Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Figma Design System VS Semantic UI

Compare Figma Design System VS Semantic UI and see what are their differences

Figma Design System logo Figma Design System

Starter kit for your UI design projects in Figma

Semantic UI logo Semantic UI

A UI Component library implemented using a set of specifications designed around natural language
  • Figma Design System Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-08
  • Semantic UI Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-10-20

Figma Design System features and specs

  • Comprehensive Component Library
    The Figma Design System offers a wide range of pre-built components such as buttons, forms, and navigation bars, which can accelerate the design process and ensure consistency across designs.
  • Easy Customization
    The system allows for easy customization of components to fit your brand's design language, making it flexible for various projects while maintaining a cohesive look.
  • Collaboration Features
    Figma is known for its real-time collaboration features, enabling designers to work together seamlessly and get instant feedback from team members.
  • Integration with Other Tools
    The design system is easily integrable with other tools like Sketch or Adobe XD, allowing designers to switch between tools if needed without losing work continuity.
  • Community Support
    Figma has a strong community and plenty of resources, including tutorials and plugins, which can help designers make the most out of the design system.

Possible disadvantages of Figma Design System

  • Learning Curve
    For designers who are new to Figma or design systems in general, there might be a significant learning curve to understanding all the functionalities and making the most of the system.
  • Performance Issues
    In some cases, particularly with large projects or complex designs, Figma can experience performance issues which can slow down the design process.
  • Limited Offline Capabilities
    Figma relies heavily on an internet connection for its full features, so working offline is limited and can be a downside in scenarios without reliable internet access.
  • Subscription Cost
    While Figma offers a free tier, to leverage the full potential of its design system, you'll need a subscription, which may not be feasible for all budgets, especially for freelancers or small studios.
  • Dependence on Browser Compatibility
    As a browser-based tool, Figma's performance and features can be dependent on the browser being used, and not all browsers may support Figma equally well.

Semantic UI features and specs

  • Intuitive Class Names
    Semantic UI uses human-readable class names that describe their purpose, making it easy to understand and write code without consulting documentation frequently.
  • Customizability
    Semantic UI allows for deep customizability with its theming, letting developers adjust the default designs to match specific project requirements.
  • Comprehensive Components
    Semantic UI provides a wide range of pre-built components like buttons, forms, and modals, which can significantly speed up development time.
  • Flexibility
    The framework offers flexibility in terms of its modular structure, enabling developers to import only the components they need.
  • Detailed Documentation
    Semantic UI has detailed and well-organized documentation, which helps developers quickly resolve issues and understand how to use various features.

Possible disadvantages of Semantic UI

  • Large File Size
    The framework's comprehensive nature can lead to larger file sizes, which might affect the load times of web applications.
  • Learning Curve
    Despite its intuitive naming conventions, the breadth of components and features can result in a steep learning curve for new developers.
  • Community Support
    Unlike more popular frameworks like Bootstrap, Semantic UI has a smaller community, which can mean fewer third-party plugins and community support.
  • Incomplete Integration
    Some integrations with newer JavaScript frameworks such as React or Vue might require extra effort or third-party libraries, given that Semantic UI is not natively designed for them.
  • Infrequent Updates
    The development and updates to Semantic UI have been less frequent compared to other UI frameworks, potentially leading to compatibility and security issues.

Analysis of Semantic UI

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Semantic UI is a good choice for developers who prefer a semantic, intuitive approach to building web applications. However, as with any framework, it may not be suitable for every project, particularly those that require lightweight or minimal front-end code.

Why this product is good

  • Semantic UI offers a human-friendly HTML structure, making it easier for developers to read and maintain their code.
  • It provides a wide range of UI components that can be easily customized to fit the design requirements.
  • The framework follows a semantic class naming convention, which enhances the readability and understanding of the code base.
  • Semantic UI has a strong community support and comprehensive documentation, which helps in quickly resolving any development issues.

Recommended for

  • Developers seeking a framework with a strong focus on semantics and clarity in code.
  • Projects that require a wide array of customizable UI components.
  • Teams that value a structured and consistent approach to front-end development.
  • Applications where ease of maintenance and readability of HTML are priorities.

