react-burger-menu vs react-navigation-drawer vs react-sidebar
React Navigation Libraries Comparison
1 Year
react-burger-menureact-navigation-drawerreact-sidebar
What's React Navigation Libraries?

These libraries provide various approaches to implementing navigation menus in React applications. They cater to different design requirements and user experiences, allowing developers to choose the best fit for their application's needs. Each library offers unique features and customization options, making them suitable for different types of projects, from simple applications to complex, multi-page interfaces.

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react-burger-menu31,2815,093185 kB155 months agoMIT
react-navigation-drawer22,143144384 kB2-MIT
react-sidebar18,4111,470-367 years agoMIT
Feature Comparison: react-burger-menu vs react-navigation-drawer vs react-sidebar

Customization

  • react-burger-menu:

    react-burger-menu offers extensive customization options, allowing developers to easily modify the appearance and behavior of the menu. You can choose from various predefined styles or create your own using CSS, making it adaptable to different design requirements.

  • react-navigation-drawer:

    react-navigation-drawer provides a flexible API for customizing the drawer's appearance and behavior. You can easily adjust the drawer's width, add custom content, and configure animations, ensuring it fits seamlessly into your application's design.

  • react-sidebar:

    react-sidebar allows for basic customization of the sidebar's appearance through CSS. While it may not offer as many built-in styles as the other libraries, it provides a simple way to create a consistent look and feel for your application.

Integration

  • react-burger-menu:

    react-burger-menu is designed for easy integration into any React application. It does not depend on any specific routing library, making it versatile for various use cases and allowing developers to implement it quickly without complex setup.

  • react-navigation-drawer:

    react-navigation-drawer is specifically built for React Native applications and integrates seamlessly with the React Navigation library. It provides a cohesive navigation experience across mobile platforms, making it ideal for mobile app development.

  • react-sidebar:

    react-sidebar can be integrated into any React application with minimal effort. It does not require a specific routing library, making it suitable for both single-page and multi-page applications.

Mobile Responsiveness

  • react-burger-menu:

    react-burger-menu is inherently responsive and adapts well to different screen sizes. It provides a mobile-friendly experience by hiding the menu behind a burger icon, which can be easily toggled by users.

  • react-navigation-drawer:

    react-navigation-drawer is designed with mobile responsiveness in mind, offering built-in gestures and animations that enhance the user experience on mobile devices. It allows users to swipe to open or close the drawer, providing an intuitive navigation method.

  • react-sidebar:

    react-sidebar can be made responsive, but it requires additional CSS adjustments to ensure it behaves well on smaller screens. It is primarily designed for desktop applications, so developers may need to implement custom solutions for mobile responsiveness.

Performance

  • react-burger-menu:

    react-burger-menu is lightweight and optimized for performance, ensuring that it does not significantly impact the loading time or responsiveness of your application. It is suitable for applications where performance is a priority.

  • react-navigation-drawer:

    react-navigation-drawer is optimized for mobile performance, ensuring smooth transitions and quick response times. It leverages React Native's capabilities to provide a fluid navigation experience without lag.

  • react-sidebar:

    react-sidebar is also lightweight, but its performance may vary depending on how it is implemented within the application. It is generally efficient for simple use cases but may require optimization for more complex scenarios.

Learning Curve

  • react-burger-menu:

    react-burger-menu has a gentle learning curve, making it easy for developers to implement and customize the menu without extensive knowledge of React. Its straightforward API allows for quick adoption.

  • react-navigation-drawer:

    react-navigation-drawer may have a steeper learning curve due to its integration with React Navigation and the need to understand navigation concepts in React Native. However, once familiar, developers can leverage its powerful features effectively.

  • react-sidebar:

    react-sidebar is easy to learn and implement, making it accessible for developers of all skill levels. Its simplicity allows for quick integration into projects without a steep learning curve.

How to Choose: react-burger-menu vs react-navigation-drawer vs react-sidebar
  • react-burger-menu:

    Choose react-burger-menu if you need a lightweight and customizable off-canvas menu that can be easily integrated into your React application. It is ideal for projects where a simple and visually appealing burger menu is required without the overhead of a more complex navigation system.

