It offers more customization options and flexibility in terms of design.

3. Dependencies: Material Kit is a standalone HTML and CSS framework, and it does not have any dependencies on other libraries or frameworks. This makes it easy to integrate with any existing project. Material-UI, on the other hand, is built on top of React, which means it requires React as a dependency. This makes it more suitable for developers who are already using or planning to use React.

4. Community and Support: Material Kit has a large and active community of developers who contribute to its development and provide support through forums, documentation, and online resources. Material-UI also has a strong community and is backed by the official Material-UI team. It has extensive documentation, examples, and a dedicated support channel, making it easy for developers to get help and guidance when needed.

5. Integration with React Ecosystem: As mentioned earlier, Material-UI is built specifically for React, which means it integrates seamlessly with other React libraries, tools, and ecosystems. It follows the React component lifecycle and provides hooks and utilities that are specific to React development. Material Kit, being a standalone HTML and CSS framework, does not provide this level of integration with the React ecosystem.

6. Customization and Theming: Material Kit provides a limited amount of customization options, mainly through CSS classes and variables. It allows developers to change colors, fonts, and some other visual aspects to match their branding and design requirements. Material-UI, on the other hand, offers extensive customization and theming capabilities. It provides a theming system that allows developers to create and apply custom themes throughout their applications, making it easier to maintain a consistent look and feel.

In Summary, Material Kit is a standalone HTML and CSS framework focused on simplicity and ease of use, while Material-UI is a comprehensive React component library that offers more customization options, integration with the React ecosystem, and extensive theming capabilities.