Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

ember.js VS Webpacker

Compare ember.js VS Webpacker and see what are their differences

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ember.js logo ember.js

A JavaScript framework for creating ambitious web apps

Webpacker logo Webpacker

Use Webpack to manage app-like JavaScript modules in Rails - rails/webpacker
  • ember.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-04-15
  • Webpacker Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-27

ember.js features and specs

  • Convention Over Configuration
    Ember.js emphasizes conventions, which can help streamline the development process and reduce decision fatigue by providing out-of-the-box solutions and standardizing code structure.
  • Robust CLI
    Ember CLI is a powerful command-line tool that helps automate numerous development tasks, such as scaffolding, building, testing, and deploying applications, making the developer's workflow more efficient.
  • EMBER Data
    Ember Data is a robust library for handling data models and relationships. It simplifies the process of interacting with APIs and managing data, offering built-in support for RESTful APIs.
  • Strong Community and Ecosystem
    Ember.js has a strong and active community, which results in extensive documentation, numerous addons, and regular updates, enhancing the framework's reliability and feature set.
  • Two-Way Data Binding
    Ember.js supports two-way data binding, which helps keep the model and the view in sync automatically. This feature simplifies the management of user input and model updates.
  • Built-in Testing
    Ember.js has built-in testing support, making it easier to write and run tests for applications. This facilitates the development of robust, maintainable, and bug-free code.
  • Focused on Large Applications
    Ember.js is particularly well-suited for ambitious, large-scale applications due to its structure and built-in best practices, which promote maintainability and scalability.

Possible disadvantages of ember.js

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Ember.js has a significant learning curve, particularly for developers who are new to its conventions and deep abstractions. This can be a barrier to entry for some.
  • Performance Overhead
    The comprehensive nature of Ember.js can lead to performance overhead, especially for smaller applications. The framework's rich feature set may be more than what is needed for simpler projects.
  • Less Flexibility
    The convention-over-configuration approach can reduce flexibility and make it harder to deviate from the prescribed way of doing things, which can be restrictive for developers who need more control.
  • Heavy Dependencies
    Ember.js applications can come with numerous dependencies, which can increase the bundle size and, subsequently, the load time of the application.
  • Slow to Adapt New Trends
    Being a mature framework, Ember.js can be slower to adopt the latest web development trends compared to newer frameworks, leading to potential lag in leveraging cutting-edge features.
  • Complexity in Customization
    While conventions can be beneficial, scenarios that require custom configurations can become complex and cumbersome, potentially complicating the development process.
  • Smaller Talent Pool
    Compared to more mainstream frameworks like React or Angular, there is a smaller pool of developers who are proficient in Ember.js, which can make hiring and collaboration more challenging.

Webpacker features and specs

  • Modern JavaScript Features
    Webpacker allows Rails applications to utilize modern JavaScript features and tools, such as ES6 syntax, JSX, and TypeScript, thereby enhancing the developer experience and code quality.
  • Asset Bundling
    It efficiently bundles multiple JavaScript files into a single package, reducing load times and improving performance by minimizing the number of HTTP requests.
  • Integration with Rails
    As an official Rails library, Webpacker integrates seamlessly with the Rails framework, ensuring that front-end builds are consistent and easier to manage alongside Ruby on Rails projects.
  • Configurable
    Provides a highly configurable environment, allowing developers to customize their JavaScript and asset builds extensively to meet specific project needs.
  • Community Support
    Being part of the Rails ecosystem, Webpacker benefits from an extensive community support, with a wealth of third-party resources, documentation, and plugins available.

Possible disadvantages of Webpacker

  • Complexity
    Webpacker can introduce additional complexity, especially for developers not familiar with JavaScript tooling or the webpack configuration, which can lead to a steeper learning curve.
  • Performance Overhead
    The abstraction and tooling required by Webpacker can add performance overhead during development with slower compilation and building times compared to simpler asset management solutions.
  • Dependency Management
    Managing dependencies can become burdensome as Webpacker requires handling both the Ruby Gems and the JavaScript packages through yarn or npm, increasing maintenance efforts.
  • Migration Path
    As newer tools and techniques emerge, moving away from Webpacker could require significant refactoring efforts, especially for applications with extensive custom configurations.
  • Deprecated Status
    Webpacker is no longer the recommended default for new Rails applications starting from Rails 7, which now prefers using esbuild or importmaps, potentially affecting its long-term viability.

ember.js videos

What is Ember.js?

More videos:

  • Review - A preview of Ember.js Octane

Webpacker videos

RailsConf 2020 CE - Webpacker, It-Just-Works, But How? by Justin Gordon

More videos:

  • Review - Should you use React with Webpacker in your Rails project? Rails MVC vs Single Page App (SPA)!

