Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Rete.js VS Babel

Compare Rete.js VS Babel and see what are their differences

Rete.js logo Rete.js

Create node-based visual programming interfaces

Babel logo Babel

Babel is a compiler for writing next generation JavaScript.
  • Rete.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-08

Rete.js is a framework for creating visual interfaces and workflows. It provides out-of-the-box solutions for visualization using various libraries and frameworks, as well as solutions for processing graphs based on dataflow and control flow approaches.

  • Babel Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-02

Rete.js features and specs

  • Node editor rendering
  • Angular integration
  • React.js integration
  • Vue.js integration
  • Svelte.js integration
    Coming soon
  • UI customization

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.

Rete.js videos

Rete.js 2: JavaScript framework for visual programming | Intro

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 Rete.js and Babel)
JavaScript Framework
8 8%
92% 92
Development Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Music Generation
100 100%
0% 0
Javascript UI Libraries
0 0%
100% 100

Questions and Answers

As answered by people managing Rete.js and Babel.

What makes your product unique?

Rete.js's answer

Rete.js offers a versatile plugin system, enabling node editors to be highly customizable. It comes equipped with built-in utilities for processing schemes using Dataflow and Control flow approaches. Integrations with one of the frameworks are also provided: Angular, React.js, Vue.js, along with other plugins to enhance functionality.

Which are the primary technologies used for building your product?

Rete.js's answer

  • TypeScript
  • Rollup
  • Babel
  • React.js
  • Vue.js
  • Angular
  • Svelte
  • Three.js

User comments

Share your experience with using Rete.js and Babel. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Babel seems to be a lot more popular than Rete.js. While we know about 147 links to Babel, we've tracked only 1 mention of Rete.js. 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.

Rete.js mentions (1)

  • Show HN: New visual language for teaching kids to code
    Aren't there quite a few of these? Scratch or its cousin Snap (https://snap.berkeley.edu/snap/snap.html), or even a visual flow editor for React (https://app.flowhub.io/#project/c111454c9fd2f74d37d1e8a4e739adfd/c111454c9fd2f74d37d1e8a4e739adfd%2Fnoflo) or the similar https://retejs.org/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago

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 / about 1 month ago
  • #wecode Landing Page - WeCoded Challenge March 2025
    @vitejs/plugin-react uses Babel for Fast Refresh. - Source: dev.to / about 2 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 / 2 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 / 3 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 / 3 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Rete.js and Babel, you can also consider the following products

Glicol - Graph-oriented live coding language and music/audio DSP library written in Rust

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

ossia score - Open-source interactive sequencer for the intermedia arts

React Native - A framework for building native apps with React

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

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