Angular Material vs Material Design In XAML Toolkit
Which should you use? A side-by-side look at what each one does, who it suits, what it costs, how hard it is to set up, and where each falls short.
Open source · MIT
Official Angular UI component library (Material Design) plus tools for building custom components.
Open source · MIT
Material Design styles and controls for building Windows desktop apps (WPF) in C# or VB.Net.
The short answer
Choose Angular Material if you need…
- Angular developers who want ready-made, accessible UI components
- Teams already following Material Design guidelines
- Developers building custom components who need common interaction logic from the CDK
- Projects that want components maintained alongside the Angular framework
Choose Material Design In XAML Toolkit if you need…
- Developers building Windows desktop apps with WPF
- Teams that want a Material Design look without writing styles from scratch
- Projects that already use Dragablz or MahApps, which the README says are compatible
Side-by-side
| Angular Material | Material Design In XAML Toolkit | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Library | Library |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 25k | 16.3k |
| Setup difficulty | Intermediate | Intermediate |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Install with a package manager |
| Main language | TypeScript | C# |
| Last code update | 4 days ago | 4 days ago |
What each one is
Angular Material
This is the official set of UI building blocks for Angular, the web framework from Google. It includes Material Design components such as those for common interface parts, and a toolkit (the CDK) for building your own custom components with shared interaction patterns. It is split into several npm packages, including @angular/aria for accessible headless directives and @angular/google-maps and @angular/youtube-player for embedding those services.
Material Design In XAML Toolkit
This is a library of ready-made visual styles and controls that make Windows desktop apps built with WPF look like Google's Material Design. It adds themed buttons, cards, dialogs, and an icon pack, and lets you change the color palette at design time or while the app runs. Developers add it to a WPF project through NuGet.
Best for
Angular Material
- Angular developers who want ready-made, accessible UI components
- Teams already following Material Design guidelines
- Developers building custom components who need common interaction logic from the CDK
- Projects that want components maintained alongside the Angular framework
Material Design In XAML Toolkit
- Developers building Windows desktop apps with WPF
- Teams that want a Material Design look without writing styles from scratch
- Projects that already use Dragablz or MahApps, which the README says are compatible
Strengths
Angular Material
- Official project maintained by the Angular team at Google
- Stated goals include accessibility, internationalization, and thorough unit and integration testing
- Released under the MIT license with a clear support policy tied to Angular's release schedule
Material Design In XAML Toolkit
- Covers the standard WPF controls with Material Design styles, according to the README
- Includes a full Material Design Icons pack and demo applications in the source
- Installs through NuGet and is released under the MIT license
Not ideal for
Angular Material
- Projects not using Angular, since these packages are built specifically for it
- Teams that need a non-Material visual style without customization effort, because the components are designed within Material Design bounds
- Beginners with no Angular experience, who should learn the framework first
Material Design In XAML Toolkit
- Web or mobile developers, since it only targets Windows desktop (WPF) according to the README
- Anyone who needs to stay on older Visual Studio versions, because the guide assumes Visual Studio 2022
- Projects that depend on the internal namespace staying stable, because the README warns those types may change between versions
Trade-offs
Angular Material
- Only useful inside Angular projects
- Customization is described as working within the bounds of the Material Design specification
- README does not detail specific components or APIs; see the documentation site for those
Material Design In XAML Toolkit
- Windows desktop only; it does not apply to web or mobile apps
- The README says the Material Design 3 demo is still under development
- Types in the internal namespace are not guaranteed to stay compatible between versions
Getting started
Angular Material
Install Angular Material and CDK (from the Getting Started guide link; exact command not in README)
git clone https://github.com/angular/componentsMaterial Design In XAML Toolkit
Install the NuGet package from the Package Manager Console
Install-Package MaterialDesignThemesFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between Angular Material and Material Design In XAML Toolkit?
Angular Material: Official Angular UI component library (Material Design) plus tools for building custom components. Material Design In XAML Toolkit: Material Design styles and controls for building Windows desktop apps (WPF) in C# or VB.Net. Angular Material suits angular developers who want ready-made, accessible ui components, while Material Design In XAML Toolkit suits developers building windows desktop apps with wpf.
Are Angular Material and Material Design In XAML Toolkit free?
Angular Material: Free and open source. Material Design In XAML Toolkit: Free and open source.
Is Angular Material or Material Design In XAML Toolkit more popular?
Angular Material has more GitHub stars (25k) than Material Design In XAML Toolkit (16.3k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to Angular Material and Material Design In XAML Toolkit?
Other options people compare them with include Materialize, Material.
Keep comparing
Built from our catalogue entries for both products: open-source details come from each project's README (AI-assisted, refreshed weekly) and GitHub data; AI-tool details are editorial. Spotted something wrong? Let us know from either product's page.