ShadCN UI vs Mantine: Which React UI Library Should You Choose in 2026?

Mar 22, 2026

Cowrie

Dev @ Bswen

The Problem

When I started a new React project last month, I spent two days just deciding on a UI library. I had used Material-UI before, but I wanted something more modern. The two contenders? ShadCN UI and Mantine.

The thing is, this isn’t just about picking a library. This choice affects:

• Development velocity for months or years
• Bundle size and performance
• Design system consistency
• Team onboarding time
• Long-term maintenance burden

The wrong choice means fighting library defaults for simple customizations, missing components requiring custom builds, dependency hell during upgrades, or inconsistent UI when mixing solutions.

After building the same feature in both libraries, I finally understand the trade-offs. Here’s what I learned.

Quick Answer

Choose Mantine if you want a complete, batteries-included UI library with 100+ components, extensive hooks, and minimal setup friction. Choose ShadCN UI if you prioritize full component ownership, deep customization control, and don’t mind building some components yourself.

I saw this sentiment on Reddit that sums it up perfectly:

• “Mantine if you want things done and lead a happy life”
• “ShadCN if you want to be able to customize a lot of things and occasionally think about killing yourself”

Humor aside, this reflects the real trade-off: productivity vs control.

Technical Architecture Comparison

Let me show you the fundamental differences:

Aspect	Mantine	ShadCN UI
Distribution	npm package	Copy-paste to codebase
Dependencies	@mantine/core, @mantine/hooks	Radix primitives, Tailwind
Component Count	100+	~50 (growing)
Styling	CSS-in-JS (emotion)	Tailwind utility classes
TypeScript	First-class	First-class
Bundle Size	Tree-shakeable but heavier	Pay only for what you use
Upgrade Path	Package updates	Manual component updates

The architecture choice matters more than you’d think. With Mantine, you install packages and update via npm. With ShadCN, components live in your codebase—you own them.

Setup Experience

Mantine Setup

I tried Mantine first. The setup was straightforward:

Terminal

npm install @mantine/core @mantine/hooks

App.tsx

import { MantineProvider, Button, Stepper, TextInput } from '@mantine/core';
import '@mantine/core/styles.css';

function App() {
  return (
    <MantineProvider>
      <TextInput label="Email" placeholder="[email protected]" />
      <Button>Submit</Button>
      <Stepper active={1}>
        <Stepper.Step label="First" description="Create account" />
        <Stepper.Step label="Second" description="Verify email" />
      </Stepper>
    </MantineProvider>
  );
}

That’s it. I had a Stepper component, TextInput, and Button working in under 5 minutes.

ShadCN UI Setup

Then I tried ShadCN:

Terminal

npx shadcn@latest init
npx shadcn@latest add button input

App.tsx

// Components live in your codebase: components/ui/button.tsx
import { Button } from "@/components/ui/button"
import { Input } from "@/components/ui/input"

function App() {
  return (
    <div>
      <Input placeholder="[email protected]" />
      <Button>Submit</Button>
      {/* Stepper not available - build custom or use third-party */}
    </div>
  );
}

Notice the comment? ShadCN doesn’t have a Stepper component. I had to build my own or find a third-party solution. This is the trade-off: ShadCN has fewer pre-built components.

A Reddit user said it well: “I needed a stepper basically, and had to roll my own because they don’t have that. Mantine and MUI though would.”

Customization Reality

Here’s where things get interesting. I thought ShadCN would make customization easy. And it does—but so does Mantine, in different ways.

Mantine Customization

Mantine uses theme-based customization:

App.tsx

import { MantineProvider } from '@mantine/core';

function App() {
  return (
    <MantineProvider theme={{
      colors: {
        brand: ['#f0f0f0', '#d9d9d9', '#b3b3b3', '#8c8c8c', '#666666', '#404040', '#1a1a1a'],
      },
      primaryColor: 'brand',
    }}>
      {/* Your app components */}
    </MantineProvider>
  );
}

You work within Mantine’s theming system. It’s powerful, but you’re still playing by Mantine’s rules.

ShadCN Customization

With ShadCN, you edit the component directly:

components/ui/button.tsx

const buttonVariants = cva(
  "inline-flex items-center justify-center rounded-md text-sm font-medium",
  {
    variants: {
      variant: {
        default: "bg-primary text-primary-foreground hover:bg-primary/90",
        // Add your custom variant here
        brand: "bg-brand-500 text-white hover:bg-brand-600",
      },
    },
  }
)

This is the ShadCN philosophy: “Copy-paste approach means you actually own the components.” No dependency lock-in. Components live in your codebase.

