ngx-admin vs refine
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 ready-made Angular admin dashboard template with themes, components, and examples.
Open source · MIT
A React framework for building admin panels, dashboards and internal business apps.
The short answer
Choose ngx-admin if you need…
- Developers starting a new Angular admin or back-office dashboard
- Teams who want Nebular-based components and a few visual themes out of the box
- Developers who want an example of an Angular project with many pages and components to learn from
- Projects that need an authentication module with multiple providers as a starting point
Choose refine if you need…
- Developers building internal admin panels or back-office tools in React
- Teams that want a headless approach and can pick their own UI component library
- Projects that connect to REST, GraphQL or similar backend APIs and need standard CRUD screens
- Developers already comfortable with React and TypeScript
Side-by-side
| ngx-admin | refine | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Framework | Framework |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 25.7k | 36k |
| Setup difficulty | Intermediate | Intermediate |
| How you get it | Clone and build from source | Install with a package manager |
| Main language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last code update | 2 years ago | 57 days ago |
What each one is
ngx-admin
ngx-admin is a starter template for building admin dashboards and back-office web apps with Angular. It comes with prebuilt pages, layouts, and UI components built on the Nebular component library, plus several visual themes you can switch between. Developers use it to skip building the basic dashboard structure from scratch.
refine
Refine is a TypeScript framework built on React for making internal tools, admin panels, dashboards and B2B applications. The description says it aims for flexibility, and it is headless, meaning it supplies the logic and data handling while you choose the look of the interface. Developers use it to avoid rebuilding common pieces like data fetching, tables and forms for every new back-office app.
Best for
ngx-admin
- Developers starting a new Angular admin or back-office dashboard
- Teams who want Nebular-based components and a few visual themes out of the box
- Developers who want an example of an Angular project with many pages and components to learn from
- Projects that need an authentication module with multiple providers as a starting point
refine
- Developers building internal admin panels or back-office tools in React
- Teams that want a headless approach and can pick their own UI component library
- Projects that connect to REST, GraphQL or similar backend APIs and need standard CRUD screens
- Developers already comfortable with React and TypeScript
Strengths
ngx-admin
- Includes many prebuilt components and usage examples, according to the README
- Offers multiple themes, RTL support, and a responsive layout
- Released under the MIT license, so it can be used and modified freely
refine
- Headless design lets you combine it with the UI library you already use
- Open source under the MIT license with a large community (about 36,000 stars at the time of metadata)
- Written in TypeScript, which helps catch errors while you build
Not ideal for
ngx-admin
- Teams that need active upstream support: the README says the repository is in minimal maintenance and pull requests and issues are not actively reviewed or merged
- Projects that are not built on Angular or do not want to adopt Nebular components
- Beginners new to both Angular and TypeScript, since setup and customization assume working knowledge of both
refine
- Non-developers who want a no-code app builder, since it requires writing React and TypeScript code
- Simple static websites or small single-page apps that do not need admin-style data screens
Trade-offs
ngx-admin
- The README says the repository is in minimal maintenance, with pull requests and issues not actively reviewed
- Installation requires Node.js 14.14 or newer because of a node-sass dependency, which may be a hurdle on newer setups
refine
- Requires React and TypeScript knowledge, so it is not suited to beginners without that background
- The README excerpt provided is truncated, so details on specific integrations and limits could not be fully verified here
Getting started
ngx-admin
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/akveo/ngx-admin.gitrefine
Create a new project with the Refine CLI
npm create refine-app@latestFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between ngx-admin and refine?
ngx-admin: A ready-made Angular admin dashboard template with themes, components, and examples. refine: A React framework for building admin panels, dashboards and internal business apps. ngx-admin suits developers starting a new angular admin or back-office dashboard, while refine suits developers building internal admin panels or back-office tools in react.
Are ngx-admin and refine free?
ngx-admin: Free and open source. refine: Free and open source.
Is ngx-admin or refine more popular?
refine has more GitHub stars (36k) than ngx-admin (25.7k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to ngx-admin and refine?
Other options people compare them with include react-admin, Ant Design Pro, ice.js, Payload, go-admin.
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.