Comparison

Where Layers fits among modal and overlay managers — by product category, not a flat feature scorecard.

A confirm dialog, a toast, a drawer — lots of libraries ship one. They are not all the same product. This page sorts them by what they’re trying to be, then compares on the axes Layers targets.

Category	Examples	Compare on
Orchestration engine	Layers, react-call, ui-call, overlastic	Engine depth + typing + composability
Registry / reducer manager	nice-modal-react, overlay-kit	React DX + adoption
Batteries-included UI	@mantine/modals, vue-final-modal, react-dialog-flow	Integration depth — different category
DOM primitive	Ark/Zag, @corvu/dialog, ui-primitives	Complementary — pair, don’t compete

What Layers targets (and what it delegates by design)

Layers owns state coordination, not UI ownership. The matrix below scores engine axes only — typed await, named stacks, serial queues, blockers, and the rest. Focus traps, portals, backdrop, and confirm chrome live in your component library.

Two views: this matrix contrasts one exemplar per category; the full spectrum below scores every audited library on the engine axes Layers targets. Columns here are the libraries evaluators most often weigh against Layers — the React registry incumbents (nice-modal, overlay-kit), the closest React DX peer (react-call), the highest-adoption batteries-included manager (@mantine/modals — the category contrast), and the closest multi-framework peer (overlastic). Non-React peers like kolirt/vue-modal, @gwn-sheet-stack, and dialog-fn are in the full-spectrum tables.

Capability	Layers	react-call	nice-modal	overlay-kit	@mantine/modals	overlastic
Category	Orchestration engine	Orchestration engine	Registry / reducer	Registry / reducer	Batteries-included UI	Orchestration engine
Multi-framework	✅ 8	❌ R	❌ R	❌ R	❌ R	✅ 4
Zero-dep core	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌	✅
Typed await	✅ DataTag	✅	🟡	🟡	❌	🟡
Named stacks	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌
Serial queue + cancel	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌
Async blockers	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌
loadFn + abort + gc	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌
Payload validation	✅ Std Schema	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌
Nested groups	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌
Upsert / live-update	✅	✅	🟡	🟡	✅	🟡
Transition axis	✅ 3-state+settle	🟡 exit delay	🟡 delayVisible	🟡 close/unmount	🟡	🟡 delay
SSR subscribe-safe	✅	✅ EMPTY_STACK	🟡	🟡	🟡	❌

Legend: ✅ full · 🟡 partial · ❌ none · (R) React-only. Cells are engine axes only — see the next section for what Layers deliberately leaves to your UI stack.

By design, not missing

Focus containment, ARIA/dialog semantics, portals/top-layer, backdrop/Escape, scroll lock, z-order, a built-in confirm preset — Layers ships none of these in core. Your component library (Radix, React Aria, Base UI, Mantine, …) owns them; Layers orchestrates the state. See Headless rendering and Overview.

Across the whole landscape

The matrix above contrasts one exemplar per category. The tables below are the full spectrum — every audited library a real evaluator weighs, scored on the engine axes Layers targets. One table per category (orchestration engines split into multi-framework and single-framework so no table is wider than the eye can scan). Layers is the baseline column in every table. Layers’ ✅ 8 is its adapter count; peer cells use R/V/S/Solid/Ang/Lit/Alpine = React/Vue/Svelte/Solid/Angular/Lit/Alpine (no audited Preact peer in these tables); Nfw = N frameworks.

Multi-framework orchestration engines

Capability	Layers	overlastic	ui-call	dialog-fn	@gwn-sheet-stack
Multi-framework	✅ 8	✅ 4	✅ 5	🟡 3	🟡 2
Zero-dep core	✅	✅ core	✅	✅	✅
Typed await	✅ DataTag	🟡 generic	🟡 generic	🟡 dismiss=undefined	✅ `push<R>`
Named stacks	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Serial queue + cancel	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Async blockers	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
loadFn + abort + gc	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Payload validation	✅ Std Schema	❌	❌	❌	❌
Nested groups	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Upsert / live-update	✅	🟡 only	🟡 singleton	🟡	🟡 snapshot

Single-framework orchestration engines

Capability	Layers	react-call	jenesius-vue-modal	ngx-call	@angular-libs/dialog	@svelte-put/async-stack
Multi-framework	✅ 8	❌ React	❌ Vue	❌ Angular	❌ Angular	❌ Svelte
Zero-dep core	✅	✅	—	✅	—	✅
Typed await	✅ DataTag	✅ generic	🟡 any	✅ generic	❌	✅ resolution
Named stacks	✅	❌	✅ NamespaceStore	❌	❌ global list	❌ single
Serial queue + cancel	✅	❌	🟡 close-guard	❌	❌	❌
Async blockers	✅	❌	❌	❌	🟡 beforeClose+plugin	🟡 onResolve+cancel
loadFn + abort + gc	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌
Payload validation	✅ Std Schema	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌
Nested groups	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌
Upsert / live-update	✅	✅	—	✅	—	—

Registry / reducer managers

Capability	Layers	nice-modal-react	overlay-kit	pushmodal	@ngneat/dialog
Multi-framework	✅ 8	❌ React	❌ React	❌ React	❌ Angular
Zero-dep core	✅	✅	✅	—	—
Typed await	✅ DataTag	🟡 unknown	🟡 generic	❌ void	✅ afterClosed$
Named stacks	✅	❌ id-map	❌	✅ LIFO	❌
Serial queue + cancel	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Async blockers	✅	❌	❌	❌	🟡 beforeClose
loadFn + abort + gc	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Payload validation	✅ Std Schema	❌	❌	❌	❌
Nested groups	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Upsert / live-update	✅	🟡	🟡	🟡 replaceWith	—

