Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Django VS Parcel

Compare Django VS Parcel and see what are their differences

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Django logo Django

The Web framework for perfectionists with deadlines

Parcel logo Parcel

Blazing fast, zero configuration web application bundler
  • Django Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-09-30
  • Parcel Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-12-13

Django features and specs

  • Rapid Development
    Django allows developers to swiftly create web applications with its 'batteries-included' philosophy, providing built-in features and tools out-of-the-box.
  • Scalability
    Django is designed to help developers scale applications. It supports a pluggable architecture, making it easy to grow an application organically.
  • Security
    Django includes various security features like protection against SQL injection, cross-site scripting, cross-site request forgery, and more, promoting the creation of secure web applications.
  • ORM (Object-Relational Mapping)
    Django’s powerful ORM simplifies database manipulation by allowing developers to interact with the database using Python code instead of SQL queries.
  • Comprehensive Documentation
    Django offers detailed and extensive documentation, aiding developers in effectively understanding and utilizing its features.
  • Community Support
    With a large and active community, Django benefits from numerous third-party packages, plugins, and extensive support forums.

Possible disadvantages of Django

  • Steep Learning Curve
    For beginners, Django’s complex features and components can be challenging to grasp, leading to a steep learning curve.
  • Monolithic Framework
    Django’s monolithic structure can limit flexibility, potentially resulting in over-engineered solutions for simpler, smaller projects.
  • Template Language Limitations
    Django’s template language, while useful, is less powerful compared to alternatives like Jinja2, limiting functionality in complex frontend requirements.
  • Heavyweight
    Django's comprehensive feature set can result in high overhead, making it less ideal for lightweight applications or microservices.
  • Opinionated Framework
    Django follows a ‘Django way’ of doing things, which can be restrictive for developers who prefer less constrained, highly customized coding practices.
  • Lack of Asynchronicity
    Django’s built-in functionalities do not fully support asynchronous programming, which can be a limitation for handling real-time applications and processes requiring concurrency.

Parcel features and specs

  • Zero Configuration
    Parcel requires minimal to no configuration to get started, making it extremely user-friendly, especially for beginners or small projects.
  • Fast Bundling
    Parcel uses worker threads to parallelize tasks, which significantly speeds up the bundling process compared to other bundlers that do not use this approach.
  • Out-of-the-box support for many file types
    Parcel supports many file types (e.g., JavaScript, CSS, HTML, images) right out-of-the-box without needing additional plugins or configurations.
  • Hot Module Replacement (HMR)
    Parcel offers built-in HMR, allowing developers to see changes in real-time without needing to refresh the browser, leading to a faster development cycle.
  • Tree Shaking
    Parcel automatically performs tree shaking, removing unused code from the production build to reduce file sizes, which can improve loading times.
  • Code Splitting
    Parcel has automatic code splitting capabilities which help to improve performance by loading only the necessary assets.
  • Extensible via Plugins
    Parcel’s plugin system allows developers to extend its functionality easily if custom or additional features are needed.

Possible disadvantages of Parcel

  • Community and Ecosystem
    The community and ecosystem around Parcel are smaller compared to other bundlers like Webpack, so finding solutions and third-party plugins might be more challenging.
  • Limited Customization
    While the zero-config aspect is beneficial, it also means there are fewer customization options out-of-the-box, which might be limiting for complex projects needing specific configurations.
  • Performance with Large Projects
    For very large projects, Parcel's performance can become a bottleneck, particularly when it comes to initial build times.
  • Documentation
    The documentation, while improving, is not as comprehensive as some other tools, making it harder for developers to find detailed information when they encounter issues.
  • Dependency Bloat
    Parcel can sometimes include more dependencies than necessary in the final bundle, potentially increasing the final bundle size.

Analysis of Parcel

Overall verdict

  • Parcel is a good choice for developers looking for a hassle-free, efficient, and beginner-friendly bundler. Its minimal configuration approach and speed make it ideal for small to medium-sized projects. However, for highly complex projects that require intricate and highly customized build processes, other bundlers might be more suitable due to their advanced configuration capabilities.

Why this product is good

  • Parcel is a web application bundler that is appreciated for its simplicity and zero-config philosophy. It automatically detects the files needed for a project without requiring a complex configuration file. Its fast performance is attributed to parallelization and efficient caching. Additionally, Parcel offers out-of-the-box support for JavaScript, CSS, HTML, asset management, and various types of file transformations, making it a versatile tool for web developers.

Recommended for

  • Developers new to module bundlers or looking for an easy-to-setup tool.
  • Projects that value speed and simplicity in their build processes.
  • Developers who need a bundler capable of handling multiple asset types with minimal configuration.
  • Teams that prefer convention over configuration and want to get started quickly without diving deep into complex bundler settings.

Django videos

Python Django

Parcel videos

Danby Parcel Guard Smart Mailbox blogger Review

More videos:

  • Review - PARCEL MOVIE REVIEW | SASWATA CHATTERJEE | RITUPARNA SENGUPTA | RUPAM'S REVIEW
  • Review - Le Parcel Box review

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Django and Parcel)
Web Frameworks
100 100%
0% 0
Web Application Bundler
0 0%
100% 100
Developer Tools
90 90%
10% 10
JS Build Tools
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Django and Parcel

