103 WPF UI Controls Microsoft Never Built — But You Still Need in 2026

You’re building a WPF application in 2026. You need a date-time picker. So you go looking in System.Windows.Controls and… it’s not there. No DateTimePicker, no NumericUpDown, no ColorPicker, no PropertyGrid. Not even watermark text boxes, masked input, or a docking framework.

These aren’t exotic requests — in fact, every business application needs at least half of them. Yet WPF shipped without them in 2006, and twenty years later, Microsoft still hasn’t added them. The built-in WPF UI controls library is the same size today as it was in .NET Framework 3.0.

So where do these controls come from? For over 15 million NuGet downloads’ worth of developers, the answer has been the same: Xceed.

What Microsoft left out — and never came back for

Here’s the thing about WPF’s control library. Microsoft certainly built the framework itself beautifully — the layout engine, data binding, XAML, styling, templates. However, they shipped a small set of controls and never expanded it. As a result, no one at Microsoft has added a new control to WPF in sixteen years.

Compare that to what a typical line-of-business application actually needs:

• A date-time picker (not just a DatePicker — one that handles time too)
• Numeric up/down spinners for quantities, prices, settings
• Masked input for phone numbers, social security numbers, ZIP codes
• A color picker for any design or configuration UI
• A property grid for settings panels (like Visual Studio’s Properties window)
• A busy indicator to show loading states
• A docking framework for multi-panel layouts

Yet none of these exist in the WPF framework. Consequently, you either build them yourself — reinventing wheels that have been solved for decades — or you find a toolkit for WPF that already has them.

Xceed Toolkit Plus: 103 controls, zero dependencies

Xceed Toolkit Plus for WPF provides 103 controls, panels, and themes — all in a single NuGet package with no external dependencies. Install it and start using controls immediately:

<PackageReference Include="Xceed.Products.Wpf.Toolkit.Full"
                  Version="5.1.26166.7861" />

The toolkit has been around since the early days of WPF. Xceed — the company that shipped the first commercial WPF control back in 2007 — has been maintaining and expanding it ever since. In fact, the community edition alone has crossed 15.8 million NuGet downloads. That’s not a niche library — rather, that’s infrastructure.

And it runs on .NET 10 today. Here’s the project file for our demo:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <OutputType>WinExe</OutputType>
    <TargetFramework>net10.0-windows</TargetFramework>
    <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
    <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
    <UseWPF>true</UseWPF>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="Xceed.Products.Wpf.Toolkit.Full"
                      Version="5.1.26166.7861" />
  </ItemGroup>
</Project>

One namespace, one package, all 103 controls.

The WPF UI controls you’ll use on day one

Let me walk through the ones that show up in almost every WPF project. These aren’t edge cases — they’re gaps in the framework that you’ll hit within your first week.

Input controls WPF forgot

WPF gives you a TextBox. That’s it. No watermark, no masking, no numeric validation. Xceed fills every one of those gaps:

<xctk:WatermarkTextBox Watermark="Search employees..." />

<xctk:MaskedTextBox Mask="(000) 000-0000" />

<xctk:IntegerUpDown Value="42" Minimum="0" Maximum="100" />

<xctk:DecimalUpDown Value="19.99" FormatString="C2"
                    Increment="0.50" Minimum="0" />

<xctk:CalculatorUpDown Value="100" />

For example, WatermarkTextBox shows placeholder text that disappears on focus — something HTML has had since 2012, but WPF still doesn’t support natively. Similarly, MaskedTextBox enforces input patterns. Meanwhile, the numeric up/downs handle validation, formatting, min/max bounds, and increment steps out of the box. Specifically, you get ByteUpDown, ShortUpDown, IntegerUpDown, LongUpDown, SingleUpDown, DoubleUpDown, and DecimalUpDown — one for every numeric type in .NET.

