Partners, not rivals

AG Grid vs TanStack Table

Both libraries live in the same problem space but take opposite approaches. TanStack Table is headless and composable; AG Grid is full-featured and batteries-included. AG Grid is the official open-source partner of TanStack Table — here is how to pick the right one, or use both together.

Reach for TanStack Table when…

You want a headless grid — you own the markup, styles, and design system
Bundle size and full DOM control matter more than built-in features
You are composing a bespoke table UI, not shipping a spreadsheet replacement
You want the same core across React, Vue, Solid, Svelte, Qwik, Angular, and Lit
Your dataset fits comfortably in the client-side model (tens of thousands of rows)
You are happy to wire up sorting, grouping, and virtualization yourself

Reach for AG Grid when…

You need enterprise features like pivoting or a server-side row model out of the box
You are handling hundreds of thousands to millions of rows
You want Excel export, integrated charts, and range selection without building them
Master/detail, tree data, and clipboard support are requirements, not nice-to-haves
You want a batteries-included grid your whole team can ship this week
You need commercial support behind the grid at the center of your product

Side by side

A quick reference across the dimensions teams weigh most.

	TanStack Table	AG Grid
Architecture	Headless (bring your own UI)	Full component with built-in UI
License	MIT (free)	Community MIT · Enterprise commercial
Styling	Your CSS / design system	Theming engine with design tokens
Row virtualization	Pair with TanStack Virtual	Built in (rows and columns)
Row grouping & pivoting	Build it yourself	Enterprise, built in
Server-side row model	Build it yourself	Enterprise, built in
Excel export & charts	Bring your own	Enterprise, built in
Best for	Custom, lightweight tables	Large-scale enterprise data grids

Try AG Grid Explore TanStack Table

Common questions

No — they are partners. AG Grid is the official open-source partner of TanStack Table. They solve the same broad problem with opposite philosophies: TanStack Table is headless and composable, AG Grid is full-featured and batteries-included. Many teams use both in the same product.

Yes. Because both are column-and-row driven, your column definitions and row data map over cleanly. TanStack Table column defs become AG Grid columnDefs, and your data array becomes rowData. The main shift is that AG Grid renders the UI for you instead of you rendering it.

It depends on the workload. TanStack Table is a thin logic layer, so raw overhead is minimal, but you supply the rendering and virtualization. AG Grid ships heavily optimized rendering, virtualization, and a server-side row model designed for very large datasets out of the box.

Absolutely. A common pattern is TanStack Table for lightweight, custom-styled tables and AG Grid for the heavy data-grid surfaces that need pivoting, grouping, or millions of rows.