Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

EnactJS VS Babel

Compare EnactJS VS Babel and see what are their differences

EnactJS logo EnactJS

An app development framework built atop React that’s easy to use, performant and customizable.

Babel logo Babel

Babel is a compiler for writing next generation JavaScript.
  • EnactJS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-07-25
  • Babel Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-02

EnactJS features and specs

  • Performance
    EnactJS is designed to optimize performance, providing efficient and smooth rendering for applications, particularly on limited resource devices.
  • Consistency
    It offers a consistent development experience and UI components across different platforms, ensuring uniform behavior and appearance.
  • Component Reusability
    EnactJS provides a robust set of reusable UI components that streamline development and improve maintainability.
  • Strong Community Support
    Being backed by LG, EnactJS has solid community support and resources available for developers, making problem-solving easier.
  • Accessibility
    The framework emphasizes accessibility, providing built-in support for making applications usable by people with disabilities.

Possible disadvantages of EnactJS

  • Learning Curve
    EnactJS may have a steep learning curve for developers who are new to it, as it introduces concepts and structures that might be unfamiliar.
  • Limited Ecosystem
    Compared to other frameworks like React or Angular, EnactJS has a smaller ecosystem, which might limit third-party libraries and integrations.
  • Niche Audience
    EnactJS is primarily used for developing applications for LG webOS TV, which might not be suitable for web apps targeting broader platforms.
  • Dependency
    Being a specialized framework, applications heavily relying on EnactJS may face challenges if switching to a different technology stack later.

Babel features and specs

  • JavaScript Version Compatibility
    Babel allows developers to write code using the latest JavaScript features and syntax, and transpile it into a version of JavaScript that can run on older browsers. This ensures greater compatibility across different environments.
  • Future-Proof Code
    With Babel, developers can start using upcoming JavaScript features today. This means that codebases can stay modern and developers can take advantage of new functionalities without waiting for full browser support.
  • Ecosystem and Plugins
    Babel has a rich ecosystem of plugins and presets that can extend its capabilities, making it highly adaptable to different project needs. This modularity allows for customization and enhancement of the build process.
  • Integration with Modern Development Tools
    Babel integrates well with various development tools such as Webpack, making it easier to include in existing build processes and workflows. This helps streamline development and maintain efficient workflows.
  • Community and Support
    Babel has a large and active community, which means extensive documentation, tutorials, and support forums. This can be particularly useful for troubleshooting and staying updated with best practices.

Possible disadvantages of Babel

  • Performance Overhead
    Transpiling code with Babel introduces a performance overhead during the build process. This can slow down development workflows, especially for large codebases with many files.
  • Configuration Complexity
    Setting up Babel can be complex, particularly for beginners. The numerous options and plugins available can sometimes be overwhelming and require significant time to configure correctly.
  • Source Map Issues
    Generating accurate source maps can sometimes be tricky with Babel, leading to difficulties in debugging. Misconfigured source maps can make it harder to track down issues within the original source code.
  • Dependency Bloat
    Including Babel in a project can add a significant number of dependencies. This dependency bloat can increase the size of the project and potentially introduce maintenance challenges or security vulnerabilities.
  • Learning Curve
    There is a learning curve associated with Babel, especially for developers who are new to modern JavaScript tooling. Understanding how Babel works and how to effectively use its features can take time and effort.

Analysis of Babel

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Babel is widely considered a good tool for modern JavaScript development. It eases the use of cutting-edge JavaScript features and ensures broader compatibility, which is crucial for many projects. Its active community and continuous updates reflect its standing as a reliable and well-supported choice.

Why this product is good

  • Babel is a popular JavaScript compiler that allows developers to use the latest JavaScript features while maintaining compatibility with older environments that may not support these features natively. It transforms modern JavaScript code into a version that can run in current and older browsers or environments. Babel is highly configurable and has a rich ecosystem of plugins and presets that enable developers to tailor it to their specific needs, making development smoother and more efficient.