DateTimePicker — yes, the one WPF doesn’t have

WPF includes a DatePicker that picks dates. However, if you need time — and most business apps do — you’re on your own. Instead, Xceed provides a proper DateTimePicker and a standalone TimePicker:

<xctk:DateTimePicker Format="Custom"
                     FormatString="yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm" />

<xctk:TimePicker Format="ShortTime" />

<xctk:TimeSpanUpDown Value="08:30:00" />

Format strings, validation, keyboard navigation — all built in. Additionally, you get a TimeSpanUpDown for duration fields. These are controls that WinForms had twenty years ago. WPF never caught up, but this WPF toolkit did.

ColorPicker and ColorCanvas

Building a design tool, a theming panel, or any UI where users choose colors? WPF has no color picker. Xceed offers two:

<xctk:ColorPicker SelectedColor="CornflowerBlue" />

<xctk:ColorCanvas SelectedColor="OrangeRed"
                  Width="300" />

ColorPicker gives you a dropdown with standard colors, recent colors, and an advanced tab. On the other hand, ColorCanvas is a full HSV canvas for precise selection. Both bind to System.Windows.Media.Color, so no conversion is needed.

CheckComboBox — multi-select in a dropdown

WPF’s ComboBox selects one item. If you need multi-select in a dropdown — and you will, for filters, permissions, tag selection — you need CheckComboBox:

<xctk:CheckComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Departments}"
                    Delimiter=", " />

Select multiple items, then see them listed in the collapsed view with your chosen delimiter. It’s also available as CheckListBox for a list-style layout.

PropertyGrid — the settings panel you’d spend weeks building

Every application has a settings screen, yet most developers end up hand-coding form layouts for every new settings class. Xceed’s PropertyGrid generates a categorized, searchable editor from any .NET object — just like the Properties window in Visual Studio:

<xctk:PropertyGrid SelectedObject="{Binding AppSettings}"
                   ShowSearchBox="True"
                   ShowSortOptions="True" />

public class AppSettings
{
    [Category("General")]
    [DisplayName("Application Name")]
    [Description("The name displayed in the title bar.")]
    public string AppName { get; set; } = "My WPF App";

    [Category("Appearance")]
    [DisplayName("Dark Mode")]
    public bool DarkMode { get; set; } = false;

    [Category("Appearance")]
    [DisplayName("Font Size")]
    public int FontSize { get; set; } = 14;

    [Category("Performance")]
    [DisplayName("Cache Size (MB)")]
    public int CacheSizeMB { get; set; } = 256;
}

Just point it at any object. It automatically reads [Category], [DisplayName], and [Description] attributes. As a result, properties are grouped, sorted, searchable, and editable with the right editor for each type — checkboxes for booleans, numeric spinners for numbers, color pickers for colors. Building this from scratch takes weeks, whereas using Xceed takes one line of XAML.

BusyIndicator — loading states done right

Every app has loading states, but WPF doesn’t include a busy indicator. Fortunately, Xceed’s wraps any content with an overlay:

<xctk:BusyIndicator IsBusy="{Binding IsLoading}"
                    BusyContent="Loading data...">
    <DataGrid ItemsSource="{Binding Records}" />
</xctk:BusyIndicator>

Bind IsBusy to a boolean in your ViewModel. The overlay appears with an animation, disables the wrapped content, and shows your message. No manual visibility toggling, no z-index battles.

AvalonDock — the docking framework

This one deserves special mention because AvalonDock is a full Visual Studio-style docking framework: floating panels, tabbed documents, auto-hide sidebars, save/restore layouts. What’s more, it’s included in the community edition for free, while the Plus edition adds theme integration.

Normally, building a docking layout from scratch is a multi-month engineering effort. Instead, AvalonDock gives you one out of the box — and it’s the same framework used by countless WPF applications worldwide.

Beyond individual controls: 21 Material Design components

The Plus edition includes 21 Material Design WPF UI controls for applications that need a modern, web-inspired look:

• MaterialButton, MaterialCheckBox, MaterialRadioButton
• MaterialTextField, MaterialComboBox
• MaterialSlider, MaterialSwitch
• MaterialProgressBar, MaterialProgressBarCircular
• MaterialTabControl, MaterialListBox
• MaterialHamburgerMenu, MaterialToast
• And more

Importantly, these aren’t just styled versions of built-in controls. They also include ripple effects, floating labels, and animation patterns that follow Google’s Material Design specification — things that would otherwise take significant effort to implement manually in WPF.

