Nothing compares to [tag:extjs] in terms of community size and presence on StackOverflow. Despite previous controversy, Ext JS now has a [GPLv3 open source license](
[To see links please register here]
). Its learning curve is long, but it can be [quite rewarding once learned](
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). Ext JS [lacks a Material Design theme](
[To see links please register here]
), and the team has repeatedly [refused to release the source code on GitHub](
[To see links please register here]
). For mobile, one must use the separate Sencha Touch library.
Have in mind also that,
> large JavaScript libraries, such as YUI, have been receiving less attention from the community. Many developers today look at large JavaScript libraries as walled gardens they don’t want to be locked into.
-- [Announcement of YUI development being ceased](
[To see links please register here]
)
That said, below are a number of Ext JS alternatives currently available.
### Leading client widget libraries
1. **Blueprint** is a React-based UI toolkit developed by big data analytics company [Palantir](
[To see links please register here]
) in TypeScript, and "optimized for building complex data-dense interfaces for desktop applications". [Actively developed on GitHub](
[To see links please register here]
) as of May 2019, with comprehensive documentation. Components range from simple ([chips](
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), [toast](
[To see links please register here]
), [icons](
[To see links please register here]
)) to complex ([tree](
[To see links please register here]
), data table, [tag input with autocomplete](
[To see links please register here]
), [date range picker](
[To see links please register here]
). No [accordion](
[To see links please register here]
) or [resizer](
[To see links please register here]
).
Blueprint targets modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, IE 11, and Microsoft Edge) and is licensed under a [modified Apache license](
[To see links please register here]
).
[Sandbox / demo](
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) • [GitHub](
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) • [Docs](
[To see links please register here]
)
2. [Webix](
[To see links please register here]
) - an advanced, [easy to learn](
[To see links please register here]
), mobile-friendly, responsive and rich free&open source JavaScript UI components library. Webix [spun off](
[To see links please register here]
) from [DHTMLX Touch](
[To see links please register here]
) (a project with 8 years of development behind it - see below) and went on to become a standalone UI components framework. The [GPL3 edition](
[To see links please register here]
) [allows commercial use](
[To see links please register here]
) and lets non-GPL applications using Webix keep their license, e.g. MIT, via a [license exemption for FLOSS](
[To see links please register here]
). Webix has 55 UI widgets, including trees, grids, treegrids and charts. Funding comes from a commercial edition with some advanced widgets (Pivot, Scheduler, Kanban, [org chart](
[To see links please register here]
) etc.). Webix has an extensive list of free and commercial widgets, and integrates with most popular [frameworks](
[To see links please register here]
) (React, Vue, Meteor, etc) and [UI components](
[To see links please register here]
).
![Webix][1]
[Skins](
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) look modern, and include a [Material Design](
[To see links please register here]
) theme. The [Touch theme](
[To see links please register here]
) also looks quite Material Design-ish. See also the [Skin Builder](
[To see links please register here]
).
[Minimal GitHub presence](
[To see links please register here]
), but includes the library code, and [the documentation](
[To see links please register here]
) (which still needs major improvements). Webix suffers from a having a small team and a [lack of marketing](
[To see links please register here]
). However, they have been responsive to user feedback, both [on GitHub](
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) and [on their forum](
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).
The library was lean (128Kb gzip+minified for all 55 widgets as of ~2015), [faster than ExtJS, dojo and others](
[To see links please register here]
), and the design is pleasant-looking. The current version of Webix (v6, as of Nov 2018) got heavier ([400 - 676kB minified](
[To see links please register here]
) but NOT gzipped).
The demos on [Webix.com](
[To see links please register here]
) look and function *great*. The developer, [XB Software](
[To see links please register here]
), uses Webix in solutions they build for paying customers, so there's likely a good, funded future ahead of it.
Webix aims for backwards compatibility down to IE8, and as a result carries [some](
[To see links please register here]
) technical [debt](
[To see links please register here]
).
[Wikipedia](
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) • [GitHub](
[To see links please register here]
) • [Playground/sandbox](
[To see links please register here]
) • [Admin dashboard demo](
[To see links please register here]
) • [Demos](
[To see links please register here]
) • [Widget samples](
[To see links please register here]
)
3. [react-md](
[To see links please register here]
) - MIT-licensed Material Design UI components library for React. Responsive, accessible. Implements components from simple (buttons, cards) to complex (sortable tables, autocomplete, tags input, calendars). [One lead author](
[To see links please register here]
), ~1900 GitHub stars.
