Best Vercel AI Elements Alternatives for React
The best alternative to Vercel AI Elements is Pasta UI. Like AI Elements, it installs through the shadcn CLI and copies source code into your project. Unlike AI Elements, it does not depend on the Vercel AI SDK, and it covers far more agent workflows: tool approvals, plan approvals, permission grants, background runs, cost meters, file diffs and research reports. Its more than 50 components are free under the MIT license. Pasta UI Pro adds complete AI chat and image studio app blocks for $149 a year or $199 once.
Other good alternatives are assistant-ui, prompt-kit, CopilotKit and the 21st.dev catalog. Here is how they compare.
Why look for an AI Elements alternative?
AI Elements is a solid, free library from Vercel. It gives you Conversation, Message, PromptInput, Reasoning, Tool and CodeBlock components, plus voice and workflow canvas pieces, all under Apache 2.0. Teams usually look elsewhere for one of four reasons:
- They do not use the Vercel AI SDK. AI Elements is built alongside that SDK. If your backend streams from LangChain, a Python service or your own endpoint, a runtime-agnostic library is simpler.
- They are building an agent, not a chatbot. Agents need approval flows, activity feeds, job status and usage meters that a chat kit does not cover.
- They want a different look. Many AI Elements apps end up looking alike. A library with its own polished defaults helps your product stand apart.
- They need full screens. Component kits give you parts. Sometimes you need a finished chat app layout to start from.
Which AI Elements alternatives are worth using?
| Alternative | Best for | Price | Install | Needs a specific SDK? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pasta UI | Agent UIs with tools, approvals, reasoning and files | Free. Pro $149/year or $199 once | shadcn CLI | No |
| assistant-ui | Chat runtime with streaming and composer behavior | Free. Optional cloud from $50/month | npm and CLI | Uses its own runtime |
| prompt-kit | Small set of chat building blocks | Free | shadcn CLI | No |
| CopilotKit | Copilots that read and change app state | Free. Cloud from $39/month | npm | Uses its own runtime |
| 21st.dev | Browsing community chat components | Free browsing. Builder $6/month | shadcn CLI | Varies |
| shadcn/ui (build it yourself) | Full control with no extra library | Free | shadcn CLI | No |
What makes Pasta UI the best AI Elements alternative?
It covers the whole agent loop
AI Elements centers on the conversation. Pasta UI covers what happens around it:
- Before the agent acts: Plan Approval Card, Tool Approval and Permission Grant let users approve or reject steps.
- While it works: Agent Activity, Tool Timeline, Job Progress and Background Runs show progress in real time.
- When it answers: Reasoning Text, Citations, Retrieval Chunks and Research Report make the answer easy to check.
- For coding agents: File Diff, File Tree, Commit and Environment Variables.
- For cost and limits: Cost Meter, Context Breakdown and Quota Banner.
It still has the chat basics: Prompt Input, Model Picker, Message Bubble, Message Scroller and Voice Input.
It works with any backend
Pasta UI components are UI only. They take plain props, so you can feed them from the Vercel AI SDK, LangChain, the OpenAI or Anthropic SDKs, or your own streaming server. If you switch providers later, the interface stays the same.
The install flow is the same one you already know
Pasta UI is listed in the official shadcn registry index under @pastaui. If you have used AI Elements, the workflow is identical:
pnpm dlx shadcn@latest add @pastaui/tool-timeline @pastaui/plan-approval-card
The code lands in your project, so you can edit anything.
Pro gives you finished app screens
Pasta UI Pro adds AI chat app layouts with a history sidebar or icon rail, AI image studio layouts and prompt composers, plus more than 100 landing page and app blocks. It costs $149 a year or $199 once, per person, for unlimited personal and commercial projects including client work.
