Svelte vs Vue.js: Compare to Make the Right Choice | ProCoders

Without a doubt, IT is the fastest-changing industry, and all of these changes need to be adapted to. But which framework is the easiest to use and most functional? Do you need to jump ships from one framework to the next?

What framework do you need, Svelte or Vue.js, for the development process?

We tried to find answers to these questions in our article, where we compared Svelte vs. Vue and tried to match Svelte vs. Vue performance. If you want to know more and can’t decide to start the Vue.js developer hiring process or hire Svelte developers – keep reading!

What is Svelte? – An overview

Svelte vs. Vue – which of these do you need for your project? Before jumping straight to the comparison, let’s get to know them a little bit better.

Rich Harris, the author of Svelte, describes his creation as “a framework without the framework”.

Svelte is based on a tool for compiling components (essentially, Svelte.js is a compiler itself) at the build stage, allowing you to load only what is needed to display your application on the page – small, “digestible” JavaScript code.

This is the main difference between Svelte and Vue.

Use Cases of Svelte

The most common use cases of Svelte include:

• Single-page applications.

• Apps for low-power devices. Apps created with Svelte have less code, which essentially means fewer data to download, and that is perfect for low-power devices.

• Apps with interactive visualization. A framework with no runtime is much more convenient since it allows the visuals to be more responsive.

Popular Apps Made with Svelte

Today, more than 13,000 companies use Svelte as their framework of choice. Some of the most notable are:

• QuickBudget – a finance app to track expenses. In QuickBudget it’s possible to compare your expenses to certain guidelines.

• Upstream – a desktop version of a P2P development platform. It’s a community-driven network, where developers can collaborate freely.

• Decathlon – a famous sports equipment store that used Svelte to build their app. Developers noted the benefits of using a code-splitting technique.

Pros of Svelte.js

In a study conducted by Stateofjs.com, 44,9% of developers have heard of Svelte and would like to try it.

Here are the benefits that may indicate why:

• Easier to use. You can write in a .html file or a .svelte file. But beware: the syntax is easier, yes, but in cases like this it’s a blessing and a curse. Naming conventions would be nice.

import { Router, link, Link, Route } from "svelte-routing"; 

• The ability to compile code without virtual DOM. The main selling point of Svelte is reducing the number of digital layers between the browser and the app, which results in more optimized and quick work. According to user tests, Svelte is approximately 30% faster than the rest of the frameworks in a showdown, Svelte vs. Vue.

• Automated updates. With the help of declared variables, Svelte can automatically update your data. That way, you don’t have to wait for changes to be reflected in your virtual structure, resulting in a better user experience.

Cons of Svelte.js

However, Svelte has some major flaws that can negatively affect your experience as a developer. Knowing the limitations of the technology allows you to see whether it’s a fit for your project.

Here are some downsides you need to consider:

• No major support. Svelte stands without any major support as of yet. Of course, this is a young framework, and it may get support in the future, but be prepared for its lack if you decide to use it now.

• Small community. Svelte isn’t very popular right now, as you can see on Google Stats, where they analyze Angular vs. React vs. Vue vs Svelte. This results in a lack of support by the community, and something as simple as finding a UI Kit may be time-consuming. And using JS without UI Kits is way harder than it may seem.

• Routing issues. You won’t be able to create even a one-page web application without a normal router. Currently, there aren’t that many for Svelte. You can link your router, but it takes more time and effort.

• Forget about cross-platform apps. You’ll have to rewrite your mobile app completely in ReactNative or use hardwired NativeScript, but finish it off by hand.

What is Vue? – An overview

Vue.js is a progressive JavaScript framework for building user interfaces, known for its simplicity, flexibility, and ease of integration with existing projects.

The framework took the best of the world: it adopted two-way data binding from Angular, compactibility, and component structure from React.

Use Cases of Vue

The difference between Svelte and Vue lies also in versatility. Vue is pretty much a universal framework that can be used for any project of yours.

The most suitable apps developed in this framework are single-page apps, MVPs, progressive web apps, and dynamic landing pages.

Popular Apps Made With Vue

Currently, the number of apps running on this framework surpasses 1,500,000.

• Alibaba – an E-Commerce giant from China uses it as their primary frontend solution. Without stopping there, Chinese developers created a compatible framework, Weex, to build mobile solutions.

