FoldingCell vs Material
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
An iOS UI component: table cells that expand and fold open with a paper-card style animation.
Open source · MIT
A Swift UI framework for iOS apps with Material Design-style components and animations.
The short answer
Choose FoldingCell if you need…
- iOS developers building list screens with expandable items
- Developers who want a ready-made folding animation instead of writing their own
- Teams adding a Material-style expanding card pattern to a table view
Choose Material if you need…
- iOS developers who want Material Design-style components without building them from scratch
- Developers maintaining existing Swift projects that already use Material
- Projects that need Material's card, text field, or navigation drawer components
Side-by-side
| FoldingCell | Material | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Library | Library |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 10.2k | 12k |
| Setup difficulty | Intermediate | Intermediate |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Install with a package manager |
| Main language | Swift | Swift |
| Last code update | 3 years ago | 4 years ago |
What each one is
FoldingCell
FoldingCell is a Swift library for iOS apps that provides a table view cell which unfolds to reveal more content, with an animation inspired by folding paper cards. Developers use it to show a compact summary that opens into a detailed view when tapped. The README describes it as a single file you can drop into a project, or install through a package manager.
Material
Material is a UI/UX framework for building iOS apps in Swift. It provides ready-made interface components such as cards, text fields, navigation drawers, toolbars, and floating action menus, styled after Google's Material Design look. It also uses the separate Motion library to handle animations and transitions.
Best for
FoldingCell
- iOS developers building list screens with expandable items
- Developers who want a ready-made folding animation instead of writing their own
- Teams adding a Material-style expanding card pattern to a table view
Material
- iOS developers who want Material Design-style components without building them from scratch
- Developers maintaining existing Swift projects that already use Material
- Projects that need Material's card, text field, or navigation drawer components
Strengths
FoldingCell
- Simple to add: the README says you can drop in one Swift file or use CocoaPods, Carthage, or Swift Package Manager
- Configurable animation timing per fold through an overridable method
- MIT licensed and widely starred on GitHub
Material
- Covers many common components (cards, drawers, tabs, search bar, snackbar) in one package
- Includes sample projects in a separate repository to learn from
- MIT license permits use in commercial projects
Not ideal for
FoldingCell
- Developers targeting Android or the web, since this is an iOS-only Swift library
- Projects needing a current, actively documented setup, since the README lists Xcode 10.2 and iOS 8.0+ and the code samples use older Swift syntax
- Anyone wanting a no-code tool, since integration requires writing table view and cell code
Material
- Teams starting a new app today, since the README lists iOS 8.0+ and Swift 4.0+ and the last push was in May 2022
- Android or cross-platform projects, since this is iOS-only
- Developers who need SwiftUI support, which the README does not mention
Trade-offs
FoldingCell
- The README's code samples use outdated Swift syntax and APIs, so they will need adapting to current Xcode and Swift versions
- The README lists iOS 8.0+ and Xcode 10.2 as requirements, which may be out of date; no newer compatibility is stated
- The README does not describe testing status beyond a Travis badge, and the last push date is April 2024
Material
- The README targets old tooling (iOS 8.0+, Xcode 8.0+) and the last push is from 2022
- Documentation is mostly sample links and GIFs; the README gives little API detail
- The latest release lists no binaries, so you install through a dependency manager or by copying source
Getting started
FoldingCell
CocoaPods (Podfile)
pod 'FoldingCell'Swift Package Manager (Package.swift)
dependencies: [ .package(url: "https://github.com/Ramotion/folding-cell.git", from: "5.0.2") ]Material
Install CocoaPods
gem install cocoapodsInstall the pod (after adding pod 'Material', '~> 3.1.0' to your Podfile)
pod installFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between FoldingCell and Material?
FoldingCell: An iOS UI component: table cells that expand and fold open with a paper-card style animation. Material: A Swift UI framework for iOS apps with Material Design-style components and animations. FoldingCell suits ios developers building list screens with expandable items, while Material suits ios developers who want material design-style components without building them from scratch.
Are FoldingCell and Material free?
FoldingCell: Free and open source. Material: Free and open source.
Is FoldingCell or Material more popular?
Material has more GitHub stars (12k) than FoldingCell (10.2k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to FoldingCell and Material?
Other options people compare them with include RAMAnimatedTabBarController, React, Hero, mo · js, barba.js.
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.