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to ember.js and Webpacker)
Javascript UI Libraries
100 100%
0% 0
Web Application Bundler
0 0%
100% 100
JavaScript Framework
100 100%
0% 0
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 ember.js and Webpacker

ember.js Reviews

Top JavaScript Frameworks in 2025
Ember.JS is an open-source, JavaScript client-side framework that is useful for developing web applications. It provides a complete solution containing data management and application flow to develop an application, making it one of the reasons developers prefer to use it. Ember.JS also uses an MVVM architecture pattern along with a command-line interface tool that helps in...
Source: solguruz.com
20 Next.js Alternatives Worth Considering
Ember.js is old school cool, a framework that’s been whispering sweet nothings to devs for years, helping build ambitious web applications. It wraps its arms around conventions and provides everything you need to build rich, complex web UIs.
The 20 Best Laravel Alternatives for Web Development
Ember.js — the ambitious framework that promises a developer heaven, paving your road to productivity with a convention-over-configuration dogma and a solidly structured path.
9 Best JavaScript Frameworks to Use in 2023
Ember.js: Ember.js provides a lot of built-in features and conventions, making it easy to get started and build complex applications. It has a strong focus on developer productivity.
Source: ninetailed.io
JavaScript: What Are The Most Used Frameworks For This Language?
In addition, it offers a powerful command-line interface (CLI) that can generate boilerplate code and automate common tasks, making it easier to get started and build applications quickly. With a strong focus on performance, Ember.JS provides features like fast initial page loads, incremental rendering and advanced caching mechanisms.
Source: www.bocasay.com

Webpacker Reviews

We have no reviews of Webpacker yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, ember.js should be more popular than Webpacker. It has been mentiond 32 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.

ember.js mentions (32)

  • Embroider & Vite & net::ERR_ABORTED 504 (Outdated Optimize Dep)
    While working on EmberJS projects, I've been using pre-alpha version of @embroider/app-blueprint quite a lot lately and I hit a baffling error:. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • ResponsiveImage & EmberJS & glob vite imports
    I had a need to dynamically load a folder images in my EmberJS app that is using embroider-build/app-blueprint and ResponsiveImage. Turns out I could use vite glob imports and resulting code looked something like:. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • Installing EmberJS v2 addons from GitHub forks using PNPM
    If you're using PNPM as a package manager for your EmberJS project and you find yourself in a need to install a v2 addon from git(hub) fork (because you have a branch with patched version), then you might find that GitHub URLs in package.json tricks don't work for you. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Add custom layer to embe-leaflet
    Ember-leaflet is a very popular addon from EmberJS ecosystem that allows a lot of flexibility. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • JavaScript frameworks: comparing the latest tools and libraries
    Ember.js is an opinionated framework for building ambitious web applications. It emphasizes convention over configuration. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
View more

Webpacker mentions (17)

  • React + Ruby on Rails without any gems
    We will use Webpacker or JavaScript compiler and assets management. By following the webpacker installation guide, let’s add Webpacker and React to our application. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • Collecting JavaScript code coverage with Capybara in Ruby on Rails application
    For example, there is a Ruby on Rails application that uses Webpacker and has JavaScript files that are covered by the system tests. Capybara is used as the system testing tool. - Source: dev.to / 12 months ago
  • Asset Pipeline JS Migration
    Using Webpacker in Rails provides several advantages over the traditional asset pipeline. First, Webpacker uses JavaScript modules, which allows for better code organization and improved code reusability. Second, it offers modern frontend build tools, such as Babel and PostCSS, for transforming and compiling assets. Third, it provides faster build times and faster runtime performance through code splitting and... - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Thank you Webpacker, Goodbye Webpacker
    This article is replace Webpacker with Simpacker and webpack. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • How to setup ruby on rails + Angular
    In ruby ​​on rails 7 what is the best way to properly install Angular because I can't find any documentation about it. The only tutorial that exists uses webpacker (https://github.com/rails/webpacker) but unfortunately it is no longer supported and no longer up to date in terms of security. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing ember.js and Webpacker, you can also consider the following products

AngularJS - AngularJS lets you extend HTML vocabulary for your application. The resulting environment is extraordinarily expressive, readable, and quick to develop.

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.

Vue.js - Reactive Components for Modern Web Interfaces

Turbolinks - Turbolinks makes navigating your web application faster

Backbone.js - Give your JS App some Backbone with Models, Views, Collections, and Events

Yarn - Yarn is a package manager for your code.