Feature Comparison

Looking for a free alternative to AG Grid? @toolbox-web/grid is a high-performance, open-source data grid with many of the same features—no license fees, no enterprise tiers, no feature gates.

Disclaimer: Feature availability based on publicly available AG Grid documentation as of January 2026. AG Grid is a trademark of AG Grid Ltd. This is an independent comparison and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by AG Grid Ltd. We encourage you to verify current feature availability on ag-grid.com.

Quick Summary

Aspect	@toolbox-web/grid	AG Grid Community	AG Grid Enterprise
License	MIT (free forever)	MIT	Commercial ($$$)
Cost	Free	Free	$999+/developer/year
Bundle Size	~45KB gzipped	~200KB+ gzipped	~300KB+ gzipped
Dependencies	Zero	Zero	Zero
Framework Support	All (Web Component)	All (wrappers)	All (wrappers)

Feature Comparison

Feature	@toolbox-web/grid	AG Grid Community	AG Grid Enterprise
Row Virtualization	✅	✅	✅
Column Virtualization	✅	✅	✅
Sorting (Single & Multi)	✅	✅	✅
Column Resizing	✅	✅	✅
Column Reordering	✅	✅	✅
Column Pinning/Freezing	✅	✅	✅
Row Pinning	✅	✅	✅
Cell Selection	✅	✅	✅
Row Selection	✅	✅	✅
Checkbox Selection	✅	✅	✅
Custom Cell Renderers	✅	✅	✅
Cell Editing	✅	✅	✅
Custom Editors	✅	✅	✅
Keyboard Navigation	✅	✅	✅
Themes/Styling	✅ (6 built-in)	✅	✅
CSV Export	✅	✅	✅
Filtering	✅	✅	✅
Pagination	✅	✅	✅
Column Visibility	✅	✅	✅
Row Animations	✅	✅	✅
TypeScript Types	✅ Bundled	✅ Bundled	✅ Bundled
Range Selection	✅ Free	❌	✅ Paid
Clipboard (Copy/Paste)	✅ Free	❌	✅ Paid
Excel Export	✅ Free	❌	✅ Paid
Row Grouping	✅ Free	❌	✅ Paid
Aggregation/Footers	✅ Free	❌	✅ Paid
Pivot Table	✅ Free	❌	✅ Paid
Tree Data	✅ Free	❌	✅ Paid
Master-Detail	✅ Free	❌	✅ Paid
Server-Side Row Model	✅ Free	❌	✅ Paid
Infinite Scrolling	✅ Free	❌	✅ Paid
Context Menu	✅ Free	❌	✅ Paid
Column Groups (Spanning)	✅ Free	❌	✅ Paid
Row Drag & Drop	✅ Free	❌	✅ Paid
Print	✅ Free	❌	✅ Paid
Undo/Redo	✅ Free	❌	✅ Paid
Responsive/Mobile Layout	✅ (card layout)	Manual	Manual
Framework Agnostic	✅ Native Web Component	Wrapper-based	Wrapper-based
Tree-Shakeable Plugins	✅	Partial	Partial
Integrated Charts	❌	❌	✅ Paid
Built-in Sparklines	❌ (via custom renderer)	❌	✅ Paid
Excel-like Cell Formulas	❌	❌	✅ Paid
Advanced Excel Export	❌ (basic)	❌	✅ Paid (with styles & formulas)
Dedicated Support with SLAs	❌	❌	✅ Paid

Why Choose Toolbox Grid?

Truly Free, Forever

• MIT License — Use commercially, modify, redistribute
• No “Enterprise” tier — All features available to everyone
• No per-developer pricing — Scale your team without scaling costs
• No watermarks or nag screens — Production-ready from day one

Performance That Scales

• 100,000+ rows at 60fps — Efficient row virtualization
• ~45KB gzipped — Half the size of AG Grid Community
• Zero dependencies — Nothing to conflict or update
• DOM recycling — Minimal garbage collection pressure

True Framework Freedom

Unlike wrapper-based grids, @toolbox-web/grid is a native Web Component that works identically in:

• Vanilla JavaScript/TypeScript
• React (with optional adapter for JSX renderers)
• Angular (with optional adapter for template renderers)
• Vue
• Svelte
• Any JavaScript environment

One component, same API, everywhere.

Developer Experience

• Helpful error messages — Missing a plugin? Get an import hint, not a cryptic error
• Plugin validation — Dependencies checked at runtime with actionable guidance
• Type-safe configuration — Full TypeScript support with IntelliSense

When to Choose AG Grid Instead

Be fair—AG Grid is excellent software. Consider AG Grid if you need:

• Integrated charting — AG Grid Enterprise includes deep AG Charts integration with chart-from-grid workflows
• Built-in sparklines — Pre-built mini-chart cell renderers (Toolbox supports this via custom renderers)
• Excel-like formulas — Spreadsheet-style cell formulas like =SUM(A1:A10)
• Dedicated support — Paid support contracts with SLAs and guaranteed response times
• Long-term commercial backing — VC-funded company with enterprise support infrastructure

Migration from AG Grid

Many AG Grid concepts map directly to Toolbox Grid:

AG Grid	Toolbox Grid
columnDefs	columns or gridConfig.columns
rowData	rows
defaultColDef	Column defaults via columnDefaults
getRowId	rowIdField in config
onCellValueChanged	cell-commit event
onSelectionChanged	selection-change event
serverSideRowModel	ServerSidePlugin
rowGrouping	GroupingRowsPlugin
masterDetail	MasterDetailPlugin

Code Examples

Angular

<!-- AG Grid -->
<ag-grid-angular
  [rowData]="rows"
  [columnDefs]="columns"
  rowSelection="multiple"
/>

<!-- Toolbox Grid -->
<tbw-grid
  [rows]="rows"
  [columns]="columns"
  selection="row"
/>

React

// AG Grid
<AgGridReact
  rowData={rows}
  columnDefs={columns}
  rowSelection="multiple"
/>

// Toolbox Grid
<DataGrid
  rows={rows}
  columns={columns}
  selection="row"
/>

Get Started

npm install @toolbox-web/grid

import '@toolbox-web/grid';

const grid = document.createElement('tbw-grid');
grid.columns = [
  { field: 'name', header: 'Name', sortable: true },
  { field: 'email', header: 'Email' },
];
grid.rows = [
  { name: 'Alice', email: 'alice@example.com' },
  { name: 'Bob', email: 'bob@example.com' },
];
document.body.appendChild(grid);

Ready to switch? Check out our Getting Started guide or live demos.

See Also

• Getting Started — Install and set up your first grid in minutes
• Demos — Full-featured employee management demo
• Plugins Overview — Complete plugin catalog with feature comparison