Syncfusion vs. Other Angular UI Libraries: Why We Chose Syncfusion in a Large Project

We evaluated multiple Angular UI libraries—Angular Material, PrimeNG, Kendo UI, and Syncfusion—for a large enterprise project. Here's why Syncfusion was the winner. When building a large-scale enterprise application, every technology choice matters—especially when it comes to the UI library. In our recent project—a full-stack application using Angular 17, .NET 8, SQL Server, and Azure—we evaluated several Angular UI libraries before ultimately choosing Syncfusion. This post explains why we made that decision, how Syncfusion compared to others, and what we learned in the process. Project Overview We were tasked with building an internal enterprise dashboard with: Large data grids (1k+ rows), Complex forms and reporting, Real-time updates using SignalR, Document generation (PDF/Excel), Role-based dashboards with configurable widgets. We evaluated the following Angular UI libraries: 1. Syncfusion Provides over 80+ UI components covering essential and advanced needs. Best suited for enterprise applications and data visualization. Supports Angular, React, Vue, and Blazor. Offers both free (community edition) and paid versions. Advanced Grid features: Virtual scrolling, pagination, CRUD operations, filtering, and exporting. Rich Data Visualization: Charts, Gauges, Maps, and Pivot Tables. Robust Document Processing: PDF Viewer, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint processing components. 2. PrimeNG Open-source with a large community support. Provides extensive UI elements for forms, tables, and charts. Integrated with PrimeFlex for CSS utilities. Rich themes and animations. 3. NG-Zorro Based on Ant Design, optimized for business applications. Developed and maintained by Alibaba. Strong focus on enterprise UI components. Internationalization (i18n) support. 4. Angular Material Official UI library from Google. Implements Material Design principles. Provides a minimalistic yet powerful UI component suite. Best suited for modern, lightweight applications. 5. Kendo UI for Angular Commercial library with dedicated support. Highly performance-optimized for large datasets. Extensive documentation and enterprise-level features. 6. DevExtreme for Angular Best suited for high-performance and data-heavy applications. Offers charts, grids, interactive UI elements. Optimized for seamless cross-platform development. What We Looked For Here were our key evaluation criteria: Criteria Why It Mattered Component Coverage We needed ready-to-use components like Grid, Scheduler, PDF Viewer, etc. Performance with Large Data Some views handled 10,000+ records with filtering/sorting. Integration with Angular 17 Compatibility with signals, standalone APIs, and change detection. Customization and Theming Required to match enterprise branding. Documentation and Support Needed clear examples and reliable support. Backend Compatibility (.NET) Bonus points for libraries that played well with .NET services. Reporting/Exporting Features PDF, Excel generation support out of the box. Licensing Model Straightforward licensing without usage-based billing. Side-by-Side Comparison Feature Syncfusion PrimeNG NG-Zorro Angular Material Kendo UI DevExtreme Number of Components 80+ 50+ 40+ 30+ 80+ 70+ Free or Paid? Community & Paid Free Free Free Paid Paid Performance High Medium High Medium High High Customization High High Medium Low High High Best For Enterprise apps General use Business UI Modern design Data-heavy apps Interactive UIs Data Grid Support Yes Yes Yes Basic Yes Yes Why We Chose Syncfusion 1. Enterprise-Ready Components Syncfusion's Angular UI suite includes over 80+ components, covering everything from simple inputs to advanced modules like Spreadsheet, Scheduler, Pivot Table, and PDF Viewer. Use Case: We used the Syncfusion Grid extensively for features like: Infinite scrolling Virtualization Excel-like filtering Custom templates Row drag & drop We also leveraged their Scheduler, DocumentEditor, and Rich Text Editor with minimal configuration. 2. Performance with Large Datasets We benchmarked grid rendering with ~10,000 records. While other libraries struggled, Syncfusion Grid performed with smooth scrolling and real-time updates. We combined: Angular’s OnPush change detection, Syncfusion’s enableVirtualization and lazyLoad, Server-side paging via .NET API. Result: Great UX without performance issues. 3. Seamless Angular 17 Integration Full support for Angular Standalone Components Signal compatibility Tree-shakable modules (after selective imports) Reactive forms and template-driven forms support This made our Angular 17 migration much easier. 4. Reporting & Document Generation Syncfusion’s PDF, Excel, Word, and PowerPoint libraries integrated easily with .NET backend. Saved development time for invoice/reporting modules. 5. Support and Documentation Detailed API d

Apr 13, 2025 - 15:28

Syncfusion vs. Other Angular UI Libraries: Why We Chose Syncfusion in a Large Project

We evaluated multiple Angular UI libraries—Angular Material, PrimeNG, Kendo UI, and Syncfusion—for a large enterprise project. Here's why Syncfusion was the winner.

When building a large-scale enterprise application, every technology choice matters—especially when it comes to the UI library. In our recent project—a full-stack application using Angular 17, .NET 8, SQL Server, and Azure—we evaluated several Angular UI libraries before ultimately choosing Syncfusion.
This post explains why we made that decision, how Syncfusion compared to others, and what we learned in the process.

Project Overview

We were tasked with building an internal enterprise dashboard with:

Large data grids (1k+ rows),
Complex forms and reporting,
Real-time updates using SignalR,
Document generation (PDF/Excel),
Role-based dashboards with configurable widgets.

We evaluated the following Angular UI libraries:

1. Syncfusion

Provides over 80+ UI components covering essential and advanced needs.
Best suited for enterprise applications and data visualization.
Supports Angular, React, Vue, and Blazor.
Offers both free (community edition) and paid versions.
Advanced Grid features: Virtual scrolling, pagination, CRUD operations, filtering, and exporting.
Rich Data Visualization: Charts, Gauges, Maps, and Pivot Tables.
Robust Document Processing: PDF Viewer, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint processing components.

