Originally published at hafiz.dev
If you asked a room of Laravel developers "Livewire or Inertia?" two years ago, the answer split cleanly down one fault line: do you want to write JavaScript? Livewire for PHP purists. Inertia for anyone with Vue or React muscle memory.
That framing still holds as a starting point. But it doesn't tell the whole story anymore. In January 2026, Livewire shipped version 4. In March 2026, Inertia.js shipped version 3. Both are major releases, and both of them solved problems that used to tip the scale one way or the other. The comparison has shifted.
So let's answer the question properly, with both tools at their current state.
What Livewire 4 Actually Changed
Livewire 4 shipped in January 2026 with substantially more than a few incremental improvements. The most visible change is how you write components. Instead of two files (a PHP class and a Blade view), you now put everything in a single file with a ⚡ prefix:
<?php
// resources/views/components/⚡counter.blade.php
new class extends Livewire\Component {
public int $count = 0;
public function increment(): void
{
$this->count++;
}
}
?>
<div>
<button wire:click="increment">+</button>
<span>{{ $count }}</span>
</div>
This is now the default when you run php artisan make:livewire. Your existing class-based components still work. The new format is opt-in, and you can convert between formats anytime with php artisan livewire:convert.
More interesting is the Islands feature. It lets you define isolated regions inside a component that update independently from the rest of the page, without creating separate child components:
@island(name: 'stats', lazy: true)
<div>{{ $this->expensiveStats }}</div>
@endisland
This matters a lot if you've ever hit a wall with Livewire's re-render behavior on complex dashboards. Islands let you pin expensive sections to their own update cycle, which means better performance without restructuring your entire component tree.
Two other v4 changes worth knowing before you upgrade. Requests now run in parallel, so wire:model.live on multiple fields no longer blocks each other. And wire:model changed its event bubbling behavior: it now only listens to events originating directly from the element itself, not from child elements. That last one is a silent breaking change for anyone using wire:model on container elements like modals. It won't throw an error. It'll just stop working.
What Inertia.js 3 Actually Changed
Inertia.js 3 shipped stable in late March 2026 after a beta period. The headline change is architectural: Axios is gone. Inertia now ships its own built-in XHR client, removing roughly 15KB gzipped from your bundle by default. If you rely on Axios interceptors, you can still plug Axios back in as an optional adapter.
The setup story is also dramatically simpler. In v2, every project required a resolve callback, a setup callback, and a separate SSR entry point. In v3, you add the new Vite plugin and call createInertiaApp() with no arguments:
// resources/js/app.js
import { createInertiaApp } from '@inertiajs/vue3'
createInertiaApp()
That's it. The plugin resolves pages from your ./Pages directory, handles lazy-loading and code splitting, and wires up SSR automatically during npm run dev. No separate Node process. No build step just to preview server-side rendering. This was a real friction point in v2, and it's gone.
Two new features deserve mention. useHttp is a new hook for making plain HTTP requests (to a search endpoint or autocomplete API, for example) without triggering a page navigation. It mirrors the API of useForm, so there's no new pattern to learn. And optimistic updates are now first-class. You can apply data changes instantly before the server responds, with automatic rollback on failure:
router.optimistic((props) => ({
post: { ...props.post, likes: props.post.likes + 1 },
})).post(`/posts/${post.id}/like`)
The upgrade from v2 has a handful of breaking changes worth reading before you update. I covered those in detail in the Inertia.js v3 upgrade guide.
The Fundamental Difference Is Still the Same
Here's the thing: all of the above are improvements within each tool. They didn't change what each tool is fundamentally for.
Livewire is still a server-side component framework. When a user clicks a button or types in an input, a network request goes to your Laravel server, the component re-renders in PHP, and the diff gets applied to the DOM. The browser never runs your component logic. JavaScript is minimal and optional.
Inertia is still a protocol layer. Your Laravel controllers return JavaScript page components instead of Blade views. The frontend is fully Vue, React, or Svelte, with access to the entire npm ecosystem. The backend handles routing and data, but the rendering happens in JavaScript.
