I’ve been working with several Figma design files and need to turn them into React components using Material UI. I’ve spent quite a bit of time looking online for solutions but haven’t found anything that really works well.
I’m wondering if there’s actually a way to do this conversion automatically, or if I’m stuck doing everything by hand. Has anyone here had success with tools or plugins that can handle this kind of conversion?
Also, for those who have tried automated solutions, how good is the code quality that comes out? Does it actually save time or do you end up rewriting most of it anyway?
Skip the automated conversion tools - they’re more trouble than they’re worth. I wasted weeks trying different Figma plugins and export tools before figuring this out. These tools don’t get Material UI’s design philosophy at all. They’ll dump out messy CSS-in-JS or inline styles instead of using MUI’s theming system properly. I go manual now, but I’m smart about it. First, I scan the Figma design for patterns I can turn into reusable components. Then I match visual elements to MUI components instead of trying to recreate every pixel. Use MUI’s shape variants instead of copying border radius values. Extend the theme palette instead of hardcoding colors. Yeah, it’s more work upfront, but you get maintainable code that actually plays nice with Material UI’s ecosystem. Pro tip: get your designers involved early so they understand MUI’s constraints. Makes everything way smoother.
I’ve dealt with this for years across tons of projects. Automated tools are getting better but they still suck at component structure and proper Material UI implementation.
What changed everything? I built automated workflows that bridge design and development. Instead of hunting for the perfect Figma-to-React converter, I automate the boring stuff while keeping control over code quality.
My automation extracts design tokens from Figma, generates component templates with proper Material UI setup, and updates components when designs change. It pulls spacing, colors, and typography automatically, then builds React components with the right Material UI imports and structure.
You get clean, maintainable code that actually follows Material Design patterns. No more fixing broken exports or starting over.
Time savings are huge once it’s running. What took days now takes minutes, and it’s production ready.
Latenode makes this automation dead simple to build and maintain. You can hook Figma’s API straight into your dev workflow without writing complex integration code.
Been through this multiple times with different design systems. Most conversion tools suck at understanding Material UI’s component hierarchy - they just generate flat structures that completely miss the point of using MUI. What works is treating Figma as your single source of truth for visual specs, then translating the design into proper Material UI components. I focus on identifying which MUI components match the patterns - Card, Paper, Grid, etc - instead of recreating pixel-perfect layouts. Designers often create visual effects that MUI handles differently. A shadow becomes an elevation prop, not custom CSS. Spacing should use MUI’s theme spacing, not hardcoded pixels. Manual conversion gives you better component reusability and proper theme integration. The time investment pays off when you need to maintain or extend components later.
skip the automated tools - i’ve tested 5+ plugins and they all produce junk code. use figma’s dev mode to grab exact values, then build mui components by hand. takes longer upfront but saves you from debugging weird spacing bugs later.
Had this exact problem six months ago with a huge Figma dashboard file from our design team. Tried several automated tools and Figma plugins that promised React exports - they all sucked. Spacing was wrong, components were a mess, and none handled Material UI right. Just dumped out basic divs with inline styles. Ended up going hybrid. I pull exact measurements, colors, and typography from Figma’s inspect panel, then manually build React components with Material UI. Takes more time upfront but the code’s actually clean and follows Material Design properly. Those automated tools might work for basic static stuff, but anything interactive or responsive? You’re gonna need to fix it by hand anyway.