Material UI vs Materialize
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
A React component library of ready-made UI pieces built on Google's Material Design.
Open source · MIT
A CSS framework that gives web pages ready-made styled parts based on Google's Material Design.
The short answer
Choose Material UI if you need…
- React developers who want a consistent, prebuilt set of UI components
- Teams that want to follow Material Design guidelines
- Projects that need a large, documented component set
- Developers who want to extend basic components with more complex ones from the companion MUI X library
Choose Materialize if you need…
- Developers building a web page or app who want a Material Design look quickly
- Teams that want a ready-made component set instead of custom styling
- Developers who need broad older-browser support, since the README lists IE 11+
Side-by-side
| Material UI | Materialize | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Library | Library |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 99.3k | 38.8k |
| Setup difficulty | Intermediate | Beginner |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Install with a package manager |
| Main language | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Last code update | 4 days ago | 3 months ago |
What each one is
Material UI
Material UI is a collection of React components, such as buttons, menus and form controls, that follow Google's Material Design visual system. Developers add these pieces to a React web app instead of building every interface element from scratch. The README describes it as a mature project with thousands of contributors and an MIT license.
Materialize
Materialize is a free, open-source CSS framework built on Material Design, Google's visual design system. It provides pre-styled components and layout tools so you can build web pages that look consistent without writing all the styling yourself. It is installed by download, npm, or a CDN link and is documented on its website.
Best for
Material UI
- React developers who want a consistent, prebuilt set of UI components
- Teams that want to follow Material Design guidelines
- Projects that need a large, documented component set
- Developers who want to extend basic components with more complex ones from the companion MUI X library
Materialize
- Developers building a web page or app who want a Material Design look quickly
- Teams that want a ready-made component set instead of custom styling
- Developers who need broad older-browser support, since the README lists IE 11+
Strengths
Material UI
- Large, well-documented component set based on a known design system
- Long development history and a large contributor base, according to the README
- Free under the MIT license
Materialize
- Free and MIT-licensed, so it can be used in commercial work
- Documented on an official site with a getting-started guide
- Available through several channels: direct download, npm, cdnjs, and Git clone
Not ideal for
Material UI
- People who are not writing React code, since the library is built for React specifically
- Teams that want a completely custom visual style without Material Design, because the components follow that look by default
- Beginners with no JavaScript or React background, who should learn the basics first
Materialize
- Projects that need a distinctive custom look, because the framework imposes Material Design styling
- Anyone wanting a non-coding design tool; this is a code library
- Projects needing the newest browser features only, since the README lists older browser minimums that may not match modern needs
Trade-offs
Material UI
- Tied to React, so it does not help with other frameworks
- Its default look is recognizably Material Design, which takes extra work to restyle
- Advanced components are in a separate project, MUI X, which may need its own setup
Materialize
- The README marks the Bower install method as deprecated
- The README mentions a beta branch alongside the stable 1.0.0 release, so users must choose a version carefully
- The README does not describe the full list of components in detail, so fit should be checked in the docs
Getting started
Material UI
Install the package from npm (command not shown in the README excerpt; this is the standard npm form)
npm install @mui/material @emotion/react @emotion/styledMaterialize
Install with npm
npm install materialize-cssClone the repo
git clone https://github.com/Dogfalo/materialize.gitFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between Material UI and Materialize?
Material UI: A React component library of ready-made UI pieces built on Google's Material Design. Materialize: A CSS framework that gives web pages ready-made styled parts based on Google's Material Design. Material UI suits react developers who want a consistent, prebuilt set of ui components, while Materialize suits developers building a web page or app who want a material design look quickly.
Are Material UI and Materialize free?
Material UI: Free and open source. Materialize: Free and open source.
Which is easier to set up, Material UI or Materialize?
Materialize is easier to get started with (rated beginner); Material UI is rated intermediate and usually needs more setup.
Is Material UI or Materialize more popular?
Material UI has more GitHub stars (99.3k) than Materialize (38.8k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to Material UI and Materialize?
Other options people compare them with include Chakra UI, Ant Design, Mantine, Base UI, React-Bootstrap.
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.