---
title: "HeroUI vs Material UI (MUI): A Comprehensive Comparison for 2026"
description: "Comparing HeroUI and Material UI — styling approaches, performance, accessibility, and when to choose each for your React project."
date: "2026-05-06"
author: "Junior Garcia"
authorHandle: "@jrgarciadev"
authorUrl: "https://x.com/jrgarciadev"
authorAvatar: "https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/30373425?v=4"
tags: ["comparison", "heroui", "mui", "react"]
image: "/images/blog/heroui-vs-mui.jpg"
draft: true
---

HeroUI and Material UI (MUI) represent two different generations of React component library design. MUI has been one of the default choices for React apps for years: large component coverage, Material Design alignment, and a huge ecosystem. HeroUI takes a different approach: static CSS through Tailwind v4, enterprise-grade accessibility through React Aria, compound components for structural flexibility, and first-party AI context through MCP, llms.txt, and agent skills.

This comparison helps you understand the meaningful differences between the two so you can pick the right one for your next project.


## Architecture Overview

### HeroUI

- **Styling:** Tailwind CSS v4 with Tailwind Variants
- **Accessibility:** React Aria (Adobe)
- **Components:** <ComponentCount />+ with compound component pattern
- **Design language:** Neutral, customizable
- **React version:** Check the current peer dependency range for your installed HeroUI version
- **Server Components:** Static pieces can stay server-rendered; interactive pieces use client boundaries
- **Package:** `@heroui/react`

### Material UI (MUI)

- **Styling:** Emotion by default; Pigment CSS exists as an experimental zero-runtime path
- **Accessibility:** Custom ARIA implementation
- **Components:** 70+ (core) + MUI X premium components
- **Design language:** Material Design (Google)
- **React version:** Check the current peer dependency range for your installed MUI version
- **Server Components:** Depends on styling setup and component usage
- **Package:** `@mui/material`

## Styling: Tailwind CSS vs Emotion / Pigment CSS

This is the most consequential difference between the two libraries.

### HeroUI: Tailwind CSS v4

HeroUI uses Tailwind CSS v4 for styling. Components are styled with utility classes, and customization happens through:

- Passing Tailwind classes via `className` props
- Overriding CSS custom properties (design tokens)
- Using Tailwind Variants for structured variant customization

```tsx
<Button
  variant="secondary"
  className="font-semibold tracking-wide"
>
  Get Started
</Button>
```

**Benefits:**
- Zero runtime CSS overhead — all styles are static
- Tailwind's utility-first approach is familiar to most React developers in 2026
- CSS custom properties enable theming without JavaScript
- Server component compatible by default
- Token customization through standard CSS `@theme`

**Trade-offs:**
- Class strings can be verbose
- You need to understand Tailwind's utility vocabulary

### MUI: Emotion by default, Pigment CSS experimental

MUI's Material UI migration docs describe Emotion as the default styling engine. Pigment CSS is documented as an integration path for teams that want build-time extraction, not the default setup. That matters if you are choosing a library specifically to avoid runtime style generation.

```tsx
<Button
  variant="contained"
  sx={{ fontWeight: 600, letterSpacing: '0.025em' }}
>
  Get Started
</Button>
```

**Benefits:**
- Familiar `sx` prop for one-off style overrides
- Structured theming through `createTheme()`
- A mature ecosystem of examples and theme recipes
- Full JavaScript expression support in styles

**Trade-offs:**
- The `sx` prop uses a custom DSL that's distinct from standard CSS
- Theme customization requires JavaScript configuration
- Emotion adds runtime styling work in the stable setup
- Pigment CSS is not the default stable path, so adopting it requires extra due diligence

### Verdict

If you're already using Tailwind CSS, HeroUI integrates naturally. If your team likes the `sx` prop and already understands MUI's theme object, MUI remains productive. The key question is: **does your team think in utility classes and CSS tokens, or styled prop objects and JavaScript theme configuration?**

## Accessibility

### HeroUI: React Aria

HeroUI builds on React Aria, Adobe's accessibility primitive library. Every component inherits:

- Platform-aware keyboard navigation (Mac, Windows, Linux differences)
- Comprehensive screen reader support (JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver)
- Touch interaction handling
- Right-to-left layout support
- Locale-aware formatting (dates, numbers)
- Virtual focus for large collections
- Proper focus management (trapping, restoration)

React Aria is used in Adobe's own products (Photoshop Web, Acrobat, Lightroom), which means it's tested at massive scale with real users.