But here’s the thing: as one developer put it, “As soon as you need customization though, you’re fighting any library really. But I feel shadcn least comes close.”

Both libraries have customization limits. ShadCN just lets you break through easier since you own the code.

When to Choose Mantine

I’d pick Mantine when:

• Rapid development is the priority – 100+ pre-built components, hooks, utilities
• Your design aligns with Mantine’s aesthetic – Less custom theming needed
• You want utility hooks – use-debounced-value, use-media-query, use-click-outside, etc.
• Team prefers convention over configuration – Less decisions to make
• Time-to-market matters more than pixel-perfect designs – Ship faster

The Mantine developer experience is hard to beat. One comment captured this: “Really easy to implement, customize and provide a lot of hooks and utils that cover 90% of problems.”

When to Choose ShadCN UI

I’d pick ShadCN when:

• Full component ownership is non-negotiable – No upstream breaking changes
• Your design system differs from defaults – Customize everything
• You want to avoid dependency lock-in – Components stay in your codebase
• Tailwind CSS is already your stack – Natural fit
• You’re comfortable building missing components – Or finding alternatives
• Long-term maintainability outweighs initial velocity – Future-proofing

The ShadCN approach shines for projects with unique design requirements or teams that want total control.

Common Mistakes

I almost made these mistakes myself:

1. Choosing Based on Hype Alone

ShadCN is trendy. But trendy doesn’t mean it fits your project. Mantine’s “batteries included” approach isn’t bloated—it’s practical.

2. Underestimating Customization Effort

Both libraries require work for custom designs. ShadCN doesn’t eliminate customization pain—it makes it manageable. You still need to know what you’re doing.

3. Ignoring Your Stack

Using Tailwind already? ShadCN fits naturally. Using CSS-in-JS? Mantine aligns better. Don’t fight your existing choices.

4. Overlooking Component Gaps

Audit your required components before choosing. Missing components in ShadCN means development time you didn’t plan for. I needed a Stepper, Charts, and Timeline—all available in Mantine, missing in ShadCN.

5. Not Considering Future Growth

Will you need more components later? Mantine’s library grows over time. ShadCN requires you to build or find components yourself.

Decision Framework

Here’s a quick guide:

Your Situation	Choose
Startup with tight deadline	Mantine
Enterprise with custom design system	ShadCN UI
Solo developer wanting productivity	Mantine
Team wanting no dependency surprises	ShadCN UI
Need stepper, timeline, carousel today	Mantine
Already using Tailwind extensively	ShadCN UI

The “best” choice depends on your priorities:

• Mantine = Speed + Completeness + Developer Experience
• ShadCN UI = Control + Ownership + Customization Depth

Both are excellent libraries with active communities. The wrong choice isn’t choosing one over the other—it’s choosing without understanding your project’s actual needs.

What I Chose

For my project, I went with Mantine. Why? I needed to ship fast, my design was close enough to Mantine’s defaults, and I needed components like Stepper and Charts that ShadCN didn’t have. The utility hooks were a bonus that saved me from writing boilerplate.

But I can see myself choosing ShadCN for a different project—something with a unique design system where I want complete control.

Summary

In this post, I compared ShadCN UI and Mantine based on my experience building with both. The key insight is that there’s no universal winner—Mantine wins on speed and completeness, ShadCN wins on control and ownership.

Before you choose:

1. Audit your project’s required components
2. Evaluate your design system requirements
3. Consider your team’s expertise (Tailwind vs CSS-in-JS)
4. Prototype both for your specific use case
5. Check recent GitHub issues for both projects

The best UI library is the one that matches your project’s constraints, not the one with the most GitHub stars.

Final Words + More Resources

My intention with this article was to help others share my knowledge and experience. If you want to contact me, you can contact by email: Email me

Here are also the most important links from this article along with some further resources that will help you in this scope:

• 👨‍💻 ShadCN UI Documentation
• 👨‍💻 Mantine Documentation
• 👨‍💻 Radix UI Primitives
• 👨‍💻 Tailwind CSS
• 👨‍💻 Reddit Discussion: ShadCN vs Mantine

Oh, and if you found these resources useful, don’t forget to support me by starring the repo on GitHub!

Comments

Tags:

• frontend
• react
• performance

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