Recommended for

    Babel is recommended for web developers who want to write modern JavaScript but need to ensure that their code remains functional across different environments and older browsers. It is also valuable for projects where developers aspire to use the latest ECMAScript features without waiting for broad native support.

EnactJS videos

My Take on Fixed Blades: Spartan Blade Enyo Review

More videos:

  • Review - World's Lightest AR-15! | Master of Arms ENYO
  • Review - Raijintek Enyo - Brilliant idea! But not perfect

Babel videos

Babel - Movie Review

More videos:

  • Review - Day 16 | Babel Review | 365 Films
  • Review - Worth The Hype? - BABEL Review
  • Review - Book CommuniTEA: Is BABEL a rac1st mani!fest0? [you should know the answer]
  • Review - Babel is a Masterpiece, And Here's Why

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to EnactJS and Babel)
Development Tools
7 7%
93% 93
Javascript UI Libraries
JS Library
100 100%
0% 0
Libraries And Widgets
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using EnactJS and Babel. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

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

EnactJS Reviews

12 Best Frameworks and Toolkits to Build Desktop Applications
Enact is a suitable application development framework for developers with expertise in React JS. Using this framework, you can easily develop simple, feature-rich, and customizable desktop applications. Enact comes with a simple command-line tool, which makes installation simpler.
Source: geekflare.com
Frameworks & Tools to Develop Cross-Platform Desktop Apps – Best of
Enyo is an open-source JavaScript framework, like Electron, that allows developers to create native-quality apps for desktop, mobile, and TV. Enyo can run across all the relatively modern and standard web-based environments. It’s battle-tested and comes with a beautiful cross-platform UI toolkit for creating rich user interfaces.

Babel Reviews

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

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Babel seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 147 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.

EnactJS mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of EnactJS yet. Tracking of EnactJS recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Babel mentions (147)

  • Valentine’s Day Breakup: React Dumps Create React App
    Create React App (CRA) is a command-line interface tool that allows developers to set up a React project easily. It primarily serves as a project scaffolding tool, allowing you to create a new project with a single command: npx create-react-app . CRA comes with tools like Webpack and Babel, which handle the bundling and transpiling of code. The tools are pre-configured. It comes with a development server that... - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • #wecode Landing Page - WeCoded Challenge March 2025
    @vitejs/plugin-react uses Babel for Fast Refresh. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • You Don’t Know JS Yet: My Weekly Journey Through JavaScript Mastery
    For new and incompatible syntax, the solution is transpiling—converting newer JS syntax to older syntax that can run on older engines. The most popular transpiler? Babel. This process ensures modern JS code can still reach a wide audience, even on legacy systems. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Desktop apps for Windows XP in 2025
    Fortunately we have tools like PostCSS and Babel, that let you target your specific Browser version, and they'll do their best to transpile and polyfill your code to work with that version. This alone will do a lot of the heavy lifting for you if you are working with a lot of code. However, if you are just writing out a few HTML, CSS, and JS files, then that would be overkill and you can just figure out what code... - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • The Tools and APIs That Made My GeoGuessr 🌍 Project Possible
    Cross-Browser Compatibility: Some features worked differently across browsers. I used Babel to transpile my JavaScript code, ensuring it worked consistently everywhere. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing EnactJS and Babel, you can also consider the following products

qooxdoo - qooxdoo is a universal JavaScript framework that enables you to create applications for a wide...

jQuery - The Write Less, Do More, JavaScript Library.

React Native - A framework for building native apps with React

Zepto.js - Zepto is a minimalist JavaScript library for modern browsers with a largely jQuery-compatible API.

Composer - Composer is a tool for dependency management in PHP.

DHTMLX - JavaScript Library for cross-platform web and mobile app development with HTML5 JavaScript widgets. Easy integration with popular JavaScript Frameworks.