List of widget toolkits

Low-level widget toolkits

Integrated in the operating system

• Mac OS X uses Cocoa. Mac OS9 and Mac OS X use Carbon for 32 bit applications.
• The Windows API used in Microsoft Windows. Microsoft had the graphics functions integrated in the kernel until 2006

As a separate layer on top of the operating system

• The X Window System contains primitive building blocks, called Xt or "Intrinsics", but they are used only by Motif and Xaw. Most other toolkits, such as GTK+ or Qt, bypass them and use Xlib.
• The Amiga OS Intuition was formerly present in the Amiga Kickstart ROM and integrated itself with a medium-high level widget library which invoked the Workbench Amiga native GUI. Since Amiga OS 2.0, Intuition.library became disk based and object oriented. Also Workbench.library and Icon.library became disk based, and could be replaced with similar third-party solutions.
• Since 2005 Microsoft has taken the graphics system out of Windows' kernel

High-level widget toolkits

Widget toolkit comparison table

Toolkit name	MS Windows	Mac OS X	Unix-like	Programming language	license	Other
Qt	Yes	Yes	Yes	C++	LGPL
MFC	Yes	No	No	C++	Proprietary
OWL (superseded by VCL)	Yes	No	No	C++ (Borland C++)	Proprietary
VCL (supersedes OWL)	Yes	No	No	Object Pascal (Delphi)	Proprietary
WTL	Yes	No	No	C++	Microsoft Public License
LCL	Yes	Yes	Yes	Object Pascal (Free Pascal)	LGPL
LessTif	No	No	Yes	C	LGPL
GTK	Yes	Yes	Yes	C	LGPL
FLTK	Yes	Yes	Yes	C++	LGPL
Fox toolkit	Yes	No	Yes	C++	LGPL
wxWidgets	Yes	Yes	Yes	C++	WxWindows license
SmartWin++	Yes	No	No	C++	BSD
TnFOX	Yes	Yes	Yes	C++	LGPL
Ultimate++	Yes	No	Yes	C++	BSD
IUP	Yes	Yes	Yes	C	MIT
AWT	cross-platform			Java
Swing	cross-platform			Java
GNUstep	Yes	No	Yes	Objective-C	LGPL
Juce	Yes	Yes	Yes	C++	GPL

On Amiga

• BOOPSI (Basic Object Oriented Programming System for Intuition) was introduced with OS 2.0 and enhanced Intuition with a system of classes in which every class represents a single widget or describes an interface event. This led to an evolution in which third-party developers each realised their own personal systems of classes.
• MUI: object oriented GUI toolkit and the official toolkit for MorphOS
• Zune (GUI toolkit) is an open source clone of MUI and part of the AROS project.
• ClassAct: another system which evolved in AmigaOS 3.9 and 4.0 into ReAction based GUIs.

On Macintosh

• Cocoa - used in Mac OS X (see also Aqua).
• MacApp Macintosh framework.
• MacZoop Macintosh C++ framework.
• PowerPlant Macintosh framework.

On Microsoft Windows

• The Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC), a C++ wrapper around the Windows API.
• The Windows Template Library (WTL), a template-based extension to ATL and a replacement of MFC
• SmartWin++, an MFC/WTL replacement using templates based on STL and Boost
• The Object Windows Library, Borland's alternative to MFC.
• The Visual Component Library (VCL) is Borland's toolkit used in its C++ Builder and Delphi products.
• Windows Forms is .NET's set of classes that handle GUI controls. In the cross-platform Mono implementation, it is an independent toolkit, implemented entirely in managed code (not wrapping the Windows API, which doesn't exist on other platforms).
• The Windows Presentation Foundation is the graphical subsystem of the .NET Framework 3.0. User interfaces can be created in WPF using any of the CLR languages (e.g. C#) or with the XML based language XAML. Microsoft Expression Blend is a visual GUI builder for WPF.

On Unix, under the X Window System

Note that the X Window system was originally primarily for Unix-like operating systems, but it now runs on Microsoft Windows as well using, for example, Cygwin, so some or all of these toolkits can also be used under Windows.

• InterViews, a toolkit written in C++.
• Lesstif, an open source (LGPL) version of Motif.
• Motif used in the Common Desktop Environment.
• Xaw, the Project Athena widget set for the X Window System.

