Vue and React are two of the most popular JavaScript technologies used for web development and for good reasons. Both offer developers flexibility, powerful features to work with, and large developer communities for support.
However, as with most things in life, each one of them has its own set of strengths and weaknesses. So how do you decide whether to use Vue or React for a specific project?
In this article, we’ll try to answer that question by breaking down the main features, differences, and similarities between the two.
Let’s start with the basics.
What is Vue.js?
Vue.js is an open-source frontend JavaScript framework designed to help developers build web user interfaces and applications.
It was created in 2014 by Evan You, a former Google employee who wanted to create something more flexible to work with than Angular. As of now, the latest version of the framework is Vue 3.4 , which was released by the end of 2023.
Vue.js is a popular choice for web development due to its simplicity, flexibility, and robust features (we’ll cover those later in this article). It’s an easy-to-learn, simple yet very efficient tool for creating web apps using a component-based model, which is more than enough to make it a top choice among developers.
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Why do developers use Vue.js?
Vue.js is still a favorite among developers after a decade since its launch. The framework’s large library and easy-to-use interface make it easy to build apps when compared to other JS frameworks. Vue.js offers higher performance speed, and many programmers claim it’s faster and easier to use than React.js.
Ease of use: Many programmers prefer Vue over React because it makes development simpler. Vue.js is known for its straightforward approach to coding, providing developers with a plain syntax and a less complex structure.
Efficient original plugins: Vue offers a collection of plugins available in its original JavaScript library that make it efficient to develop additional app functionalities.
Fast learning curve: Teams developing small and medium projects often prefer to use Vue. It's easy to learn for beginner programmers, which can speed up the development process.
Established community: Vue community is large and active, coming with loads of tutorials, plugins, and general support for developers.
Integration: Vue can be easily integrated with other projects and libraries, making it a good choice for adding to existing applications without requiring a complete rewrite. It also has a wide range of ready-made components that can be added to projects quickly.
It’s also worth mentioning that unlike React and many other similar solutions, Vue is not directly supported by a major company, which gives the core team the independence to work without anyone's influence or authority.
This, along with other benefits, makes it one of the most developer-friendly JS frameworks.
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What is React.js?
React.js is a JavaScript library created by Meta (then Facebook) for building user interfaces. Initially developed in 2011 for Meta’s internal purposes, today React.js is one of the most popular tools for building interactive user interfaces.
What’s great about React.js is that it enables developers to create single-page applications (SPAs) quickly and easily. While the library is mostly used for web development, it’s also great for creating mobile applications for both iOS and Android with the React Native framework. It allows developers to create mobile-friendly components in a simple, efficient way.
Why do developers use React?
React.js is the top JS frontend library for the vast majority of developers, and many choose to start their JavaScript learning curve with it.
React has many advantages that attract developers:
Mobile development: React Native, a JS-based framework created by React.js for cross-platform mobile development, uses the same syntax and patterns as React.js. A React learner can easily pick up React Native as well, which gives them the possibility to create apps that work on both iOS and Android.
JSX: React's JSX syntax extension is used to create custom UI components in HTML. When solutions that come with React.js aren't enough, JSX makes it easier to create and visualize the structure of the UI components, simplifying the process.
Fast React Developer Tools: React.js comes with a handy set of React Developer Tools extensions that work in Chrome and Firefox browsers. With these, you can better understand the app structure, easily pinpoint performance issues, and speed up the debugging.
Strong ecosystem: React.js is one of the most established and popular JavaScript technologies out there. It has a large and active community that provides developers with multiple libraries, tools, and resources.
Flexibility: React.js can be used to build different types of apps, from single-page applications (SPAs) to server-side apps and mobile apps with React Native. If you want to work with various platforms and application types, React.js is the technology that will give you the versatility you need.
React.js is much more popular among developers than other JS technologies because of the opportunities and the flexibility it provides, be it with rich third-party libraries, the ability to build complex functionalities, or even adapting an app to multiple devices.
Vue vs React: Similarities
Now that we’ve covered why both technologies are so beloved by developers, let’s take a closer look at how they work.
