Charcoal UI vs Magic UI
Magic UI alternative? Charcoal UI and Magic UI compared on components, templates, licence, price and AI-agent installs, with sources.
| Magic UI | Charcoal UI | |
|---|---|---|
| Free library | 150+ animated components and effects (as stated), MIT licensed | 68 everyday components and 5 sections, MIT |
| Paid tier | Magic UI Pro: $199 one-time individual licence, lifetime updates | Pro: $9 per seat per month, or $69 per seat once for lifetime access (launch price, usually $99). 14-day refund. |
| What the paid tier adds | 50+ sections and 9+ Next.js templates; commercial use allowed, reselling the code is not | 394 showpiece components, 112 landing-page sections and 100 complete templates |
| Categories | Components, effects, backgrounds, text animations, device mocks | Inputs, navigation, overlays, feedback, display, AI agent kit, charts and tables, animated icons, UI sounds, text, backgrounds, cursor, image, interactive, transitions |
| Install | shadcn CLI registry (magicui.design/r); no MCP server stated | shadcn CLI registry; MCP server for Claude Code, Cursor and any MCP client |
| Team licensing | Not stated on the Pro page | Per-seat workspaces: invite teammates, move seats between people |
| Stack | React, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, Motion; templates in Next.js | React 19, Tailwind CSS 4, Motion; Next.js, Vite, Remix and Astro |
| Accessibility and reduced motion | Not stated as a library-wide guarantee | Every component respects prefers-reduced-motion and keeps its accessible name, role and keyboard path |
Why people compare Magic UI and Charcoal UI
Magic UI is a free, MIT-licensed set of animated components and effects for React, Tailwind CSS and Motion, built as a companion to shadcn/ui, with Magic UI Pro selling landing-page templates and sections.
The two libraries share a stack and a philosophy. The difference is scope and the shape of the paid tier: Magic UI Pro is templates and sections for a one-time price, while Charcoal UI Pro is a large component library plus sections and templates, sold per seat with a monthly option. Checked against magicui.design and pro.magicui.design on 3 November 2026.
When to pick Magic UI
- You want a large free set of effects with no paid tier in the way, and you are happy to build forms and navigation from shadcn/ui.
- You mainly need polished Next.js landing templates and a one-time price is what your budget allows.
- You value a big open-source community and star count as a signal.
When to pick Charcoal UI
- You want animated versions of the everyday controls too: inputs, selects, date pickers, menus, dialogs, toasts and tables.
- You are building an AI product and need chat, tool-call, agent-trace and voice components out of the box.
- You want far more templates and sections, and a monthly plan to try them.
- You want an MCP server so AI coding agents can search, read props and install for you.
Switching from Magic UI
Both are shadcn registries on the same React, Tailwind CSS and Motion stack, so files sit together in components/ui and your theme variables apply to both.
Charcoal UI equivalents exist for Magic UI's common picks: marquee, number ticker, shimmer and shine buttons, border beam, dock, animated lists, globe-style and particle backgrounds.
Templates install every section and component they use in one command, so a page can be replaced whole rather than component by component.
Try Charcoal UI Pro
npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/<name>Charcoal UI Pro is $9 per seat per month, or $69 per seat once for lifetime access (launch price, usually $99), per seat, for unlimited personal and commercial projects, with a 14-day refund. One seat covers all 394 Pro components, 112 sections and 100 templates, and every Pro item can be tried live before you buy.
- Pricing: Free, monthly and lifetime seats.
- All components: 462 components, live.
- Templates: 100 complete landing pages.
Other comparisons
- Charcoal UI vs React Bits: React Bits alternative? How Charcoal UI compares on components, sections, templates, licence, price and AI-agent installs, with sources.
- Charcoal UI vs Aceternity UI: Aceternity UI alternative? Charcoal UI and Aceternity UI compared on components, blocks, templates, price, team licences and MCP installs.
- Charcoal UI vs beUI: beUI alternative? Charcoal UI and beUI compared on components, blocks, AI kit, charts, React Native, licence, price and MCP access, with sources.
- Charcoal UI vs Animate UI: Animate UI alternative? Charcoal UI and Animate UI compared on animated primitives, icons, backgrounds, licence and AI-agent installs, with sources.
About these facts
Magic UI's details were checked on magicui.design on 3 November 2026. Libraries change their counts and prices; if something here is out of date, email support@shaheercare.com and it will be corrected.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Charcoal UI a Magic UI alternative?
- Yes. It covers the same animated-component ground and adds everyday UI, an AI agent kit, charts and a much larger set of sections and templates. Magic UI stays the larger free collection.
- Is Magic UI free?
- The component library is MIT licensed and free. Magic UI Pro, the templates and sections, is a $199 one-time purchase.
- Which is cheaper?
- Charcoal UI Pro starts at $9 per seat per month, and a lifetime seat is $69 against Magic UI Pro's $199 one-time licence.