If you have ever worked on a serious web application, internal tools, fintech platforms, analytics dashboards, or B2B SaaS, you already know one thing. Tables are never just tables.


What starts as a simple requirement to display rows and columns quickly turns into filtering, sorting, editing, exporting, keyboard navigation, performance tuning, and accessibility concerns. At that point, building everything from scratch stops being realistic. This is where JavaScript data grids come in.


However, there is an important nuance that is often ignored in technical comparisons. Most real products do not stay purely open source forever.


You might start with a community edition, but as soon as your product grows, customers ask for advanced filtering, Excel export, complex data grouping, auditability, or guaranteed support. If your grid does not have a clear commercial path, you risk hitting a wall or rewriting core parts of your application.


In this article, I look at five JavaScript data grids that are open source at their core, but also offer a commercial upgrade path. The goal is not to promote paid licenses, but to help you choose a grid that will not block your product two or three years down the road.


All grids below are evaluated from a developer’s point of view, focusing on real usage, feature depth, documentation, community, and long-term viability.

Why Datagrids Matter (Still)

Datagrids are the backbone of data-heavy applications:


A good grid gives you:


A bad grid becomes a permanent source of tech debt.

Selection Criteria

I evaluated each grid based on:

No rankings. No winners. Just trade-offs.

1. AG Grid (Community + Enterprise)

AG Grid is probably the most well-known datagrid in the JavaScript ecosystem.

It supports React, Angular, Vue, and vanilla JS, and it’s extremely feature-rich, even before you look at the enterprise tier.

What works well

Even the Community version covers basics like sorting, filtering, editing, and virtualization.

Limitations to be aware of

Many advanced features are locked behind Enterprise:

And this matters:

AG Grid’s enterprise licensing is one of the most expensive on the market.

If you know upfront that you’ll need enterprise features, that cost should be part of your architectural decision.

Learning curve & docs

2. Webix Grid (GPL + Commercial)

Webix Grid often flies under the radar, which is surprising.

Functionally, it sits very close to AG Grid, both target complex, data-heavy business apps. In practice, they are direct competitors.

What stands out

Unlike many grids, Webix feels like a framework-level component, not just a table.

Open source vs commercial

The GPL version is powerful, but once you need proprietary usage or enterprise support, you move to a commercial license.

Compared to AG Grid:

Docs & community

If you’re building internal tools or B2B products and want a grid that scales with your app complexity, Webix is worth serious consideration.

3. Handsontable (Open Core, Spreadsheet-First)

Handsontable is less of a “datagrid” and more of a spreadsheet engine for the web.

If your users expect Excel-like behavior, this one feels familiar immediately.

Strengths

Trade-offs

Learning curve & docs

Handsontable shines when your grid is the product, not just part of it.

4. MUI X Data Grid, Community and Pro

MUI X Data Grid is part of the Material UI ecosystem and feels like a natural choice if you already build applications with MUI components.

The open source Community version provides a solid baseline. You get sorting, filtering, pagination, column resizing, and a generally polished experience that looks production ready out of the box.

What works well

For many internal tools and smaller products, the Community version is often enough to get started.

Commercial upgrade

The Pro and Premium versions unlock more advanced features such as row grouping, tree data, advanced filtering, data export, and improved performance for large datasets.

Pricing is more approachable than some enterprise focused grids, but the scope is clearly React only.

Trade-offs

MUI X Data Grid is a strong option if your stack is already centered around React and Material UI.

5. Kendo UI Grid, Open Core and Commercial

Kendo UI Grid is part of the larger Kendo UI component suite and has a long history in enterprise web development.

This grid feels less like a standalone library and more like a building block in a complete UI ecosystem.

Strengths

The open core version allows you to start building without immediate licensing concerns.

Commercial side

The commercial license gives access to the full feature set, long term support, SLA options, and predictable upgrade paths. This is clearly designed for long living enterprise products.

Downsides

Kendo UI Grid is best suited for enterprise teams that value stability, support, and long term guarantees over experimentation.

Final Thoughts: Think Beyond “Free”

Choosing a JavaScript data grid is rarely just a technical decision. It is a product decision.


Open source grids are an excellent starting point, but most successful applications eventually need features, guarantees, or support that go beyond community editions. Ignoring this early can lead to expensive migrations later.


AG Grid and Webix Grid stand out as the closest competitors in the full-featured business grid space, offering similar capabilities but very different licensing philosophies. Handsontable dominates spreadsheet-like use cases where data entry is the core experience. MUI X Data Grid fits naturally into React and Material UI based products, while Kendo UI Grid targets long term enterprise stability.


There is no universally correct choice. The right grid is the one that fits not only your current requirements, but also the direction your product is likely to take in the future.