Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Preact.js VS Riot.js

Compare Preact.js VS Riot.js and see what are their differences

Preact.js logo Preact.js

Preact is a fast 3kB alternative to React with the same modern API. Components & Virtual DOM.

Riot.js logo Riot.js

Riot allows teams to communicate across a wide range of collaboration apps.
  • Preact.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-11
  • Riot.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-01-20

Preact.js features and specs

  • Size
    Preact is very small in size (about 3KB gzipped), which makes it easy to load and faster to execute, resulting in improved performance and quicker load times.
  • Compatibility
    Preact is largely compatible with React, allowing developers to switch to Preact with minimal code changes. This makes it easier to adopt for projects already using React.
  • Performance
    Due to its small size and efficient design, Preact offers excellent performance, especially on low-powered devices and in applications with heavy user interactions.
  • Ecosystem
    Preact can work with many tools and libraries that are designed for React, giving developers access to a rich ecosystem of resources.
  • Community
    Preact has an active and growing community that provides support, plugins, and third-party tools, making it easier for developers to find solutions and share knowledge.

Possible disadvantages of Preact.js

  • Feature Set
    While Preact covers most of the core React features, it lacks some of the advanced functionality present in React, which may require additional workarounds or third-party libraries.
  • Learning Curve
    For developers coming from a non-React background, learning Preact might involve a learning curve, particularly because of its similarities and subtle differences with React.
  • Tooling Compatibility
    Although many tools designed for React can work with Preact, some might not be directly compatible, requiring additional configuration or patches.
  • Community Size
    While Preact has a supportive community, it is smaller compared to the massive React community, which can result in fewer available resources and third-party packages.
  • Maturity
    Preact, being newer and less widely adopted than React, might not have the same level of battle-tested reliability for all use cases, especially for large scale applications.

Riot.js features and specs

  • Simplicity
    Riot.js is known for its minimalistic approach, which makes it easy to learn and use. Its API is straightforward, and it focuses on providing only what is necessary for building UI components.
  • Small File Size
    Being lightweight, Riot.js offers fast loading times. Its small footprint makes it ideal for projects where performance and speed are crucial.
  • Custom Tags
    Riot.js allows developers to create custom HTML tags, encapsulating HTML, CSS, and JavaScript logic in a single file. This leads to more organized and maintainable code.
  • Reactive Binding
    Riot.js provides a reactive data binding feature that automatically updates the UI when the underlying data changes, ensuring that the UI is always in sync with the application state.
  • Compatibility
    Riot.js can be integrated easily with other libraries and frameworks, giving developers the flexibility to use it alongside existing tools.

Possible disadvantages of Riot.js

  • Smaller Ecosystem
    Compared to larger frameworks like React or Angular, Riot.js has a smaller community and ecosystem, which may result in fewer third-party libraries, plugins, and tools available.
  • Less Popular
    Riot.js is less popular compared to major frameworks, which might result in less community support and fewer resources such as tutorials, courses, and documentation.
  • Limited Advanced Features
    While Riot.js provides core features needed for UI development, it may lack some of the more advanced features and utilities present in larger frameworks, which might be required for complex applications.
  • Learning Curve for Unique Syntax
    Despite its simplicity, Riot.js has its own syntax and conventions that might require developers to go through a learning curve, especially if they're accustomed to more popular frameworks.
  • Potential Integration Challenges
    While generally compatible, integrating Riot.js with certain complex projects or specific technology stacks could present challenges, especially where specific integrations or optimizations are required.

Analysis of Preact.js

Overall verdict

  • Preact.js is a strong option for projects where performance and load time are critical, or where a light footprint is necessary. Its compatibility with React makes it a flexible and efficient alternative in scenarios where React may be overkill due to its larger size.

Why this product is good

  • Preact.js is known for its small size and high performance, making it an excellent choice for developers who need a lightweight alternative to React without sacrificing functionality. It offers a familiar API for React developers, ensuring an easy transition, and is highly efficient in terms of rendering performance. Preact also offers excellent compatibility with existing React tools and ecosystems, meaning many React packages work seamlessly with Preact.

Recommended for

    Preact.js is recommended for developers building applications with stringent performance requirements, those needing to optimize for fast loading times in environments with limited bandwidth or resources, or those looking to integrate React-like architecture in smaller projects without introducing the full weight of the React library.

Preact.js videos

JS frameworks are replaceable

Riot.js videos

Master Riot: Learn Riot.js from Scratch : Why Riot?

More videos:

  • Review - Master Riot: Learn Riot.js from Scratch : Course Overview
  • Review - Master Riot: Learn Riot.js from Scratch : Creating Posts

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Preact.js and Riot.js)
Javascript UI Libraries
JavaScript Framework
88 88%
12% 12
JavaScript
100 100%
0% 0
Frontend Development
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 Preact.js and Riot.js

Preact.js Reviews

Top JavaScript Frameworks in 2025
PreactJS is a JavaScript library that is said to be the fast 3Kb alternative to ReactJS using the same modern API. It implements the fastest virtual DOM compared to other frameworks in the market. Moreover, it is one of the smallest libraries in terms of size.
Source: solguruz.com
20 Next.js Alternatives Worth Considering
Preact is like React’s little sibling, smaller in size but with the same familiar moves. It’s cutting down the fluff and zipping through tasks with less overhead. When performance budgets are tight, Preact wiggles in perfectly.
20 Best JavaScript Frameworks For 2023
Preact is built with the same core principle of React – A component-based approach with Virtual DOM while completely compatible with React. It can even use React packages without compromising on speed, performance, and leaner size. In instances where the full potential of React isn’t necessary, most developers even use React during development and switch to Preact for...
Top 15 jQuery Alternatives To Know
ReactJS is a powerful JavaScript library to create user interfaces. Developers can design easy views at each stage in the application and there is regular update and rendering for the actual components whenever there is any data alteration. It is component-driven and creates encapsulated components that manage their own state.
Top 5 JavaScript Frameworks To Learn in 2021
But according to the graph above, we can notice a decrease in interest in Preact. This might result from having many similar frameworks with the same specs, like react-lite, Inferno, etc. However, knowing a framework like Preact will be useful for your development journey.
Source: enlear.academy

Riot.js Reviews

Comparing Vue.js to new JavaScript frameworks
Instead of the MVVM pattern that Vue uses, Riot uses the Model-View-Presenter (MVP) pattern. The model and the view work similarly to Vue’s model and view, but, in place of the view model layer, Riot uses a presenter layer to transfer data from the model to the view and vice versa.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Preact.js seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 93 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.

Preact.js mentions (93)

View more

Riot.js mentions (0)

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

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Preact.js and Riot.js, you can also consider the following products

Svelte - Cybernetically enhanced web apps

Vue.js - Reactive Components for Modern Web Interfaces

Webix UI - An enterprise JavaScript Library for cross-platform app development with HTML5 JavaScript widgets and easy integration with most popular JavaScript Frameworks.

React - A JavaScript library for building user interfaces

Polymer - Polymer is a library that uses the latest web technologies to let you create custom HTML elements.

Inferno - An extremely fast React-like javascript library for building modern user interfaces.