• Louis Vuitton – a website for a high-end fashion brand Louis Vuitton is a prime example of what the framework can do. For that reason, Louis Vuitton now stands as the fifth most popular brand online.

• Behance – a leading online platform for presenting art and photography, a part of the Adobe family. They used it as their frontend framework while building a website.

• Zoom – a well-known video communications company that blew up during quarantine. Their web app is built on Vue.js.

And that’s not it – a lot of the popular web apps use this framework on an occasional basis. Google used it for their careers page, Apple for SwiftUI tutorial, Nintendo when developing their loyalty page. Upwork, Nestle, Trivago, Nespresso – the list goes on and on, which stresses the multipurposeness of this framework.

The main difference between Svelte and Vue, in this case, is age. By the way, if you want to build an app on Vue.js ProCoders can help you with that! You can hire our Vue.js developers and recreate the success of these apps.

Pros of Vue

The benefits are:

• Extensive library and excellent documentation. Having a very meticulous and extensive library is a signature of the framework. Its documentation probably has an answer to any developer question, making it an incredibly valuable asset for those who just started discovering Vue.

• High development speed. Thanks to the templates and the availability of documentation, projects can be developed quite quickly. No complicated interface and a relatively simple syntax make this framework ideal for tight deadlines.

• Scalability. First and foremost, you can use it for both small one-page apps and big complex web-app interfaces. But it’s also a wonderful tool to scale your project since it allows you to create templates for multiple employment.

• SEO Optimization Support. Besides its adaptability and scalability, Vue is also favorable for implementing SEO strategies. Vue SEO Services are tailored to improve your site’s visibility and performance, making Vue a powerful tool for developers looking to enhance their website’s search engine ranking.

Cons of Vue

Any framework has its downsides. Depending on your project, they may not be of much importance, but it’s still a good idea to be aware of them.

• Community. The community, even though it is larger than Svelte’s, is not quite large. So the knowledge exchange at the developer level within the framework is still improving.

• Flexibility. Yes, this is somewhat of a disadvantage. When you have too many options there is a big risk to overcomplicate your code and make your final project bulky and slow.

Now, let’s finally get to the actual comparison!

Vue vs Svelte performance

It’s important to remember the main difference between Svelte and Vue – virtual DOM (or its absence), as it greatly affects performance.

Svelte vs Vue performance

Svelte is primarily a compiler. It’s capable of producing and simultaneously optimizing the code at one step, thus enhancing the performance. This results in a lower runtime overhead, and users can enjoy smooth transitions and exceptionally fast rendering.

Another unique source of decreasing the runtime is virtual DOM. With no virtual DOM optimizations and concurrent mods necessary, the performance is streamlined.

Svelte takes care of updating the DOM without the middleman (e.g. API) via changing the components themselves.

Vue

Where Svelte uses no DOM whatsoever, Vue uses Virtual DOM – it’s slower, but the tool is well-known and optimized.

A great feature that makes a difference between Svelte and Vue – lazy loading, which somewhat makes up for the time spent in virtual DOM.

Essentially, lazy loading is a strategy that allows you to defer the rendering of non-critical resources until the user needs them specifically. This results in a faster page loading time.

Here is a result of a RealWorld comparison of the most popular frontend frameworks.

Yes, Svelte has a score of 99, but Vue is not that bad either with 86 points. Is it a drastic difference? We don’t think so.

The difference in performance won’t be even noticeable in light-weight apps.

Vue js vs Svelte Application Architecture

Svelte

Svelte can render a page directly. Meanwhile, frameworks like Vue have to wait for the virtual DOM to load. Svelte also uses an existing javascript to render the page and generates the whole app’s components using its compilation feature.

Vue

Vue.js uses a ViewModel method, based on the two-way data binding in the MVVM model. MVVM – is a template that emerged to get around the limitations of MVC and MVP patterns.

M – Model – represents the business logic of the application.

V – View – XAML UI view.

VM – ViewModel – contains all the logic for building the GUI and a reference to the model, so it acts as a model for the view.

Vue.js architecture includes directives and filters. Directives are reusable code snippets that help developers interact with and manipulate the DOM, while filters are tools for formatting and transforming text or data displayed in templates.

Svelte and Vue App Size

Svelte

The logic is quite simple in this round of Vue.js vs Svelte: the lighter the app – the faster it will load and the less will be the parse.

