Creating a Custom Stepper in Flutter: A Comprehensive Guide

In this article, we’ll learn how to build a custom stepper widget in Flutter to create smooth, user-friendly navigation for multi-step processes like forms, checkout flows, or onboarding experiences.

With this step-by-step guide, you’ll see how Flutter’s widget tree, state management, and custom components make creating reusable UI widgets effortless.

Why Build a Custom Stepper?

While Flutter provides a built-in Stepper widget, creating a custom stepper allows for greater flexibility in design and functionality. By building your own, you can tailor every detail to your app's specific needs, from UI/UX customization to dynamic step validation.

What We’ll Cover

• Creating the parent widget to manage the stepper flow.
• Building the reusable CustomStepper widget.
• Designing individual steps with CustomStepperStep.
• Adding navigation controls (Next/Previous buttons).
• Bonus tips on optimizing and scaling your stepper widget.

Code Implementation: Step-by-Step

Step 1: Parent Widget

The parent widget manages the current active step and handles navigation logic. Here’s how we set it up:

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:your_project/widgets/custom_stepper.dart';

class NewOrder extends StatefulWidget {
  const NewOrder({super.key});
  @override
  State<NewOrder> createState() => _NewOrderState();
}
class _NewOrderState extends State<NewOrder> {
  int _currentIndex = 0;
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(
        title: const Text("Nouvelle Commande"),
      ),
      body: Column(
        children: [
          CustomStepper(
            initialActiveIndex: _currentIndex,
            goToNextStep: () {
              if (_currentIndex < 2) {
                setState(() {
                  _currentIndex++;
                });
              }
            },
            goToPreviousStep: () {
              if (_currentIndex > 0) {
                setState(() {
                  _currentIndex--;
                });
              }
            },
            steps: [
              CustomStepperStep(
                icon: Icons.info,
                content: const Text("Basic Information"),
              ),
              CustomStepperStep(
                icon: Icons.location_on,
                content: const Text("Location Details"),
              ),
              CustomStepperStep(
                icon: Icons.shopping_cart,
                content: const Text("Order Details"),
              ),
            ],
          ),
        ],
      ),
    );
  }
}

Step 2: The CustomStepper Widget

The CustomStepper widget handles rendering the stepper UI and content.

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';

class CustomStepper extends StatefulWidget {
  final List<CustomStepperStep> steps;
  final int initialActiveIndex;
  final VoidCallback goToNextStep;
  final VoidCallback goToPreviousStep;
  const CustomStepper({
    super.key,
    required this.steps,
    this.initialActiveIndex = 0,
    required this.goToNextStep,
    required this.goToPreviousStep,
  });
  @override
  State<CustomStepper> createState() => _CustomStepperState();
}
class _CustomStepperState extends State<CustomStepper> {
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Padding(
      padding: const EdgeInsets.all(16.0),
      child: Column(
        children: [
          Row(
            mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.center,
            children: widget.steps.asMap().entries.map((entry) {
              int index = entry.key;
              CustomStepperStep step = entry.value;
              return Row(
                children: [
                  // Step Circle
                  Container(
                    padding: const EdgeInsets.all(4),
                    width: 38,
                    height: 38,
                    decoration: BoxDecoration(
                      shape: BoxShape.circle,
                      color: index <= widget.initialActiveIndex
                          ? step.color ?? Colors.blue
                          : Colors.grey.shade300,
                    ),
                    child: Icon(
                      step.icon,
                      color: index <= widget.initialActiveIndex
                          ? Colors.white
                          : Colors.grey,
                    ),
                  ),
                  if (index < widget.steps.length - 1)
                    Expanded(
                      child: Divider(
                        thickness: 2,
                        color: index < widget.initialActiveIndex
                            ? Colors.blue
                            : Colors.grey.shade300,
                      ),
                    ),
                ],
              );
            }).toList(),
          ),
          const SizedBox(height: 20),
          widget.steps[widget.initialActiveIndex].content,
          const SizedBox(height: 20),
          // Navigation Buttons
          Row(
            mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.spaceBetween,
            children: [
              ElevatedButton(
                onPressed: widget.initialActiveIndex > 0
                    ? widget.goToPreviousStep
                    : null,
                child: const Text("Back"),
              ),
              ElevatedButton(
                onPressed: widget.initialActiveIndex <
                        widget.steps.length - 1
                    ? widget.goToNextStep
                    : null,
                child: const Text("Next"),
              ),
            ],
          ),
        ],
      ),
    );
  }
}

Step 3: Custom Step Definition

Each step in the stepper is defined using CustomStepperStep.

class CustomStepperStep {
  final IconData icon;
  final Widget content;
  final Color? color;

CustomStepperStep({
    required this.icon,
    required this.content,
    this.color,
  });
}

Optimizing for Accessibility

• Responsive Design: Ensure your stepper scales on different devices using Flutter’s MediaQuery.
• Keyboard Navigation: Add shortcuts for accessibility users with FocusTraversalGroup.
• Custom Colors: Let users define custom colors or gradients for step indicators.

Best Practices

1. Reusable Widgets: Use CustomStepper in multiple parts of your app with varying content.
2. State Management: Use providers like Riverpod or Bloc for larger apps.
3. Animations: Add step transition animations with AnimatedSwitcher.

Flutter Community #FlutterStepper

Let me know your thoughts or suggestions in the comments. Happy coding! 🚀