Neither is a replacement for the other. They're built on different philosophies, and v4 and v3 didn't change that.
The Real Decision in 2026
Here's a decision flowchart, then some concrete scenarios:
Pick Livewire 4 if you're building an admin panel, SaaS dashboard, or anything where the UI is form-heavy and data-driven. Livewire is faster to ship for this kind of work because you're not managing a separate frontend build or serializing everything through props. If Filament is in the stack (and for a lot of Laravel SaaS projects, it should be). Filament v5 already runs on Livewire v4, so the ecosystem stays consistent. You also get strong SEO defaults since content renders server-side first.
The Islands feature in v4 specifically removes one of Livewire's older weaknesses: the performance ceiling you'd hit with complex dashboards. That's not a complete answer to "can Livewire handle this complex UI?" but it moves the ceiling noticeably higher.
If your team is primarily PHP developers, Livewire also keeps context-switching minimal. You stay in Laravel and Blade. No shift to TypeScript types or JSX syntax mid-afternoon.
Pick Inertia.js 3 if your team is already productive with Vue or React. Full stop. If the developers on your project think in components, reach for useState, or have strong TypeScript instincts, giving them Inertia is a productivity multiplier. Don't make React developers write Blade components.
You should also pick Inertia when your UI needs the npm ecosystem. Complex drag-and-drop, advanced charting libraries, animation tools like Framer Motion, component libraries like shadcn. These integrate naturally into an Inertia project. Livewire can interface with Alpine.js for a lot of this, but there's a point where you're fighting the grain of the tool.
The type safety story is also better with Inertia. Tools like Laravel Wayfinder give you end-to-end TypeScript coverage from your Laravel routes down to your Vue or React components, which matters as a codebase grows. If you want to see what that looks like in practice with Vue, the Laravel + Vue 3 Composition API post is a good reference.
The gray area. Most SaaS products fit either tool. If you're starting fresh as a solo developer or small team, and no one has a strong JS framework preference, I'd default to Livewire. You'll ship faster in the early stages, Filament handles your admin needs, and you can always reach for Alpine.js for the handful of things that need client-side state.
The mistake I see most often: picking Inertia because it feels more "modern" without actually needing the React ecosystem. That just adds complexity for no gain. The flip side is picking Livewire for a public-facing app with real-time features when your entire team thinks in React. That's the wrong tool for the wrong people.
My Take
I use both depending on the project. Livewire and Filament for anything admin-heavy or SaaS-internal. Inertia and Vue for public-facing products where the team has frontend experience and the UI benefits from the full Vue ecosystem.
What I don't do is agonize over the choice. Both are well-maintained, both have strong ecosystems, and both just shipped major versions that made them better.
The real risk isn't picking the "wrong" one. It's spending three weeks researching and not shipping anything.
FAQ
Can I use Livewire and Inertia in the same Laravel project?
Technically yes, but it's not a great idea unless you have a very clear architectural separation. The more common pattern is Livewire for internal admin sections and a different approach for the public-facing frontend. Running both adds mental overhead without a compelling reason.
Does Livewire 4 require Filament v5?
No. Filament v5 requires Livewire v4, but Livewire v4 works fine without Filament. You can upgrade Livewire independently. If you're on Filament, just verify your Filament version supports Livewire v4 before updating.
Is Inertia.js still the right pick if my frontend is mostly CRUD?
Probably not, if you're the only developer on the project. CRUD-heavy UIs are exactly where Livewire shines: you get reactive forms, real-time validation, and table interactions without touching JavaScript. Inertia makes more sense when the UI complexity justifies bringing in the JS ecosystem.
Which performs better?
It depends heavily on what you're building. For server-rendered content, Livewire has the edge because there's no JavaScript hydration cost. Inertia v3's Instant Visits feature narrows that gap for navigation, and SSR is now much easier to set up. For complex client-side interactions, Inertia's JavaScript-native approach typically performs better because state stays in the browser.
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