  • react-navigation-drawer:

    Select react-navigation-drawer if you are building a mobile application using React Native and require a robust and flexible drawer navigation solution. It is well-suited for applications that need to manage multiple screens and provide a seamless user experience with built-in gestures and animations.

  • react-sidebar:

    Opt for react-sidebar if you want a straightforward sidebar navigation solution that can be easily integrated into web applications. It is perfect for applications that require a persistent sidebar layout, providing a consistent navigation experience across different pages.

README for react-burger-menu

react-burger-menu Build Status code style: prettier

An off-canvas sidebar React component with a collection of effects and styles using CSS transitions and SVG path animations.

Using Redux? Check out redux-burger-menu for easy integration of react-burger-menu into your project.

Demo & examples

Live demo: negomi.github.io/react-burger-menu

To build the examples locally, first make sure you're using Node <11.0.0. Then run:

npm install
npm start

Then open localhost:8000 in a browser.

Tests

The test suite uses Mocha, Chai and Sinon, with jsdom.

To run the tests once, run:

npm test

To run them with a watcher, run:

npm run test:watch

Installation

The easiest way to use react-burger-menu is to install it from npm and include it in your own React build process (using Browserify, Webpack, etc).

You can also use the standalone build by including dist/react-burger-menu.js in your page. If you use this, make sure you have already included React, and it is available as a global variable.

Version 3.x uses Hooks, so if you're using React 16.8+:

npm install react-burger-menu --save

If you're using an earlier version of React:

npm install react-burger-menu@^2.9.2 --save

Usage

Items for the sidebar should be passed as child elements of the component using JSX.

import { slide as Menu } from 'react-burger-menu'

class Example extends React.Component {
  showSettings (event) {
    event.preventDefault();
    .
    .
    .
  }

  render () {
    // NOTE: You also need to provide styles, see https://github.com/negomi/react-burger-menu#styling
    return (
      <Menu>
        <a id="home" className="menu-item" href="/">Home</a>
        <a id="about" className="menu-item" href="/about">About</a>
        <a id="contact" className="menu-item" href="/contact">Contact</a>
        <a onClick={ this.showSettings } className="menu-item--small" href="">Settings</a>
      </Menu>
    );
  }
}

Animations

The example above imported slide which renders a menu that slides in on the page when the burger icon is clicked. To use a different animation you can substitute slide with any of the following (check out the demo to see the animations in action):

  • slide
  • stack
  • elastic
  • bubble
  • push
  • pushRotate
  • scaleDown
  • scaleRotate
  • fallDown
  • reveal

Properties

Some animations require certain other elements to be on your page:

  • Page wrapper - an element wrapping the rest of the content on your page (except elements with fixed positioning - see the wiki for details), placed after the menu component

    <Menu pageWrapId={ "page-wrap" } />
    <main id="page-wrap">
      .
      .
      .
    </main>
    
  • Outer container - an element containing everything, including the menu component

    <div id="outer-container">
      <Menu pageWrapId={ "page-wrap" } outerContainerId={ "outer-container" } />
      <main id="page-wrap">
        .
        .
        .
      </main>
    </div>
    

If you are using an animation that requires either/both of these elements, you need to give the element an ID, and pass that ID to the menu component as the pageWrapId and outerContainerId props respectively.

Check this table to see which animations require these elements:

Animation | pageWrapId | outerContainerId --- | :---: | :---: slide | | stack | | elastic | ✓ | ✓ bubble | | push | ✓ | ✓ pushRotate | ✓ | ✓ scaleDown | ✓ | ✓ scaleRotate | ✓ | ✓ fallDown | ✓ | ✓ reveal | ✓ | ✓

Position

The menu opens from the left by default. To have it open from the right, use the right prop. It's just a boolean so you don't need to specify a value. Then set the position of the button using CSS.

<Menu right />

Width

You can specify the width of the menu with the width prop. The default is 300.

