The Best React Alternatives: Top 6 Frameworks you can use

React JS is one of the most common web app frameworks favored by many developers due to its easy learning curve and reusability. Since it’s an open-source JavaScript library, developers can access plenty of tools and resources for developing an excellent web app.

React JS is used to develop single-page applications (SPAs). The presence of virtual DOM and SPA are the key influencing USPS of React JS.

Meanwhile, most of the websites don’t seem to be SPAs. The USP of React JS doesn’t go for usage, which, in turn, causes you to search for the best React JS alternatives and, therefore, the best one to choose out of them.

However, why do developers search for React alternatives in particular? Let us see some hard-line advantages of React JS in web app development.

Stability
API
Performance
Ecosystem support
Package size

Finding the simplest react alternatives isn’t as straightforward as many assume because it’s exhausting to search out an ideal match whilst considering the stability and ecosystem support together with API performance delivered by ReactJS.

Why do Developers look for Alternatives to React JS?

Well, this may well be the million-dollar question among several beginners because nobody would like to leave React JS once familiar with the advantages offered by it. However, developers still ask for reliable alternatives of React JS; here are the reasons that trigger developers around the globe to hunt the simplest React Js alternatives.

Challenging to manage vast React JS library

Most React developers realize it is challenging to manage the large library size of the React.js framework. Indeed, you can not afford to invest so exceedingly in a framework that demands an exquisite memory area.

Lacks in MVC architecture

React lacks MVC design. Its Model and Controller don’t manage the view functionality. Hence, you wish for an alternative React framework that is view-oriented.

Steep Learning Curve for Developers

React contains a steep learning curve and hence developers are forced to invest a lot of time in learning new technology. Project ignition is delayed.

Not simple for Beginners

Many React.js developers realize it is hard to understand the documentation of JSX React. Beginners are never comfortable while learning this framework.

This article has listed the top six best React JS alternatives for developers/business owners’ experience.

Top 6 React alternatives with a detailed comparison

1. PReact

Source: https://preactjs.com

Preact is an alternative to React developed by Jason Miller and many contributors under the open-source MIT license. Preact is one of the best React alternatives, and was developed as a lightweight alternative for making progressive web apps (PWA) and mobile and web applications.

Preact Pros

It’s compact, precise, and lightweight (3KB), so your app will perform faster.
Preact uses the ES6 API, which lets you elevate your application from React to Preact quickly. You can also adapt it as a library to make fantastic user interfaces for your project.
Businesspersons can produce new projects effortlessly by utilizing the official CLI without the difficulty of getting in Babel and Webpack configuration.
Developers can get help from the Preact documentation and official website examples to kick-start your application development.
Along with all the boosting features of React, the Preact library additionally contains some special features just like the LinkedState.

Preact Cons

You do not get context support.
For your app’s stateful functionalities, the createClass function is not supported. Preact only permits you to use ES6 class and stateless elements.
Preact doesn’t care about the React propTypes.
The community size is small, hence immediate support might be unavailable at times
Preact lacks innovation and essentially mimics React.

Preact Vs. React

API: PReact framework contains only a tiny part of the React Application Interface functionality; not all the React features are present in Preact;
Size: As I discussed before, React is 5.3 KB, whereas Preact is just 3 KB. Preact is far lighter than React.
Performance: as a result of being lightweight, Preact is faster as compared to React applications.

2. Inferno JS

Source: https://www.infernojs.org/

Inferno JS is the most high-profile and best-react alternative with its rich features. It offers one of the fastest JS libraries. React developers introduced Inferno in 2016 as an experiment to examine whether or not a library can improve the battery, performance, and UX of mobile apps.

Inferno JS would be your best option, if you would like to build client and server-side interfaces with faster speeds, better performance, and isomorphic rendering.

Inferno Pros

Inferno is a lightweight, high-profile alternative to React JS.
It is one of the quickest JavaScript libraries as it uses internal objects for optimizations.
Inferno is not an exact copy of React, It has some unique lifestyle methods.
It supports hyper script, JSX, and Vanilla createElement method. Also, It supports several popular state management libraries like Cerebral JS, Mobx, and Redux.
Inferno uses the classic old CSS properties.
You will get add-ons like server-side rendering, routing and more.

Inferno Cons

Inferno is not yet backed up by sufficient community size. Developers do not get timely help and support because of its more miniature ecosystem.
Unlike React, Inferno does not support Memo, Hooks, suspense, or lazy loading to make the final package compact. Lack of these features doesn’t negate Inferno from outperforming React in other aspects.
The setState method works synchronously.