2. PrimeNG

Open-source with a large community support.
Provides extensive UI elements for forms, tables, and charts.
Integrated with PrimeFlex for CSS utilities.
Rich themes and animations.

3. NG-Zorro

Based on Ant Design, optimized for business applications.
Developed and maintained by Alibaba.
Strong focus on enterprise UI components.
Internationalization (i18n) support.

4. Angular Material

Official UI library from Google.
Implements Material Design principles.
Provides a minimalistic yet powerful UI component suite.
Best suited for modern, lightweight applications.

5. Kendo UI for Angular

Commercial library with dedicated support.
Highly performance-optimized for large datasets.
Extensive documentation and enterprise-level features.

6. DevExtreme for Angular

Best suited for high-performance and data-heavy applications.
Offers charts, grids, interactive UI elements.
Optimized for seamless cross-platform development.

What We Looked For

Here were our key evaluation criteria:

Criteria	Why It Mattered
Component Coverage	We needed ready-to-use components like Grid, Scheduler, PDF Viewer, etc.
Performance with Large Data	Some views handled 10,000+ records with filtering/sorting.
Integration with Angular 17	Compatibility with signals, standalone APIs, and change detection.
Customization and Theming	Required to match enterprise branding.
Documentation and Support	Needed clear examples and reliable support.
Backend Compatibility (.NET)	Bonus points for libraries that played well with .NET services.
Reporting/Exporting Features	PDF, Excel generation support out of the box.
Licensing Model	Straightforward licensing without usage-based billing.

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	Syncfusion	PrimeNG	NG-Zorro	Angular Material	Kendo UI	DevExtreme
Number of Components	80+	50+	40+	30+	80+	70+
Free or Paid?	Community & Paid	Free	Free	Free	Paid	Paid
Performance	High	Medium	High	Medium	High	High
Customization	High	High	Medium	Low	High	High
Best For	Enterprise apps	General use	Business UI	Modern design	Data-heavy apps	Interactive UIs
Data Grid Support	Yes	Yes	Yes	Basic	Yes	Yes

Why We Chose Syncfusion

1. Enterprise-Ready Components

Syncfusion's Angular UI suite includes over 80+ components, covering everything from simple inputs to advanced modules like Spreadsheet, Scheduler, Pivot Table, and PDF Viewer.

Use Case: We used the Syncfusion Grid extensively for features like:

Infinite scrolling

Virtualization

Excel-like filtering

Custom templates

Row drag & drop We also leveraged their Scheduler, DocumentEditor, and Rich Text Editor with minimal configuration.

2. Performance with Large Datasets

We benchmarked grid rendering with ~10,000 records. While other libraries struggled, Syncfusion Grid performed with smooth scrolling and real-time updates.
We combined:

Angular’s OnPush change detection,
Syncfusion’s enableVirtualization and lazyLoad,
Server-side paging via .NET API. Result: Great UX without performance issues.

3. Seamless Angular 17 Integration

Full support for Angular Standalone Components
Signal compatibility
Tree-shakable modules (after selective imports)
Reactive forms and template-driven forms support This made our Angular 17 migration much easier.

4. Reporting & Document Generation

Syncfusion’s PDF, Excel, Word, and PowerPoint libraries integrated easily with .NET backend.
Saved development time for invoice/reporting modules.

5. Support and Documentation

Detailed API docs, working stackblitz examples, active ticket support.
Resolved a blocker within 24 hours via their enterprise support.

6. Unified Design Language

Custom themes and theme studio allowed consistent branding across the app.

7. Licensing Fit Our Needs

Flat licensing per developer—easy to budget.
No hidden costs based on usage or app size.

Syncfusion with Angular

1. Installation

Install the complete UI library:

npm install @syncfusion/ej2-angular-ui-components

2. Importing Syncfusion Module

import { NgModule } from '@angular/core';
import { BrowserModule } from '@angular/platform-browser';
import { GridModule } from '@syncfusion/ej2-angular-grids';
@NgModule({
 declarations: [/* Components */],
 imports: [BrowserModule, GridModule],
 bootstrap: [/* Root Component */]
})
export class AppModule {}

3. Component Usage Examples
1. Grid Example

export class AppComponent {
 data = [
   { id: 1, name: 'John Doe', age: 28 },
   { id: 2, name: 'Jane Doe', age: 25 },
 ];
}

2. Dropdown Example

export class AppComponent {
 countries = ['USA', 'India', 'Canada', 'Germany'];
}

3. DatePicker Example

Using Syncfusion with Other Frameworks

Syncfusion provides UI components that are compatible with multiple frameworks beyond Angular, including React, and Vue. Below are step-by-step guides for integrating **Syncfusion **with these frameworks.

1. React

npm install @syncfusion/ej2-react-grids

import { GridComponent, ColumnsDirective, ColumnDirective } from '@syncfusion/ej2-react-grids';

2. Vue

npm install @syncfusion/ej2-vue-grids

Advantages and Disadvantages of Syncfusion

Advantages

Wide range of enterprise-ready components
High performance with large datasets
Supports Angular, React, Vue, Blazor
Extensive documentation and support

Disadvantages

Advanced features require a paid license

Conclusion

Syncfusion is ideal for enterprise and data-heavy applications
PrimeNG and Angular Material are great for general UI needs
Choose based on your project’s size, complexity, and budget