Mantine vs shadcn/ui: Complete Developer Comparison - 2025

After shipping dozens of React applications over the past two years, I’ve used pretty much every component library that’s out there. But the debate always comes back to two heavyweights: Mantine vs shadcn/ui.

Both have passionate followings. Both can ship polished, production-ready products. But when you’re racing against deadlines and working within startup budgets, your choice between them can decide whether you launch in weeks or stall for months.

This isn’t another surface-level “pros and cons” list. It’s a developer-first breakdown of Mantine vs shadcn/ui, based on real projects, real deadlines, and real user feedback.

The Tale of Two Philosophies

When comparing Mantine vs shadcn/ui, the biggest difference isn’t in individual components — it’s in their core philosophy.

Mantine takes the library-first approach. Think of it as a Swiss Army knife for React developers:

• 100+ prebuilt React components
• Built-in dark mode and theming
• Utilities for forms, dates, notifications, and modals
• A cohesive ecosystem that covers most use cases out of the box

It’s designed for speed and consistency, especially if you’re building SaaS dashboards or enterprise apps.

shadcn/ui, on the other hand, flips the model. It’s not a bundled package but a collection of copy-paste components built with Radix UI and Tailwind CSS. You install what you need, own every line of code, and customize freely.

This approach is closer to a design system starter kit than a library. It gives you flexibility, modern aesthetics, and complete control — but also requires more setup and design decisions.

👉 That philosophical split — “library convenience” vs. “code ownership” — is what shapes the developer experience when building MVPs or production applications.

Speed of Development: Where Time is Money

When you’re building an MVP, time-to-market is everything. The faster you can get a working version in front of users, the faster you validate (or kill) your idea. That’s where the choice between Mantine vs shadcn/ui starts to show real differences.

Getting Started

Mantine wins here, hands down.

With a single install, you’re ready to ship:

npm install @mantine/core @mantine/hooks @mantine/dates

Wrap your app with the provider, import a component, and you’re productive in minutes. No configuration hell, no decisions about which building blocks to add.

shadcn/ui, by contrast, requires more initial setup:

• Install and configure Tailwind CSS
• Extend your tailwind.config.js
• Add utility files like utils.ts
• Install components one by one as your project grows

That extra 2–3 hours of setup doesn’t sound huge — but in a 2-week MVP sprint, it’s the difference between showing a demo on Friday or pushing it to Monday.

Component Availability

This is where Mantine’s batteries-included approach shines:

Feature	Mantine ✅	shadcn/ui ⚡
Data Tables	Full-featured	Basic only
Date Pickers	Comprehensive	❌ None (needs 3rd party)
Charts	Built-in	❌ Requires Chart.js/Recharts
Forms	Full form library	Basic + react-hook-form
Notifications	Toast + advanced	Basic toast only
Modals/Drawers	Multiple variants	Good coverage

Reality check: On real projects, I’ve had clients ask for a sortable, filterable, paginated data table. With Mantine, that’s a 20-minute task. With shadcn/ui, it often becomes a full day of integration work.

👉 If developer productivity and faster delivery are your priority, Mantine usually saves more hours upfront.

Design Quality and Customization

Beyond components and setup, the real test of any React component library is how the UI looks and how much you can tweak it. This is where the contrast between Mantine vs shadcn/ui becomes very clear.

Out-of-the-Box Aesthetics

• shadcn/ui has a clear edge in design quality. Components feel modern, minimal, and polished straight out of the box. They align with current design trends and often look “production-ready” without heavy tweaking.
• Mantine is functional and clean, but its styling leans more toward enterprise dashboards and admin tools. Perfectly usable, but if you care about strong visual identity, you’ll likely add extra styling.

Customization Depth

• With shadcn/ui, you own every line of component code. That means:
  • Direct control over animations, states, and accessibility
  • Ability to create entirely new variants
  • Freedom to remove unused features for lighter bundles
  • No fighting against library constraints
• Mantine provides a powerful theming system with props, style overrides, and consistent patterns. It’s easier to use, but inherently less flexible than editing component code directly.

