bootstrap vs semantic-ui-react vs material-ui: Which is Better UI Component Libraries?

Package	Downloads	Stars	Size	Issues	Publish	License

bootstrap	4,449,549	170,415	9.67 MB	629	8 months ago	MIT
semantic-ui-react	245,576	13,212	2.9 MB	212	10 months ago	MIT
material-ui	49,563	93,587	-	1,897	6 years ago	MIT

Design Philosophy

bootstrap: Bootstrap follows a mobile-first approach and emphasizes responsive design, making it easy to create layouts that adapt to various screen sizes. Its design is minimalistic, focusing on usability and simplicity, which allows for quick implementation without deep customization.
semantic-ui-react: Semantic UI React promotes the use of human-friendly HTML and a semantic approach to UI design. It emphasizes clarity and simplicity in its components, making it easy for developers to create intuitive interfaces that are accessible and user-friendly.
material-ui: Material-UI is based on Google's Material Design, which emphasizes depth, shadows, and responsive animations. It provides a rich set of components that are designed to create a cohesive and visually appealing user experience, focusing on interaction and feedback.

Customization

bootstrap: Bootstrap allows for customization through its Sass variables and mixins, enabling developers to easily modify styles to fit their brand. However, extensive customization may require overriding default styles, which can lead to complexity.
semantic-ui-react: Semantic UI React allows for customization through its theming capabilities, enabling developers to create custom themes that align with their design requirements. It also provides a straightforward API for overriding styles, making it easier to achieve a unique look.
material-ui: Material-UI offers a powerful theming system that allows developers to customize the appearance of components at a global level. It supports CSS-in-JS, making it easy to apply styles dynamically based on component state or props, providing a high degree of flexibility.

Component Variety

bootstrap: Bootstrap provides a wide range of components, including navigation bars, modals, alerts, and forms. While it covers most common UI needs, it may lack some advanced components found in more specialized libraries.
semantic-ui-react: Semantic UI React provides a diverse set of components that are designed with a focus on usability and accessibility. It includes components like dropdowns, progress bars, and various form elements, making it versatile for different types of applications.
material-ui: Material-UI offers a comprehensive set of components that are designed to follow Material Design guidelines. It includes advanced components like date pickers, sliders, and more, making it suitable for complex applications that require rich interactions.

Community and Ecosystem

bootstrap: Bootstrap has a large community and extensive documentation, making it easy to find resources, tutorials, and third-party plugins. Its widespread use means that many developers are familiar with it, facilitating collaboration and support.
semantic-ui-react: Semantic UI React has a supportive community and decent documentation, although it may not be as extensive as Bootstrap or Material-UI. It focuses on providing clear examples and a straightforward API, making it easier for developers to get started.
material-ui: Material-UI has a growing community and a rich ecosystem of components and extensions. Its documentation is thorough, and it provides examples and use cases that help developers implement components effectively.

Learning Curve

bootstrap: Bootstrap is relatively easy to learn, especially for beginners. Its straightforward class-based approach allows developers to quickly understand how to use its components without deep knowledge of CSS or JavaScript.
semantic-ui-react: Semantic UI React is designed to be intuitive, with a focus on semantic HTML. Its learning curve is gentle, especially for those who are already familiar with React, as it emphasizes clear and understandable component structures.
material-ui: Material-UI has a moderate learning curve, particularly for those unfamiliar with Material Design principles. However, its comprehensive documentation and examples help ease the learning process for developers familiar with React.

bootstrap: Choose Bootstrap if you need a straightforward and widely-used framework that offers a responsive grid system and a large number of pre-designed components. It's ideal for rapid prototyping and projects where you want a clean, classic look without extensive customization.

semantic-ui-react: Choose Semantic UI React if you want a library that emphasizes human-friendly HTML and a semantic approach to building user interfaces. It is great for projects that require a clean and intuitive design, with a focus on usability and accessibility.

material-ui: Choose Material-UI if you are building applications that require a modern aesthetic based on Google's Material Design principles. It provides a comprehensive set of components that are highly customizable and work well with React, making it suitable for projects that prioritize user experience and design consistency.