AG Grid Alternatives for Your Angular, React or Web Components Project

Katie Mikova / Monday, April 1, 2024

AG Grid is considered one of the most popular and feature-rich JavaScript Data Grids for building interactive tables in different enterprise apps. But even though it comes fully featured and customizable with things like Column Interactions, Pagination, Grouping, Accessibility support, Custom Filtering, Hierarchical Data Support, Tree View, and more, certain limitations and downsides make developers look for AG Grid alternatives for Angular and React projects.

And in this article, we will discuss all this in detail, covering questions like:

What Are the Advantages of AG Grid? 

Some of the biggest advantages of AG Grid compared to AG Grid competitors include the fact that it is widely adopted, it has stood the test of time, and there is also the quick and easy import of its components and styles. Once this is done, the implementation in each application seems like a cakewalk. Then come the built-in functionalities we've already mentioned above, plus others like sorting, searching, filtering, and much more. Lastly, AG Grid supports many frameworks and libraries: Angular, React, Vue.js, and vanilla JavaScript.

What Are the Disadvantages of AG Grid?

  • Many of the most valuable features are only available in the Enterprise version.
  • The licensing is too expensive.
  • Bad performance of virtual scroll on many items.
  • Issues with customizations like re-setting custom filters and not showing the custom components in specific scenarios.
  • Large overall bundle size as it uses JavaScript.

Fortunately, in the diverse landscape of front-end development, there are other solutions that break new ground, delivering a lot more in terms of tailored features, seamless integrations, and cost-effectiveness. So, what exactly are these AG Grid alternatives?

Navigating the Grid: Exploring Other Options

ApexCharts – The Best AG Grid Free Alternative

The powerful charting library ApexCharts has released a brand-new Apex Grid component. It is a free JavaScript data grid with all the core features that developers need. Why would developers want to use it? Here are some of the key benefits:

  • It delivers performance built-in and row-level virtualization.
  • Column types that are automatically generated based on the data source, and more.
  • It has a well-written documentation.

Along the Apex Grid, there is also a wide range of chart types, customization options, interactive features and more with over 700k weekly NPM downloads. And not too long ago, it introduced Apex Grids. Since it is an open-source library released under the MIT license, people can use it for free. Here are other key advantages of using it: 

  • It provides interactive features like tooltips, zooming, panning, and more.
  • The Grid is lightweight and provides core features like Sorting, Filtering, and Paging.
  • It can be easily integrated.

Ignite UI - For Data-Rich Web Apps

Because it is all about performance, Ignite UI for Angular brings:

  • The fastest Gird on the market that can handle unlimited rows and columns of data instantly.
  • Access to custom templates and real-time data updates.
  • Advanced Data Grid feature-set for any scenario, such as Batch Editing, Advanced Filtering, State Persistence, Virtualization, Keyboard Navigation.
  • Intuitive API for the easiest theming and branding.
  • Data binding with minimal hand-coding.
  • High-performing charts that can render millions of data points without interruptions.
  • Seamless integration with all frameworks.
  • A vibrant community and support.

Ignite UI for React now has an enhanced version and updated Data Grid with the same design, behavior, UX, and capabilities as Ignite UI for Angular Data Grid. Key benefits:

  • A seamless switch between Angular, Blazor, Web Components, or React.
  • Mobile-first design, versatility and ultimate performance on any modern browser. 
  • Ability to be more agile to changing requirements in React.
  • Tons of customization options and unmatched load time.
  • Fast and interactive 60+ charts and graphs.
  • 40+ brand-new React Data Grid features, including Header Template, Cell Template, Data Binding, Column Types, Advanced Filtering, Conditional Styling and others.

Ignite UI for Web Components, on the other hand, offers the same features, functionality, documentation, samples, and behavior as the Grid Component for Angular and React. The only difference is that Web Components Grid is framework agnostic, meaning it can be used in both Angular and React projects, as Web Components is the web standard.

App Builder  - Revolutionizing Modern-Day App Development

Lastly, there are Grid components that are included in low-code App Builder, which may serve as yet another The tool also offers various advantages in terms of speed, simplicity, functionality, and customization. The reason developer would want to use it:

  • Super easy to build apps from scratch, but it also supports Figma and Sketch UI kits.
  • Designed to accelerate application development by abstracting away much of the error-prone manual coding.
  • Has visual development interfaces and pre-built components, reducing development time by 80%.
  • Focuses on simplicity and user-friendliness so developers with varying levels of expertise, can leverage the power of App Builder.
  • With out-of-the-box grid functionalities and the most in-demand features, including data visualization components.
  • Easiness when configuring a data Grid with every UX feature that customers need.
  • With Open API (Swagger support) and full Grid CRUD actions (Create, Read, Update, and Delete).
  • Real-time Web API updates and code generation in a click.

Summary & Final Thoughts…

As we navigate across the options and various AG Grid alternatives for Angular and React apps available today, it becomes evident that a constant pursuit of innovation and optimization marks the front-end development world. Each alternative addresses the evolving needs of developers and the diverse nature of projects they undertake, only to deliver better data-driven solutions.

While the number of AG Grid competitors is growing, the decision-making process necessitates an informed approach. That is why critical factors such as source code quality, reliability, ease of use, performance, data grid features, documentation, and community support play pivotal roles in guiding developers toward selecting the most suitable tool for their specific use case.