Layui Never Stopped Shipping: A UI Library That Just Kept Going
You've probably seen a project announced as discontinued, moved on, and never looked back. That's exactly what happened to a lot of developers with Layui back in 2021, when the original site went offline and the project seemed to fade away. Except it didn't. Layui kept shipping releases the entire time, and it's still going today.
What It Does
Layui is an open-source, free Web UI component library built on plain, native HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. There's no build step required to get started, no framework to adopt, and no dependency chain to untangle. You write markup, drop in the library, and the components work in the browser.
The stated goal is making it easier to build modern web interfaces, and the README is explicit about who that's for: non-frontend developers. If you're a backend engineer, a solo builder, or someone who just needs a working page with dialogs, tables, and forms, Layui lowers the barrier considerably. You only need to think in terms of the browser — the elements and interactions the page needs are meant to be within easy reach.
It's released under the MIT license, publishes to npm, and runs CI through GitHub Actions. Documentation for the current stable line (Layui 2) lives at layui.dev, and Layui 3 is noted as in development.
Why It's Cool
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The "not dead" story is the real story here. On October 13, 2021, Layui announced the original site was going offline and moved its docs to Gitee Pages, shifting community and maintenance activity to Gitee and GitHub. The announcement asked users to embrace other mainstream frameworks, which led many people to assume the project was finished. It wasn't. Layui kept iterating on GitHub and Gitee continuously from version 2.6.8 through to the current release.
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A return that's about the people still using it. On April 24, 2023, Layui shipped 2.8.0 and launched a new documentation site. The README calls this a plain return and a continuation of something people cared about — while still holding to the earlier recommendation that developers keep an eye on mainstream tools.
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An honest position about where it fits. The project doesn't pretend to be the mainstream choice. The README says outright that Layui exists to fill the narrower gaps outside the mainstream, and that it's long since stopped being just the author's project — it belongs to everyone still using it. It supports a lot of projects and represents a lot of people's work.
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A ten-year milestone. On October 24, 2025, Layui released 2.13.0, described as an important stage release marking ten years since the 1.0.0 launch on October 14, 2016, and opening a new chapter.
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The development model is the point. The README frames the future around continuing to demonstrate the viability of Layui's development approach — plain, browser-first, no-framework-required.
How to Try It
- Head to the repository: https://github.com/layui/layui
- Read the docs for the stable line at https://layui.dev/docs/2/
- Install from npm if that fits your workflow:
npm install layui
- If you'd rather skip package managers, the library is built for direct browser use — include it in your page and start using components in plain HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
- Curious about what's next? The Layui 3 development discussion lives in the project's issues at https://github.com/layui/layui/issues/2889
Final Thoughts
Layui isn't trying to win a framework popularity contest, and the README is refreshingly candid about that. It's a solid fit if you're a non-frontend developer who wants to build real interfaces without a toolchain, or if you maintain a project that already depends on it. The takeaway is simpler than the drama suggests: a library that many assumed was abandoned has been quietly maintained for years, and it just marked a decade with a new release. If you wrote it off in 2021, it might be worth another look.
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