9 themes for every control

Theming in WPF is powerful but manual — you have to template every control yourself. Xceed Toolkit Plus ships 9 complete themes:

Apply a theme across your entire application or per-section. Every one of the 103 controls respects the active theme — consistent appearance without custom templates.

Runs on .NET 10 — and every version before it

Framework support is broad:

• .NET 10 (LTS, supported through November 2028)
• .NET 8, 9
• .NET 6, 7
• .NET Framework 4.0 through 4.8.1

No conditional compilation, no compatibility shims — just one NuGet package that works across all of them. So if you’re migrating a .NET Framework app to .NET 10, the toolkit comes along for the ride.

The full control count

Here’s what 103 controls actually looks like, grouped by category:

When you don’t need the Plus edition

Xceed offers a free community edition with about 48 controls — including AvalonDock, PropertyGrid, all the numeric up/downs, DateTimePicker, ColorPicker, BusyIndicator, and more. For many projects, that’s enough.

In contrast, the Plus edition adds the Material Design WPF UI controls, additional themes (Fluent, Material, Metro, Office), the Chart control, MultiCalendar, TokenizedTextBox, ToggleSwitch, RadialGauge, StyleableWindow, and other advanced components. Furthermore, it includes priority support and regular updates.

Pricing starts at $659.95 for small businesses, with no runtime royalties. You can request a 45-day free trial to evaluate everything.

WPF’s control gap isn’t closing — but it doesn’t have to

Microsoft maintains WPF the platform — indeed, they optimize rendering, fix accessibility bugs, and improve XAML parsing. But they aren’t adding controls. After all, they haven’t added one since 2010, and there’s no indication they plan to start.

Ultimately, that’s not a problem — it’s a design choice, since WPF’s extensibility model means third-party WPF UI controls can integrate seamlessly. The issue only arises if you try to build everything from scratch using just what ships in the box.

Xceed Toolkit Plus for WPF fills every gap that matters. 103 controls, 9 themes, zero dependencies, running on .NET 10 today. For a framework that’s been powering desktop applications for two decades, having a WPF toolkit this mature makes all the difference.

Frequently asked questions

Does WPF have a DateTimePicker?

No. WPF only includes a DatePicker that handles dates — not time selection. As a result, for a combined date-and-time picker, you need a third-party WPF toolkit. Xceed Toolkit Plus provides DateTimePicker, TimePicker, and TimeSpanUpDown as part of its 103 WPF UI controls.

What is the best WPF toolkit in 2026?

Xceed Toolkit Plus for WPF is the most widely adopted, with over 15.8 million NuGet downloads for the community edition alone. It provides 103 controls, runs on .NET 10, has zero dependencies, and has been maintained since WPF’s early days. No other toolkit for WPF matches its breadth or track record.

Is Xceed WPF Toolkit free?

The community edition of this WPF toolkit (Extended.Wpf.Toolkit on NuGet) includes about 48 controls and is free for non-commercial use. However, the Plus edition adds 55+ additional WPF UI controls, Material Design components, extra themes, and priority support — starting at $659.95 per developer with no runtime royalties.

Does Xceed Toolkit work on .NET 10?

Yes. This toolkit for WPF supports .NET 10 (the latest LTS release), along with .NET 6 through 9, and .NET Framework 4.0 through 4.8.1. As a result, a single NuGet package covers all target frameworks.

How many controls does Xceed Toolkit Plus include?

103 controls, panels, and themes. Categories include input controls, numeric up/downs, date/time pickers, color pickers, selection controls, buttons, data display (PropertyGrid, Charts), feedback controls, containers, layout panels, rich text editing, a docking framework (AvalonDock), and 21 Material Design components.