# Infinite Table vs AG Grid

> A detailed comparison of Infinite Table and AG Grid for React. React-native API vs framework-agnostic wrapper, features, and when AG Grid is the better choice.

Canonical page: https://infinite-table.com/docs/learn/compare/ag-grid

[AG Grid](https://www.ag-grid.com/) is the most established commercial data grid on the market, used across React, Angular, Vue, and plain JavaScript. It has a massive feature surface and a large community. We respect what the AG Grid team has built — it's a feat of engineering.

The core difference is not price. It's how each grid relates to React.

AG Grid was designed as a framework-agnostic rendering engine. Its React package is a wrapper — an adapter layer that translates between AG Grid's internal model and React components. The grid's state, lifecycle, and rendering happen outside React's reconciler. You configure it through a `gridOptions` object and interact with it through imperative API calls like `api.setColumnDefs()`, `api.refreshCells()`, and `api.getSelectedRows()`.

Infinite Table was built for React from the start. There is no wrapper layer. Columns, sorting, grouping, and filtering are React props — controlled or uncontrolled, like any React component. Cell renderers are plain JSX. The grid participates in React's component tree, re-rendering when props change.

## What this means in practice

With AG Grid, you might write:

```tsx
// AG Grid: imperative API to update columns
const onButtonClick = () => {
  gridRef.current.api.setColumnDefs(newColumnDefs);
  gridRef.current.api.refreshCells({ force: true });
};
```

With Infinite Table, the same operation is a prop change:

```tsx
// Infinite Table: declarative React props
const [columns, setColumns] = useState(initialColumns);

const onButtonClick = () => {
  setColumns(newColumns); // grid re-renders automatically
};

<DataSource<T> primaryKey="id" data={dataSource}>
  <InfiniteTable<T> columns={columns} />
</DataSource>
```

No ref, no imperative API — just React state. The same pattern you use for `<input value={...} onChange={...} />` works for the entire grid.

## Architecture

| | Infinite Table | AG Grid |
|---|---|---|
| **Built for** | React | Framework-agnostic (JS, Angular, Vue, React) |
| **React integration** | Native — renders through React's reconciler | Wrapper — React adapter around internal DOM engine |
| **API style** | Declarative props, controlled + uncontrolled | Grid-options object, imperative `api.*` calls |
| **Cell renderers** | Plain JSX components | AG Grid component interface (React components supported via adapter) |
| **State management** | Lives in React (useState, context, external stores) | Lives inside the grid; synced to React via callbacks |
| **TypeScript** | Written in TypeScript, first-class types | Written in TypeScript, first-class types |
| **Virtualization** | Row + column | Row + column |

## Feature Comparison

| Feature | Infinite Table (free) | AG Grid Community (free) | AG Grid Enterprise (paid) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sorting (single + multi) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Column filtering | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Column resizing | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Column reordering | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Column pinning | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Column grouping (headers) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Row grouping | ✅ | 🔴 | ✅ |
| Aggregations | ✅ | 🔴 | ✅ |
| Pivoting | ✅ | 🔴 | ✅ |
| Tree data | ✅ | 🔴 | ✅ |
| Master-detail | ✅ | 🔴 | ✅ |
| Lazy loading | ✅ | 🔴 | ✅ (server-side row model) |
| Live pagination | ✅ | 🔴 | ✅ |
| Row + column virtualization | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Cell editing | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Cell selection | ✅ | 🔴 | ✅ (range selection) |
| Row selection | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Context menus | ✅ | 🔴 | ✅ |
| Keyboard navigation | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Theming (CSS variables) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Excel export | 🔴 | 🔴 | ✅ |
| Clipboard | 🔴 | 🔴 | ✅ |
| Integrated charting | 🔴 | 🔴 | ✅ |
| Server-side row model | ✅ | 🔴 | ✅ |
| Status bar / sidebar panels | 🔴 | 🔴 | ✅ |

AG Grid Community (MIT) does not include row grouping, pivoting, aggregations, tree data, or master-detail. Those require AG Grid Enterprise. Infinite Table includes all of these in the free Community build (with a "Powered by Infinite Table" footer). A paid license key removes the footer.

## Pricing

| | Infinite Table | AG Grid Enterprise |
|---|---|---|
| **Starting price** | [$395/dev/year](https://infinite-table.com/pricing) | [~$999/dev/year](https://www.ag-grid.com/license-pricing) |
| **Volume discount** | 5% at 3 devs, 10% at 5, 15% at 10 | Contact sales |
| **Deployment license** | None required | None required |
| **Free tier** | All features, footer displayed | Community edition (grouping/pivot excluded) |
| **Support** | Email (paid license) | Zendesk (Enterprise license) |

## When AG Grid is the better choice

- **Multi-framework projects.** If you need the same data grid across Angular, Vue, and React codebases, AG Grid is the only option here — Infinite Table is React-only. AG Grid's framework-agnostic core is a strength when your organisation standardises on one grid across teams.
- **The widest feature surface.** AG Grid Enterprise includes built-in charting, clipboard, Excel export, column tool panels, status bars, and a full server-side row model with partial store. If you need several of these, AG Grid covers them in one package.
- **Enormous community and ecosystem.** With over 1M weekly npm downloads and 13k+ GitHub stars, AG Grid has deep community resources, Stack Overflow coverage, and third-party integrations. If you value ecosystem maturity, AG Grid is unmatched.
- **You prefer the imperative API.** If your team already knows AG Grid's `api.*` pattern from other projects, or you prefer imperative control over the grid's state, AG Grid's model may feel more natural to you than a prop-driven React API.

## When Infinite Table is the better fit

- **You want the grid to feel like React.** Infinite Table's API is props, controlled state, and JSX — the same patterns you use in every other React component. No grid-options objects, no imperative API calls, no syncing grid state back to React. If your team thinks in React, Infinite Table fits that mental model.
- **You need grouping, pivoting, and aggregations without an enterprise license.** These are included in Infinite Table's free build. AG Grid gates them behind the Enterprise tier.
- **You want a composable, smaller API surface.** Infinite Table favours function props over boolean flags, and controlled/uncontrolled variants over imperative setters. The API is designed to compose — fewer props that do more, rather than hundreds of configuration options.
- **Simpler licensing.** One plan, one key for the whole team, no deployment license.

Install the package, render your first DataGrid, and learn how `<DataSource />` and `<InfiniteTable />` work together.

The features AG Grid Community leaves out — included here without an Enterprise license.

Use Infinite Table free with a footer, or buy a license to remove it and get email support.

Read AG Grid's official React getting started guide.

## Help us keep this comparison up-to-date

This page is our reading of AG Grid's public docs and pricing as of mid-2026. We want it to stay accurate. If you work on AG Grid — or you've spotted something that's wrong, outdated, or missing context — please tell us. We will update the page.

- [Edit this page on GitHub](https://github.com/infinite-table/infinite-react/edit/master/www/content/docs/learn/compare/ag-grid.page.md) and open a pull request
- [File a correction issue](https://github.com/infinite-table/infinite-react/issues/new?template=compare_page_correction.md&title=Compare%20page%20correction%3A%20AG%20Grid)
- Email [admin@infinite-table.com](mailto:admin@infinite-table.com?subject=Compare%20page%20correction%3A%20AG%20Grid) with the URL and what should change