documentation/docs/refine.md
---
slug: /refine
id: refine
title: Refine
---
## What is refine?
**refine** is a React-based framework for the rapid ✨ development of web applications.
It eliminates the repetitive tasks demanded by **CRUD** operations and provides industry standard solutions for critical parts like **authentication**, **access control**, **routing**, **networking**, **state management**, and **i18n**.
**refine** is *headless by design* offering unlimited styling and customization options.
[Refer to refine repository for more information ➡️ ](https://github.com/pankod/refine)
## What do you mean by "headless" ?
Instead of being a limited set of pre-styled components, **refine** is a collection of helper `hooks`, `components` and `providers`. They are all decoupled from your *UI components* and *business logic*, so they never keep you from customizing your *UI* or coding your own flow.
**refine** seamlessly works with any **custom design** or **UI framework you favor**. For convenience, it ships with ready-made integrations for [Ant Design System](https://ant.design/), [Material UI](https://mui.com/), [Mantine](https://mantine.dev/), and [Chakra UI](https://chakra-ui.com/).
## Use cases
**refine** shines on *data-intensive* applications like *admin panels*, *dashboards* and *internal tools*. Thanks to built-in **SSR support**, **refine** can also power *customer-facing* applications like *storefronts*.
<br/>
<a href="https://github.com/refinedev/refine">
<img alt="how-works-refine" src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/18739364/200257209-8fc0c8b1-2568-453e-873f-00513434deed.png" />
</a>
<br/>
<br/>
## Key Features
⚙️ Zero-config, **one-minute setup** with a **single CLI command**
🔌 Connectors for **15+ backend services** including [REST API](https://github.com/refinedev/refine/tree/master/packages/simple-rest), [GraphQL](https://github.com/refinedev/refine/tree/master/packages/graphql), [NestJs CRUD](https://github.com/refinedev/refine/tree/master/packages/nestjsx-crud), [Airtable](https://github.com/refinedev/refine/tree/master/packages/airtable), [Strapi](https://github.com/refinedev/refine/tree/master/packages/strapi), [Strapi v4](https://github.com/refinedev/refine/tree/master/packages/strapi-v4), [Strapi GraphQL](https://github.com/refinedev/refine/tree/master/packages/strapi-graphql), [Supabase](https://github.com/refinedev/refine/tree/master/packages/supabase), [Hasura](https://github.com/refinedev/refine/tree/master/packages/hasura), [Nhost](https://github.com/refinedev/refine/tree/master/packages/nhost), [Appwrite](https://github.com/refinedev/refine/tree/master/packages/appwrite), [Firebase](https://firebase.google.com/), [Directus](https://directus.io/) and [Altogic](https://github.com/refinedev/refine/tree/master/packages/altogic)
🌐 **SSR support** with **Next.js** or **Remix**
⚛ Perfect **state management** & **mutations** with **React Query**
🔀 **Advanced routing** with any router library of your choice
🔐 Providers for seamless **authentication** and **access control** flows
⚡ Out-of-the-box support for **live / real-time applications**
📄 Easy **audit logs** & **document versioning**
💬 Support for any **i18n** framework
💪 Future-proof, **robust architecture**
✅ Full **test coverage**