If you've ever built an enterprise dashboard, you've probably started with something simple:
And then the requirements arrived.
"Can we add filtering?"
"Can users edit cells?"
"Can we group the data?"
"Can we freeze the first three columns?"
"Can we export this to Excel?"
"Why does scrolling become slow with 50,000 records?"
At some point, you're no longer building a table.
You're building a data grid.
The Real Problem With Large Data
Imagine this:
100,000 rows
50 columns
Inline editing
Sorting
Filtering
Grouping
Custom cell components
That's potentially millions of cells.
Rendering everything into the DOM isn't a good idea.
Modern grids solve this with virtualization.
Instead of rendering every row and column:
Database
↓
100,000 rows
↓
Render everything
you get something closer to:
Database
↓
100,000 rows
↓
Viewport
↓
Render visible cells
The result is a much smaller amount of DOM work.
Row Virtualization Isn't the Whole Story
Most developers understand row virtualization.
But enterprise applications can also have very wide grids.
Think about:
Financial reports
Manufacturing data
Product comparison tools
Analytics dashboards
Planning systems
You might have hundreds of columns.
Rendering all of them creates another performance problem.
That's why column virtualization is becoming increasingly important.
Ext JS 8.0 Takes This Further
Ext JS 8.0 adds horizontal buffering and column virtualization to the Modern toolkit.
The grid can render the visible columns plus a configurable buffer rather than rendering the entire width of the dataset. Sencha specifically positions this for very wide grids, including scenarios with 1,000+ columns.
Ext JS 8.0 also adds a Lockable Grid plugin for the Modern toolkit, allowing columns to remain fixed while the rest of the grid scrolls horizontally.
That's a pretty useful combination for business applications.
But Performance Isn't Everything
A fast grid with a terrible API isn't much fun to develop.
When evaluating a grid, I'd look at:
Developer experience
How easy is it to configure?
Data handling
Does it work well with REST APIs and remote data?
Editing
Can users edit cells without custom code everywhere?
Filtering
Can users create useful filters without you implementing the entire system?
Grouping
Does grouping work naturally with sorting and aggregation?
Column management
Can users resize, reorder, hide, and lock columns?
Export
Can business users get their data out?
Accessibility
Does the component support keyboard navigation and assistive technologies?
These details become much more important as the application grows.
Ext JS vs AG Grid
This is probably one of the more interesting comparisons.
AG Grid is an excellent specialized data grid. Its current version supports JavaScript, React, Angular, and Vue and provides row and column virtualization.
So if you're building:
React app
+
Need a really good grid
AG Grid is an obvious option.
Ext JS takes a different approach.
It's an entire enterprise UI JS Framework with 140+ pre-integrated components, including grids, forms, charts, trees, layouts, calendars, and other business UI components.
So if you're building:
New enterprise application
+
Lots of data
+
Complex UI
+
Lots of business workflows
I'd seriously evaluate Ext JS first.
Not because every project needs it.
But because the integrated approach can remove a lot of the dependency and integration work that comes with assembling an enterprise frontend from separate libraries.
What About React?
React remains an excellent choice for teams that value ecosystem flexibility.
But React itself isn't an enterprise data-grid solution.
You typically assemble the pieces you need.
That can be a strength.
You get enormous flexibility.
It can also mean more architectural decisions.
Ext JS is more opinionated.
For a large business application, that can actually be an advantage.
Don't Forget the Backend
There's another misconception worth mentioning.
A high-performance grid doesn't mean you should download your entire database into the browser.
For genuinely huge datasets, server-side operations are usually important.
For example:
User filters:
Revenue > $1M
↓
API
↓
Database
↓
Filtered results
↓
Grid
This is usually much more sensible than:
Database
↓
Download 10 million records
↓
Browser
↓
Good luck
The frontend grid and backend data architecture need to work together.
What I Would Evaluate Before Choosing a Grid
I'd create a realistic test dataset and measure:
Initial rendering
Scrolling
Memory usage
Sorting
Filtering
Grouping
Inline editing
Column virtualization
Live updates
Export performance
Accessibility
Mobile/responsive behavior
And I'd test with the actual complexity of your cells.
A benchmark with plain text cells doesn't tell you much about a production grid full of dropdowns, buttons, icons, formatting, and live data.
Why Ext JS Is Worth Evaluating in 2026
Ext JS 8.0 is particularly interesting because its grid improvements are part of a broader framework update.
The current release includes:
140+ pre-integrated components
Enhanced grid performance
Horizontal buffering
Column virtualization
Lockable Grid
Digital Signature Pad
QR Code Reader/Generator
Font Awesome 7
Expanded ECMAScript support
ARIA accessibility improvements
For a data-intensive enterprise application, that's a compelling package.
For a small marketing site?
Probably overkill.
For a simple CRUD application?
Maybe.
For a financial dashboard, ERP, analytics platform, operations console, or enterprise admin system?
That's where I'd put Ext JS near the top of the list.
Final Take
The data grid might look like just another [UI component]https://www.sencha.com/blog/a-step-by-step-guide-to-ui-components/).
In a data-heavy application, it can become one of the most important pieces of the frontend architecture.
The right grid should not only display data quickly. It should make the entire data workflow easier for developers and users.
In 2026, Ext JS is one of the strongest choices for building new, data-intensive enterprise applications, particularly when you want the grid, forms, charts, layouts, and other enterprise components to come from a unified framework.
If you're already committed to React, Angular, or Vue, a specialized solution such as AG Grid may make more sense.
So don't choose based purely on benchmarks.
Build a realistic prototype.
Put your real dataset into it.
Then measure what actually matters.
That's usually where the right answer becomes much clearer.
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