Ant Design vs Stencil: What are the differences?

Introduction

Here, we will highlight the key differences between Ant Design and Stencil.

1. Integration with Frameworks: Ant Design is primarily designed for React, whereas Stencil is a tool to build Web Components that can be used with any framework or no framework at all. This means that Ant Design offers a more streamlined experience if you are working with React, while Stencil provides more flexibility in terms of framework choice.

2. Component Library: Ant Design is a comprehensive UI design language with a rich set of pre-designed components aimed at building enterprise-level applications. On the other hand, Stencil is a compiler for building reusable web components. While Stencil provides a solid foundation for creating custom components, it doesn't offer the same level of component library as Ant Design.

3. CSS Framework: Ant Design comes with its own CSS framework, specifically designed to work with its components. Stencil, on the other hand, is framework-agnostic and doesn't provide a built-in CSS framework. This means that when using Stencil, you have the freedom to choose and integrate any CSS framework of your choice.

4. Tooling and Build Process: Ant Design is a ready-to-use library that you can simply import into your project. It comes with its own build process and requires less configuration. In contrast, Stencil is a toolkit that you use to build, compile, and bundle your own custom components. It provides a more flexible build process but requires more setup and configuration.

5. Community and Ecosystem: Ant Design has a large and active community, with regular updates, bug fixes, and additional features contributed by the community. It also has a rich ecosystem of related tools and extensions. Stencil, being relatively newer, has a smaller community and ecosystem. While it is growing steadily, the level of community support and available resources may not be as extensive as Ant Design.

6. Maturity and Adoption: Ant Design has been around for a longer time and is widely adopted by many organizations and developers. It is battle-tested and has a proven track record for building robust and scalable applications. Stencil, on the other hand, is relatively newer and still gaining traction within the web development community. While it shows great potential, its maturity and adoption are yet to reach the same level as Ant Design.

In summary, Ant Design is a React component library with a comprehensive set of pre-designed components, while Stencil is a tool to build web components that can be used with any framework. Ant Design offers integration with React, a built-in CSS framework, and a more streamlined experience, whereas Stencil provides framework flexibility, freedom to choose CSS frameworks, and a more flexible build process. Ant Design has a larger community, a richer ecosystem, and wider adoption, while Stencil shows great potential but is still growing.