Choosing the Best JavaScript Framework Between Vue and React

Developers tend to be in a dilemma when choosing the best JavaScript framework between React and Vue for their web development projects. The developers’ community often debates about these two, so we thought we should share our thoughts as well on the same, and help our readers understand the differences (and similarities) between them.

Both React.js and Vue.js prove to be a great choice for front-end development, however, both have some associated benefits and drawbacks. They excel at different aspects of development, so based on your priorities or preferences, you can find out which one suits your project the most. It isn’t going to be the case that one framework would always have an upper hand over the other, as the priorities can be different for different clients or projects.

Let’s first get a basic overview of both.

What is Vue.js?

Vue.js was developed eight years back (in 2014) by Evan You. It’s an open-source MVVM front-end JavaScript framework used to build intuitive user interfaces and single-page applications.

It is being used by developers all over the world today primarily because of its ‘progressive design’ that allows them to migrate existing projects gradually.

What is React.js?

React.js isn’t technically a framework but a front-end JavaScript library used in web development for building user interfaces based on UI components, though it can also be used as a base in single-page application development or mobile app development. React was created by Meta (previously Facebook) in 2013.

Vue vs React Comparison

Let’s now compare Vue.js and React.js on a few important factors.

1. Performance

Performance-wise, both Vue and React are on the same level or considered equal. They share common elements. They use virtual DOMs, and also make use of lazy loading to boost performance and reduce loading time.

Both are found to have delivered excellent performance in their own ways. For example, Vue is better at startup times and memory allocation, whereas React is considered ideal for runtime.

2. Vue vs React- State Management

Since ReactJS is centered around UI, it does help you initially in building UI components, however, it does not provide you with state management. As your system grows and becomes more complex, it gets difficult to manage the state. In that case, you need to use Redux as a state management tool when dealing with React applications.

Vue, on the other hand, offers Vuex for state management for vue.js applications. It’s been used by thousands of developers worldwide.

3. Syntax

One of the key differentiators between React.js and Vue.js is the syntax or how the view layer is built. Vue uses HTML templates by default, but it does have an option to write in JSX. On the other hand, React solely has JSX.

Vue’s traditional separation of concerns into HTML, CSS, and JavaScript makes it easier even for novice frontend developers to learn web app development. Most Web designers are also familiar with HTML templates, and thus there’s better collaboration between developers and designers.

React’s JavaScript Expressions (JSX) combine HTML and CSS together into JavaScript. This XML-like syntax allows developers to develop self-contained UI components (including the view-rendering instruction).

4. Tooling

React offers create-react-app; a third-party CLI tool that helps developers in different aspects of application development, adding libraries, and installing necessary dependencies. Earlier, developers had to copy the Webpack-config and other .rc files from previous applications each time they worked on a new application, or they had to configure everything manually. Though it did not take much time, the process was tedious.

Vue comes with Vue-CLI; a tool to quickly create projects for vue.js. Such projects have a ready-made structure, an installed configuration, and plenty of basic files. Vue-CLI offers several advantages, such as, it allows developers to create their own plugins and templates, plugins can be added anytime during the development process, in other words, no blocking.

5. Popularity

Another factor that you can consider when looking for the best JavaScript framework between Vue.js and React.js is their popularity. You can check their popularity on professional forums like StackOverflow and Github, and see how actively people are involved there and putting up questions.

At the time of writing this blog post, there are more than 3,57,956 questions tagged with reactjs on StackOverflow, and it has over 181000 stars on Github.

Speaking of Vue.js, it has over 84000 tagged with vue.js on StackOverflow, and has 192000 stars on Github.

The ReactJs community is comparatively bigger than Vuejs, however, because of the former’s fragmentary nature, it’s a bit complicated to receive feedback on common queries.

6. Development Cost and Time

There isn’t much difference between Rectjs and Vuejs if we compare them on the basis of development cost and time. The time estimate is usually the same in both cases. It just comes down to how skillful and experienced the developer is in utilizing the additional libraries, frameworks, packages, etc. that help accelerate the development process.

The cost would also depend on a number of factors such as the developer’s experience, seniority level, location, etc. Freelance Reactjs developers may charge somewhere between $81-$100 on an hourly basis, whereas VueJS developers’ average hourly rate can range from $61-$80.

Who should choose React?

1. It is ideal for startups that require fast feature development and validation campaign on the market.

2. If you are looking to outsource development services, you should go with React.js as it is comparatively easy to find React developers.

3. Can be a good choice for product-based companies looking for cross-platform app development.

Who should choose Vue?

1. Best suited for organizations that are looking to implement a single flow in their development process.

2. Ideal for companies that don’t have any previous experience of using frameworks in their development process or the ones looking to leverage their proficiency with JavaScript.

3. Companies approaching the market of web-based products should choose Vue over React.

Popular web apps created using React

✅Netflix

✅Facebook

✅Instagram

✅Twitter

✅Pinterest

Popular web apps created using Vue

✅Statista

✅Grammarly

✅Adobe

✅Behance

✅GitLab

Final Thoughts

React.js and Vue.js are good in their own ways. To put everything in a nutshell, React is an ideal choice if you need to build a complex web application, e.g., a SaaS product. Maintenance and customizations are relatively easier through the React.js community. The community has a large number of contributors and developers ready to develop any application.

Vue.js is a good choice if you look to create lightweight and easy-to-fix applications. Though the community is smaller than its counterpart, it is growing at a good pace.

Ultimately, the call is yours to take, based on what your application demands.