This is a comparison of web frameworks for front-end web development that are reliant on JavaScript code for their behavior.
General information
Framework Versioncompared Size in KB Download link License Source languageAngular 21.0.010300 10.3 MB TypeScriptAngularJS 1.8.3 AngularJS support has officially ended JavaScriptApache Royale 0.9.1219 (zipped) ActionScript 3, MXML, CSSBackbone.js 1.6.1190 190 KB JavaScriptDojo 1.17.3729 7.29 MB JavaScriptEmber.js 6.7.014200 14.2 MB JavaScriptEnyo 2.7.025 25 KB (core gzipped) JavaScriptExt JS7.9.0 Variable GPL & Commercial JavaScriptGoogle Web Toolkit2.12.2109000 109 MB gwt-2.12.2.zip JavaHtmx2.0.816 16.2 KB htmx.min.js.gz JavascriptjQuery (library) 3.7.13434.7 KB JavaScriptjQWidgets 17.0.0198000 198 MB CC & Commercial JavaScriptKnockout 3.5.170 69.9 KB JavaScriptMooTools 1.6.058 58.1 KB JavaScriptPrototype & script. aculo.usscript.aculo.us is an add-on to Prototype. Prototype:1.7.3 script.aculo.us: 1.9.0 Variable JavaScriptqooxdoo 7.9.224800 24.8 MB JavaScriptReact 19.2.0172172 KB JavaScript / TypeScriptSAP OpenUI51.141.2Variable JavaScriptSproutCore 1.11.2236 236 KB JavaScriptSvelte5.42.22640 2.64 MB JavaScript / TypeScriptNext.js 16.0.0139000 139 MB JavaScript / TypeScript 1.9.910600 1.06 MB JavaScript / TypeScript 2.0.02400 2.4 MB JavaScript / TypeScriptReact Router 7.11.027.1 27.1 KB JavaScript / TypeScriptRemix 2.17.2278 278 KB JavaScript / TypeScript 1.0.054500 54.5 MB JavaScript / TypeScript 2.1.210 10.3 KB JavaScript / TypeScript 11.0.01260 1.26 MB JavaScript / TypeScript 3.5.42n/a 3 MB JavaScript / TypeScriptWebix 11.2.07480 7.48 MBGPL & Commercial JavaScriptZK 10.2.1 VariableLGPL & GPL & ZOL XML + Java (JavaScript optional)
High-level framework comparison JavaScript-based web application frameworks, such as React and Vue, provide extensive capabilities but come with associated trade-offs. These frameworks often extend or enhance features available through native web technologies, such as routing, component-based development, and state management. While native web standards, including Web Components, modern JavaScript APIs like Fetch and ES Modules, and browser capabilities like Shadow DOM, have advanced significantly, frameworks remain widely used for their ability to enhance developer productivity, offer structured patterns for large-scale applications, simplify handling edge cases, and provide tools for performance optimization.
Frameworks can introduce abstraction layers that may contribute to performance overhead, larger bundle sizes, and increased complexity. Modern frameworks, such as React 18 and Vue 3, address these challenges with features like concurrent rendering, tree-shaking, and selective hydration. While these advancements improve rendering efficiency and resource management, their benefits depend on the specific application and implementation context. Lightweight frameworks, such as Svelte and Preact, take different architectural approaches, with Svelte eliminating the virtual DOM entirely in favor of compiling components to efficient JavaScript code, and Preact offering a minimal, compatible alternative to React. Framework choice depends on an application’s requirements, including the team’s expertise, performance goals, and development priorities.
A newer category of web frameworks, including enhance.dev, Astro, and Fresh, leverages native web standards while minimizing abstractions and development tooling. These solutions emphasize progressive enhancement, server-side rendering, and optimizing performance. Astro renders static HTML by default while hydrating only interactive parts. Fresh focuses on server-side rendering with zero runtime overhead. Enhance.dev prioritizes progressive enhancement patterns using Web Components. While these tools reduce reliance on client-side JavaScript by shifting logic to build-time or server-side execution, they still use JavaScript where necessary for interactivity. This approach makes them particularly suitable for performance-critical and content-focused applications.
