Looking for a shadcn/ui alternative? This page compares shadcn/ui and daisyUI, two popular UI component libraries. We are comparing features, size, efficiency and usage data to help you choose which component library is better for your next project.
shadcn/ui | daisyUI |
|---|---|
MIT License Open source MIT License | MIT License Open source MIT License |
Only React Frameworks shadcn only works with React | ALL Frameworks daisyUI is framework agnostic and works everywhere |
43 Unique components shadcn has 50 components, 43 of them are unique – for example pagination and button group are considered as same. | 57 Unique components daisyUI has 61 components, 57 of them are unique – for example pagination and button group are considered as same. |
2 Built-in Themes shadcn has 2 themes | 35 Built-in Themes daisyUI has 35 themes |
No Supports more than two themes Does not support more than 2 themes at the same time | Yes Supports more than two themes daisyUI supports unlimited themes at the same time, allowing for dynamic theme switching. |
2000kB JavaScript size Imported JavaScript bundle size (minified) of dependencies installed by shadcn CLI | 0 JavaScript size daisyUI doesn't ship JavaScript to browsers |
159 Dependencies shadcn CLI installs 159 third-party dependencies (Not including React and Tailwind CSS). Using more third-party dependencies increases the risk of security vulnerabilities, compatibility problems, and long-term maintenance headaches from deprecated packages. | 0 Dependencies daisyUI has no dependencies. It's immune to 3rd party vulnerabilities, dependency version mismatch, and deprecation issues. |
91MB Dependency size | 0 Dependency size |
84900 GitHub stars | 36000 GitHub stars In GitHub's top 400 repositories of all time |
22600 Used by open source projects Based on GitHub's public repositories | 392000 Used by open source projects Based on GitHub's public repositories |
173000 NPM downloads Weekly downloads from NPM | 390000 NPM downloads Weekly downloads from NPM |
No CDN shadcn CSS file is not available on CDN | Yes CDN daisyUI CSS file is available on CDN |
No Global customizations shadcn requires changing JavaScript props one by one at build time to do design token customization | Yes Global customizations daisyUI provides tokens, root-level CSS variables and component-level CSS variables that let you adjust colors, sizes, spacing, radius, and other styles to match your design. |
No works without Node.js shadcn requires a Node.js environment | Yes works without Node.js daisyUI can be used as a standalone file, with Tailwind CSS standalone version. This is useful for projects without a Node.js environment. |
No No-build version shadcn does not provide micro CSS files for each component | Yes No-build version daisyUI provides micro CSS files for each component |
No P3 colors shadcn does not use wide-gamut P3 colors by default | Yes P3 colors daisyUI uses wide-gamut P3 colors |
No RTL support shadcn does not supports right-to-left (RTL) layouts by default | Yes RTL support daisyUI supports right-to-left (RTL) layouts |
No Runtime CSS customization shadcn customizations requires changing JavaScript props at build time | Yes Runtime CSS customization daisyUI uses CSS variables for design customization at runtime |
No Native CSS nesting shadcn doesn not use native CSS nesting | Yes Native CSS nesting daisyUI uses native CSS nesting, reducing the CSS file size |
No Automatic install and update Components are installed individually via the CLI tool rather than as a package. This requires installing more dependencies for each component. | |
Yes Requires maintenance shadcn components exist in your codebase meaning you should manually maintain, debug and develop them. They will not receive updates and bug fixes automatically .Updating them manually according to shadcn changes means resetting all your customizations on each update. | |
No Semantic versioning for components shadcn works as a registry of components, rather than a library. The CLI tool generates component files in your project. After that, there's no versioning, no updates, and no compatibility guarantees between components. | |
895 Open GitHub issues As of April 2025 | 22 Open GitHub issues As of April 2025 |
1. Install daisyUI as a Node package:
npm i -D daisyui@latestpnpm add -D daisyui@latestyarn add -D daisyui@latestbun add -D daisyui@latestdeno i -D npm:daisyui@latest2. Add daisyUI to app.css:
@import "tailwindcss";
@plugin "daisyui";This comparison page is for informational purposes only and does not mean to criticize libraries or projects. Information is based on GitHub public data, NPM registry data and official documentation websites of the libraries. If you found any outdated information, please open a PR to update it. All trademarks, logos and brand names are the property of their respective owners.