Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

htmx VS Alpine.js

Compare htmx VS Alpine.js and see what are their differences

htmx logo htmx

high power tools for HTML

Alpine.js logo Alpine.js

A rugged, minimal framework for composing JavaScript behavior in your markup.
  • htmx Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-25

htmx gives you access to AJAX, CSS Transitions, WebSockets and Server Sent Events directly in HTML, using attributes, so you can build modern user interfaces with the simplicity and power of hypertext

htmx is small (~14k min.gzโ€™d), dependency-free, extendable, IE11 compatible & has reduced code base sizes by 67% when compared with react

  • Alpine.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-25

htmx features and specs

  • Ease of Integration
    htmx allows developers to easily add dynamic, AJAX-powered interactions to existing HTML without requiring significant rework or the use of heavier JavaScript frameworks.
  • Server-Side Rendering
    htmx leverages the benefits of server-side rendering and progressive enhancement, ensuring better SEO, faster initial load times, and improved accessibility.
  • Reduced JavaScript
    With htmx, much of the interactivity can be managed using HTML attributes, resulting in less custom JavaScript code and potentially fewer bugs and maintenance challenges.
  • Progressive Enhancement
    htmx supports a progressive enhancement approach, allowing features to be enhanced progressively without breaking the fundamental user experience for those with JavaScript disabled.
  • Declarative Style
    htmx advocates for a declarative style of programming which can make code more readable and maintainable by clearly expressing the intended behavior in HTML.

Possible disadvantages of htmx

  • Limited Ecosystem
    The ecosystem around htmx is still relatively small compared to larger JavaScript frameworks, which means fewer resources, libraries, and community support are available.
  • Potential for Complexity in Large Apps
    For large-scale applications, managing interactivity solely with htmx might become cumbersome. Combining htmx with more robust state management solutions could be necessary, complicating the architecture.
  • Learning Curve
    While not as steep as some frameworks, there is a learning curve associated with understanding htmxโ€™s attributes and integrating it effectively into existing projects.
  • Fragmentation Risk
    Relying too heavily on server-side partials and asynchronous updates can lead to fragmentation, where the logic of the application is split between the client and server, making it harder to manage and debug.
  • Limited Explicit State Management
    htmx lacks built-in state management solutions that are common in other front-end frameworks, potentially requiring additional tools to manage complex application state.

Alpine.js features and specs

  • Lightweight
    Alpine.js is very lightweight, typically around 10KB minified and gzipped, which makes it ideal for small projects or performance-conscious applications.
  • Easy to Integrate
    Alpine.js can be easily integrated into existing projects as it only requires including a single script file, making it a low-effort solution for adding interactivity.
  • Declarative
    It provides a declarative syntax similar to Vue.js, which can be more intuitive and readable, allowing developers to easily describe what they want rather than how to achieve it.
  • Reactivity
    Alpine.js offers reactive data binding, enabling automatic updates to the DOM when data changes, reducing boilerplate code needed for dynamic UIs.
  • Minimalist
    With its minimal API surface, Alpine.js aims to provide just enough JavaScript functionality for simple interactivity without the overhead of a full framework.

Possible disadvantages of Alpine.js

  • Limited Features
    Alpine.js lacks many features provided by larger frameworks, like routing and state management, which can limit its use in complex applications.
  • Performance at Scale
    While Alpine.js is performant for small projects, handling performance might become challenging as the application scales, particularly with large datasets or complex interactions.
  • Community and Ecosystem
    Alpine.js has a smaller community and ecosystem compared to more established frameworks, which may result in fewer third-party plugins and resources.
  • Learning Curve
    Although simpler than some frameworks, it still requires learning a new syntax and understanding its reactivity model, which can be a hurdle for new developers.
  • Debugging and Tooling
    Alpine.js does not have as mature tooling and debugging capabilities compared to larger frameworks, which can make troubleshooting more difficult.

htmx videos

DjangoCon Europe 2023 | HTMX vs WASM - more backend or more frontend?

More videos:

  • Review - Dynamic Web Pages Without JavaScript? - Intro to HTMX

Alpine.js videos

Alpinejs vs Vue, React and Svelte. When to use Alpine.js?

