# 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

```bash
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](https://charcoalui.com/pricing): Free, monthly and lifetime seats.
- [All components](https://charcoalui.com/docs/components): 462 components, live.
- [Templates](https://charcoalui.com/templates): 100 complete landing pages.

## Other comparisons

- [Charcoal UI vs React Bits](https://charcoalui.com/compare/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](https://charcoalui.com/compare/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](https://charcoalui.com/compare/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](https://charcoalui.com/compare/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.

Live page: https://charcoalui.com/compare/magic-ui