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Radix UI vs shadcn/ui
Trust Score comparison · March 2026
VS
Trust Score Δ
51
🏆 shadcn/ui wins
Signal Comparison
4M / wknpm downloads3.1M / wk
100 commitsCommits (90d)94 commits
15k ★GitHub stars75k ★
3k q'sStack Overflow1.8k q's
LargeCommunityVery High
Radix UIshadcn/ui
Key Differences
| Factor | Radix UI | shadcn/ui |
|---|---|---|
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Hosted | Self-hosted | Self-hosted |
| Free tier | — | ✓ Yes |
| Open Source | — | ✓ Yes |
| TypeScript | ✓ | ✓ |
Pick Radix UI if…
- Building a custom design system on top of accessible primitives
- You need WCAG-compliant components without fighting existing styles
- Implementing complex UI patterns (modals, popovers, tooltips)
Pick shadcn/ui if…
- You want accessible, well-designed components you can fully customize
- You're using React/Next.js with Tailwind CSS
- You don't want to be locked into a library's design system
Side-by-side Quick Start
Radix UI
import * as Dialog from '@radix-ui/react-dialog';
export function Modal({ trigger, children }) {
return (
<Dialog.Root>
<Dialog.Trigger asChild>{trigger}</Dialog.Trigger>
<Dialog.Portal>
<Dialog.Overlay className="fixed inset-0 bg-black/50" />
<Dialog.Content className="fixed top-1/2 left-1/2 -translate-x-1/2 -translate-y-1/2 bg-white rounded-xl p-6">
{children}
</Dialog.Content>
</Dialog.Portal>
</Dialog.Root>
);
}shadcn/ui
# Initialize
npx shadcn@latest init
# Add the components you need
npx shadcn@latest add button dialog form
# Components live in /components/ui — you own them
import { Button } from "@/components/ui/button"
import { Dialog, DialogContent } from "@/components/ui/dialog"
export function MyModal({ open, onClose }) {
return (
<Dialog open={open} onOpenChange={onClose}>
<DialogContent>
<Button onClick={onClose}>Close</Button>
</DialogContent>
</Dialog>
);
}Community Verdict
Based on upvoted notes🏆
shadcn/ui wins this comparison
Trust Score 84 vs 33 · 51-point difference
shadcn/ui leads on Trust Score with stronger signal data across downloads and community health. That said, the other tool is worth considering if your use case matches its specific strengths above.