Frontend Framework Comparison (React vs Vue vs Svelte)
These are notes I put together while deciding which framework to adopt for a new project these days.
React has an overwhelming ecosystem. With many libraries and job postings, you can expect strong community support. However, there are many decisions to make—state management, routing, and so on—and given the high degree of freedom, the team needs to establish clear conventions.
Vue's strength is its gentle learning curve. The low initial barrier to entry means you can be productive right away. The official docs are excellent, so it's also great to start on your own. That said, I found it somewhat inconvenient when using TypeScript on large-scale projects.
Svelte features concise code and good build performance. But the downside is that its ecosystem is still quite small. In particular, third-party libraries are lacking, so you often end up having to customize things yourself.
In conclusion, the choice probably comes down to the team's skill level and project size. For a simple MVP, Svelte is a solid pick, while for mid-to-large web apps, React is a safe bet.
4 answers
Yeah, React is pretty solid. Lots of job openings too.
I've done a large-scale TypeScript project with Vue, and when using generics or advanced types, Vue's type inference isn't as smooth as React's, which was pretty frustrating. Even with the Composition API, it would slip into any at some point. From my personal experience, if you're planning long-term maintenance, you need to be more meticulous with the initial setup.
Well, isn't saying the Svelte ecosystem is still small a bit outdated? It has stores, and quite a few related libraries have popped up recently.
The conclusion that Svelte is for simple MVPs and React is for mid-to-large projects feels a bit too simplistic. In reality, if a team is comfortable with Vue, they can easily handle mid-to-large projects with it, and Svelte is also fairly common for kiosks or dashboards. Maybe the real answer is just whatever the current team is most comfortable using...