React Flow, open source libraries for node-based UIs with React or Svelte • Hacker News Board

Re: React Flow, open source libraries for node-based UIs with React or Svelte

#11

Post by taherchhabra » Fri, Oct 24, 2025, 3:42 AM UTC

I am building https://www.flickspeed.ai using this library

Re: React Flow, open source libraries for node-based UIs with React or Svelte

#12

Post by CuriouslyC » Fri, Oct 24, 2025, 3:53 AM UTC

Hah, this pops up right after I note how it's eating good with all the AI tools that use it. Deservedly so, if you're creating node based interfaces there's no reason to hand roll with D3.

Re: React Flow, open source libraries for node-based UIs with React or Svelte

#13

Post by aratahikaru5 » Fri, Oct 24, 2025, 4:21 AM UTC

steve_taylor wrote: post #10

Does React Flow still advertise itself unless you pay the developers at least $169/month?

You can programmatically remove the watermark, either via a flag or by changing the source code.

> [1] No, you can do whatever you want with it since it’s MIT

But if you use it in a commercial project, they'll likely shame you if you don't pay - like what happened to OpenAI with Agent Builder:

> [2] Hey @OpenAI :) We just saw that you are using our open source library React Flow We offer startup discount codes :) Let us know if you are interested

Personally, I’d prefer them to use a dual license, but I understand that it would likely create unnecessary hurdles for devs who just want to try out the library.

They explained their reasoning here: https://xyflow.com/blog/asking-for-money-for-open-source

[1] https://x.com/xyflowdev/status/1975660206441820585

[2] https://x.com/xyflowdev/status/1975505810768777360

Re: React Flow, open source libraries for node-based UIs with React or Svelte

#14

Post by krebby » Fri, Oct 24, 2025, 4:50 AM UTC

I'm working on an open source tool called noodles.gl that uses this library and it's been great. The devs have been good about keeping a cadence of solid changes and keeping the community updated, and overall I'm happy to have bet on this library years ago.

I love the flexibility and the fact that there's a variety of examples for basically anything I want to accomplish with it. Great work to the team.

https://noodles.gl

Re: React Flow, open source libraries for node-based UIs with React or Svelte

#15

Post by Orochikaku » Fri, Oct 24, 2025, 5:27 AM UTC

I really appreciated that they've made their pro examples available for free for education purposes. I made use of one of those examples for my undergraduate final year project.

Re: React Flow, open source libraries for node-based UIs with React or Svelte

#16

Post by carltheperson » Fri, Oct 24, 2025, 5:52 AM UTC

This is a great library. I especially appreciate that they added a version for Svelte (with specific examples for Svelte 5).

It's very convenient how you create the graph, with nodes just being Svelte components. Adding custom edges isn't very hard either.

If you're curious what you can do with it, I made this demo for myself https://youtu.be/aVY7ySPiSo8 (never launched it). I used Svelte Flow to visualize AI doing research, my first project using LLMs.