HextaUI and prompt-kit
prompt-kit gives you the pieces of an AI chat, such as a message, a prompt input and a tool call, as free shadcn/ui components. HextaUI gives you the finished screens those pieces become, with the hard states already handled. This page compares them as of October 2026.
The short answer
Use prompt-kit when you want free, small pieces for a chat and plan to design the screens and their failure states yourself. Use HextaUI when you want the chat thread, the composer, the tool calls and the settings pages already built, with errors, retries, stops and approvals worked out. Both install with the shadcn CLI and share the shadcn/ui theme tokens, so you can mix them.
At a glance
| HextaUI compared with prompt-kit | HextaUI | prompt-kit |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | Components, AI blocks and a complete chat app | Components and example blocks for AI chat |
| Price | Components free, AI blocks paid once, Prompt Input free | Free |
| License | MIT for components, Pro License for blocks | MIT |
| Primitives | Base UI | Radix, through shadcn/ui |
| AI SDK | Optional, reads the same message parts | Optional, used in its chatbot examples |
| Full screens | Chat app, artifacts, diff review, settings pages | Example layouts, including a chat app with a history sidebar |
| Failure states | Stop, retry, failed replies, tool approvals and failed uploads handled | Left to you |
Pieces or screens
prompt-kit is a well-made set of pieces: a chat container that sticks to the bottom, a prompt input, Markdown, reasoning, sources and a tool call. What happens when something goes wrong is up to you. Its Tool component, for instance, shows a call as streaming, ready, done or failed, with no state for a call that waits for approval. Its Prompt Input sends on Enter without checking whether an input method is still composing, and its File Upload handles dropping files but not upload progress or a failed upload.
HextaUI blocks are those decisions, already made and tested:
- Chat Thread: failed replies offer Try again, stopped replies say so, and edits and retries become versions you can switch between. Your question pins to the top while the answer streams, and older history loads without the view jumping.
- Prompt Input: Enter never interrupts Japanese, Chinese or Korean input, uploads show progress and retry, messages typed during a reply wait in a queue, and drafts survive a reload. It is free.
- Tool Calls: every AI SDK tool state has its own look, including approvals, with “Tell it what to do instead” to send a reason back to the model.
- Markdown and Streaming: replies never show half-typed syntax, and bursty chunks are revealed at a steady pace instead of stuttering.
- Chat Sidebar: delete with undo, rename in place, chats that are still replying, and thousands of chats that open instantly.
HextaAI puts every block together into a complete chat app you can open and try before you install anything.
Piece by piece
Most prompt-kit components have a HextaUI counterpart. The names below are from the prompt-kit docs.
| prompt-kit | HextaUI |
|---|---|
| Chat Container, Message, Scroll Button | Chat Thread, with the free Message and Message scroller |
| Prompt Input, Prompt Suggestion, File Upload | Prompt Input, free |
| Reasoning, Chain of Thought, Steps, Thinking Bar, Source | Thinking |
| Tool | Tool Calls |
| Markdown, Response Stream | Markdown and Streaming |
| Code Block | Code Block |
| JSX Preview | Artifact |
| Text Shimmer, Loader | Shimmer and Spinner, free |
| System Message | Alert, free |
| Sidebar chat history, Full chat app | Chat Sidebar and HextaAI |
HextaUI also has screens prompt-kit doesn’t cover, such as Diff Review, Voice Mode and settings pages for an AI product like Models, API keys and Billing.
When prompt-kit is the better choice
- You want everything free and open source. Most of HextaUI’s AI blocks are paid.
- You need a small chat inside a larger app, where a message list, a prompt box and Markdown are enough.
- You want to design the screens, and how they fail, yourself, and only need a good starting point for each piece.
- You want Radix primitives. HextaUI is built on Base UI only.
- You want a free, open-source chat app to start from. Zola is built with prompt-kit by the same author.
Moving from prompt-kit
You don’t have to replace everything at once. Both libraries copy source into your project, so swap one piece when you need what it handles. The composer is a good first step, since Prompt Input is free and reads the same useChat status if your chat runs on the AI SDK. Replace the message list with Chat Thread when failed replies, retries and edits start to matter.
Questions
Is prompt-kit free?
Yes. prompt-kit is open source under the MIT license, and its components and example blocks install with the shadcn CLI.
Does prompt-kit need the AI SDK?
No. Its components don’t import the AI SDK, although its Tool component uses the same tool states and its chatbot examples are built on it. HextaUI works the same way: blocks read AI SDK message parts without importing the SDK.
Is HextaUI free?
The components are free and MIT licensed. The AI blocks and full screens are HextaUI Pro, a single payment with every later block included. Prompt Input is free.
Can I use HextaUI and prompt-kit in the same project?
Yes. Both put their source in your project and use the shadcn/ui theme tokens. prompt-kit builds on Radix and HextaUI on Base UI, so your project carries both while you mix them.