Developers that use Svelte tend to build smaller apps. It’s one of the most appealing features of this framework. It’s able to create a smaller bundle size because there is no dependencies section.

Vue

It’s a relatively lightweight framework. The average size of an app is somewhere between 50kB and 100kB and even with tips on how to decrease the size of your app, like replacing moment.js with date-fns. Still not as small as Svetle, though.

However, if we look at a Svelte vs. React vs. Angular vs. Vue combo, we can see that both frameworks are in the first ten, while React and Angular fall behind. Quite good indicators proving the viability of frameworks.

Svelte and Vue Ability to Build Complex Apps

Svelte

If you have an idea for a large complex application, Svelte is not the best choice for the frontend. Despite showing great results in a Svelte vs. Vue performance analysis, this framework is still young and lacks support and community. With no styles and kits, the amount of work you have to do by yourself will probably soon outweigh the positives that come with Svelte.

Vue

With major backing from Google and relatively strong community support, building a complex app using Vue seems easier. Not mentioning the Vuex, which greatly facilitates the task. The difference between Svelte and Vue – having the ability to develop larger and more complicated apps – might be a make or break for someone who plans to quickly scale up their business and add more functions.

When is Svelte the Best Choice?

• When you have time.
  Because probably no one from your team already knows it well enough to construct a top-notch complicated app. And if there is someone, with no community support and available tools, it’s probably going to take a bit longer than expected. But if you are ready to invest time and effort – by all means, go for it!

• If package size is a serious concern for you.
  There is no doubt that app size is going to affect the performance, so if you know beforehand you’re gonna struggle with the size – pick Svelte.

• If you are aimed at low-power devices.
  Svelte is more lightweight and quick, even on low-capacity devices.

When is Vue the Best Choice?

Before making your choice, ask yourself:

• How complex do you want your app to be?

• How scalable should it be?

• What people are on your team?

In a comparison between Svelte vs. React vs. Vue, there are certain cases in which Vue is your best choice. Namely:

• When you want something easy and ready to go.
  The difference between Svelte and Vue is that the latter comes with a great router (Vue-router) and data management (Vuex) that is taken care of.

• When you want to have great integration capabilities and flexibility.
  For one, you can write the templates using whatever language you desire (HTML, JS, JSX) and have great integration with CSS modules. It makes Vue a universal framework. Also, comparing Svelte.js vs. Vue, the second one is more likely to integrate with other apps because it relies only on JavaScript and is a well-known framework.

• If you want to shift from React or Angular.
  Vue has a similar structure and has elements from React (and even Angular!), so retraining shouldn’t be a problem.

• If you want to be able to quickly scale your team up.
  Since Vue is the framework more developers are working with, it’s going to be easier to find a programmer to extend your team. Moreover, if there are no specialists available in your country, you can hire remote developers.

Our Experience in Vue

At ProCoders, we work with over 50 programming languages and frameworks, and Vue.js is among them. And one particular case is especially dear to us.

HANDLE came to us in 2020, when COVID-19 had struck. They were managing the medical equipment sales, and when pandemics hit, they found themselves at the brink of a wonderful opportunity that not only would save lives, but also help their business prosper. What they were needing was someone to help them develop their own Capital Cycle Management (CCM) system. And we were happy to assist!

However, if you’re looking for Svetle developers, we may be able to help you! Contact us, and let’s start building your team.

Coming back to Vue!

We used this frontend framework for our HANDLE project, bundled up with Laravel, Firebase, and MySQL, and it worked like a charm. Earlier, we talked about compatibility while comparing Svelte vs. Vue, and what truly stands out to us is how seamlessly it worked with these stacks.

As a result of working with ProCoders, HANDLE was able to cut their time to market by 30%, which is especially valuable in a pandemic. Their income consequently increased by 30%, and they were able to quickly expand the market and use every opportunity to establish their business.

Conclusion

Hopefully, our article was helpful in telling you about the difference between Svelte and Vue, why it is important to pose your goal and the capabilities of a framework, and even compare them.

You can find any information about software development in our blog, like different framework comparisons or average hourly rate for app developer. If you struggle to find answers to your questions here, you can always contact ProCoders for extra help!

Do you want to hire Vue.js developers to help you meet your targets? We have seasoned developers that can extend your team and bring all the necessary skills to the table. Let’s book a consult and get you closer to your business dream.