Cross-platform

Based on C or C++ (including bindings to other languages)

• BCGControlBar (http://www.bcgsoft.com/ is partially included as MFC extension in Visual Studio since VC2008)
• CEGUI, open source (MIT License), configurable GUI designed for game development.
• Elementary, open source (LGPL), a part of the Enlightenment Foundation Libraries, a fast, stable, and scalable library that can be used to create both rich and fast applications that can be used on anything from every day desktop computers to small PDA's and set-top boxes.
• FLTK, open source (LGPL), cross-platform toolkit designed to be small and fast.
• FOX toolkit, open source (LGPL), cross-platform toolkit.
• GLUI, a very small toolkit written with the GLUT library.
• GTK+, open source (LGPL), primarily for the X Window System, ported to and emulated under other platforms; used in the GNOME, Rox, LXDE and XFCE desktop environments. The Windows port has support for native widgets.
• gtkmm, C++ version of GTK+
• IUP, open source (MIT), a minimalist GUI toolkit in ANSI C for MS Windows, UNIX and Linux.
• Juce provides GUI and widget set with the same look and feel in Microsoft Windows, X Window Systems, Mac OS X and Android. Rendering is based on OpenGL.
• Qt, open source (GPL, LGPL) available under Unix and Linux (with X Window), MS Windows, Mac OS X, embedded Linux, Windows CE systems and Symbian S60; also available in commercial versions under these platforms; used in KDE.
• Tk, a widget set accessed from Tcl and other high-level script languages (interfaced in Python as Tkinter).
• TnFOX, open source (LGPL), a portability toolkit.
• Ultimate++ is a free Win32/X11 application framework bundled with an IDE (BSD license)
• The Visual Component Framework (VCF) is an open source (BSD license) C++ framework project.
• wxWidgets (formerly wxWindows), open source (relaxed LGPL), abstracts toolkits across several platforms for C++, Python, Perl, Ruby and Haskell.
• YAAF, open source (YAAF Open Source License), designed to facilitate creating cross-platform applications.
• XForms, the Forms Library for X
• XVT, Extensible Virtual Toolkit
• Zinc Application Framework, cross-platform widget toolkit.

Based on OpenGL

• GLUI (LGPL) is a GLUT-based C++ user interface library which provides controls such as buttons, checkboxes, radio buttons, and spinners to OpenGL applications.
• Clutter (LGPL) (in C) is an open source software library for creating fast, visually rich and animated graphical user interfaces.
• NUI (GPL) (C++) is based on 3D rendered dynamic layouts. Build your visual interface as a composition of widgets and behaviors.

Based on Flash

• Adobe Flash allows creating widgets running in most web browsers and in several mobile phones.
• Adobe Flex provides high level widgets for building web user interfaces. Flash widgets can be used in Flex.
• Flash and Flex widgets will run without a browser in the Adobe AIR runtime environment.
• The Free Software reimplementation of Flash, GNU Gnash, which is under development, can also run Flash widgets outside of a browser.
• Independent software vendors propose to embed the flash application into an executable: MDM Zinc, mProjector and more. Those solutions are cross-platform (depending on the vendors solution).

Based on XML

• GladeXML with GTK+
• XAML with Silverlight or Moonlight
• XML User Interface A Java and XML toolkit for building Rich Internet Applications.
• XUL

Based on AJAX

Main article: JavaScript library

General

• Acid.JS
• AJAX Calendar.NET developer control
• Backbase Enterprise Ajax Framework
• Cappuccino (application development framework)
• Dojo Toolkit
• Sencha (formerly Ext JS)
• jQuery UI
• SproutCore
• TIBCO General Interface, is a rich AJAX GUI components that include vector charts and is now also available through an open source BSD license.