<Menu width={ 280 } />
<Menu width={ '280px' } />
<Menu width={ '20%' } />

Open state

You can control whether the sidebar is open or closed with the isOpen prop. This is useful if you need to close the menu after a user clicks on an item in it, for example, or if you want to open the menu from some other button in addition to the standard burger icon. The default value is false.

// To render the menu open
<Menu isOpen />
<Menu isOpen={ true } />

// To render the menu closed
<Menu isOpen={ false } />

You can see a more detailed example of how to use isOpen here.

Note: If you want to render the menu open initially, you will need to set this property in your parent component's componentDidMount() function.

Open menu handler

If you keep the menu state yourself it might be convenient to pass a custom function to be used when the user triggers something that should open the menu.

Called when:

  • The user clicks on the burger icon
<Menu onOpen={ handleOnOpen } />

Note: The menu will NOT open automatically if you pass this prop, so you must handle it yourself.

Close menu handler

If you keep the menu state yourself it might be convenient to pass a custom function to be used when the user triggers something that should close the menu.

Called when:

  • The user clicks on the cross icon
  • The user clicks on the overlay
  • The user hits the escape key
<Menu onClose={ handleOnClose } />

Note: The menu will NOT close automatically if you pass this prop, so you must handle it yourself.

State change

You can detect whether the sidebar is open or closed by passing a callback function to onStateChange. The callback will receive an object containing the new state as its first argument.

var isMenuOpen = function(state) {
  return state.isOpen;
};

<Menu onStateChange={ isMenuOpen } />

Close on Escape

By default, the menu will close when the Escape key is pressed. To disable this behavior, you can pass the disableCloseOnEsc prop. This is useful in cases where you want the menu to be open all the time, for example if you're implementing a responsive menu that behaves differently depending on the browser width.

<Menu disableCloseOnEsc />

Custom keydown handler

For more control over global keypress functionality, you can override the handler that this component sets for window.addEventListener('keydown', handler), and pass a custom function. This could be useful if you are using multiple instances of this component, for example, and want to implement functionality to ensure that a single press of the Escape key closes them all.

const closeAllMenusOnEsc = (e) => {
  e = e || window.event;

  if (e.key === 'Escape' || e.keyCode === 27) {
    this.setState({areMenusOpen: false});
  }
};

<MenuOne customOnKeyDown={closeAllMenusOnEsc} isOpen={areMenusOpen} />
<MenuTwo customOnKeyDown={closeAllMenusOnEsc} isOpen={areMenusOpen} />

Note: Using this prop will disable all the default 'close on Escape' functionality, so you will need to handle this (including determining which key was pressed) yourself.

Overlay

You can turn off the default overlay with noOverlay.

<Menu noOverlay />

You can disable the overlay click event (i.e. prevent overlay clicks from closing the menu) with disableOverlayClick. This can either be a boolean, or a function that returns a boolean.

<Menu disableOverlayClick />
<Menu disableOverlayClick={() => shouldDisableOverlayClick()} />

Transitions

You can disable all transitions/animations by passing noTransition.

<Menu noTransition />

This is useful if you want the menu to remain open across re-mounts, for example during SPA route changes.

Custom icons

You can replace the default bars that make up the burger and cross icons with custom ReactElements. Pass them as the customBurgerIcon and customCrossIcon props respectively.

<Menu customBurgerIcon={ <img src="img/icon.svg" /> } />
<Menu customCrossIcon={ <img src="img/cross.svg" /> } />

You should adjust their size using the .bm-burger-button and .bm-cross-button classes, but the element itself will have the class .bm-icon or .bm-cross if you need to access it directly.

You can also disable the icon elements so they won't be included at all, by passing false to these props.

<Menu customBurgerIcon={ false } />
<Menu customCrossIcon={ false } />

This can be useful if you want exclusive external control of the menu, using the isOpen prop.

Custom ID and/or classNames

There are optional id and className props, which will simply add an ID or custom className to the rendered menu's outermost element. This is not required for any functionality, but could be useful for things like styling with CSS modules.

