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Should I Use AdminLTE.IO?

adminlte.io·Analyzed 8 hours ago··Based on 11 sources

AdminLTE is the most popular open-source Bootstrap admin dashboard template with 45,000+ GitHub stars and 8.5M+ downloads. Free and premium versions available.

Depends

Depends

Use it if you're a developer building a custom admin dashboard on Bootstrap — it's free, MIT-licensed, and battle-tested.

Free, proven Bootstrap admin template devs trust; useless if you want a finished tool, and old versions carry a 9.8 CVE.

Confidence: Medium

45,000+

GitHub stars

Most popular Bootstrap admin template

8.5M+

Downloads

All-time template downloads

Free

Core price

Open source, no seat limits

MIT

License

Built on Bootstrap 5.3

Value for money5

Free MIT core; premium add-ons optional

Ease of use3

Easy to start; users call code messy

Feature depth4

Tables, charts, invoices, profile pages included

Security posture2

Critical 9.8 CVE hit v3.1.0

Pros

  • Free, MIT-licensed core — no per-seat cost.²
  • 45,000+ GitHub stars; the category's most popular template.⁴
  • Highly customizable; responsive from mobile to large screens.⁵
  • Ships ready-made pages: profile, settings, invoice, pricing, FAQ, errors.
  • Long-running project (since 2014) with maintained v4 docs.³

Cons

  • Critical 9.8 CVE (remote file disclosure) in AdminLTE 3.1.0.⁹
  • Users report the template code is messy to work through.⁷
  • It's an HTML/Bootstrap skin, not a React or Vue framework.
  • Premium templates cost extra beyond the free core.⁵

Gotchas

  • highOlder versions ship known critical vulnerabilities — pin versions and patch promptly.10
  • mediumIt's only a UI template; you still build the entire backend yourself.²
  • mediumv3 and v4 docs and layouts differ; upgrading between versions takes real work.³
  • lowPremium templates are a separate purchase; budget for them if you want polish.⁵

Best for

  • Dev teams building custom admin dashboards
  • Bootstrap/PHP/Laravel web projects
  • Internal tools on a $0 budget
  • Projects needing responsive tables and charts fast

Not for

  • Non-technical buyers wanting a finished dashboard app
  • React or Vue teams needing native components
  • Anyone expecting vendor support or SLAs
  • Teams that won't patch frontend dependencies regularly

Companies that use it

  • VEELS (Kerala Government portal)
  • Sonata Project (SonataAdminBundle)10

Pricing

AdminLTE Core

Free

  • MIT license
  • Full Bootstrap 5.3 template
  • Community support via GitHub

Premium templates

Paid, varies

  • Handpicked premium admin templates
  • Sold separately on adminlte.io

Security

Legitimate project (ScamAdviser: safe), but a critical 9.8 remote-file-disclosure CVE affected v3.1.0 — run a patched version before production.

  • CVE-2021-36471 — Remote File DisclosureAdminLTE 3.1.0 remote file disclosure, CVSS 9.8 critical.⁹
  • admin-lte 2.4 package flagged for known critical vulnerabilitiesSonataAdminBundle raised concerns about critical CVEs in the bundled admin-lte JS package.10

What users say

Developers widely know and reuse AdminLTE for Bootstrap dashboards, praising customization while criticizing messy template code.

“AdminLTE has been around for quite a while and is fairly well known. I've use”
— Reddit, r/webdev
“Perhaps it's my lack of design skills, but working through these”
— Reddit, r/web_design
“Highly customizable and easy to use. Fits many screen resolutions from small mobile devices to large”
— SourceForge review

Alternatives

Compare AdminLTE.IO with each alternative.

Plain Bootstrap

Build your own layout; less code debt than a template.

Full analysis

Based on ~20 public sources. Review snippets are truncated; no G2/Trustpilot ratings for the product itself. Evidence covers fit, pricing, and one critical CVE.

Sources

  1. AdminLTE — #1 Free Bootstrap Admin Dashboard Templateadminlte.io
    official
  2. AdminLTE GitHub repository (MIT license)github.com
    official
  3. AdminLTE 4 docs introductionadminlte.io
    official
  4. AdminLTE vs CoreUI vs Tabler comparisonadminlte.io
    official
  5. AdminLTE SourceForge reviews and downloadssourceforge.net
    review
  6. Admin LTE discussion — Reddit r/webdevreddit.com
    review
  7. Template code criticism — Reddit r/web_designreddit.com
    review
  8. AdminLTE vs Pure Bootstrap — Reddit r/webdevreddit.com
    review
  9. CVE-2021-36471 — Aqua Security vulnerability databaseavd.aquasec.com
    security
  10. SonataAdminBundle issue on admin-lte vulnerabilitiesgithub.com
    security
  11. ScamAdviser legitimacy check for adminlte.ioscamadviser.com
    review

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