4. [tag:kendo] - jQuery-based UI toolkit with 40+ basic open-source widgets, plus commercial professional widgets (grids, trees, charts etc.). Responsive&mobile support. Works with Bootstrap and AngularJS. Modern, with [Material Design themes](
[To see links please register here]
). The [documentation is available on GitHub](
[To see links please register here]
), which has enabled numerous contributions from users (4500+ commits, 500+ PRs as of Jan 2015).
![enter image description here][5]
Well-supported commercially, claiming millions of developers, and part of a large family of developer tools. [Telerik has received many accolades](
[To see links please register here]
), is a multi-national company (Bulgaria, US), was acquired by [Progress Software](
[To see links please register here]
), and is a [thought](
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) [leader](
[To see links please register here]
).
A [Kendo UI Professional developer license costs $700](
[To see links please register here]
) and [posting access to most forums](
[To see links please register here]
) is conditioned upon having a license or being in the trial period.
[Wikipedia] • [GitHub/Telerik](
[To see links please register here]
) • [Demos](
[To see links please register here]
) • [Playground](
[To see links please register here]
) • [Tools](
[To see links please register here]
)
5. [OpenUI5](
[To see links please register here]
) - [jQuery-based](
[To see links please register here]
) UI framework with 180 widgets, Apache 2.0-licensed and fully-open sourced and funded by German software giant [SAP SE](
[To see links please register here]
).
![OpenUI5][3]
The community is [much larger](
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) than that of Webix, [SAP is hiring developers to grow OpenUI5](
[To see links please register here]
), and they [presented OpenUI5 at OSCON 2014](
[To see links please register here]
).
The desktop themes are rather lackluster, but the [Fiori design for web and mobile](
[To see links please register here]
) looks clean and neat.
[Wikipedia](
[To see links please register here]
) • [GitHub](
[To see links please register here]
) • [Mobile-first controls demos](
[To see links please register here]
) • [Desktop controls demos](
[To see links please register here]
) • [SO](
[To see links please register here]
)
6. [DHTMLX](
[To see links please register here]
) - JavaScript library for building rich Web and Mobile apps. Looks most like ExtJS - check the [demos](
[To see links please register here]
). Has been developed [since 2005](
[To see links please register here]
) but still looks modern. All components [except TreeGrid](
[To see links please register here]
) are available under GPLv2 but advanced features for many components are only available in the commercial PRO edition - see for example the [tree](
[To see links please register here]
). Claims to be used by many Fortune 500 companies.
![DHTMLX][6]
[Minimal presence on GitHub](
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) (the [main library code](
[To see links please register here]
) is missing) and [StackOverflow](
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) but [active forum](
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). The [documentation is *not* available on GitHub](
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), which makes it difficult to improve by the community.
7. [Polymer](
[To see links please register here]
), a Web Components polyfill, plus [Polymer Paper](
[To see links please register here]
), Google's implementation of the Material design. Aimed at web and mobile apps. Doesn't have advanced widgets like trees or even grids but the controls it provides are mobile-first and responsive. Used by many big players, e.g. [IBM](
[To see links please register here]
) or [USA Today](
[To see links please register here]
).
![Polymer Paper Elements][7]
8. [Ant Design](
[To see links please register here]
) claims it is "a design language for background applications", influenced by "nature" and helping designers ["create low-entropy atmosphere for developer team"](
[To see links please register here]
). That's probably a poor translation from Chinese for "UI components for enterprise web applications". It's a React UI library written in TypeScript, with many components, from simple (buttons, cards) to advanced ([autocomplete](
[To see links please register here]
), [calendar](
[To see links please register here]
), [tag input](
[To see links please register here]
), [table](
[To see links please register here]
)).
The project was [born in China](
[To see links please register here]
), is [popular with Chinese companies](
[To see links please register here]
's-using-Ant-Design), and parts of the documentation are available only [in Chinese](
[To see links please register here]
). Quite popular [on GitHub](
[To see links please register here]
), yet it makes the [mistake of splitting the community](
[To see links please register here]
) into Chinese and English chat rooms. The design looks Material-ish, but fonts are small and the information looks lost in a see of whitespace.
9. [PrimeUI](
[To see links please register here]
) - collection of 45+ rich widgets based on jQuery UI. Apache 2.0 license. Small [GitHub community](
[To see links please register here]
). 35 premium themes available.
10. [qooxdoo](
[To see links please register here]
) - "a universal JavaScript framework
with a coherent set of individual components", developed and funded by German hosting provider 1&1 (see the [contributors](
[To see links please register here]
), one of the world's largest hosting companies. GPL/[EPL](
[To see links please register here]
) (a business-friendly license).
