On the importance of AGGrid enterprise

[gioxc88]

Hello this topic is because I would like to stress out how important it is to support AGGrid enterprise features out of the box.

I have read the discussions on the topic, and saw a guy who tried to implement it as an extension, but it's not been maintained anymore.
Last commit traces back to Jan2025 and uses an outdated version of AGGrid.

I could name tens of people that, very reluctantly, had to move away from nicegui back to plotly Dash, for just for this reason.

Please can you guys make an effort to support it?

Thanks

[falkoschindler]

Thanks for bringing this up, @gioxc88! Let me summarize the current situation:

Existing discussions and attempts:

• Feature request AG Grid Enterprise #2431: The original discussion where users requested AG Grid Enterprise support, outlining the need for advanced features like row grouping, Excel export, and server-side data handling.

• PR Add support for using aggrid in enterprise mode #3757: An attempt to add Enterprise support directly to NiceGUI, which was closed due to licensing concerns (AG Grid Enterprise is commercial software) and the maintenance burden it would introduce.

• Community extension xaptronic/nicegui-aggrid-enterprise: A third-party package that wraps AG Grid Enterprise for use with NiceGUI. It demonstrates that the integration is technically feasible, but the repository appears to be unmaintained - last updated around early 2025 and using an outdated AG Grid version.

You're absolutely right that AG Grid Enterprise features are important for many production use cases - row grouping, Excel export, server-side row model, etc. are frequently requested, and we understand the frustration when users have to look elsewhere for these capabilities.

However, we can't include AG Grid Enterprise in NiceGUI's core distribution because it's commercial software requiring paid licenses. Bundling it would create legal/distribution issues and add bloat for users who don't need (or can't afford) it.

What we could do:

1. Reach out to @xaptronic to see if he's interested in continuing maintenance of nicegui-aggrid-enterprise, or if someone else wants to take over stewardship.

2. Improve documentation/tooling for users who have an AG Grid Enterprise license to make it easier to swap in Enterprise for Community in their NiceGUI apps.

Let's continue this conversation over at the existing feature request #2431 to keep all discussion in one place.