SolidJS Has a Free Reactive Framework That Outperforms React

SolidJS compiles away the virtual DOM entirely. The result: React-like developer experience with raw DOM performance.

Most React developers don't realize there's a framework that uses the same JSX syntax but runs 5-10x faster in benchmarks.

What You Get for Free

Fine-grained reactivity — SolidJS tracks exactly which DOM nodes depend on which signals. When state changes, only the affected nodes update. No diffing. No reconciliation.

JSX without Virtual DOM — Write JSX like React, but SolidJS compiles it to direct DOM operations at build time. Your components run once (not on every render).

Primitives that make sense:

• createSignal() — reactive state (like useState, but granular)
• createEffect() — side effects that auto-track dependencies
• createMemo() — derived state with automatic caching
• createResource() — async data fetching with Suspense built-in

Bundle size: 7KB gzipped. React + ReactDOM = 42KB. SolidJS = 7KB. Same features.

Quick Start

npx degit solidjs/templates/js my-app
cd my-app
npm install
npm run dev

Real Performance Numbers

From the JS Framework Benchmark:

• Startup time: SolidJS ~35ms vs React ~55ms
• Memory usage: SolidJS uses 40% less memory
• DOM manipulation: SolidJS is 2-5x faster than React

These aren't synthetic benchmarks — they measure real DOM operations.

Why This Matters

SolidJS proves that developer experience and performance aren't tradeoffs. You write JSX. You use familiar patterns. But the compiled output is surgical DOM manipulation.

The ecosystem is growing fast: SolidStart (meta-framework), solid-router, solid-query, and 200+ community packages.

If you're starting a new project and performance matters — SolidJS is worth 30 minutes of your time.

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