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Top 10 Next.js UI Libraries for Modern Web Apps

#webdev #javascript #nextjs #tailwindcss

Hey everyone, ready to build a sleek Next.js app? In this post, I'll show you how to get started a Next.js with some of the most popular UI libraries for responsive, modern designs.

Here are the most popular Next.js UI libraries:

1. Tailwind CSS

  • Highly customizable utility-first CSS framework.
  • Rapid development and responsive design.
  • Tailwind CSS

2. shadcn/ui

  • A popular set of reusable UI components built with Tailwind CSS and Radix UI.
  • Modern, accessible, customizable, and designed specifically for Next.js.
  • shadcn/ui

3. Chakra UI

  • Simple, modular, and accessible component library.
  • Easy theming and supports both dark and light modes.
  • Chakra UI

4. Mantine

  • Rich, responsive, and accessible UI components.
  • Strong support for hooks and easy to customize.
  • Mantine

5. NextUI

  • Beautiful, modern, and highly customizable components optimized for Next.js.
  • Dark mode support, excellent developer experience.
  • NextUI

6. Material UI (MUI)

  • Robust, mature UI library implementing Google’s Material Design.
  • Wide array of components and excellent documentation.
  • Material UI

7. Radix UI

  • Low-level UI component library focused on accessibility and composability.
  • Frequently combined with other libraries (e.g., Tailwind or shadcn/ui).
  • Radix UI

8. Ant Design

  • Enterprise-level UI design system.
  • Rich set of components and clear design guidelines.
  • Ant Design

9. Headless UI

  • Completely unstyled, accessible UI components designed for integration with Tailwind CSS.
  • Allows maximum flexibility and customization.
  • Headless UI

10. Flowbite

  • Built upon Tailwind CSS, offers interactive and responsive components with good integration with Next.js.
  • Flowbite

Getting Started with Next.js and Tailwind CSS (Built-In)

Step 1: Create a New Next.js Project

Run the following command and follow the interactive prompts:

npx create-next-app@latest my-tailwind-app
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During setup, you can choose options like TypeScript and ESLint. When prompted about styling, select Tailwind CSS. This option configures Tailwind automatically.

Step 2: Review the Pre-Configured Files

After the setup, your project will include:

  • tailwind.config.js – Your Tailwind configuration.
  • postcss.config.js – Configures PostCSS for processing Tailwind.
  • styles/globals.css – Already set up with the Tailwind directives: 
  @tailwind base;
  @tailwind components;
  @tailwind utilities;
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This means Tailwind CSS is fully integrated without extra manual steps.

Step 3: Run Your Development Server

Start your development server with:

npm run dev
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Then open http://localhost:3000 in your browser to see your new Next.js app styled with Tailwind CSS.

Getting started with Next.js app and shadcn/ui:

Here's a clear, step-by-step guide to starting a new Next.js app with shadcn/ui:

Step 1: Set up Next.js project

Create a new Next.js application:

npx create-next-app@latest my-app
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During setup, you’ll be asked a few questions. You can select:

  • App Router: Yes
  • TypeScript: Yes
  • ESLint: Yes
  • Tailwind CSS: Yes
  • src/ directory: Optional (recommended: Yes)

Step 2: Navigate into your project folder 

cd my-app
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Step 3: Install dependencies for shadcn/ui 

npx shadcn-ui@latest init
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This command will guide you through initializing shadcn/ui:

  • Choose your project path (default: ./ or src/)
  • Select your preferred style: Default
  • Choose a base color for your theme (default is fine)
  • Accept installing dependencies automatically.

This will install:

  • class-variance-authority
  • clsx
  • tailwind-merge
  • lucide-react

Step 4: Add components with shadcn/ui

Use the CLI to add UI components like buttons, cards, forms, and navigation elements.

For example, to add a Button component:

npx shadcn@latest add button
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Other popular examples:

npx shadcn@latest add card
npx shadcn@latest add input
npx shadcn@latest add dropdown-menu
npx shadcn@latest add input button card alert skeleton scroll-area tabs button dialog tooltip
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Step 5: Use components in your pages

Example usage of Button component in a Next.js page:

// app/page.tsx
import { Button } from "@/components/ui/button";

export default function Home() {
  return (
    <main className="flex min-h-screen items-center justify-center">
      <Button variant="default">Click me</Button>
    </main>
  );
}
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Step 6: Run your app

Start your development server:

npm run dev
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Visit your app at http://localhost:3000.

Optional but recommended tools:

  • Framer Motion for animations: 
npm install framer-motion
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  • Recharts for charting needs: 
npm install recharts
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Next.js with Chakra UI

Here's a step-by-step guide to integrating Chakra UI into a Next.js project:

Step 1: Create a New Next.js Project

If you haven’t already created a project, run:

npx create-next-app@latest my-chakra-app
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Follow the prompts to set up your project (you can choose TypeScript, ESLint, etc., as needed).

Step 2: Install Chakra UI and Its Peer Dependencies

Navigate into your project directory:

cd my-chakra-app
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Then install Chakra UI along with its required packages:

npm install @chakra-ui/react @emotion/react @emotion/styled framer-motion
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Step 3: Set Up the Chakra Provider

To enable Chakra UI across your app, wrap your application with the ChakraProvider. If you're using the Pages Router, modify your pages/_app.js (or _app.tsx for TypeScript):

// pages/_app.js
import { ChakraProvider } from '@chakra-ui/react'

function MyApp({ Component, pageProps }) {
  return (
    <ChakraProvider>
      <Component {...pageProps} />
    </ChakraProvider>
  )
}

export default MyApp
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If you're using the App Router (Next.js 13+), wrap your layout in the provider:

// app/layout.tsx (or .jsx)
import { ChakraProvider } from '@chakra-ui/react'

export default function RootLayout({ children }) {
  return (
    <html lang="en">
      <body>
        <ChakraProvider>{children}</ChakraProvider>
      </body>
    </html>
  )
}
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Step 4: Use Chakra UI Components

Now you can import and use Chakra UI components in your pages or components. For example, update your pages/index.js (or app/page.tsx) with a simple button:

// pages/index.js
import { Button, Box, Heading } from '@chakra-ui/react'

export default function Home() {
  return (
    <Box p={8} textAlign="center">
      <Heading mb={4}>Welcome to Chakra UI</Heading>
      <Button colorScheme="teal">Click Me</Button>
    </Box>
  )
}
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Step 5: Run Your Application

Start your development server with:

npm run dev
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Visit http://localhost:3000 to see your Chakra-powered Next.js app in action.

Additional Tips

  • Customization: Chakra UI allows you to customize themes easily. You can extend the default theme by creating a custom theme file and passing it to ChakraProvider.
  • Responsive Design: Leverage Chakra’s built-in responsive styles to design for various screen sizes effortlessly.
  • Accessibility: Chakra components are designed with accessibility in mind, making it easier to build inclusive web applications.

You can start with thia setup to have a robust foundation to build modern, accessible, and responsive user interfaces with Chakra UI in Next.js.

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