Mobile themes look modern but desktop themes look old (gradients).
[![Qooxdoo][8]](
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)
[Wikipedia](
[To see links please register here]
) • [GitHub](
[To see links please register here]
) • [Web/Mobile/Desktop demos](
[To see links please register here]
) • [Widgets Demo browser](
[To see links please register here]
) • [Widget browser](
[To see links please register here]
) • [SO](
[To see links please register here]
) • [Playground](
[To see links please register here]
) • [Community](
[To see links please register here]
)
11. [jQuery UI](
[To see links please register here]
) - easy to pick up; looks a bit dated; lacks advanced widgets. Of course, you can combine it with independent widgets for particular needs, e.g. [trees](
[To see links please register here]
) or [other UI components](
[To see links please register here]
), but the same can be said for any other framework.
12. [tag:angular] + [Angular UI](
[To see links please register here]
). While Angular is backed by Google, it's being radically revamped in the upcoming 2.0 version, and "users will need to get to grips with a new kind of architecture. It's also been confirmed that there will be [no migration path from Angular 1.X to 2.0](
[To see links please register here]
;. Moreover, the consensus seems to be that [Angular 2 won't really be ready for use until a year or two from now](
[To see links please register here]
). Angular UI has relatively few widgets (no trees, for example).
13. [DojoToolkit](
[To see links please register here]
) and their powerful Dijit set of [widgets](
[To see links please register here]
). Completely [open-sourced and actively developed on GitHub](
[To see links please register here]
), but development is now (Nov 2018) focused on the new [dojo.io](
[To see links please register here]
) framework, which has very few basic widgets. BSD/AFL license. Development started in 2004 and the Dojo Foundation is being sponsored by IBM, Google, and others - see [Wikipedia](
[To see links please register here]
). [7500 questions here on SO](
[To see links please register here]
).
![Dojo Dijit][4]
Themes look desktop-oriented and dated - see the **[theme tester in dijit](
[To see links please register here]
)**. The [official theme previewer](
[To see links please register here]
) is broken and only shows "Claro". A [Bootstrap theme exists](
[To see links please register here]
), which looks a lot like Bootstrap, but doesn't use Bootstrap classes. In Jan 2015, I started a thread on **[building a Material Design theme for Dojo](
[To see links please register here]
)**, which got quite popular within the first hours. However, there are questions regarding building that theme for the current Dojo 1.10 vs. [the next Dojo 2.0](
[To see links please register here]
). The response to that thread shows an active and wide community, covering many time zones.
Unfortunately, [Dojo has fallen out of popularity](
[To see links please register here]
) and [fewer companies appear to use it](
[To see links please register here]
), despite [having (had?) a strong foothold in the enterprise world](
[To see links please register here]
). In 2009-2012, its [learning curve was steep](
[To see links please register here]
) and the documentation needed improvements; while the [documentation has substantially improved](
[To see links please register here]
), it's unclear how easy it is to pick up Dojo nowadays.
With a [Material Design theme](
[To see links please register here]
), Dojo (2.0?) might be the killer UI components framework.
[Wikipedia](
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) • [GitHub](
[To see links please register here]
) • [Themes](
[To see links please register here]
) • [Demos](
[To see links please register here]
) • [Desktop widgets](
[To see links please register here]
) • [SO](
[To see links please register here]
)
14. [Enyo](
[To see links please register here]
) - front-end library aimed at mobile and TV apps (e.g. large touch-friendly controls). Developed by LG Electronix and [Apache-licensed on GitHub](
[To see links please register here]
).
15. The radical [Cappuccino](
[To see links please register here]
) - Objective-J (a superset of JavaScript) instead of HTML+CSS+DOM
16. [Mochaui](
[To see links please register here]
), MooTools UI Library User Interface Library. <300 GitHub stars.
17. [CrossUI](
[To see links please register here]
) - cross-browser JS framework to develop and package the exactly same code and UI into Web Apps, Native Desktop Apps (Windows, OS X, Linux) and Mobile Apps (iOS, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry). Open sourced LGPL3. Featured RAD tool (form builder etc.). The UI looks desktop-, not web-oriented. [Actively developed, small community](
[To see links please register here]
). [No presence on GitHub](
[To see links please register here]
).
18. [ZinoUI](
[To see links please register here]
) - simple widgets. The DataTable, for instance, doesn't even support sorting.
19. [Wijmo](
[To see links please register here]
) - good-looking commercial widgets, with old (jQuery UI) widgets open-sourced [on GitHub](
[To see links please register here]
) (their development stopped in 2013). Developed by [ComponentOne](
[To see links please register here]
), a division of GrapeCity. See [Wijmo Complete vs. Open](/widgets/license/wijmo-complete-vs-wijmo-open/).
