React Aria

React Aria is a style-free set of React components and hooks that helps you build accessible user interfaces while keeping full control over design. It includes more than 50 components with built-in keyboard, screen reader, and touch behavior, making it ideal for custom design systems.

Key stats

• Components: 50+

• Accessibility: Keyboard and screen reader support built in

• License: Apache-2.0

Definition

• Style-free (headless): Logic and accessibility are provided, but visuals are fully up to you.

What is React Aria?

React Aria is a collection of unstyled React components and hooks designed to solve accessibility and interaction challenges for modern web apps. It focuses on behavior, state management, and input handling, while leaving all visual styling to your own design system.

What features does React Aria offer? ✨

React Aria handles complex interaction patterns so you don’t have to reinvent them. It gives you consistent behavior across devices while staying flexible for custom UI work.

Features

• Style-free components for complete design control

• Built-in accessibility patterns and ARIA behavior

• Keyboard, mouse, touch, and screen reader support

• Helpful state indicators for styling (hovered, pressed, selected)

• Advanced interactions like selection, drag and drop, and validation

• Internationalization support for global applications

What components come with React Aria? 📒

React Aria includes over 50 components that cover common UI needs across forms, overlays, navigation, and data display.

Included components (examples)

• Popover, Tooltip, Modal

• SearchField, ComboBox

• Checkbox, ToggleButton

• Menu and MenuItem

• Table and Grid

• DatePicker and Calendar

What are the pros and cons of React Aria?

React Aria is a strong choice if accessibility and customization matter most. The main tradeoff is that it doesn’t provide a finished visual design.

Pros ✅

• Accessibility behavior is handled out of the box

• Ideal for building custom design systems

• Flexible styling via class names and state attributes

• Consistent interactions across devices

Cons ⚠️

• No default styles or themes included

• Requires more setup than fully styled UI libraries

• Advanced patterns still require thoughtful layout and testing

How do you integrate React Aria into a project?

Integration is flexible and works with modern React setups. You choose how much abstraction you want and layer your styling on top.

Integration

• Use full components or lower-level hooks

• Apply your own CSS, Tailwind, or CSS-in-JS styles

• Follow framework-specific setup for routing and localization

• Style interaction states using provided state attributes

• Test keyboard navigation and focus behavior early

FAQ

Is React Aria a styled component library?

No - it’s style-free by default, so you bring the design and it brings behavior and accessibility.

Do I need a separate UI framework to use React Aria?

No. It can be used on its own or as the foundation for a custom design system.

Is React Aria suitable for large applications?

Yes. It is designed for complex, scalable apps with advanced interaction needs.

How are hover and active states handled?

React Aria exposes clear state indicators that you can target with your own styles.