Figma Design System videos

Create a Figma Design System - Fundamentals (Part 1)

Semantic UI videos

Semantic UI In 60 Minutes

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Figma Design System and Semantic UI)
Design Tools
18 18%
82% 82
Prototyping
100 100%
0% 0
Developer Tools
0 0%
100% 100
User Experience
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Figma Design System and Semantic UI

Figma Design System Reviews

We have no reviews of Figma Design System yet.
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Semantic UI Reviews

22 Best Bootstrap Alternatives & What Each Is Best For
I chose Semantic UI because of its intuitive and accessible approach to design. Its use of human-friendly HTML sets it apart from many other frameworks, making it a more natural choice for developers prioritizing user-friendly designs. From my perspective, Semantic UI is the best tool for creating websites and applications that are easy for both developers and end users to...
Source: thectoclub.com
10 Best Free React UI Libraries in 2023
The styling of Semantic UI React is based on the Semantic UI theme and it's also free from jQuery. Apart from that, there are other useful features like augmentation, shorthand props, auto controlled state, etc.
11 Best Material UI Alternatives
Semantic UI supports theming and customization, allowing developers to customize the appearance of their UI components to align with their project’s branding. With its intuitive syntax and detailed documentation, Semantic UI is a valuable tool for designing and developing modern web interfaces.
Source: www.uxpin.com
Top 10 Best CSS Frameworks for Front-End Developers in 2022
If you’re just starting out with CSS and UI, go for Tacit, Pure, or Skeleton. However, to build more complex elements, you’ll need a more inclusive framework like Foundation, Tailwind, or Bootstrap. You can get an easy learning curve through Bulma or Semantic UI.
Source: hackr.io
15 Best CSS Frameworks: Professional Bootstrap and Foundation Alternatives
If you exclude the fact that Semantic UI doesn’t have the utility classes Bootstrap offers, it is a comprehensive CSS framework that you should try. The best Semantic feature allows you to write HTML code without using BEM methodologies.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Semantic UI should be more popular than Figma Design System. It has been mentiond 19 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Figma Design System mentions (2)

  • Dashboard UI made with Figma Design System
    Speed up your design workflow with Figma Design System Blog Post: Create Switchable Styles from Light to Dark Mode in Figma. Source: almost 4 years ago
  • Restaurants Info UI made with Figma Design System
    Speeed up your design workflow with Figma Design System. Source: almost 4 years ago

Semantic UI mentions (19)

  • 100+ Must-Have Web Development Resources
    Semantic UI: A fully semantic front-end development framework. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Ant Design – the second most popular React UI framework
    Semantic UI[1] was one I used to use, both the plain CSS one as well as the React version of the library. Version 3.0 is coming (eventually), which has left it a bit outdated for a while, but it's still a solid UI library imho. I have been switching away to Tailwind. [1]: https://semantic-ui.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 11 months ago
  • Ask HN: I'm bad at design, which stops me from finishing side projects. Advice?
    What stack are you using? I personally recommend utilizing readily available components: https://ui.shadcn.com/ https://mui.com/ https://semantic-ui.com/ etc.. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • I hate CSS: how can I build UIs?
    Are you cool with JS frameworks? If so, you can use a higher level of abstraction that takes care of the CSS for you. If you just want to mock something up, you can use a pre-built UI system / component framework and just put together UIs declaratively, without having to worry about the underlying CSS or HTML at all. Examples include https://mui.com/ and https://chakra-ui.com/ and https://ant.design/ Really easy... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Software Design Document - Lite
    Honestly you should build a webpage and use a UI library if you want markdown with some extra pop. Check out semantic ui. Source: over 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Figma Design System and Semantic UI, you can also consider the following products

FlowBite Figma - Build UI interfaces and simplify the process of integrating into live websites with Tailwind CSS

Bootstrap - Simple and flexible HTML, CSS, and JS for popular UI components and interactions

Tetrisly - Starter kit for design systems and wireframes builder (Sketch/Figma)

Materialize CSS - A modern responsive front-end framework based on Material Design

Root UI Kit - Wireframe & design starter kit 🛠️

UIKit - A lightweight and modular front-end framework for developing fast and powerful web interfaces