<Menu id={ "sidebar" } className={ "my-menu" } />

You can also pass custom classNames to the other elements:

<Menu burgerButtonClassName={ "my-class" } />
<Menu burgerBarClassName={ "my-class" } />
<Menu crossButtonClassName={ "my-class" } />
<Menu crossClassName={ "my-class" } />
<Menu menuClassName={ "my-class" } />
<Menu morphShapeClassName={ "my-class" } />
<Menu itemListClassName={ "my-class" } />
<Menu overlayClassName={ "my-class" } />

And to the html and body elements (applied when the menu is open):

<Menu htmlClassName={ "my-class" } />
<Menu bodyClassName={ "my-class" } />

Note: Passing these props will prevent the menu from applying styles to the html or body elements automatically. See here for more explanation.

Focusing the first menu item

By default, the menu will set focus on the first item when opened. This is to help with keyboard navigation. If you don't want this functionality, you can pass the disableAutoFocus prop.

<Menu disableAutoFocus />

Custom item list element

The menu's children are all wrapped in a nav element by default, as navigation is likely the most common use case for this component. However, it's a general purpose sidebar, so you can change this to a div if you're not using it for navigation:

<Menu itemListElement="div" />

Styling

All the animations are handled internally by the component. However, the visual styles (colors, fonts etc.) are not, and need to be supplied, either with CSS or with a JavaScript object passed as the styles prop.

CSS

The component has the following helper classes:

/* Position and sizing of burger button */
.bm-burger-button {
  position: fixed;
  width: 36px;
  height: 30px;
  left: 36px;
  top: 36px;
}

/* Color/shape of burger icon bars */
.bm-burger-bars {
  background: #373a47;
}

/* Color/shape of burger icon bars on hover*/
.bm-burger-bars-hover {
  background: #a90000;
}

/* Position and sizing of clickable cross button */
.bm-cross-button {
  height: 24px;
  width: 24px;
}

/* Color/shape of close button cross */
.bm-cross {
  background: #bdc3c7;
}

/*
Sidebar wrapper styles
Note: Beware of modifying this element as it can break the animations - you should not need to touch it in most cases
*/
.bm-menu-wrap {
  position: fixed;
  height: 100%;
}

/* General sidebar styles */
.bm-menu {
  background: #373a47;
  padding: 2.5em 1.5em 0;
  font-size: 1.15em;
}

/* Morph shape necessary with bubble or elastic */
.bm-morph-shape {
  fill: #373a47;
}

/* Wrapper for item list */
.bm-item-list {
  color: #b8b7ad;
  padding: 0.8em;
}

/* Individual item */
.bm-item {
  display: inline-block;
}

/* Styling of overlay */
.bm-overlay {
  background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3);
}

JavaScript

The same styles can be written as a JavaScript object like this:

var styles = {
  bmBurgerButton: {
    position: 'fixed',
    width: '36px',
    height: '30px',
    left: '36px',
    top: '36px'
  },
  bmBurgerBars: {
    background: '#373a47'
  },
  bmBurgerBarsHover: {
    background: '#a90000'
  },
  bmCrossButton: {
    height: '24px',
    width: '24px'
  },
  bmCross: {
    background: '#bdc3c7'
  },
  bmMenuWrap: {
    position: 'fixed',
    height: '100%'
  },
  bmMenu: {
    background: '#373a47',
    padding: '2.5em 1.5em 0',
    fontSize: '1.15em'
  },
  bmMorphShape: {
    fill: '#373a47'
  },
  bmItemList: {
    color: '#b8b7ad',
    padding: '0.8em'
  },
  bmItem: {
    display: 'inline-block'
  },
  bmOverlay: {
    background: 'rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3)'
  }
}

<Menu styles={ styles } />

Browser support

Because this project uses CSS3 features, it's only meant for modern browsers. Some browsers currently fail to apply some of the animations correctly.

Chrome and Firefox have full support, but Safari and IE have strange behavior for some of the menus.

Help

Check the FAQ (https://github.com/negomi/react-burger-menu/wiki/FAQ) to see if your question has been answered already, or open a new issue.

License

MIT