20. [CxJS](
[To see links please register here]
) - commercial JS framework based on React, Babel and webpack offering form elements, form validation, advanced grid control, navigational elements, tooltips, overlays, charts, routing, layout support, themes, culture dependent formatting and more.
[![CxJS][9]][9]
[Widgets](
[To see links please register here]
) - [Demo Apps](
[To see links please register here]
) - [Examples](
[To see links please register here]
) - [GitHub](
[To see links please register here]
)
### Full-stack frameworks
1. [SproutCore](
[To see links please register here]
) - developed by Apple for web applications with native performance, handling large data sets on the client. Powers iCloud.com. Not intended for widgets.
2. [Wakanda](
[To see links please register here]
): aimed at business/enterprise web apps - see [What is Wakanda?](
[To see links please register here]
). Architecture:
* Wakanda Server (server-side JavaScript ([custom engine](
)) + open-source [NoSQL database](
[To see links please register here]
))
* desktop IDE and WYSIWYG editor for tables, forms, reports
* Wakanda Application Framework (datasource layer + browser-based interface widgets) that helps with browser and device compatibility across desktop and mobile
Wakanda is highly integrated, [includes a ton of features out of the box](
), but has a [very small GitHub community](
[To see links please register here]
) and [SO presence](
[To see links please register here]
).
3. [Servoy](
[To see links please register here]
) - "a cross platform frontend development and deployment environment for SQL databases". Boasts a "full WYSIWIG (What You See Is What You Get) UI designer for HTML5 with built-in data-binding to back-end services", responsive design, support for HTML6 Web Components, Websockets and mobile platforms. [Written in Java](
[To see links please register here]
) and generates JavaScript code using [various JavaBean](
[To see links please register here]
.
4. [SmartClient/SmartGWT](
[To see links please register here]
) - mobile and cross-browser HTML5 UI components combined with a Java server. Aimed at building powerful business apps - see [demos](
[To see links please register here]
).
5. [Vaadin](
[To see links please register here]
) - full-stack Java/GWT + JavaScript/HTML3 web app framework
5. [Backbase](
[To see links please register here]
) - portal software
6. [Shiny](
[To see links please register here]
) - front-end library on top R, with visualization, layout and control widgets
7. [ZKOSS](
[To see links please register here]
): Java+jQuery+Bootstrap framework for building enterprise web and mobile apps.
### CSS libraries + minimal widgets
These libraries don't implement complex widgets such as tables with sorting/filtering, autocompletes, or trees.
1. [Bootstrap](
[To see links please register here]
)
2. [Foundation for Apps](
[To see links please register here]
) - responsive front-end framework on top of AngularJS; more of a [grid/layout/navigation library](
[To see links please register here]
)
3. [UI Kit](
[To see links please register here]
) - similar to Bootstrap, with fewer widgets, but with official off-canvas.
### Libraries using HTML Canvas
Using the canvas elements allows for complete control over the UI, and great cross-browser compatibility, but comes at the [cost of missing native browser functionality](
[To see links please register here]
), e.g. page search via Ctrl/Cmd+F.
1. [Zebra](
[To see links please register here]
) - [demos](
[To see links please register here]
)
### No longer developed as of Dec 2014
1. [Yahoo! User Interface - YUI](
[To see links please register here]
), launched in 2005, but no longer maintained by the core contributors - see the [announcement](
[To see links please register here]
), which highlights reasons why large UI widget libraries are perceived as walled gardens that developers don't want to be locked into.
2. [echo3](
[To see links please register here]
), [GitHub](
[To see links please register here]
). Supports writing either server-side Java applications that don't require developer knowledge of HTML, HTTP, or JavaScript, or client-side JavaScript-based applications do not require a server, but can communicate with one via AJAX. Last update: July 2013.
3. [ampleSDK](
[To see links please register here]
)
4. Simpler widgets [livepipe.net](
[To see links please register here]
)
5. [JxLib](
[To see links please register here]
)
6. [rialto](
[To see links please register here]
)
7. Simple UI kit
8. [Prototype-ui](
[To see links please register here]
)
### Other lists
* [Best of JS - component toolkits](
[To see links please register here]
)
* Wikipedia's [Comparison of JavaScript frameworks](
[To see links please register here]
)
* Wikipedia's list of [GUI-related JavaScript libraries](
[To see links please register here]
)
* [jqueryuiwidgets.com](
[To see links please register here]
) - detailed jQuery widgets feature comparison
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