Head to head
Stop guessing which one. Put them side by side.
Up to 4 tools, same rows for each: what it is, what it really costs, the trap, and how to wire it up. The URL carries your picks — send it to anyone.
Magic UIReact Bits
Quick read
- Editor's pick: Magic UI.
- No logged gotchas: Magic UI.
| Field | Magic UImagicui.design | React Bitsreactbits.dev |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | 150+ animated components built with React, TypeScript, Tailwind and Motion, explicitly designed as the companion to shadcn/ui. Installs with the exact same CLI you already use. No Three.js dependency; components stay under ~5 kB tree-shaken. | 215 components — 33 text animations, 52 effects, 58 UI components, 72 backgrounds — each shipped in four variants (JS/TS × CSS/Tailwind). Installs via the shadcn registry. 45k stars. Has an llms.txt listing every component and its exact install command. |
| Category | UI component libraries | UI component libraries |
| Cost tier | free | free |
| Pricing | Free · MIT · Pro ~$199 once | Free · MIT + Commons Clause |
| Why builders pick it | Best stack fit of the animated libraries. Animated beams for a table-of-contents, number tickers for circulation stats, shimmer on a subscribe CTA, marquee for a sponsor row — polish without changing anything structural or blowing the image budget. | The text-animation set is the relevant half: SplitText and GlitchText for feature headlines and pull quotes. The WebGL backgrounds (Galaxy, LiquidEther, Plasma) look spectacular and cost hundreds of KB — use at most one, on a landing page. |
| Watch out for | not logged | Components drag in real peer deps: gsap, motion, three, @react-three/fiber, ogl, lenis. Install per-component and read the dep list on each page. Commons Clause bars selling the components themselves. |
| How to wire it up | pnpm dlx shadcn@latest add @magicui/globe | npx shadcn@latest add https://reactbits.dev/r/SplitText-TS-TW |
| Editor's pick | Yes | No |
Which one did you ship?
The grid says what these tools are. This says what builders did about it — one decision per person, changeable whenever you change your mind.
0/280Sign in to add yours.
Or try
Hand this to your Lovable agent
# Tool comparison — Magic UI vs React Bits Source: Kbaise, a directory of tools that work with Lovable projects. Pick one and tell me why before writing any integration code. ## Magic UI (magic-ui) - URL: https://magicui.design/ - Category: UI component libraries - Cost: free — Free · MIT · Pro ~$199 once - What it is: 150+ animated components built with React, TypeScript, Tailwind and Motion, explicitly designed as the companion to shadcn/ui. Installs with the exact same CLI you already use. No Three.js dependency; components stay under ~5 kB tree-shaken. - Why builders pick it: Best stack fit of the animated libraries. Animated beams for a table-of-contents, number tickers for circulation stats, shimmer on a subscribe CTA, marquee for a sponsor row — polish without changing anything structural or blowing the image budget. - Wiring: pnpm dlx shadcn@latest add @magicui/globe - Full dossier: /api/public/tools/magic-ui ## React Bits (react-bits) - URL: https://reactbits.dev/ - Category: UI component libraries - Cost: free — Free · MIT + Commons Clause - What it is: 215 components — 33 text animations, 52 effects, 58 UI components, 72 backgrounds — each shipped in four variants (JS/TS × CSS/Tailwind). Installs via the shadcn registry. 45k stars. Has an llms.txt listing every component and its exact install command. - Why builders pick it: The text-animation set is the relevant half: SplitText and GlitchText for feature headlines and pull quotes. The WebGL backgrounds (Galaxy, LiquidEther, Plasma) look spectacular and cost hundreds of KB — use at most one, on a landing page. - Trap: Components drag in real peer deps: gsap, motion, three, @react-three/fiber, ogl, lenis. Install per-component and read the dep list on each page. Commons Clause bars selling the components themselves. - Wiring: npx shadcn@latest add https://reactbits.dev/r/SplitText-TS-TW - Full dossier: /api/public/tools/react-bits ## Quick read - Editor's pick: Magic UI. - No logged gotchas: Magic UI. ## Rules 1. Prefer the free tier when no budget was stated, and say what the ceiling is. 2. Read the full dossier before integrating. 3. Fetch /api/public/models before writing any AI model ID.
Agents can fetch the same thing: GET /api/public/compare?slugs=magic-ui,react-bits