The Trade-Off

Mantine offers ease and consistency, while shadcn/ui offers absolute control and design freedom. Which one feels better depends on whether you value speed of consistent theming or fine-grained customization at the code level.

Developer Experience: The Daily Grind

A great component library isn’t just about looks — it’s about how it feels to work with every single day. In the Mantine vs shadcn/ui comparison, this comes down to documentation, TypeScript support, and tooling.

Documentation and Learning Curve

• Mantine sets the bar high. Each component comes with interactive examples, detailed prop references, and usage patterns. New developers can get productive in a matter of hours, and teams benefit from the consistent structure.
• shadcn/ui keeps documentation lean. You’re expected to already know Tailwind CSS and Radix UI, which makes the learning curve steeper — especially for junior developers. Experienced devs might love the minimalism, but teams may need extra ramp-up time.

TypeScript Support

Both libraries ship with strong TypeScript support, but Mantine edges ahead thanks to:

• Granular prop types
• More accurate type inference
• Clearer autocompletion in editors

Developer Tools

• Mantine includes built-in developer tools, like helpers for debugging themes, responsive breakpoints, and component props.
• shadcn/ui doesn’t provide dedicated tooling — you’ll rely on Tailwind IntelliSense, browser dev tools, and your own setup.

Developer Tools

Mantine has built-in dev tools for debugging theme, responsive breakpoints, and component props.

shadcn/ui relies on browser dev tools and Tailwind CSS IntelliSense.

Performance: What Actually Matters

Bundle Size

This is where shadcn/ui's philosophy pays off:

Library	Base Bundle	With 10 Components	With 30 Components
Mantine	~120KB	~180KB	~250KB
shadcn/ui	~20KB	~45KB	~80KB

But here's the nuance: Mantine's larger bundle includes features you'll eventually need anyway (form validation, date utilities, etc.). shadcn/ui requires adding those dependencies separately.

Runtime Performance

Both perform well, but shadcn/ui has a slight edge because:

• Components are optimized for your specific use case
• No unused features in the bundle
• Tailwind CSS is purged automatically

Developer perspective: The performance difference rarely matters for initial releases. User experience matters more than 50KB bundle differences.

The Ecosystem Factor

Mantine has a more complete ecosystem:

• @mantine/form for form management
• @mantine/dates for date utilities
• @mantine/notifications for toast messages
• @mantine/modals for modal management

shadcn/ui integrates with the broader React ecosystem:

• Works seamlessly with react-hook-form
• Integrates with any animation library
• Compatible with any state management solution

Cost of Switching

Here's something most comparisons miss: switching cost.

From Mantine to shadcn/ui: High effort. You're essentially rewriting your UI layer.

From shadcn/ui to Mantine: Medium effort. You can gradually replace components.

From one library to another library: Mantine is harder to migrate away from due to tight coupling.

My Honest Recommendation

After building multiple project, here's my framework:

Choose Mantine When:

• Timeline is under 4 weeks
• Building B2B/enterprise products
• Team has junior developers
• You need complex data visualization
• Client budget is tight (fewer customization rounds)

Choose shadcn/ui When:

• Design differentiation is crucial
• Building consumer-facing products
• You have strong design requirements
• Team values code ownership
• Performance is a key metric

The Hybrid Approach

On recent projects, I've started using both:

• Mantine for internal admin panels and dashboards
• shadcn/ui for customer-facing interfaces

What we're Watching in 2025

Mantine v7 introduced significant performance improvements and better TypeScript support. They're clearly listening to feedback about bundle size and customization.

shadcn/ui is expanding rapidly with more complex components. The gap in "batteries-included" features is closing.

Both are solid choices. The winner depends on your specific constraints: time, team, and product requirements.

The Bottom Line

Your component library choice should optimize for speed to user feedback, not theoretical perfection.

I've seen teams spend weeks debating component libraries and never ship. I've also seen beautiful interfaces built on both that users loved.

Ship fast, learn fast, iterate fast. Everything else is secondary.