HonestUI vs Aceternity UI

Use Aceternity UI if you want highly visual components, animated backgrounds, effects, and ready-made marketing sections.

Use HonestUI if you want animated pieces alongside a broader set of application components, ECharts-based charts, icons, logos, vectors, and shaders.

Both can give you editable component source. Aceternity UI uses the shadcn registry for its free components, while HonestUI uses its own CLI. (Aceternity UI CLI, HonestUI overview)

Aceternity also has a large paid Pro library of blocks and templates. HonestUI is an MIT-licensed open-source project without a paid component tier.

HonestUI fits better when you are building an application rather than primarily a marketing site.

You still get animated components and shaders, but they sit alongside buttons, fields, selects, dialogs, tables, and other standard controls.

HonestUI also provides a full chart collection based on Apache ECharts and separate package collections for icons, logos, and vectors.

If you want one open-source project to cover more of the product interface, HonestUI is the broader option.

Aceternity UI fits better when visual impact is one of the main requirements.

Its catalog includes animated backgrounds, cards, text effects, grids, hover interactions, parallax, globes, navigation, timelines, and many other visually distinctive components. (Aceternity component catalog)

It also has paid blocks and templates. If you want to start with complete hero sections, pricing sections, dashboards, or full site templates instead of assembling each part yourself, the Pro library may save more time.

HonestUI uses its own CLI:

npx honestui@latest init
npx honestui@latest add button

Then import the copied component:

import { Button } from "@/components/ui/button"

export function Example() {
  return <Button>Continue</Button>
}

Aceternity UI can be configured as a namespaced shadcn registry:

{
  "registries": {
    "@aceternity": "https://ui.aceternity.com/registry/{name}.json"
  }
}

Then install a component:

npx shadcn@latest add @aceternity/sidebar

That source is then part of your project and can be edited.

Aceternity UI is heavily centered around effects and presentation.

Many of its components exist specifically to create a strong visual result: moving backgrounds, spotlights, 3D cards, parallax, animated borders, grids, or text effects.

HonestUI also includes visual components, animation, and shaders, but those are part of a broader interface library.

If the page itself needs to feel highly animated and expressive, Aceternity gives you more specialized options.

If you need those effects occasionally while building a larger product interface, HonestUI may be easier to keep consistent.

HonestUI is open source under the MIT license.

Aceternity has both free and paid content. Its Pro library includes additional components, blocks, and templates under the Aceternity License.

That does not make one approach better than the other, but it is worth understanding before choosing.

If you use Aceternity Pro, check the license for the specific way you plan to distribute or reuse the code.

Move components individually.

1. Keep the existing component in place.
2. Install the replacement under a separate path if possible.
3. Compare dependencies and Motion usage.
4. Check mobile layouts, keyboard behavior, focus states, and reduced motion.
5. Replace the call sites.
6. Remove the old component after testing.

If the original Aceternity component came from Pro, make sure your use of the source still follows its license.

Does Aceternity UI give me editable source?

Yes. Free components installed through its shadcn registry become editable source in your project.

Is Aceternity UI completely open source?

Aceternity has free components as well as paid Pro content. The Pro library uses its own Aceternity License.

HonestUI is MIT licensed.

Which library is better for animated landing pages?

Aceternity UI is more heavily focused on visually expressive marketing components and complete sections.

HonestUI is broader and includes standard application UI and other visual collections alongside its animated components.

Which library is better for charts?

HonestUI provides a general-purpose Apache ECharts collection.

Aceternity has visual data components, but its current catalog is not positioned as a full chart library.

Can I use both?

Yes. You can use HonestUI for the main interface and bring in an Aceternity component when you want a specific visual effect.

Choose Aceternity UI if you care most about animated marketing sections, backgrounds, visual effects, or access to premium blocks and templates.

Choose HonestUI if you want a broader open-source UI library that combines application components with animation, charts, icons, logos, vectors, and shaders.

You can explore HonestUI's components to compare the actual UI before deciding.

Connor Love, the creator of HonestUI, wrote this comparison. It is not an independent review.