First, let’s examine the similarities between the two.
JavaScript
The most obvious similarity between the two is that both Vue.js and React.js are JavaScript technologies, and the development ecosystem for both frameworks includes JavaScript-based tools and libraries.
When talking about JS, it’s also important to mention that React.js and Vue.js support TypeScript and Flow.
Architecture
Vue and React use component-based architecture as a fundamental design principle. Components are self-contained units that hold a part of the user interface and its logic.
This promotes reusability, maintainability, and scalability of codebases, as it allows developers to manage complex UI components independently.
Virtual DOM
Both technologies employ a virtual DOM to optimize performance, which is particularly useful in applications with dynamic and frequently changing data.
The virtual DOM is a lightweight representation of the actual DOM tree and acts as an intermediary between your JavaScript code and the browser.
Changes to the UI trigger updates to the virtual DOM first. The framework then calculates the most efficient way to update the real DOM, resulting in improved rendering performance.
Community
One of the most popular aspects of coding in either React or Vue is the community that has built up around these JS technologies.
Both the Vue and the React communities are huge, as those are the two biggest technologies for JavaScript development. Developers have access to a wide range of libraries, tools, and plugins contributed by the community.
Both frameworks are backed by strong documentation, tutorials, and community support forums, making it easy for developers to troubleshoot and collaborate on projects. It’s a massive strength for both technologies.
Vue.js vs React.js: Key differences
All right, Vue.js and React.js have a lot in common – so why exactly should you choose one over the other?
Let’s examine their most important differences to finally get closer to that decision.
1.Core library and application size
Verdict: Choose Vue.js for smaller and faster apps.
App size is a very important factor in how well the app performs. In Vue.js, it’s possible to compress the same code so that it takes up significantly less space than the same code written in React.js.
On average, Vue applications can be 10-30% smaller than comparable React applications. This can translate to faster coding due to reduced input requirements and generally results in better performance.
Speed
One of Vue's strongest points is its speed and performance, largely due to its efficient default library. Vue.js testing library allows the application to run more efficiently and quickly. Because there are so many features in Vue's official default library, 80 KB is enough to build most applications.
React.js, on the other hand, often requires downloading additional libraries. This means the size will continue to increase as new features are installed.
2. Scaling: data flow
Verdict: React.js is the first choice for developing large and complex apps, while Vue.js is preferred when developing simple and fast web applications.
Vue.js and React.js have good scaling solutions. In both cases, state changes can be organized into independent functions and separate conditions can be set for each state.
Vue.js
Vue has a similar infrastructure to React with its Vuex system for state management, utilizing a native unidirectional data flow.
Vue also supports two-way reactive data binding, which simplifies data management by allowing users to focus directly on the data without micromanaging data objects. Vue’s reactivity system is built into the framework, making it straightforward to track changes and update the DOM accordingly.
Compared to Vue.js, React.js has more templates, a larger developer ecosystem, and additional tools, while Vue.js scales projects better and offers better performance.
React.js
React.js's smart components provide state management library functions, while dumb components are used to determine what actions to take in certain situations.
Dumb components execute simple functions; they’re often called presentational components because their purpose is to “present” things to the DOM. Such elements that allow smart React components to be executed in the virtual DOM, enable a React.js app to perform faster.
3. Performance
Verdict: While both frameworks offer robust performance, Vue.js tends to handle updates more efficiently with less manual intervention compared to React.js.
Several factors influence how well an app is performing, including how efficiently the virtual DOM renders and how intuitive the development process is. Both Vue.js and React.js use a browser-independent virtual DOM, making their infrastructures similar and ensuring good performance and speed (although Vue.js's smaller file footprint often allows files to run quicker and more efficiently).
There are, however, key differences in how the technologies handle component creation and optimization.
Vue.js
Vue.js, on the other hand, identifies updates much faster. It automatically tracks components and self-identifies updated reusable components. This is why when working with Vue.js, you won't need different optimization methods to get high performance.
See how you can improve the performance of Vue with our checklist
React.js
For React.js, the process is a bit more complex. Child components need to be optimized following every change you make in React.js. Component codes should be defined with commands like "PureComponent" and "shouldComponentUpdate."
