Community vs. Pro: what you get in each edition

Since the launch of Obra shadcn/ui Pro, we’ve had a few people ask what exactly the difference is between the free Community Edition and Pro. This post breaks it down clearly.

The Community Edition

The Community Edition is free on Figma Community and remains available. It includes:

• 55 shadcn/ui components — almost every component in shadcn/ui, built with proper Figma variables and auto layout (almost, because we discovered a few missing components)
• 1,500+ built-in Lucide icons — included as Figma components with keywords so you can search for the right icon instantly. This is based on Lucide +-6 months ago; the Pro kit contains Lucide 1.0.
• Dark & light mode — full support through color variables, with multi-brand theming via Figma variable modes
• Design tokens — colors, typography, spacing, border radii, and shadows as Figma variables
• Icon Sets Add-on — a free companion file to swap in alternative icon sets

The Community Edition is a solid starting point. Best of all, it’s completely free and MIT-licensed. Teams can use it as a foundation to build their own design systems on top of.

What it doesn’t include: the Community Edition won’t receive major updates going forward. It’s a snapshot of where the kit was at version 1.6.0.

The main disadvantages: this version doesn’t contain the rework to bring our kit closer to development. Some components — like alert dialog — have an out of date look.

What Pro adds

The Pro edition builds on top of everything in the Community Edition. Here’s what you get:

Pro Blocks

50+ ready-to-use blocks across three categories:

• 35+ responsive marketing blocks — hero sections, feature grids, pricing tables, testimonials, CTAs, footers, and more
• 15+ responsive e-commerce blocks — product cards, category grids, shopping carts, checkout flows
• 8+ application blocks — dashboards, datagrid type of screens, settings panels and authentication screens. Each block is designed for three sizes: desktop, tablet, and mobile.

Every block is built with shadcn/ui variables, so they automatically adapt to your theme.

Copy-paste them into your file, swap in your content, and you’re done.

Custom components

10 custom components that aren’t officially part of shadcn/ui but are used as building blocks for the Pro Blocks. These fill common gaps — things like inline form messages, decorative icons, and other patterns that come up often in real product work.

Design-to-code consistency

Since 1.8.0, the Pro edition maps much, much closer to shadcn/ui’s own variable system — the same names, scales, and semantics your devs see in code.

All the “unofficial” variables that existed in earlier versions have been cleaned out.

On top of that, the Obra shadcn/ui Pro CSS Export plugin outputs a shadcn-compatible CSS file straight from your Figma variables, ready to paste into your dev project. Customize colors and typography in Figma, export, and ship — no translation layer.

Heads up: the plugin is currently still under review by Figma, so the community link may not be publicly accessible yet. In the meantime, any license holder can grab the plugin source from the download center (link in your purchase email) and run it locally.

Obra Autodocs license

Every Pro purchase includes a team-wide license key for Obra Autodocs — our Figma plugin for generating component documentation. With Autodocs you can:

• Generate clean, minimal component variant documentation in seconds
• View all variable modes at a glance to verify your theme setup
• Catch design system inconsistencies early

The license key is included in your welcome e-mail and covers your entire team.

Lifetime updates

Your Pro license includes access to all future updates at no extra cost. As we ship more value, your license becomes more valuable — but your price stays locked in at what you paid.

Here’s what we promised on our roadmap and already shipped:

• Shipped in April 2026: the design-to-code plugin. The Obra shadcn/ui Pro CSS Export plugin generates production-ready CSS straight from your Figma variables.

Here’s what’s coming:

• May 2026: React Blocks — coded React components for all Pro Blocks
• June 2026: Video academy — a course on using and customizing the kit

Org & Enterprise extras

Teams on Organization or Enterprise plans also get:

• Personal support from the creator for your specific use case
• Pro Blocks on request — request custom blocks tailored to your team’s needs (2 for Org, 4 for Enterprise)
• Introductory session with your design team (Enterprise)

Side-by-side comparison

For a full feature-by-feature comparison table, head to our pricing page.

Which one should you pick?

If you’re exploring shadcn/ui for the first time or need a solid base to build on, the Community Edition is a great starting point. It’s free and fully functional.

If you’re working on real projects and want to move faster, the Pro edition saves you significant time with ready-made blocks, better tooling, increased shadcn consistency, and ongoing updates.

At 50% off with the April launch discount (LAUNCHAPRIL), it’s the best deal you’ll get.

View pricing and buy →