React and Preact are two web development frameworks with some significant differences between them. They are both powerful JavaScript libraries to build user interfaces, but they serve different needs.
React: Robust and Feature-Rich
What is it? React is a well-known library released by Meta in 2013, which has an extensive ecosystem and component-based architecture.
Pros: Wide community support, highly suitable to big applications, and a smooth integration with frameworks like Redux and Next.js to perform more complex state management and server-side rendering (SSR).
Cons: Bigger bundle size (100-150kB) can slow down initial load times, and its complexity can be confusing to beginners.
Preact: Lightweight and Fast
What is it? Preact is a smaller alternative to React, created in 2015, with a similar API but with an emphasis on speed and simplicity.
Pros: Has a small 3kB bundle size, faster loading times, and it is ideal with mobile apps, PWAs, or resource-constrained environments.
**Cons: **Smaller ecosystem and support of more advanced React features, such as Suspense or Concurrent Mode is limited.
React vs Preact: Key Differences
Get to know the core differences between Preact and React.
Bundle Size
Preact’s size is much smaller at just 3KB when gzipped. In comparison, React’s size falls between 100 and 150KB when minified and gzipped. This makes Preact a better choice to build mobile web apps, PWAs, or static sites where speed and low bandwidth usage matter.
Performance
Preact tends to start up faster and work more because of its smaller size and fine-tuned Virtual DOM. It works best with simple or lightweight apps. React’s optimizations, on the other hand, narrow this gap when you're building applications with more complexity.
API Compatibility
Preact is designed to match React’s API. It manages 99% compatibility for versions 15 through 19. Developers who want to keep compatibility can use preact/compat.
Ecosystem & Community
React has a vast ecosystem filled with many libraries and tools backed by Meta and supported by its massive user base. Preact’s ecosystem may not be as large, but it is expanding, relying on React compatibility to reuse tools.
Event Handling
Preact relies on the browser's native event system, which helps keep it lightweight and faster. React, on the other hand, works with a synthetic event handling system.
Debugging
Preact provides the preact/debug module, which developers can use to get warnings during development. This gives them better control.
React vs Preact: When to Choose?
- Choose React to work on large projects with complex requirements that require a powerful tool and the ability to maintain over a long period of time.
- Use Preact when you want lightweight, performance-oriented apps such as mobile sites or PWAs.
Want to dive deeper? Check out our detailed comparison: Preact vs React: Head-to-Head Framework Comparison.
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