Keen Dashboards vs Tabler
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
Free, responsive HTML/CSS Grid dashboard templates you can copy and fill with your own charts.
Open source · MIT
Free, open source Bootstrap 5 admin dashboard UI kit with dark mode and RTL support.
The short answer
Choose Keen Dashboards if you need…
- Developers who need a starting layout for an internal analytics dashboard
- Front-end developers who want responsive grid layouts without writing CSS from scratch
- Teams already using Keen IO's keen-dataviz.js and keen-analysis.js libraries
- People who want to see example dashboards for specific domains before choosing one
Choose Tabler if you need…
- Developers building internal admin panels or dashboards quickly
- Teams already comfortable with Bootstrap who want ready-made components
- Projects that need dark mode or right-to-left (RTL) layouts
- Developers using a framework such as React, Vue or Laravel who want a styled UI base
Side-by-side
| Keen Dashboards | Tabler | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Library | Library |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 11k | 42k |
| Setup difficulty | Intermediate | Beginner |
| How you get it | Clone and build from source | Install with a package manager |
| Main language | HTML | Astro |
| Last code update | 5 years ago | 7 days ago |
What each one is
Keen Dashboards
This project is a set of pre-built dashboard layouts made with CSS Grid, plus example pages showing how they look with charts. You copy a template's HTML and CSS, then place chart containers in it and connect them to your data. The README says the templates are built to work well on different screen sizes and are designed to be pointed at Keen IO's charting libraries, though they can also be used with other data sources or charts.
Tabler
Tabler is a set of ready-made layouts, components and demo pages for building admin panels, dashboards and web apps. It is built on Bootstrap 5 and ships as CSS and JavaScript you can load from a CDN or install with npm. It is useful for people who want a polished interface without designing every screen from scratch.
Best for
Keen Dashboards
- Developers who need a starting layout for an internal analytics dashboard
- Front-end developers who want responsive grid layouts without writing CSS from scratch
- Teams already using Keen IO's keen-dataviz.js and keen-analysis.js libraries
- People who want to see example dashboards for specific domains before choosing one
Tabler
- Developers building internal admin panels or dashboards quickly
- Teams already comfortable with Bootstrap who want ready-made components
- Projects that need dark mode or right-to-left (RTL) layouts
- Developers using a framework such as React, Vue or Laravel who want a styled UI base
Strengths
Keen Dashboards
- Uses CSS Grid, so layouts adapt to different screen sizes with little custom CSS
- Ships with multiple ready-made layouts and domain examples to start from
- MIT license allows reuse in commercial and personal projects
Tabler
- Free and MIT-licensed, with a large set of demo pages and components listed in the README
- Includes dark mode and RTL versions of its stylesheets
- Works with plain HTML and with many common frameworks, with setup guides in the docs
Not ideal for
Keen Dashboards
- Non-developers who want a finished dashboard with no coding, since the README assumes editing HTML and wiring up scripts
- Teams that need active maintenance: the last push was 2021-11-02, so the code may be out of date with current libraries
- Anyone who wants a hosted analytics product, since this is a set of templates rather than a service
Tabler
- People who want a finished app with no coding, since it is a UI kit rather than a ready-to-use product
- Projects that do not use Bootstrap and do not want to adopt its styling system
- Teams that need a design system built from scratch rather than a pre-styled one
Trade-offs
Keen Dashboards
- The last push was in November 2021 and the README references older setup steps, so parts may be outdated
- Setup requires editing HTML and attaching scripts by hand, which takes some web development knowledge
- The README is tied to Keen IO's libraries and says templates are streamlined for them, so other charting tools need extra work
Tabler
- Depends on Bootstrap 5, so you inherit its structure and conventions
- The README is truncated, so details about the full feature list and browser support are not confirmed here
- Bundled plugins add to the package and you must choose which stylesheets to load
Getting started
Keen Dashboards
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/keen/dashboards.gitBuild the Docker image
docker build -t keen/dashboards .Tabler
Install the package with npm
npm install @tabler/coreAdd the Tabler skill for a coding agent
npx skills add tabler/tablerFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between Keen Dashboards and Tabler?
Keen Dashboards: Free, responsive HTML/CSS Grid dashboard templates you can copy and fill with your own charts. Tabler: Free, open source Bootstrap 5 admin dashboard UI kit with dark mode and RTL support. Keen Dashboards suits developers who need a starting layout for an internal analytics dashboard, while Tabler suits developers building internal admin panels or dashboards quickly.
Are Keen Dashboards and Tabler free?
Keen Dashboards: Free and open source. Tabler: Free and open source.
Which is easier to set up, Keen Dashboards or Tabler?
Tabler is easier to get started with (rated beginner); Keen Dashboards is rated intermediate and usually needs more setup.
Is Keen Dashboards or Tabler more popular?
Tabler has more GitHub stars (42k) than Keen Dashboards (11k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to Keen Dashboards and Tabler?
Other options people compare them with include AdminLTE, uPlot, Bootstrap, Gentelella, Chirpy.
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.