React Native Paper vs Tamagui
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 Native UI kit of Material Design components for Android and iOS apps.
Open source · MIT
A TypeScript library for building React and React Native UIs that share styling and code.
The short answer
Choose React Native Paper if you need…
- React Native developers who want ready-made Material Design components
- Teams building iOS and Android apps with a shared codebase
- Developers who want theming control over colors and styles
- Projects that need components which adapt to each platform's conventions
Choose Tamagui if you need…
- Teams building the same app for web and native with React
- Developers who want shared styling across React Native and react-native-web
- Projects that want an optional compiler to speed up styled components
- Developers who can set it up gradually inside an existing app
Side-by-side
| React Native Paper | Tamagui | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Library | Library |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 14.5k | 14.3k |
| Setup difficulty | Intermediate | Intermediate |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Install with a package manager |
| Main language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last code update | 4 days ago | 4 days ago |
What each one is
React Native Paper
React Native Paper is a UI kit library for React Native that provides a set of customizable components following Google's Material Design guidelines. It helps developers build mobile apps that look consistent on both Android and iOS without designing every button and form control from scratch. It also supports theming so the look can be adjusted to match an app's brand.
Tamagui
Tamagui is a set of open-source libraries for building user interfaces that run on both the web (React) and phones (React Native) from one shared codebase. It includes a styling library, an optional ready-made UI kit, and a compiler that rewrites styled components into faster output on each platform. Developers use it to share more code between web and native apps without giving up performance.
Best for
React Native Paper
- React Native developers who want ready-made Material Design components
- Teams building iOS and Android apps with a shared codebase
- Developers who want theming control over colors and styles
- Projects that need components which adapt to each platform's conventions
Tamagui
- Teams building the same app for web and native with React
- Developers who want shared styling across React Native and react-native-web
- Projects that want an optional compiler to speed up styled components
- Developers who can set it up gradually inside an existing app
Strengths
React Native Paper
- Components follow Material Design guidelines by default
- Works on both iOS and Android and follows platform adaptation guidelines
- Includes theming support and is MIT licensed
Tamagui
- Aims for shared code across web and native while keeping platform-specific performance, per the README
- Works gradually, so you can adopt it in parts of an existing project
- Released under the permissive MIT license
Not ideal for
React Native Paper
- Developers who are not using React Native, since this library is built specifically for it
- Teams that need a non-Material visual style without heavy customization, because the defaults follow Material Design
- Non-developers looking for a no-code tool
Tamagui
- People who only need a plain website and no React (the project is built around React)
- Beginners without React or TypeScript experience, since the setup assumes both
- Projects that want a single, fixed design with no customization (the UI kit is optional and configurable)
Trade-offs
React Native Paper
- Focused on Material Design, so it is less suited to apps wanting a different visual language
- Installation and setup details are in the external documentation rather than the README shown here
Tamagui
- The README's performance claims (such as a Lighthouse gain on its homepage) are the project's own measurements and were not independently verified here
- Compile-time and runtime behavior adds setup complexity compared with simple styling libraries
- The README is truncated, so details on setup and configuration are limited in this analysis
Getting started
React Native Paper
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/callstack/react-native-paperFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between React Native Paper and Tamagui?
React Native Paper: A React Native UI kit of Material Design components for Android and iOS apps. Tamagui: A TypeScript library for building React and React Native UIs that share styling and code. React Native Paper suits react native developers who want ready-made material design components, while Tamagui suits teams building the same app for web and native with react.
Are React Native Paper and Tamagui free?
React Native Paper: Free and open source. Tamagui: Free and open source.
Is React Native Paper or Tamagui more popular?
React Native Paper has more GitHub stars (14.5k) than Tamagui (14.3k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to React Native Paper and Tamagui?
Other options people compare them with include NativeBase, React Native Elements, UI Kitten, React Native for Web, shadcn/ui.
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.