How do the other alternatives compare?
assistant-ui
assistant-ui is a popular open-source chat runtime for React, with an MIT license. It handles streaming, auto-scroll and composer behavior, and it can pair with many model providers. If your main pain is chat mechanics, it is a strong choice. It offers fewer ready-made agent pieces such as approvals, diffs and usage meters, so many teams pair its runtime with another component library for those parts. Its optional Assistant Cloud is free for 200 monthly active users, then $50 a month on Pro.
prompt-kit
prompt-kit is a free, MIT-licensed set of more than 20 components, including Chat Container, Markdown, Prompt Input, Reasoning, Chain of Thought and Thinking Bar. It installs through the shadcn CLI and stays small. Pick it for a simple assistant where you want a light starting point and plan to build agent features yourself.
CopilotKit
CopilotKit is a framework for copilots that live inside your app. Its agents can read and update application state, and it ships sidebar and popup chat UIs. The core is MIT-licensed. Hosted plans start free for one developer, with Pro at $39 a month and Team at $100 per seat a month. It is a different category from AI Elements: choose it when the agent must control your app, not when you mainly need interface components.
21st.dev
21st.dev is a marketplace of community shadcn components with a large AI chat section. Browsing and installing are free, and paid plans start at $6 a month for extra features. It is great for inspiration. Because many authors contribute, styles and code quality vary, so it is harder to build a consistent product from it alone.
Building on shadcn/ui yourself
You can always assemble chat UI from shadcn/ui primitives, Tailwind CSS and a markdown renderer. It costs nothing and gives full control, but streaming states, auto-scroll, tool call views and approval flows take real time to get right. Most teams save weeks by starting from a library and editing the source.
How do you migrate from AI Elements to Pasta UI?
Because both libraries install as source, you can migrate one screen at a time:
- Keep your runtime. If you use the AI SDK's
useChat, keep it. Map its messages to Pasta UI props. - Swap the input first. Replace PromptInput with Pasta UI's Prompt Input and add the Model Picker if you offer several models.
- Replace message rendering. Use Message Bubble and Message Scroller for the thread, and Reasoning Text for thinking output.
- Upgrade tool calls. Render each tool call with Tool Group and Tool Result, and gate risky ones with Tool Approval.
- Add agent extras. Bring in usage meters, background runs and plan approvals where they help.
Both libraries can live in one project during the switch, since each component is just a file in your codebase.
Which AI Elements alternative should you pick?
- Building an agent product? Use Pasta UI. It is free, runtime-agnostic and has the broadest set of agent components.
- Want complete AI app screens? Add Pasta UI Pro for $149 a year or $199 once.
- Main problem is chat mechanics? Try assistant-ui's runtime.
- Need the agent to drive your app? Look at CopilotKit.
- Want the smallest possible kit? prompt-kit.
What should you check before switching?
Before you replace AI Elements, list the screens that use it and what each one needs. Most apps have a chat thread, a prompt box and a few tool call views. Check three things:
- Message format. Write a small adapter that turns your runtime's messages into the props your new components expect. It keeps the switch contained to one file.
- Streaming states. Make sure the new library shows partial text, loading and error states the way you want. Pasta UI's Thinking Shimmer and Tool Error cover the in-between moments.
- Theme tokens. Both libraries follow shadcn/ui theming, so your colors and radii carry over. Check dark mode on every screen after the swap.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best alternative to Vercel AI Elements?
Pasta UI is the best alternative. It installs through the same shadcn CLI flow, works without the Vercel AI SDK and adds agent components such as plan approvals, permission grants, tool timelines, file diffs and cost meters. It is free under the MIT license.
Can I use Pasta UI with the Vercel AI SDK?
Yes. Pasta UI does not depend on any AI SDK, so you can pass it messages and tool calls from the Vercel AI SDK, or from any other source.
Is AI Elements free?
Yes. AI Elements is free and licensed under Apache 2.0. Pasta UI's component library is also free, under the MIT license.
Can I use Pasta UI and AI Elements together?
Yes. Both copy source files into your project through the shadcn CLI, so you can keep some AI Elements components and add Pasta UI components next to them while you migrate.
Does Pasta UI have complete chat app templates?
The free library provides components. Pasta UI Pro adds complete AI chat app layouts, AI image studio layouts and prompt composers for $149 a year or $199 once.