Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

htmx VS jQuery

Compare htmx VS jQuery and see what are their differences

htmx logo htmx

high power tools for HTML

jQuery logo jQuery

The Write Less, Do More, JavaScript Library.
  • 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.gz’d), dependency-free, extendable, IE11 compatible & has reduced code base sizes by 67% when compared with react

  • jQuery Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-22

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 htmx’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.

jQuery features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    jQuery simplifies complex JavaScript tasks by providing easy-to-use methods, which can lead to shorter development times and cleaner code.
  • Cross-Browser Compatibility
    jQuery handles many browser inconsistencies, ensuring that your code works seamlessly across different browsers without additional effort.
  • Large Community and Ecosystem
    There is a vast community of developers who contribute plugins, extensions, and provide support, making it easier to find solutions and enhance functionality.
  • Animation and Effects
    jQuery offers built-in methods for creating animations and effects, allowing developers to enhance the user interface with minimal code.
  • AJAX Simplification
    The library provides straightforward methods for making AJAX calls, which simplifies the process of loading data asynchronously.
  • Documentation and Learning Resources
    Extensive documentation and a plethora of tutorials are available, making it easier for developers to learn and troubleshoot.

Possible disadvantages of jQuery

  • Performance Overhead
    Using jQuery can add overhead to your application due to its file size and additional abstraction, which can impact performance, especially in resource-constrained environments.
  • Relevance
    With the advent of modern JavaScript frameworks like React, Vue, and Angular, and the improvements in native JavaScript (ES6+), the need for jQuery has decreased, making it less relevant in contemporary web development.
  • Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    While basic usage is straightforward, mastering more advanced topics and optimizing performance can be challenging for newcomers.
  • Potential for Overuse
    Developers might rely too heavily on jQuery for tasks that can be efficiently handled by native JavaScript, leading to bloated codebases.
  • Maintenance and Legacy Code
    Projects heavily reliant on jQuery may face maintenance challenges as modern frameworks and practices evolve, requiring significant refactoring effort if transitioning away from jQuery.
  • Security
    Older jQuery versions have known security vulnerabilities, and continuing to use outdated versions can pose security risks. Regular updates are necessary to mitigate this issue.

htmx videos

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

More videos:

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

jQuery videos

Quick jQuery Review

More videos:

  • Review - jQuery vs Vue, React and Angular
  • Review - Front-End Development, HTML & CSS, Javascript & jQuery by Jon Duckett | Book Review
  • Review - The Legend of jQuery in 100 Seconds
  • Review - ⭕The one book I regret not having as a beginning web developer || Jon Duckett JavaScript & jQuery

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to htmx and jQuery)
Javascript UI Libraries
18 18%
82% 82
Development Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Software Development
100 100%
0% 0
Developer Tools
100 100%
0% 0

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 jQuery

htmx Reviews

We have no reviews of htmx yet.
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jQuery Reviews

Top 20 Javascript Libraries
jQuery dramatically simplifies JS programming and is easy to learn and use. It is highly extensible and makes web pages load faster. jQuery wraps up a lot of standard functions making the job of the developer easy. A JS code of several lines could be just a method to be called in jQuery. It also has many plugins to perform different tasks. Some of the features of jQuery are...
Source: hackr.io
Top 15 jQuery Alternatives To Know
The world is full of newer technologies and there are alternatives available for all of them. jQuery is no different. The above-mentioned technologies can be a good alternative to jQuery though jQuery itself has a loyal user base of its own. Overall, it depends upon the organizational skills, requirements, budget, and objective, based on which stakeholders can take a call on...
Best Javascript libraries to use in 2021
jQuery has been in the development scene for a long time and has been the unprecedented king for webpage dev. It is one of the most common libraries used throughout the world, with more than 50% of websites using jQuery for their functioning. jQuery is a library used majorly for Document Object Model (DOM) manipulation. The DOM is a tree-like structure that represents all...
Source: codersera.com

Social recommendations and mentions

htmx might be a bit more popular than jQuery. We know about 117 links to it since March 2021 and only 101 links to jQuery. 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 (117)

  • The 3 Best Python Frameworks To Build UIs for AI Apps
    FastHTML allows developers to build modern web applications entirely in Python without touching JavaScript or React. As its name implies, it is quicker to begin with FastHTML. However, it does not have pre-built UI components and styling. Getting the best out of this framework requires the knowledge of HTMX and UI styling using CSS libraries like Tailwind and Bootstrap. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Build a Bookmark Manager with the HONC Stack
    Import { bookmarks } from './src/db/schema'; ... Const sampleBookmarks = [ { title: "Hono Framework", url: "https://hono.dev", description: "A lightweight web framework for building APIs and applications.", tags: "hono, framework, edge", }, { title: "Drizzle ORM", url: "https://orm.drizzle.team", description: "A type-safe ORM designed for SQL databases.", tags: "orm, database,... - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • An advanced Data Table with HTMX
    HTMX: The library that makes this approach possible. HTMX allows the development of applications with HTML and HTTP, but by lifting a whole set of limitations, particularly by allowing interaction with the server without necessarily reloading the entire page. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • Summer Web Internship: Low-JavaScript Development for 🧶Knitters/Crocheters (US Only)
    We're looking for a fiber arts hobbyist who wants to create a low-Javascript web experience as part of a flexible, self-led summer internship. HTMX experience is not necessary — you just have to be excited about HTML/CSS and have a strong interest in doing low-Javascript web development. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • Your API Doesn’t Always Need to Be a Product
    The Single-Page Application trend gained popularity partly because it allowed developers to avoid full page reloads during navigation or form submissions. HTMX has been generating buzz recently precisely because it enables bypassing full document reloads. At the same time, it sticks to a document-based approach for browser/server interactions. This eliminates the need to retrofit JSON API constraints.... - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
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jQuery mentions (101)

  • This One jQuery Mistake Froze Our Web Page! Here's the Fix You Need to Know
    Whenever the number of items increased, the browser became slow, sometimes even unresponsive. At first, we thought it was a server issue or maybe too much data. But no — the problem was hiding inside a small line of jQuery. - Source: dev.to / 11 days ago
  • Is jQuery Dead?
    Ah, jQuery — the library that powered a generation of web apps. - Source: dev.to / 29 days ago
  • Understanding Awaitables: Coroutines, Tasks, and Futures in Python
    Then we have callbacks, which were popularized by AJAX calls. Back then, with jQuery, we could define handlers to deal with both success or failure cases. For instance, let's say we want to fetch the HTML markup of this blog (skipping error failure callback for brevity), we do. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • the entire history of JavaScript, i guess
    One of them is JQuery created by John Resig. The library addresses extremely-frustrating issues related to cross-browser compatibility that existed at the time. To this day, it remains the most widely used JavaScript library in terms of actual page loads. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Let Me Talk About Component-based Front-end Development
    The once popular jQuery, with its strengths fully utilized in jQuery UI and Bootstrap, provides many UI components and is also friendly to backend developers, seemingly meeting the requirements. However, looking at their component implementation and resource loading forms—. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing htmx and jQuery, you can also consider the following products

Alpine.js - A rugged, minimal framework for composing JavaScript behavior in your markup.

React Native - A framework for building native apps with React

Svelte - Cybernetically enhanced web apps

Babel - Babel is a compiler for writing next generation JavaScript.

Vue.js - Reactive Components for Modern Web Interfaces

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