Inferno JS vs. React.js

React framework has an entirely synthetic event system, while on the other side, Inferno only supports partial synthetic events and specific functions like onClick.
Like React with React Native, you can not use React Native with Inferno. The DOM structure is surrounded by Inferno for browser/server edits.
It lacks support for React legacy strings such as callback, ref, or createRef, etc.
By Inferno, you can get lifecycle events based on functional components as a replacement for ES2015 classes.
The “inferno-devtools” command allows you to debug inferno apps using React dev tool extensions.

3. Ember JS

Source: https://emberjs.com/

Ember Js holds a strong position in top alternatives to React JS. Yehuda Katz introduced Ember JS in 2011 for making web applications. Previously it was named SproutCore MVC framework. It offers a templating mechanism, client-side rendering, URL support, and fascinating functionality. Ember js is API-friendly, and its design has two-way and server-side rendering.

Ember JS Pros

Ember offers maintenance and support for your settled project.
It offers data binding and server-side rendering with URL support features.
You can shift to he latest updates with Ember’s advanced control system.
Ember JS gives you well-described documentation explaining which tools to use and which APIs to avoid for updated versions.

Ember JS Cons

The web applications that you create in Ember JS seem to be a bit slower due to rendering. Yet, they ultimately pick up the speed.
The Ember JS community is not as large as the React.js community. Hence the development team may not get proper community support. There are fewer examples and code libraries of the Ember framework.
Holdups may get up in your project if you can’t resolve the problem you are trapped in at an appropriate time.
Ember JS does not have any standard UI elements.

Ember JS Vs. React.js

As compared to React.js’s DOM model, Ember.js is based on the MVVM (Model-View-ViewModel) model.
React offers one-way data binding, and Ember.js offers two-way data binding.
React js is perfect for building dynamic and complex projects, while Ember JS is ideal for SPAs (single-page applications).
Command-line Interface CLI is present in Ember, and React does not have it.

4. Vue JS

Source: https://vuejs.org//p>

Vue.js is a progressive JavaScript framework created by Even You in 2014. Developers are using it to create web user interfaces. Vue is an open-source framework and is fully built and maintained by the JavaScript community. Vue JS is one of the most popular alternatives to React JS without having a backup of any tech giants.

Vue Js Pros

Vue JS works on HTML templates, and it is very convenient to use vue.js for your new or existing projects.
Whether it is a single-page application SPAs or a complex web interface, Vue JS offers a sleek integration process without moving your whole system.
Similar to most popular React.js alternatives, Vue Js also has a compact library size and provides higher performance.
Vue Js has a natural learning curve with thorough documentation. Developers are actively using VueJS.

Vue JS Cons

There will be a chance to face difficulties with Vue JS while developing large-scale applications.
Vue JS is new, so it has a relatively small market share. You may not get the proper help and support you need.

Vue JS vs React

Vue is better than React in terms of rendering and optimization because of its out of the box rendering features.
You are not allowed to reuse code in React.js other than for CSS and other JSX code, while Vue JS has inbuilt CSS-HTML code-reusability.
The learning curve of Vue is simple and easy as compared to React js. Developers can work out problems quickly in your project if they are using Vue.js.
React.js uses JSX-JavaScript XML for designing, while Vue JS allows you to use JSX and HTML templates and plugins.

5. Angular

Source: https://angular.io/

Angular JS, released in 2010 by Google, is the best React Js alternative to build mobile app, desktop, and web applications. Angular is an Open-source JavaScript front-end framework that has a rich set of functions. It helps developers to simplify and structure the JavaScript code. You do not need to look for any other options because AngularJS is a complete framework.

AngularJS Pros

Developers can write a clean code and develop a robust application while using the AngularJs framework.
With the Angular framework, you can develop apps with high performance.
You can have a material UI interface in Angular.
Because of its routing feature, it is effortless for app users to shift from one view to another.
Using the Angular CLI, you will get continuous framework updates for your mobile and web development projects.

AngularJS Cons

Learners find it challenging to learn and adapt to angular frameworks because of their steep learning curve.
You can’t depend on any help or support due to a lack of angular documentation.
It may get a little difficult to debug routing with the scopes.
Angular Apps with interactive elements take more time to load.
Third-party integration is not straightforward with the AngularJS framework.
Developers may encounter problems while upgrading their Angular versions.