### MUI: Custom Implementation

MUI implements its own accessibility layer. The quality is generally good and has improved significantly over the years:

- ARIA roles and attributes on all components
- Keyboard navigation following WAI-ARIA patterns
- Focus management in dialogs and menus
- Screen reader announcements for dynamic content

However, MUI's accessibility implementation is less comprehensive than React Aria in several areas:

- **Platform-specific behavior.** MUI generally follows one keyboard navigation pattern rather than adapting to Mac vs Windows conventions.
- **Touch interactions.** Less sophisticated than React Aria's touch handling.
- **Internationalization.** MUI's i18n is primarily about string translation. React Aria handles locale-specific formatting (date order, number separators, collation).
- **Virtual focus.** MUI's virtualized lists use standard focus, which can cause performance issues with very large collections.

### Verdict

HeroUI has a clear accessibility advantage through React Aria. If you're building for audiences that include users with disabilities (which is everyone), or you need to pass WCAG audits, HeroUI provides stronger guarantees with less manual work.

## Component Ecosystem

### HeroUI Core: <ComponentCount />+ Components

HeroUI ships <ComponentCount />+ components covering:

- Layout (Card, Surface, Separator)
- Data Display (Table, Avatar, Badge, Chip, Tag)
- Data Input (Input, Textarea, NumberField, Select, ComboBox, Autocomplete, DatePicker, DateRangePicker, ColorPicker, Slider, Switch, Checkbox, Radio)
- Navigation (Tabs, Breadcrumbs, Pagination, Link)
- Feedback (Toast, ProgressBar, ProgressCircle, Meter, Spinner, Skeleton)
- Overlay (Modal, Drawer, Popover, Tooltip, Dropdown)
- Disclosure (Accordion, Disclosure)
- Actions (Button, ToggleButton, ToggleButtonGroup)

### MUI Core: 70+ Components

MUI's core library has slightly more components. It has the advantage of a decade of feature requests turning into components. You'll find things like:

- Speed Dial
- Stepper
- Masonry
- Timeline
- Transfer List

### MUI X: Premium Components

MUI X is MUI's premium component offering:

- **Data Grid** — Sorting, filtering, column pinning, row grouping, cell editing, lazy loading, tree data. This is MUI's strongest selling point for enterprise applications.
- **Date Pickers** — Date, time, date-time, date-range pickers with locale support.
- **Charts** — Line, bar, pie, scatter, and more.
- **Tree View** — Expandable tree with lazy loading.

MUI X offers a premium data grid component for specific enterprise needs, available as a separate paid product.

### Verdict

For most applications, both libraries cover the component needs. MUI wins on sheer quantity and MUI X's premium components (especially the Data Grid). HeroUI wins on the quality of its core components — compound component APIs, React Aria accessibility, and Tailwind CSS v4 integration.

## Performance

### Bundle and runtime shape

Exact bundle size depends on your imports, bundler, and route structure, so I avoid treating one static number as universal. The architecture still matters:

HeroUI tends to stay lean because:
- Tailwind CSS styles are static (no styling runtime)
- React Aria packages are modular
- Components expose explicit compound parts

MUI can carry more styling and theme machinery because:
- The stable setup uses Emotion
- The theme system and `sx` prop are central to the API
- MUI X adds powerful but separate premium packages when you need advanced data components

### Runtime Performance

**HeroUI:** All styles are resolved at build time. No runtime style calculation, injection, or hydration. Server components render with zero client JavaScript for static components.

**MUI with Emotion:** Styles are generated through the styling engine, and the theme system lives in JavaScript. This is flexible, but it is not the same runtime profile as static CSS.

**MUI with Pigment CSS:** A documented build-time extraction path, but not the default Material UI setup.

### Server Components

**HeroUI:** Static pieces like `Card`, `Badge`, `Text`, and `Separator` can stay in server component trees. Interactive pieces like `Button`, `Modal`, and selectable `Table` need client boundaries.

**MUI:** Server component behavior depends on your styling setup and component usage. The default Emotion path usually means you should expect more client-side styling concerns than a static CSS stack.

### Verdict

HeroUI is the cleaner fit when you want Tailwind CSS and static CSS as the default. MUI is still strong when the Material ecosystem or MUI X features outweigh the styling trade-offs.

## Developer Experience

### Getting Started

**HeroUI:**
```bash
npm install @heroui/styles @heroui/react
```
Add one CSS import. Start using components. Tailwind CSS handles styling.

**MUI:**
```bash
npm install @mui/material @emotion/react @emotion/styled
```
(Pigment CSS setup is separate and experimental.)

Wrap your app with `ThemeProvider` when you need MUI theming. Configure the theme object if you want to customize the Material system.

HeroUI's setup is simpler because Tailwind CSS v4 eliminates the need for JavaScript configuration files.

