Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Storybook VS Semantic UI

Compare Storybook VS Semantic UI and see what are their differences

Storybook logo Storybook

Storybook is an open source tool for developing UI components in isolation for React, Vue, and Angular. It makes building stunning UIs organized and efficient.

Semantic UI logo Semantic UI

A UI Component library implemented using a set of specifications designed around natural language
  • Storybook Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-21
  • Semantic UI Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-10-20

Storybook features and specs

  • Component Isolation
    Storybook allows developers to isolate components from the main application, making it easier to develop and debug individual components without dealing with the app's entire context.
  • Live Component Demos
    Storybook provides real-time, interactive demos of components. This is especially useful for showcasing components to non-technical stakeholders or for internal documentation.
  • Improved Documentation
    Storybook's interface allows for comprehensive documentation of components, including their states and variations, which improves team communication and onboarding processes.
  • Supports Multiple Frameworks
    Storybook is framework-agnostic and supports popular JavaScript frameworks and libraries, including React, Vue, Angular, and more.
  • Addons and Plugins
    There is a large ecosystem of addons and plugins that extend Storybook's functionality, such as accessibility checking, design tool integration, and performance testing.
  • Hot Module Replacement (HMR)
    Storybook supports HMR, providing instant feedback on code changes without requiring a full page reload, thereby speeding up the development process.

Possible disadvantages of Storybook

  • Initial Setup and Configuration
    Setting up Storybook for the first time can be complex and time-consuming, especially for large projects with unique configurations.
  • Overhead for Small Projects
    For very small projects or simple components, using Storybook might add unnecessary overhead, both in terms of setup and ongoing maintenance.
  • Learning Curve
    There is a learning curve associated with Storybook, particularly for developers who are not familiar with component-driven development or have limited experience with UI libraries.
  • Performance Issues
    For extremely large projects, Storybook can sometimes experience performance issues, primarily due to the volume of components and stories being processed.
  • Dependency Management
    Storybook introduces additional dependencies to a project, which can complicate dependency management and version conflicts.
  • Context and Global State
    Managing global states, contexts, or inter-component interactions can be challenging in Storybook, as it isolates components from the larger application context.

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.

Storybook videos

Disney's Cinderella Deluxe Storybook Review

More videos:

  • Review - Disney's Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs Deluxe Storybook Review
  • Review - Disney Frozen The Story of Anna and Elsa Deluxe Storybook Review

Semantic UI videos

Semantic UI In 60 Minutes

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Storybook and Semantic UI)
Developer Tools
53 53%
47% 47
Design Tools
34 34%
66% 66
React
100 100%
0% 0
CSS Framework
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

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

Storybook Reviews

20 Best JavaScript Frameworks For 2023
Storybook is free, open-source, and one of the best JavaScript frameworks for creating separate UI elements and testing. For UI development, UI testing, and documentation, it is used by thousands of teams. It is simpler to find and repair issues with the components when developers use Storybook to construct a catalog and interact with them in a live environment.

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, Storybook seems to be a lot more popular than Semantic UI. While we know about 225 links to Storybook, we've tracked only 19 mentions of Semantic UI. 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.

Storybook mentions (225)

  • Monorepo Tutorial With Lerna, Storybook & Next.js
    In this tutorial, you'll learn how to build a monorepo using Lerna. We’ll be building a Next.js application which will import components from a separate package. We’ll also be using Storybook to showcase those components. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • UmiJS: the Shaolin of web frameworks
    Dumi. A static site generator specifically designed for component library development. Look at it as something between Storybook and Docusaurus inside the Umi world (but much better integrated between each other, presumably). - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Screenshot testing: Gotta Catch 'Em All
    Import type { Meta, StoryObj } from '@storybook/react'; Import { fn } from '@storybook/test'; Import { Button } from './Button'; // More on how to set up stories at: https://storybook.js.org/docs/writing-stories#default-export Const meta = { title: 'Example/Button', component: Button, parameters: { // Optional parameter to center the component in the Canvas. More info:... - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • Storybook Starter Guide: Learn Design System Principles
    Storybook is an open-source tool for building and testing UI components in isolation. Think of it as a dedicated workshop where you can create, preview, and document components in every possible state without spinning up the full application. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Documenting Web Components With Storybook
    Documentation is a crucial part of any design system. There's the aspect of writing, maintaining, and ensuring that it doesn't drift from the codebase. It's a lot of work, and it's easy to let it slip. I've spent a lot of time over the last year and a half thinking about the right way to document components, and it took some time until I found a sustainable solution I was happy with. In this article, I want to... - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
View more

Semantic UI mentions (19)

  • 100+ Must-Have Web Development Resources
    Semantic UI: A fully semantic front-end development framework. - Source: dev.to / 7 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 / 10 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
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Storybook and Semantic UI, you can also consider the following products

styled-components - styled-components is a visual primitive for the component age that also helps the user to use the ES6 and CSS to style apps.

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

Tailwind CSS - A utility-first CSS framework for rapidly building custom user interfaces.

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

React - A JavaScript library for building user interfaces

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