Angular vs React

One can build excellent UI components with React.js while making dynamic web apps using the Angular framework.
AngularJS is based on Typescript, while React is based on JavaScript.
React.js is based on Virtual DOM structure, and on the other hand, Angular is based on the MVC model.
React allows you to add other JavaScript libraries to your source code easily, while in Angular the process in angular is a tad bit difficult.
With React to test and debug your project, you need add-ons but with angular, testing and debugging tools are by default bundled with the framework.

6. Backbone JS

Source: https://backbonejs.org/

Jeremy Ashkenas, who introduced CoffeeScript and Underscore.js, has also developed the Backbone.js framework. It relies on the MVP (model-view-presenter) paradigm, and it’s a RESTful JSON interface.

You’ll be able to use Backbone.js as an alternative to React.js in making single-page web applications, hence you’ll be able to keep many pages synchronized. Developers look forward to using Backbone.js framework when they want to use an easy framework having the JS structure with models. It’s an open-source JavaScript framework with 27.6k stars on GitHub.

Backbone.js Pros

It Uses a template engine used to create your app’s flexible UI.
It allows complex user interaction very effortlessly.
It will enable you to call all the underscore.js methods by using your backbone.js objects.
Backbone.js is extensible by using the various available plugins.
Your backbone.js classes can listen and trigger due to their extendable event class.

Backbone.js Cons

With backbone.js, developers can get into a code mess if best practices aren’t followed.
It doesn’t support data binding.
Developers have to be compelled to invest time and energy in learning the new syntax of coding backbone.js.
It depends on underscore.js and isn’t independent.

Backbone.js Vs. React.js

As compared to React JS, backbone js is relatively a bit smaller and more performant.
Unlike React, Backbone.js provides support for routing and deep linking.
React.js still leads the market share within the prime 10k and 100k sites.
Backbone.js has proven stats that make it a master in industries like Arts, Games, Health, entertainment, and many firms.

Which one is the most appropriate ReactJS alternative for your project?

Each JavaScript library/framework has its own capability which you may have to keep in mind when you choose the appropriate library for your app development.

Like one has MVC model architecture, the other has a lightweight library size. One is suitable for Single Page Applications, while another is better for web app projects.

Each React.js alternative has its benefits; it depends on your requirements that best fit your upcoming projects.

If you consider AngularJS, it is a fantastic JS framework as compared to the React.js library.

If you plan to expand your existing web project or develop a full-fledged SPA or single-page application, React is the perfect choice for you.

Vue.js is a perfect choice to migrate or upgrade your application for quicker and smoother transmission.

And you can use PReact if you want to boost the functionality and features of your ongoing React application. Later, it will optimize your app performance-wise.

Still, if you cannot decide which React alternative is best suited for your requirement, feel free to contact our experts. We would offer you a free consultation for all your project-related queries.

FAQs on Alternatives to React JS

1) What is React JS and what are its best alternatives?

React is an open-source JavaScript library with 174.6K GitHub stars and 35.2K GitHub forks. A lot of developers use React as the V in MVC (Model View Controller).

Top alternatives of ReactJs are PReact, AngularJS, Ember.js, Inferno JS, Vue.js, JQuery, Xamarine, NativeScript, and BootStrap etc..

2) Which is better, Angular or React?

Both frameworks have their advantages. React is an open-source Javascript library, and Angular is a full-fledged framework. Angular is helpful when you need to build an application from scratch, while React is perfect for scaling your existing apps. To know more, read our article on Angular Vs. React: Which One Is The Most In-Demand Frontend Development Framework In 2022?

3) Why is Vue JS better than React?

Both Vue and React have developer tools that help you build interactive user interfaces. However, due to its easy templating syntax and use of elements, migrating or integrating existing projects to Vue is quicker and smoother. To learn more, read React vs Vue comparison- what is the best choice for 2022?

4) Is Preact better than React?

Preact stands for performance-optimized React. It’s highly compatible with React and used whenever there’s a requirement to boost the performance of an existing React application.

5) What front-end technology would be best suitable for web development in 2021?

Of course, the answer is React!

6) Is there anything better than React.js?

In terms of performance, Vue.js is faster than React JS. Additionally, for smooth and effortless app development use Vue.js. Vue has a smooth learning curve so that developers can learn and adopt the framework quickly.

Software Development, Web Development, Mobile Application Development