Features Feature detectionFeature detection is preferred by many to browser sniffing to support future browsers: Browser Detecting (and what to do Instead), Feature Detection: State of the Art Browser Scripting, Browser Feature Detection Feature detection all the way DOM wrapped XMLHttpRequestdata retrieval AJAX and Dojo WebSocket Server push data retrieval Other data retrieval Drag and drop Simple visual effects Animation / advanced visual effects Back button support / history management Input form widgets & validation :Validation requires plugin Grid or or Hierarchical Tree , Rich text editor markitup, jwysiwyg, htmlbox , WYMeditor Autocompletion tools HTML generation tools As of Dojo 1.3, the NodeList.addContent() api can be used to create content for example: dojo.query(".note").addContent("h4 NOTE: h4", "before"); MooTools Elements Widgets themeable / skinnable GUI resizable panels and modal dialogs Using MochaUI Library or JxLib GUI page layout Canvas support dojo.gfx Mobile/tablet support (touch events) Webix mobile/tablet support Accessibility / graceful degradationAll JavaScript frameworks can be written in an accessible way with graceful degradation, frameworks seen here which imply out-of-the-box accessibility have made a special effort to document best practices for their particular framework. Qooxdoo's "Extreme JavaScript" paradigm ARIA compliant Developer tools, Visual design WavemakerAptana Studio Custom build, JS Linker, API generation, Unit test framework, etc. Offline storageJavaScript frameworks currently only have the ability to support offline storage by taking advantage of pre-installed browser extensions such as Google Gears. If a user does not have one of these supported extensions installed in their browser already then offline support will be unavailable to the framework. JavaScript framework developers interested in implementing Gears may want to start with the Gears Getting Started Guide. o.DojoToolkit.Org/offline says "Dojo Offline is no longer supported after Dojo 1.3" Cross-browser 2d Vector GraphicsSome JavaScript libraries provide 2d graphics primitives that can be used for cross-browser vector graphics. These libraries rely on underlying technologies in the browser or plugins such as Canvas, SVG, VML, Flash, and Silverlight to do the actual rendering, but help isolate application and widget code from the rendering engine API differences jQuery SVG plugin (via Raphael) Charting & DashboardSome JavaScript libraries include widgets for Charts, Gauges, and other data visualizations. jQuery Visualize Plugin RTL Support in UI Components
Browser support FrameworkInternet ExplorerMozilla FirefoxSafariOperaChromeEdgeAngular Latest and extended support release 2 most recent major versions Latest and previous stable version 2 most recent major versionsAngularJS (1.3) 8+ (9+) 4+ 5+ 11+ 30+Apache Royale 9 (Edge --> 10) 21 6 15 23Dojo 6+ 3+ 4 10.50+ 3Ember.js 6+ 3+ 4+ 10.6+ 14+Enyo 8+ >4 >5 >10Ext JS 8+ 45+ 11+ 43+ 64+Google Web Toolkit 8+ 1+ 5+ 9+ 1+jQuery (3.x) 6+ (9+) 2+ 3+ 9+ 1+jQWidgets 7+ 2+ 3+ 9+ 1+MooTools 6+ 2+ 3+ 9+ 1+Prototype & script. aculo.us 6+ 1.5+ 2.0.4+ 9.25+ 1+ (starting with 1.6.1RC3)qooxdoo 6+ 2+ 3+ 9+ 2+React9+SAP OpenUI511+Latest Stable and ESRLast 2Latest VersionSproutCore 6+ 3+ 4+ 9+ 1+Svelte 21+ 6+ 15+ 23+12+Vue10+21+6+15+23+12+ZK 6+ 2.0+ 3+ 9+ 2+Webix 11+ 93+ 5+ 95+ 95+ 95+
Notes