Best Vue UI Component Frameworks and Libraries
Vue (also known as Vue.js) is a JavaScript library used to create frontend components of dynamic applications. This progressive framework quickly became the biggest competitor to Angular and React due to its simple and convenient use of components, which are separate independent blocks in the interface.
Components are reusable Vue instances that use custom HTML elements. Components can be global (can be used anywhere without needing to import/export the file they are contained in) or local (can only be used where they were created). Alternatively, components can be viewed as a single unit within an application, allowing logical separation of each aspect of the application. Components also make it easier for a team of developers to collaborate on projects, making the process much more efficient.
Vue became so popular for several reasons, such as:
- Lightweight.
- It is easy to use.
- It includes a powerful set of tools.
- Large and helpful community.
- Uses virtual DOM.
- Implements two-way data binding.
- Can integrate with almost any existing application.
- It is JavaScript-based, so it doesn't require any other tools.
Another reason for Vue's popularity is the large number of useful frameworks and component libraries that can be used with it. There are so many good frameworks and libraries for Vue that you are almost guaranteed to use several of them for your application.
Moreover, Vue is open source, meaning it is free and available for anyone to use. However, many frameworks and component libraries are focused on a specific task or application element. Therefore, choosing the right framework or component library is very important for the overall success of your application.
When reading this list of Vue frameworks and libraries, keep in mind that many offer similar functionality, but either the execution/development in individual frameworks differs, or you will find subtle differences in each. At the same time, some of these component frameworks are better suited for Vue beginners, while others require a bit more experience. There are also a few frameworks that have almost no support, or their documentation has not yet been translated into English or any other language.
But if you are serious about developing your next project in Vue, you will need one or more of these frameworks to get the job done and do it with a high degree of reliability and repeatability.
What is a component framework?
If you're new to the world of development, you'll eventually start using component frameworks and libraries. Essentially, they are collections of reusable code that make development tasks more efficient. Instead of reinventing the wheel every time you start a project, a component library and/or framework allows you to use pieces of pre-made code for specific elements or functionality.
Component libraries and frameworks like Vue provide ready-made components that simplify the task of adding specific elements (such as buttons, menus, animations, fonts, sidebars, and tab panels) without having to build them from scratch. This makes development of mobile and web applications much more efficient. Moreover, the result is more reliable applications because the pre-built code has already been thoroughly tested and is guaranteed to work (assuming proper usage).
Given that competition exists in virtually every industry, it becomes critical to be able to ship a product at a speed that your developers could not achieve without the help of component libraries and frameworks. Fortunately, Vue has plenty of them.
Let's look at some of the most popular Vue UI frameworks and components, most of which are free and open source.
#1 Element Plus
Element Plus replaced Element UI as the default desktop UI for Vue 3.0 and is based on the following design properties: consistency, feedback, efficiency, and controllability. With Element Plus, developers, designers, and product managers can create graphical interfaces for applications. Element Plus also helps developers focus on solving user problems related to where and how to navigate within the application. Most elements created with Element Plus can be divided into sidebar and top navigation.
So, if you need navigation elements for your Vue application, Element Plus is a great choice.
#2 Vuetify
Vuetify is one of the most comprehensive component libraries for Vue-based applications. This framework conforms to Google's Material Design (v1) specifications. Vuetify is also supported by a number of sponsors and has a very large community, which means development is fast-paced. With Vuetify, your development teams get access to a large number of ready-made themes and layouts, further simplifying the creation of interesting UI elements for your applications. If you are looking for a framework to help you achieve an excellent user interface for your users, Vuetify is a great choice.
#3 Quasar
Quasar is one of the most extensive Vue UI component libraries. This full-featured framework supports many features such as minification and caching, and serves as another frontend framework. One of the best features of Quasar is that it allows you to quickly build frontend components for Vue 3 interfaces. In addition, Quasar has both UI and CLI tools, allowing developers to focus on application features rather than boilerplate code. This makes Quasar easy to use, fast, and efficient.
#4 VUX
Vux is based on WeChat's WeUI and webpack, which were created to standardize WeChat operations. Vux focuses on rapid development of components for mobile applications. The main drawback of Vux is that most of the documentation is in Chinese, so you will have to put in some effort. But if you're looking for a way to standardize the UI in your mobile apps, Vux is a great framework.
#5 Mint UI
Mint UI is a very lightweight (~30 KB) component library that is perfect for use in mobile applications. Mint UI provides an iOS theme for application components and many CSS and JS components that make it easy to create mobile apps and web pages with a consistent style. Mint UI is under active development and includes features such as on-demand loading and CSS3 animation. Using Mint UI allows you to achieve very smooth animations, which greatly enhances the UX of your applications.
#6 BootstrapVue
Unlike some frameworks in this list, BootstrapVue has extensive documentation and very strong community support. BootstrapVue essentially adds Bootstrap, a widely used CSS library, to Vue. With this framework, you get access to a number of ready-made UI components as well as a grid system. BootstrapVue is mobile-first, highly responsive, and compatible with WAI-ARIA web accessibility guidelines. BootstrapVue includes 85 components, over 45 available plugins, several directives, and 1,000+ icons. For those starting their first Vue project, BootstrapVue should be a must-have.
#7 AT-UI
AT-UI is primarily focused on desktop web applications and provides flat UI components for building them. You'll find a convenient starter template to make it easier to work with AT-UI, but besides that, there is almost no support. AT-UI supports npm/webpack/babel, supports ES2015, is independent of CSS styles, and has a user-friendly API.
#8 Vue Material
If you're looking for a scalable library focused on the latest Material Design specifications, Vue Material is what you need. With Vue Material, you can easily create complex application shells for any screen size. Vue Material is compatible with most modern web browsers and has a very user-friendly API. Vue Material also supports dynamic themes and on-demand components.
