styled-components vs react-native-paper vs native-base vs react-native-unistyles
React Native UI Component Libraries Comparison
1 Year
styled-componentsreact-native-papernative-basereact-native-unistylesSimilar Packages:
What's React Native UI Component Libraries?

React Native UI component libraries provide developers with pre-built components and design systems that facilitate the creation of mobile applications. These libraries help streamline the development process by offering a consistent set of UI elements that adhere to platform-specific design guidelines, ensuring a native look and feel across iOS and Android. By utilizing these libraries, developers can save time, enhance maintainability, and improve the overall user experience of their applications.

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styled-components6,323,54440,7781.77 MB32013 days agoMIT
react-native-paper254,28113,5323.85 MB3823 months agoMIT
native-base49,52020,3018.63 MB3732 years agoMIT
react-native-unistyles32,4352,051584 kB102 months agoMIT
Feature Comparison: styled-components vs react-native-paper vs native-base vs react-native-unistyles

Design Consistency

  • styled-components:

    Styled-Components enables you to create scoped styles that are tied directly to your components, promoting consistency in styling. However, the consistency of design depends on how well developers adhere to design principles when creating styled components.

  • react-native-paper:

    React Native Paper is built with Material Design in mind, offering a comprehensive set of components that follow Material Design guidelines. This ensures that your application has a consistent and modern look, enhancing user experience and usability.

  • native-base:

    NativeBase provides a consistent design language across both iOS and Android platforms, ensuring that your app maintains a native look and feel. It comes with a set of pre-designed components that adhere to the design guidelines of both platforms, making it easier to create visually appealing applications.

  • react-native-unistyles:

    React Native Unistyles allows for a more flexible approach to styling, but it does not enforce a specific design system. This can lead to inconsistencies if not managed properly, as developers have the freedom to create styles without adhering to a particular design language.

Customization

  • styled-components:

    Styled-Components offers powerful customization through the use of props and dynamic styling. You can easily create variations of components by passing props, allowing for a high degree of flexibility and customization in your styles.

  • react-native-paper:

    React Native Paper provides theming capabilities that allow you to customize colors, fonts, and other design elements. Its built-in theming support makes it easy to maintain a cohesive look throughout your application while adhering to Material Design principles.

  • native-base:

    NativeBase offers extensive customization options, allowing developers to easily override default styles and create themes that fit their application's branding. This flexibility makes it suitable for projects that require a unique look while still leveraging pre-built components.

  • react-native-unistyles:

    React Native Unistyles excels in customization, as it allows developers to create styles using a functional approach. This can lead to highly customizable styles that can be reused across components, promoting a DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself) coding style.

Learning Curve

  • styled-components:

    Styled-Components is generally easy to learn for developers with a background in CSS, as it allows them to write styles in a familiar syntax. However, understanding the nuances of CSS-in-JS and managing styles at scale can present challenges.

  • react-native-paper:

    React Native Paper is relatively easy to learn, particularly for those already familiar with Material Design. Its clear documentation and straightforward API make it simple to integrate into projects, allowing developers to quickly get up to speed.

  • native-base:

    NativeBase has a moderate learning curve, especially for developers familiar with React Native. Its extensive documentation and examples help ease the onboarding process, making it accessible for both beginners and experienced developers.

  • react-native-unistyles:

    React Native Unistyles may have a steeper learning curve for developers who are not accustomed to functional programming styles. However, once understood, it can lead to more efficient and maintainable code. The unique approach to styling may require some adjustment for traditional React Native developers.

Performance

  • styled-components:

    Styled-Components can introduce performance overhead due to the runtime generation of styles. However, with proper optimization techniques, such as memoization and avoiding unnecessary re-renders, developers can mitigate performance issues.

  • react-native-paper:

    React Native Paper is designed with performance in mind, but as with any UI library, excessive use of components can impact performance. It is important to use the library's components judiciously and follow best practices to ensure optimal performance.

  • native-base:

    NativeBase is optimized for performance, but the use of numerous components can lead to increased render times if not managed properly. Developers should be mindful of component re-renders and optimize their code accordingly to maintain smooth performance.

  • react-native-unistyles:

    React Native Unistyles can lead to better performance due to its functional approach to styling, which can reduce the number of style recalculations. However, performance can vary based on how styles are applied and managed throughout the application.

Community and Support

  • styled-components:

    Styled-Components has a large and active community, with extensive documentation and resources available. This strong community support makes it easier for developers to troubleshoot issues and share best practices.

  • react-native-paper:

    React Native Paper benefits from a vibrant community and is well-documented, which helps developers find solutions to common issues and best practices for using the library effectively.

