head to head · open source
daisyui vs layui
daisyui has 42,429 GitHub stars, 1,690 forks, 49 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. layui has 30,573 stars, 7,354 forks, 43 open issues and last shipped 19 days ago. daisyui leads on adoption by 39% (42,429 vs 30,573 stars). daisyui is written in JavaScript under MIT; layui is written in JavaScript under MIT. daisyui has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, layui 24%. daisyui was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (component-library, css), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| daisyui | layui | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 42K | ★ 31K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.7K | ⑂ 7.4K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick daisyui if
- You weight community size — 42K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick layui if
- You want the layui feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and layui fits your workflow better
About daisyui
daisyUI is a free, MIT licensed component library for Tailwind CSS, written in JavaScript and aimed at front end developers, Svelte projects, and design system teams that want prebuilt interface components rather than hand authored component CSS.
read the full daisyui overview →
About layui
Layui is a free, open source Web UI component library built on plain HTML, CSS and JavaScript that follows the browser's native development model, aimed at developers who need to assemble complex page interfaces without adopting a front end framework toolchain.
read the full layui overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is daisyui or layui more popular?
daisyui has 42,429 GitHub stars and layui has 30,573. daisyui has the larger community by that measure.
Are daisyui and layui free?
Both are open source. daisyui is licensed under MIT and layui under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between daisyui and layui?
daisyui is written in JavaScript and layui in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, daisyui or layui?
Choose daisyui if you want the larger community (42,429 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose layui if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.