# Material UI

6 Hacker News commenters recommended Material UI and 13 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Full React component library with sane defaults, good for quick layouts. Critics say major upgrades bring breaking API changes and a look that is hard to escape.

## Why people recommend it

- Complete component library with sane defaults (2 comments): "Start from an existing template or a component library with sane defaults (Material UI, shadcn, Tailwind UI - pick one and commit)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49691238)) "a full blown component lib like Material UI would be superior to shadcn" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49951046))

## What people warn about

- Breaking API changes in major upgrades (3 comments): "each major version update was a tedious process because they completely upended many APIs." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48794963)) "a problem with Material UI being undisciplined with API compatibility" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48796097)) "it was an upgrade full of breaking changes" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48803396))
- Locks layout and style to the API (2 comments): "Something like MUI locks you into a layout and style that's coupled with the API" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49951339)) "since MUI doesn't cater to our needs anymore" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48447960))
- Design language disliked by critics (2 comments): "it's gotta be the worst design language to interface with" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47744852)) "the abomination known as materialui" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47852415))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [shadcn/ui](https://hackerapproved.com/p/shadcn-ui.md): 82 recommend
- [Jelly UI](https://hackerapproved.com/p/jelly-ui.md): 41 recommend
- [Tailwind UI](https://hackerapproved.com/p/tailwind-ui.md): 38 recommend
- [Performative-UI](https://hackerapproved.com/p/performative-ui.md): 38 recommend
- [Radix UI](https://hackerapproved.com/p/radix.md): 20 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Material UI", https://hackerapproved.com/p/material-ui/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).