More videos:

  • Review - Intro to Alpine.js in Just 7 Minutes
  • Review - Alpine.js vs jQuery vs Vanilla JS: Example + NEW Course!
  • Review - What's the Future of Livewire and Alpine.js?

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to htmx and Alpine.js)
Javascript UI Libraries
57 57%
43% 43
Software Development
100 100%
0% 0
JavaScript Framework
54 54%
46% 46
Developer Tools
63 63%
37% 37

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare htmx and Alpine.js

htmx Reviews

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Alpine.js Reviews

20 Best JavaScript Frameworks For 2023
Even while Alpine.js is not intended to be a native full-stack interaction tool, asynchronous activities involving data fetching from a server are quite common and crucial from a templating standpoint. You may download data directly from the Alpine.js template by explicitly designating a function handler as an async or doing the inverse.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, htmx should be more popular than Alpine.js. It has been mentiond 123 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.

htmx mentions (123)

  • Ask HN: Are there any non-SPA front end developers left?
    If you haven't already, check out the HTMX community [1]. I think there's some recognition that a lot of SPAs didn't need to be SPAs in the first place. At the end of the day, you're just submitting a form for a CRUD app. Good ol' HTML + a sprinkle of JS was enough for most use cases. CSS has evolved to take away some of the stuff that required JS before. At the moment, I don't think there's really any strong... - Source: Hacker News / 7 days ago
  • Most RESTful APIs Aren't RESTful
    Https://htmx.org/ might be the closest? Where you serve html instead of json. - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • Why hx-boost is actually the most important feature of htmx
    SOME of you may know by now that I'm a fan of htmx and its hypermedia-driven website/application design philosophy. When people first learn about htmx, they are often captivated by the idea of hx-get, hx-post, hx-delete, etc. Attributes being able to fire off HTTP requests with these methods from any tag on the page. I know I was! - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • HTMX + AI = Lightning-Fast, Hyper-Personal Web Apps
    ๐Ÿ”— Hereโ€™s a 2-min intro to HTMX that will blow your mind: Why HTMX is the Future of Front-End. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • The Rise of Hybrid Frameworks
    At the forefront of this hybrid model stands htmx, a pioneering framework that champions a simplified approach to dynamic web development. By leveraging data attributes, htmx grants developers the ability to control client-side interactions directly from the HTML markup. This means that the primary focus shifts back to generating valid HTML on the server, while htmx seamlessly inserts and updates this content... - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
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Alpine.js mentions (34)

  • Raku.org Chooses Htmx
    The tabs on the page switch between different static content. Yet each time you click, it requires a new network call to load the content. Why not have a little bit of vanilla JS or alpine JS? The alpine homepage has similar tabbed content, but it doesn't need new HTTP calls to load each one. https://alpinejs.dev/ I feel like the Raku site would be better in HTML + vanilla JS. There's almost no interactivity, and... - Source: Hacker News / 26 days ago
  • Htmx and URL State Management
    I like the simplicity. I've been building some web apps with Alpine.js recently, another lightweight React alternative. It's pretty powerful and capable for building reactive SPAs, and only ~16kb. https://alpinejs.dev/ https://github.com/alpinejs/alpine. - Source: Hacker News / 2 months ago
  • HTMX + AI = Lightning-Fast, Hyper-Personal Web Apps
    โœ… Pair with tools like Alpine.js for minimal interactivity if needed. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • 60 Best JavaScript Libraries for Building Interactive UI Components
    Alpine.js Alpinejs.dev Minimal framework for declarative DOM interactions. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • Creating a To-do app with HTMX and Django, part 8: inline edit, and using Iconify
    As usual, there are a few possibilities here; one is to render both the with the title, and a form with for each row, and use plain Javascript (or AlpineJS) to toggle edit mode. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing htmx and Alpine.js, you can also consider the following products

Vue.js - Reactive Components for Modern Web Interfaces

Next.js - A small framework for server-rendered universal JavaScript apps

React - A JavaScript library for building user interfaces

Tailwind CSS - A utility-first CSS framework for rapidly building custom user interfaces.

HMPL.js - Server-oriented customizable templating for JavaScript

Svelte - Cybernetically enhanced web apps