Rspack Has a Free Bundler: A Rust-Based Webpack Replacement That's 10x Faster With Drop-In Compatibility

Your webpack build takes 90 seconds. You've tried cache-loader, thread-loader, esbuild-loader, persistent caching. Maybe you shaved off 20 seconds. The core problem remains: webpack is single-threaded JavaScript processing millions of modules.

What if you could keep your webpack config — plugins, loaders, module.rules — and just make it 10x faster?

That's Rspack. A Rust-powered webpack replacement with near-complete configuration compatibility.

Performance: Rspack vs Webpack vs Vite

Operation	Webpack 5	Rspack	Vite
Cold start (large project)	35s	3.5s	1.2s*
HMR update	800ms	80ms	50ms
Production build	90s	9s	15s
With 10K modules	120s	12s	N/A**

*Vite defers bundling to browser in dev, so cold start is fast but first page load is slower.
**Vite uses Rollup for production, which struggles with very large module counts.

Quick Start — New Project

npm create rspack@latest
cd rspack-project && npm install && npm run dev

Migrate From Webpack — It's Almost the Same Config

// rspack.config.js — looks familiar?
const path = require("path");
const HtmlPlugin = require("html-webpack-plugin"); // Yes, webpack plugins work!

/** @type {import('@rspack/cli').Configuration} */
module.exports = {
  entry: "./src/index.tsx",
  output: {
    path: path.resolve(__dirname, "dist"),
    filename: "[name].[contenthash].js",
  },
  module: {
    rules: [
      {
        test: /\.tsx?$/,
        use: "builtin:swc-loader",  // Built-in SWC — no install needed
        type: "javascript/auto",
      },
      {
        test: /\.css$/,
        type: "css",  // Native CSS support — no css-loader needed
      },
      {
        test: /\.(png|jpg|svg)$/,
        type: "asset",  // Native asset handling
      },
    ],
  },
  plugins: [new HtmlPlugin({ template: "./index.html" })],
  resolve: {
    extensions: [".tsx", ".ts", ".js"],
  },
};

Key differences from webpack:

• builtin:swc-loader replaces babel-loader (10x faster, built in)
• type: "css" replaces css-loader + style-loader
• Most webpack plugins work as-is

What Webpack Plugins Work?

Plugin	Status
HtmlWebpackPlugin	Works
MiniCssExtractPlugin	Built-in (type: "css")
DefinePlugin	Built-in
CopyWebpackPlugin	Works
webpack-bundle-analyzer	Works
fork-ts-checker-webpack-plugin	Works

Built-in Features (No Extra Packages)

module.exports = {
  builtins: {
    // Tree shaking — on by default
    treeShaking: true,

    // Code splitting
    optimization: {
      splitChunks: {
        chunks: "all",
        cacheGroups: {
          vendor: {
            test: /[\\/]node_modules[\\/]/,
            name: "vendors",
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
};

Migration Checklist

1. npm install -D @rspack/cli @rspack/core
2. Rename webpack.config.js → rspack.config.js
3. Replace babel-loader → builtin:swc-loader
4. Replace css-loader + style-loader → type: "css"
5. Remove cache-loader, thread-loader (Rspack is already fast)
6. Update package.json scripts: webpack → rspack
7. Test. Most configs work with these changes only.

When to Choose Rspack

Choose Rspack when:

• You have an existing webpack project and want faster builds
• Your project has 1,000+ modules where webpack slows down
• You use webpack plugins/loaders that Vite doesn't support
• You want production builds to match dev behavior exactly

Skip Rspack when:

• New project with no webpack investment (consider Vite instead)
• Small project where webpack is already fast enough
• You need experimental features Vite ecosystem provides (like Islands)

The Bottom Line

Rspack is the webpack upgrade path nobody expected — same config, same plugins, 10x speed. If your webpack build time frustrates you, Rspack is a weekend migration.

Start here: rspack.dev

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