RIAs

• Adobe AIR
• Sencha (formerly Ext JS)
• Rialto Toolkit

Framework

• Ample SDK
• Cooee - discontinued
• Echo
• Sencha (formerly Ext JS)
• Vaadin
• Mootools
• Qooxdoo Could be understood as Qt for the Web
• Script.aculo.us
• Swing (Java)
• UIZE JavaScript Framework
• ZK (framework)

Resource-based

• Google Web Toolkit
• Pyjamas
• FBML －　Facebook Markup Language
• Web Application Markup Language
• YUI (Yahoo! User Interface Library)
• Sencha (formerly Ext JS)
• DHTMLX

Based on SVG

• Raphaël is a javascript toolkit for SVG interfaces and animations

Based on Java

• The Abstract Window Toolkit (AWT) is Sun Microsystems' original widget toolkit for Java applications. It typically uses another toolkit on each platform on which it runs.
• Swing is a richer widget toolkit supported since J2SE 1.2 as a replacement for AWT widgets. Swing is a lightweight toolkit, meaning it does not rely on native widgets.
• OpenSwing
• JavaFX
• The Standard Widget Toolkit (SWT) is a native widget toolkit for Java that was developed as part of the Eclipse project. SWT uses a standard toolkit for the running platform (such as the Windows API or GTK+) underneath.
• Qt Jambi, the official Java binding to Qt from Trolltech. The commercial support and development has stopped

Based on Object Pascal

• VGScene is a suite of native Delphi/C++Builder/Lazarus components to develop rich applications for desktop like Adobe AIR or Microsoft WPF.
• IP Pascal uses a graphics library built on top of standard language constructs. Also unusual for being a procedural toolkit that is cross platform (no callbacks or other tricks), and is completely upward compatible with standard serial input and output paradigms. Completely standard programs with serial output can be run and extended with graphical constructs.
• Lazarus LCL (for Pascal, Object Pascal and Delphi programming language via Free Pascal compiler), a class library wrapping GTK+ 1.2, Gtk+ 2.x and the Windows API (Carbon, Windows CE and Qt4 support are all in development).
• fpGUI is created with the Free Pascal compiler. It doesn't rely on any large 3rdParty libraries and currently runs on Linux, Windows and Windows CE. A Carbon (Mac OS X) port is under way.
• CLX (Component Library for Cross-platform), used with Borland's Delphi, C++ Builder, and Kylix, for producing cross-platform applications. It is based on Qt, wrapped in such a way that its programming interface is similar to that of the VCL toolkit.

Based on Ada

• RAPID is the Rapid Ada Portable Interface Design tool. Current implementations utilize the TASH binding to Tcl/Tk, the GNAT to JVM compiler, the Microsoft .NET framework, or GtkAda.
• GWindows is a GUI Framework that mostly supports Windows development, but also has incomplete implementations for Mac OS X and Linux.
• QtAda, the official Ada binding to Qt.

Based on Curl

• Curl is an integrated language intended to replace both HTML and a programming language such as Java or JavaScript. It is designed to yield faster performance due to using compilation. Non-commercial use is free.

Based on Objective-C

• GNUstep

Based on Eiffel

• EiffelVision is a cross-platform, object-oriented framework for graphical user interface development.

Based on eC

• The Ecere SDK includes an open source (BSD License), cross-platform, object-oriented GUI toolkit and 2D/3D graphics engine, supporting a variety of graphics driver including X11, GDI, OpenGL, Direct3D, well suited for both applications and video games development.