  • native-base:

    NativeBase has a strong community and is actively maintained, providing ample resources, documentation, and community support. This makes it easier for developers to find help and share knowledge.

  • react-native-unistyles:

    React Native Unistyles is relatively new compared to the other libraries, which may result in a smaller community and fewer resources. However, its unique approach may attract a niche audience that values functional styling.

How to Choose: styled-components vs react-native-paper vs native-base vs react-native-unistyles
  • styled-components:

    Choose Styled-Components if you want to leverage the power of CSS-in-JS for styling your React Native components. This library allows you to write actual CSS code to style your components, providing a dynamic and scoped styling solution that can enhance the maintainability of your styles.

  • react-native-paper:

    Opt for React Native Paper if you want a library that emphasizes Material Design principles and offers a robust set of components that are easy to use and customize. It is ideal for applications that require a consistent Material Design aesthetic and accessibility features out of the box.

  • native-base:

    Choose NativeBase if you are looking for a comprehensive library that provides a wide range of customizable components and a consistent design system that follows Material Design and iOS guidelines. It is particularly useful for developers who want to quickly prototype applications with a rich set of UI elements.

  • react-native-unistyles:

    Select React Native Unistyles if you prefer a utility-first approach to styling your components. This library allows for a more flexible styling solution, enabling you to create styles using a functional programming style, which can lead to cleaner and more maintainable code.

README for styled-components

Visual primitives for the component age. Use the best bits of ES6 and CSS to style your apps without stress 💅

downloads: 600k/month Discord gzip size module formats: umd, cjs, esm Code Coverage

Upgrading from v5? See the migration guide.

Utilizing tagged template literals (a recent addition to JavaScript) and the power of CSS, styled-components allow you to write actual CSS code to style your components. It also removes the mapping between components and styles – using components as a low-level styling construct could not be easier!

const Button = styled.button`
  color: grey;
`;

Alternatively, you may use style objects. This allows for easy porting of CSS from inline styles, while still supporting the more advanced styled-components capabilities like component selectors and media queries.

const Button = styled.button({
  color: 'grey',
});

Equivalent to:

const Button = styled.button`
  color: grey;
`;

styled-components is compatible with both React (for web) and React Native – meaning it's the perfect choice even for truly universal apps! See the documentation about React Native for more information.

Supported by Front End Center. Thank you for making this possible!


Docs

See the documentation at styled-components.com/docs for more information about using styled-components!

Quicklinks to some of the most-visited pages:


Example

import React from 'react';

import styled from 'styled-components';

// Create a <Title> react component that renders an <h1> which is
// centered, palevioletred and sized at 1.5em
const Title = styled.h1`
  font-size: 1.5em;
  text-align: center;
  color: palevioletred;
`;

// Create a <Wrapper> react component that renders a <section> with
// some padding and a papayawhip background
const Wrapper = styled.section`
  padding: 4em;
  background: papayawhip;
`;

function MyUI() {
  return (
    // Use them like any other React component – except they're styled!
    <Wrapper>
      <Title>Hello World, this is my first styled component!</Title>
    </Wrapper>
  );
}

This is what you'll see in your browser:


Looking for v5?

The main branch is for the most-current version of styled-components, currently v6. For changes targeting v5, please point your PRs at the legacy-v5 branch.


Built with styled-components

A lot of hard work goes into community libraries, projects, and guides. A lot of them make it easier to get started or help you with your next project! There are also a whole lot of interesting apps and sites that people have built using styled-components.

Make sure to head over to awesome-styled-components to see them all! And please contribute and add your own work to the list so others can find it.


Contributing

If you want to contribute to styled-components please see our contributing and community guidelines, they'll help you get set up locally and explain the whole process.

Please also note that all repositories under the styled-components organization follow our Code of Conduct, make sure to review and follow it.


Badge

Let everyone know you're using styled-componentsstyle: styled-components

[![style: styled-components](https://img.shields.io/badge/style-%F0%9F%92%85%20styled--components-orange.svg?colorB=daa357&colorA=db748e)](https://github.com/styled-components/styled-components)

Contributors

This project exists thanks to all the people who contribute. [Contribute].


Backers

Thank you to all our backers! 🙏 [Become a backer]


Sponsors

Support this project by becoming a sponsor. Your logo will show up here with a link to your website. [Become a sponsor]


License

Licensed under the MIT License, Copyright © 2016-present Glen Maddern and Maximilian Stoiber.

See LICENSE for more information.


Acknowledgements

This project builds on a long line of earlier work by clever folks all around the world. We'd like to thank Charlie Somerville, Nik Graf, Sunil Pai, Michael Chan, Andrey Popp, Jed Watson & Andrey Sitnik who contributed ideas, code or inspiration.

Special thanks to @okonet for the fantastic logo.