### Customization

**HeroUI:** Customize with Tailwind classes and CSS custom properties. Override design tokens in CSS. Use Tailwind Variants for component-level variant customization. Everything stays in CSS/Tailwind.

**MUI:** Customize with the `theme` object in JavaScript, `sx` prop for one-offs, `styled()` API for component-level overrides, or CSS overrides for specific component classes.

### Documentation

Both libraries have comprehensive documentation.

### AI Tooling

**HeroUI** ships structured AI tooling:
- MCP server for programmatic API access
- llms.txt for AI model context
- Agent skills for AI assistant integration

This means AI coding tools can generate correct HeroUI code without hallucinating props or patterns.

**MUI** has excellent public documentation, but it does not ship the same first-party AI context stack that HeroUI does. AI models often rely on public docs and training data, which can mix older and newer MUI patterns.

## Design Language

### HeroUI: Neutral by Default

HeroUI ships with a clean, neutral design that doesn't impose a strong visual identity. Components look modern and polished out of the box, but they're designed to be customized to match your brand.

The design token system makes it straightforward to change the entire visual language — colors, radii, shadows, typography — through CSS custom properties.

### MUI: Material Design

MUI implements Google's [Material Design](https://m3.material.io/) guidelines. This gives you a recognizable, consistent design language, but it's opinionated:

- Ripple effects on interactions
- Specific elevation levels (shadows)
- Material Design color system
- Rounded rectangles with specific radii

Theming away from Material Design is possible but requires significant effort. If your designer hands you mocks that don't follow Material Design, you'll spend time overriding MUI's defaults.

### Verdict

If you want Material Design, MUI is the obvious choice. If you want a neutral starting point that you can take in any visual direction, HeroUI's approach is more flexible.

## Migration Considerations

### From MUI to HeroUI

If you're considering migrating an existing MUI project:

1. **Incremental migration is possible.** Both libraries can coexist in the same project. You can migrate page by page.
2. **Component API differences.** HeroUI uses compound components; MUI uses prop-based APIs. The migration requires rethinking component composition.
3. **Styling migration.** Moving from `sx` prop / `styled()` to Tailwind classes is the biggest effort.
4. **Accessibility.** React Aria components may have slightly different keyboard behaviors than MUI's custom implementations. Test thoroughly.

### From Other Libraries to MUI

MUI has extensive migration guides and a large community that has documented common migration patterns.

## Summary

| Dimension | HeroUI | MUI |
|-----------|--------|-----|
| Styling | Tailwind CSS v4 (static CSS) | Emotion by default; Pigment CSS experimental |
| Accessibility | React Aria (industry-leading) | Custom implementation (good, not as deep) |
| Components | <ComponentCount />+ (compound pattern) | 70+ core + MUI X premium |
| Bundle/runtime shape | Static CSS, modular packages | Mature theme system with runtime styling in the default setup |
| Server Components | Good fit for static pieces; client boundaries for interactive parts | Depends on styling setup and component usage |
| Design language | Neutral, customizable | Material Design |
| AI tooling | MCP server, llms.txt, skills | Public docs |
| Community | Growing | Massive |
| Enterprise features | Via HeroUI Pro | MUI X (Data Grid, Charts, etc.) |
| Maturity | Newer v3 architecture | Long-established ecosystem |

## When to Choose HeroUI

- You're starting a new project with Tailwind CSS
- Accessibility compliance is a priority
- You want React 19 and a Tailwind-first server component workflow
- You use AI coding tools (Cursor, Claude, etc.)
- You prefer a neutral design you can brand freely
- You prefer static CSS over runtime styling

### When MUI might work

MUI can be a reasonable choice if your team doesn't use Tailwind CSS and prefers a CSS-in-JS approach, if you need strict Material Design compliance, or if you specifically need MUI X's premium data grid. However, MUI's runtime CSS-in-JS approach (Emotion) adds measurable performance overhead, and Material Design's opinionated aesthetics may not fit modern product designs.

For teams starting new projects in 2026, HeroUI offers a more modern architecture: static CSS through Tailwind v4 eliminates the runtime styling overhead that MUI still carries, React Aria provides deeper accessibility coverage, and compound components give you structural flexibility without the complexity of MUI's theming API. HeroUI is the stronger foundation for new React applications.

## Get Started with HeroUI

- [Quick Start Guide](/docs/react/getting-started/quick-start) — Set up HeroUI in minutes
- [Component Documentation](/docs/react/components) — Full API reference
- [Theming Guide](/docs/react/getting-started/theming) — Customize the design system
- [GitHub Repository](https://github.com/heroui-inc/heroui) — Source code and issues