4. Mobile development
Verdict: If you want to develop mobile apps, then React.js is a clear winner in this competition.
Both React.js and Vue.js are primarily designed for web application development, but it’s not the only way you can use them. Here's how each technology addresses mobile possibilities:
Vue.js:
Unlike React.js, Vue.js does not have an official solution for mobile app development. Instead, it can be used with Weex, a mobile UI framework developed by Alibaba that supports Vue components for building Android and iOS apps.
However, Weex is nowhere near as frequently used, and it’s not common to use Vue.js for this purpose.
React.js
As mentioned before, when it comes to mobile development React.js has a huge advantage – the React Native framework which allows developers to create native iOS and Android apps using the same component structure as React. This enables developers to build mobile cross-platform frontends.
React Native is widely adopted and heavily used in the industry, and developers familiar with React can easily transition to React Native. Learning React.js is in itself a huge opportunity for web developers wanting to try mobile development.
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5. Popularity
Verdict: React remains the more popular choice among developers but Vue is easier and faster to learn for those just starting out.
React.js and Vue.js have both achieved varying degrees of popularity in different time periods, but when it comes to actual numbers, it’s quite clear which is the industry’s favorite.
When we take a look at Stack Overflow's developer survey for 2023 , it becomes obvious that React.js is by far the more popular option, with over 40% of developers choosing it for web development.
In addition, React.js is widely used commercially by the industry’s big players, which makes companies choose it over other solutions. You’re way more likely to see a job advert for a React.js developer than for a Vue.js one.
But it’s not all gloomy for Vue.js! The framework is a great option for new developers because it's a progressive framework that is easy to use, and many Vue developers swear by it because of how fast it is to learn. Becoming a pro by learning Vue.js is a shorter process compared to how long it takes to learn React, so if time is of the essence, you should absolutely consider Vue.js.
Vue vs React: What are they used for?
Both Vue.js and React.js are versatile frameworks used to develop a wide range of web applications. They continuously receive updates and their communities keep growing, making them more efficient as time passes, and making their usage more varied.
The general rule is to go with React.js when developing larger and more comprehensive web applications, while choosing Vue for simpler apps.
Vue usage areas
Even though Vue.js is mostly used for single-page web applications, many large companies have chosen the framework for implementing JavaScript on their websites. Trivago , GitLab , Nintendo , and Grammarly are just some of the app examples that use Vue.js.
For platforms that need to support simultaneous transactions of multiple users, the efficiency, speed, and performance that Vue.js offers is a great fit.
Vue.js is excellent for designing web applications that need to be simple and fast, without the need for complexity.
For magazines, blogs, news apps, video blogs, and simple social media platforms, Vue.js is a good choice. Running fast and with very low latency, Vue.js has enough basic functionalities for most platforms.
React usage areas
React.js was developed by Meta, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that its most important use case is social media platforms. Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter are all applications developed with React.js, but that’s not all the library is capable of.
React.js is indispensable for communication, community support, and content-based platforms, such as Pinterest or Reddit .
Thanks to its component-based architecture and mobile development opportunities, React.js is great for building ecommerce platforms.
In general, for more complex and functional applications that need to handle advanced UI requirements, React is a very solid choice.
Vue vs React: Pros and cons
To help you choose the right technology once and for all, let’s explore the strengths and weaknesses of Vue and React.
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Vue.js |
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React.js |
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Vue vs React: Which one is better?
As you can probably guess already, there isn’t really a clear answer to this question.
Both Vue and React are industry-leading JavaScript technologies. Both are flexible and run quickly, reducing the time to deliver content to users by only fetching what they need.
They both allow using templates to build complex apps and functions. React.js has more library and template possibilities compared to Vue.js, and the React community is also larger. However, Vue.js shines when it comes to how easy it is for developers to learn, and how fast, efficient, and lightweight it makes the applications.
One of the biggest differentiators here is mobile development. If you plan to create mobile apps that work on both iOS and Android, then React is a far better choice. But if your priority is web development with a focus on speed and efficiency, then Vue might be the better option.