Django Reviews

The 20 Best Laravel Alternatives for Web Development
The first of these Laravel alternatives is Django. Django’s like that one-stop shop where you grab everything you need for a full-blown web project, all off one shelf. It’s the big-brained Python framework that anticipates your moves, keeping you steps ahead with a crazy stack of built-in features.
Top 9 best Frameworks for web development
The best frameworks for web development include React, Angular, Vue.js, Django, Spring, Laravel, Ruby on Rails, Flask and Express.js. Each of these frameworks has its own advantages and distinctive features, so it is important to choose the framework that best suits the needs of your project.
Source: www.kiwop.com
25 Python Frameworks to Master
You won’t go wrong by choosing Django for your next web project. It’s a powerful web framework that provides everything you need to build fast and reliable websites. And if you need any additional features — say, the ability to create a REST API to use with modern frontend frameworks like React or Angular — you can use extensions like Django REST framework.
Source: kinsta.com
3 Web Frameworks to Use With Python
myproject/ is the directory that contains the configuration and settings for the Django project__init__.py is an empty script that tells Python that this directory should be treated as a Python packageasgi.py is a script that defines ASGI application (Asynchronous Server Gateway Interface) for serving this project. ASGI is a specification for building asynchronous web...
Top 10 Phoenix Framework Alternatives
Phoenix borrows heavily from other frameworks built on the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture, like Rails and Django, providing a large part of everything you need to develop a web app out of the box, albeit in a less “batteries included” manner.

Parcel Reviews

Rollup v. Webpack v. Parcel
Parcel's caching feature sees dramatically decreases in time consumption after the initial run. For frequent, small changes, in smaller projects **Parcel*8 is a great choice.
Source: x-team.com
If you’ve ever configured Webpack, Parcel will blow your mind!
document.body.className = document.body.className.replace(/(^|\s)is-noJs(\s|$)/, "$1is-js$2")HomepageHomepageJavascriptBecome a memberSign inGet startedIf you’ve ever configured Webpack, Parcel will blow your mind!And how to hit the ground running with Parcel.Ibrahim ButtBlockedUnblockFollowFollowingMar 16, 2018Click here to share this article on LinkedIn »Zero...
Source: medium.com
First impressions with Parcel JS
The big selling point of Parcel though is that it offers a zero configuration experience. This means all the features are available out of the box! It also boasts blazing fast bundle times 👟 You won’t be configuring how Parcel works or having to draft in various plugins to get started. If you do need something, Parcel magically detects this and will pull in stuff for you on...
Source: codeburst.io
Parcel vs webpack - Jakob Lind
Parcel has made their own benchmarks of Parcel and other bundlers. Parcel has been criticized because they have not made the benchmarks open source. People cannot verify that the benchmarks are true when they are not open source.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Parcel should be more popular than Django. It has been mentiond 113 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Django mentions (15)

  • Emails Setup in Django Using AWS
    Let's dive into a quick implementation of this using AWS and Django. We will be using a couple of ideas from the AWS Official Blog. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • Top 10 Backend Frameworks in 2022
    Django is a high-level Python web framework. It is an Model-View-Template(MVT)-based, open-source web application development framework. It was released in 2005. It comes with batteries included. Some popular websites using Django are Instagram, Mozilla, Disqus, Bitbucket, Nextdoor and Clubhouse. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Boss wants me to make a student management system
    This seems like a job for Django. MDN offers a really good tutorial here. To be honest, it would be a massive undertaking so I’d recommend going for a prebuilt solution like PowerSchool and the like. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • What's django equivalent to ruby gems? Django beginner here
    The first party docs are second to none. Start out with the official tutorial on https://djangoproject.com . Source: almost 3 years ago
  • What's django equivalent to ruby gems? Django beginner here
    Im teaching myself to build a backend SaaS. Can you build it just as fast as with RoR and gems? Is it all on the documentation on djangoproject.com? Just learning how to use it atm, any good tutorials as well? Source: almost 3 years ago
View more

Parcel mentions (113)

  • Migrating a JavaScript Project from Prettier and ESLint to BiomeJS
    Https://parceljs.org/ is another. It even supports languages like `` out of the box which is pretty cool. IIRC it downloads necessarily plugins on the fly. - Source: Hacker News / 29 days ago
  • Create React App is Deprecated – What’s Next ?
    Parcel is another alternative that requires zero configuration and is super fast. If you want a simple React setup without any hassle, Parcel is a great choice. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Bun 1.2 Is Released
    From its documentation [1] it looks a lot like a parceljs replacement [2], i.e. a zero config bundler which processes and bundles the dependencies in .html pages. So great for simple websites, not for replacing an entire Vite stack. [1] https://bun.sh/docs/bundler/fullstack [2] https://parceljs.org. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • What is Evan You doing by creating VoidZero, and what are the issues with JS toolchains?
    Packagers are the ones we most frequently come into contact with, such as Webpack Vite and Parcel. The latter may not be commonly used, but it is also a well-established tool. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • Node.js: A brief history of cjs, bundlers, and esm
    Npm packages dramatically sped up the productivity of developers by being able to leverage other developers' work. However, it had a major disadvantage: cjs was not compatible with web browsers. To solve this problem, the concept of bundlers was born. Browserify was the first bundler which essentially worked by traversing an entry point and "bundling" all the require()-ed code into a single .js file compatible... - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Django and Parcel, you can also consider the following products

Laravel - A PHP Framework For Web Artisans

Webpack - Webpack is a module bundler. Its main purpose is to bundle JavaScript files for usage in a browser, yet it is also capable of transforming, bundling, or packaging just about any resource or asset.

Ruby on Rails - Ruby on Rails is an open source full-stack web application framework for the Ruby programming...

rollup.js - Rollup is a module bundler for JavaScript which compiles small pieces of code into a larger piece such as application.

Flask - a microframework for Python based on Werkzeug, Jinja 2 and good intentions.

esbuild - An extremely fast JavaScript bundler and minifier