Batteries-included UI (different product category — ships DOM/a11y)

Capability	Layers	@mantine/modals	vue-final-modal	svelte-promise-modals	kolirt/vue-modal
Multi-framework	✅ 8	❌ React	❌ Vue	❌ Svelte	❌ Vue
Zero-dep core	✅	❌ @mantine/core	❌ @vueuse+focus-trap	❌ focus-trap+deepmerge	—
Typed await	✅ DataTag	❌ string id	❌ lifecycle strings	✅ closeModal prop	✅ awaitable
Named stacks	✅	❌	❌	❌	✅ grouped
Serial queue + cancel	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Async blockers	✅	❌	🟡 beforeClose.stop()	❌	✅ async guards
loadFn + abort + gc	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Payload validation	✅ Std Schema	❌	❌	❌	❌
Nested groups	✅	❌	❌	🟡 child	✅
Upsert / live-update	✅	✅ updateModal	🟡 patchOptions	❌	✅ replace

DOM primitive (complementary — pair, don’t compete)

Capability	Layers	@corvu/dialog	Ark / Zag
Multi-framework	✅ 8	❌ Solid	✅ R/V/S/Solid
Zero-dep core	✅	✅	✅
Typed await	✅ DataTag	❌ no await	❌ no await
Named stacks	✅	❌	❌
Serial queue + cancel	✅	❌	❌
Async blockers	✅	❌	❌
loadFn + abort + gc	✅	❌	❌
Payload validation	✅ Std Schema	❌	❌
Nested groups	✅	❌	❌

Legend: ✅ full · 🟡 partial · ❌ none. Cells are engine axes only — focus traps, portals, ARIA, and backdrop are delegated to your UI stack (see By design, not missing). kolirt/vue-modal is the closest non-React analog: it matches Layers on grouped stacks, async guards, and nested groups, but ships Reka UI integration (batteries) and lacks the serial queue, loadFn/abort/gc, and Standard Schema validation. The long tail of dormant/abandoned footnote libraries (svelte-modals, vue-modals, demodal, react-popup-manager, …) is covered in the internal landscape research; omitted here because they add no decision signal.

Adoption (market snapshot, not capability)

Library	Category	Stars	npm dl/mo	Note
nice-modal-react	Registry / reducer	~2.3k	~1.1M	Incumbent registry (React)
react-call	Orchestration engine	~1.3k	~174k	Closest React DX peer
overlay-kit	Registry / reducer	~0.7k	~198k	Toss-backed reducer (React)
react-modal-hook	Registry / reducer	~0.25k	~276k	Hook + portal host (React, migration pool)
react-modal-promise	Registry / reducer	~0.07k	~198k	Promise primitive (React, migration pool)
pushmodal	Registry / reducer	~0.2k	~23k	shadcn LIFO stack (React)
@mantine/modals	Batteries-included UI	(in 31.5k★ monorepo)	—	Batteries-included (React)
vue-final-modal	Batteries-included UI	~1k	~285k	Vue batteries-included (stalled since 2024-09)
@corvu/dialog	DOM primitive	~0.7k	~45k	Solid DOM primitive (complementary)
jenesius-vue-modal	Orchestration engine	~160	~23k	Vue orchestration engine
svelte-promise-modals	Batteries-included UI	~34	—	Svelte batteries-included
Layers	Orchestration engine	~1	~0.5k	v0.2.2, experimental

Live demos, source, and the changelog are the proof — not a star count.

Per-framework peers — maintenance & status

Capability for these is in the table above; this section carries the human context the cells can’t — who’s still shipping, who stalled, who’s gone.

Vue — jenesius-vue-modal git-active (Jun 2026; npm last 2024-07); kolirt/vue-modal closest Vue analog (grouped stacks + async guards + nested groups, Reka UI integration); vue-final-modal stalled since 2024-09.
Svelte — svelte-promise-modals active (Jul 2026); @svelte-put/async-stack engine peer (pause/resume + progress recipe); svelte-modals dormant (Mar 2025).
Solid — @corvu/dialog DOM primitive (pair with Layers, not compete; last npm 2025-01); solid-modal-manager declarative registry.
Angular — ngx-call react-call port (low adoption); @ngneat/dialog source gone, still ~6.9k dl/wk — a vacuum; @angular-libs/dialog native <dialog> + plugin lifecycle (created 2026-05).
Multi-framework — @gwn-sheet-stack tier-1 architectural peer (headless core + FSM + router adapters, 2fw, pre-1.0); overlastic 4fw partial engine (DOM-mount; also publishes @overlastic/vue2); dialog-fn 3fw cleanest core+adapter split; ui-call 5fw, abandoned Feb 2026.

When not to choose Layers

Turnkey modal UX, zero wiring → @mantine/modals or vue-final-modal ship the UI and a11y for you.
A single local dialog, no return value, no stacking → a plain controlled component is simpler. See When to use Layers.
You need a focus-trap / dialog primitive, not orchestration → Ark/Zag or @corvu/dialog.

Migrating from one of these

See Migration for breaking-change policy; per-library migration recipes (nice-modal, react-call, overlay-kit, @mantine/modals, …) land as the adapter guides grow.