#9 Buefy
Buefy is a free, responsive, open and lightweight component library based on Bulma. Buefy supports Material Design Icons and FontAwesome icons, requires only Vue and Bulma, has semantic code output, and follows Bulma design and some Material Design UX specifications.
#10 Cube-UI
Cube-UI is an elegant mobile UI component library that includes many elements needed for Vue-based applications. You'll find elements such as buttons, loaders, tooltips, toolbars, tab panels, checkboxes, checkbox groups, radio buttons, input fields, text areas, dropdowns, toggles, rating, validators, loaders, forms, popups, notifications, pickers, cascade pickers, time selection, segment pickers, dialog boxes, action sheets, drawers, image previews, and much more.
Other Great Vue UI Frameworks & Component Libraries
This exciting activity doesn't end here, as you'll find many more Vue UI frameworks and component libraries. Let's continue.
#11 Muse-UI
Muse-UI is another framework focused on Vue 2.0 Material Design specifications, offering rich components that are customizable and allow easy theming for your applications. Like many other frameworks listed here, Muse-UI can be installed via the npm package manager. Muse-UI is open source and free to use.
#12 Vuesax
With Vuesax, you can use any component with just a few lines of code. Vuesax also offers a high level of customization for UI elements that is very responsive and can adapt to any display size. Vuesax was built using Vue, JavaScript, TypeScript, Sass, VuePress, Babel, and Jest. With Vuesax, you can develop faster and work less. Vuesax components are independent in colors, shapes, and design.
#13 Keen UI
Keen UI focuses on interactive JavaScript-dependent components rather than visual components. This component library was created influenced by Google's Material Design and contains a number of useful components that can be placed anywhere in the UI. If you want to add iterative features to an existing application, Keen UI is a great option. Keen UI also includes a very user-friendly API.
#14 Eagle.js
Eagle.js is somewhat more limited than other component frameworks as it is focused on web slideshows. Eagle.js supports animations, themes, and interactive widgets, and allows you to reuse components, slides, and styles across all presentations in an application. Eagle.js also includes a large number of ready-made themes to make things a bit easier. The Eagle.js API is very user-friendly, allowing you to create highly customizable slideshows for your application.
The only drawback of Eagle.js is its rather sparse documentation, so developers will have to figure things out as they go.
#15 PrimeVue
PrimeVue is a collection of over 90 next-generation UI components for Vue-based application development. Like most such component libraries, PrimeVue is open source and free to use. PrimeVue includes features such as templates, Prime Blocks theme builder, an icon library, CSS utilities, and a theme builder. Prime Blocks are ready-to-use UI blocks that further simplify building an application without reinventing the wheel.
#16 CoreUI
CoreUI is all about dashboards. In fact, the CoreUI component library is one of the fastest ways to create modern dashboards for your applications. These dashboards are highly functional and responsive. You'll find a multitude of dashboard templates and themes, so you can be sure that the dashboard you add to your application will blend seamlessly. If you need a dashboard for your application, CoreUI is the framework to choose.
#17 iView
iView is another high-quality toolkit built on Vue.js. In this library, you'll find dozens of useful components, a friendly API, extensive documentation, and support for Vue.js 2 and 1. The components offered in iView look very modern, and the API can be used by developers of any skill level. There is also an iView plugin for Vue 3 that allows you to quickly create a project based on iView.
#18 VueTailwind
VueTailwind is a set of components that were created to be fully customizable and adapt to your application's design. Unlike other component libraries that rely on CSS frameworks with limited styles, VueTailwind uses custom CSS classes that are defined when the library is installed. With this library you can:
- Define the appearance and functionality of components using custom default CSS classes
- Add unlimited variants for each use case
- Override default prop values to suit your needs
- Create different versions of the same component using different default settings.
#19 Vue-Blu
Vue-Blu is a UI component library based on Vue.js and Bulma, allowing you to quickly build powerful web applications. Vue-Blu works with the npm+webpack+babel setup, supports ES2015, offers many high-quality UI components and flexible APIs, and is highly responsive and customizable.
#20 Chakra UI Vue
Chakra UI Vue is a modular and accessible component library that includes all the necessary components for quickly building Vue-based applications. Chakra UI Vue contains a complete set of layout components that simplify styling, is flexible and composable, conforms to WAI-ARIA guidelines, and includes dark mode.
#21 Vuikit
Vuikit is another responsive Vue 2 UI library based on the Ulkit 3 framework, designed for building website interfaces.
#22 Vue MDC
Vue MDC is a Vue.js adaptation of Material Components for Web, focusing on performance, ease of use, and SSR-ready components.
#23 N3-components
N3-components is a library of over 60 components built on Vue.js, enabling front-end and full-stack developers to quickly build web pages. With N3-components, you can customize the style of components that can be used both globally and as individual elements.
#24 Fish-UI
Fish-UI is a Vue.js 2 toolkit that can be equipped with Moment, Vue-Router, ES6, and Babel 6. Fish-UI works well with Webpack 2.0 and Vue Loader, uses semantic CSS components, and supports Less language stylesheets.
#25 Framework7 Vue
Framework7 Vue is a full-featured HTML framework focused on mobile devices for building Android and iOS applications. Framework7 Vue helps developers keep data and content structured, uses data binding, and provides simplified layout differences for iOS and Android (Material Themes).
Conclusion
If you want to develop mobile or web applications using Vue.js, you should consider one of these component frameworks. Although many offer similar features and components, each is distinct enough that you can use any of them for different purposes.
Without these component frameworks, your development teams will not be able to work with the efficiency and effectiveness needed to remain highly competitive in today's environment. Give your developers every possible advantage by leveraging the multitude of Vue libraries. And since almost all of them are open source, it won't hurt your software development budget.