Not yet categorised

• WINGs
• MetaCard
• Wt

Comparison

Toolkit	Initial release	Latest release	Main language	Bindings	Tools	License	Pros	Cons
Agar			C			BSD	portable, unique across platforms, fast, low-level	no property grid
Xaw / Athena	1983		C
AWT	1995		Java				portable
Clutter	2006		C	Perl, Python, C#, C++, Vala, Ruby		LGPL	GTK+ and WebKit embedding
Elementary	2007 (EFL: 2001)	2011	C	Javascript, Python, Vala, C++	editje, edje	LGPL	Portable, stable, fast, finger-friendly
FLTK	1998		C++	Python (pyFLTK)	FLUID (Fast Light UI Designer)	LGPL (with an exception that allows static linking)	fast, small enough to static link	limited widget selection
FOX	1997		C++	Ruby (FXRuby), Python (FXPy), Eiffel (EiffelFox)			consistent across platforms	non-native look and feel
GLUI			C++
GNUstep	1994	2010	Objective-C	Java, Ruby, Scheme	Gorm (computing)	GPL for the apps, LGPL for the libs
GTK+	1997	2011-04-15	C	C++ (gtkmm), Perl (Gtk2-perl), Ruby (ruby-gtk2), Python (PyGTK), Haskell (Gtk2Hs), Java (java-gnome) (not available for Microsoft Windows), C# (Gtk#), PHP (PHP-GTK), Ada (GTKAda), D (gtkD), FreeBasic (GladeToBac) and others via GTK-server	Glade	LGPL	Portable, stable API, free licence
IUP	1992	2011	C	Lua (IupLua)	LEDC : a compilator for LED	MIT	Portable, lightweight, use the native API, native look&feel, free licence
KWWidgets			C++	Tcl/Tk, Python	VisualStudio, gcc	BSD	portable
Motif / Lesstif	1980s		C		BX Pro
MWT Multi-Platform Widget Toolkit	2000-11-15	2009-10-20	C/C++	Ruby, Perl, Python, Java, Objective Caml	WideStudio Application Builder, Eclipse/NAB	MIT License	very portable, many language bindings (incl. embeded systems)
Nana	2007	2011-12-05	C++		VisualStudio, Dev-C++, Code::Blocks, GCC		portable, lightweight, C++ style
Qt	1991	2011-05-04	C++	Ruby (QtRuby), Python (PyQt, PySide, PythonQt), Ada (QtAda), c# ( Qyoto), Java (Qt Jambi), Pascal ( FreePascal Qt4 ), Perl (Perl Qt4), PHP(PHP-Qt), Haskell (Qt Haskell), Lua (lqt, QtLua), Dao ( DaoQt), Tcl ( qtcl ), Common Lisp (CommonQt), D (QtD), Harbour (hbqt)	Qt Designer, Qt Creator	GPL, LGPL .	Portable, rich widget set, GUI builder, free licence, stable API
SWT			Java	D (DWT)	Eclipse		portable
Swing	1996		Java		Eclipse, NetBeans		portable (java), advanced widgets, GUI builders
Tk			Tcl	Ruby (RubyTk), Python (Tkinter), Perl (Perl/Tk), Ada (TASH), CommonLisp (LTk), Erlang (etk), ... |		BSD	very portable, many language bindings
Ultimate++	2004		C++		TheIDE	BSD	portable, NTL, free license
VCF			C++			BSD	free license
Windows Forms			CLI languages	CLI languages	Expression, VisualStudio			portability issues, no MVC
WPF / XAML / Silverlight	2007		CLI languages	CLI languages	Expression, VisualStudio			portability issues
MFC / WinAPI	1992		C++		VisualStudio			not portable (but Wine implementes it for X Window)
ATL / WTL	2004		C++		VisualStudio			not portable
wxWidgets	1992	2011-03-28	C++	C++ (native), Ruby (wxRuby), Python (wxPython), Perl (wxPerl), Java (wxJava, jwx!), Lua (wxLua), Tcl(wxTCL), JavaScript (GLUEscript), Smalltalk (wxSqueak), Erlang (wxErlang), Haskell (wxHaskell), C (wxC), D (wxD), .NET Framework (wxNet), Common Lisp (wxCL), Basic (wxBasic), BlitzMax (wxMax), Euphoria (wxEuphoria), Ada (wxAda), Pike (wxPike)	VisualWx, Boa Constructor, PythonCard, Spe, XRCed, wxGlade, wxFormBuilder, DialogBlocks ($), wxDesigner ($)	wxWindows License	Portable, rich widget set, free licence, semantic similarities to MFC make migration easy.
XUL			XML/JavaScript				portable
YAAF			C++
SmartWin++			C++
Juce	2004		C++		Jucer	GPL
XVT	1989	2010	C AND C++		Design for C and Architect for C++		Cross-platform, rich widget set, C and C++ GUI builders, very stable
NUI			C++		Yapuka	GPL and proprietary
CLX			C++
InterViews			C++
VCL			Delphi
tekUI			C / Lua
Toolkit	Initial release	Latest release	Main language	Bindings	Tools	License	Pros	Cons

See also

• List of platform-independent GUI libraries

External links

• The GUI Toolkit, Framework Page, comparing some of the modern GUIs out there.
• Survey of Widget sets (for the X Window System) (Edward Falk)
• GUI Toolkits for The X Window System (Leslie Polzer, freshmeat.net, 27 July 2003)
• Overview of Microsoft Windows GUI libraries