Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

rollup.js VS Webpacker

Compare rollup.js VS Webpacker and see what are their differences

rollup.js logo rollup.js

Rollup is a module bundler for JavaScript which compiles small pieces of code into a larger piece such as application.

Webpacker logo Webpacker

Use Webpack to manage app-like JavaScript modules in Rails - rails/webpacker
  • rollup.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-02-09
  • Webpacker Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-27

rollup.js features and specs

  • Tree Shaking
    Rollup.js performs treeshaking to eliminate dead code, resulting in smaller bundle sizes. It analyzes the dependency tree and includes only the parts of the code that are actually used.
  • Output Formats
    Supports multiple output formats including ES modules, CommonJS, AMD, UMD, and IIFE. This makes it versatile for different use cases.
  • Plugins
    Rollup.js has a rich ecosystem of plugins that extend its functionality, such as code transformation, minification, and support for various types of modules.
  • Code Splitting
    Supports code splitting, allowing you to break your code into smaller chunks that can be loaded on demand. This improves performance for larger projects.
  • Efficient Bundling
    Offers efficient bundling by removing duplicates and ensuring that each module gets included only once, which contributes to reduced bundle size.
  • Minimal Configuration
    Generally requires minimal configuration to get started, focusing on simplicity and ease of use.

Possible disadvantages of rollup.js

  • Learning Curve
    Although relatively simple to use, there is still a learning curve associated with understanding its configuration and the plugin system.
  • Initial Build Time
    The initial build time can be slower compared to some other bundlers, particularly for larger projects.
  • Limited Built-in Features
    Rollup.js focuses on being a minimalist tool, so it lacks some of the built-in features that other bundlers may have. Often, additional functionality needs to be added via plugins.
  • Plugin Compatibility
    Not all plugins work seamlessly with Rollup.js, and there may be occasional compatibility issues, especially with plugins originally designed for other bundlers.
  • Node.js Ecosystem
    While Rollup.js excels in bundling for browsers, it is not as commonly used for Node.js applications compared to other tools like Webpack.
  • Community Size
    The community size is smaller compared to other bundling tools like Webpack, which can sometimes make finding solutions to issues more challenging.

Webpacker features and specs

  • Modern JavaScript Features
    Webpacker allows Rails applications to utilize modern JavaScript features and tools, such as ES6 syntax, JSX, and TypeScript, thereby enhancing the developer experience and code quality.
  • Asset Bundling
    It efficiently bundles multiple JavaScript files into a single package, reducing load times and improving performance by minimizing the number of HTTP requests.
  • Integration with Rails
    As an official Rails library, Webpacker integrates seamlessly with the Rails framework, ensuring that front-end builds are consistent and easier to manage alongside Ruby on Rails projects.
  • Configurable
    Provides a highly configurable environment, allowing developers to customize their JavaScript and asset builds extensively to meet specific project needs.
  • Community Support
    Being part of the Rails ecosystem, Webpacker benefits from an extensive community support, with a wealth of third-party resources, documentation, and plugins available.

Possible disadvantages of Webpacker

  • Complexity
    Webpacker can introduce additional complexity, especially for developers not familiar with JavaScript tooling or the webpack configuration, which can lead to a steeper learning curve.
  • Performance Overhead
    The abstraction and tooling required by Webpacker can add performance overhead during development with slower compilation and building times compared to simpler asset management solutions.
  • Dependency Management
    Managing dependencies can become burdensome as Webpacker requires handling both the Ruby Gems and the JavaScript packages through yarn or npm, increasing maintenance efforts.
  • Migration Path
    As newer tools and techniques emerge, moving away from Webpacker could require significant refactoring efforts, especially for applications with extensive custom configurations.
  • Deprecated Status
    Webpacker is no longer the recommended default for new Rails applications starting from Rails 7, which now prefers using esbuild or importmaps, potentially affecting its long-term viability.

rollup.js videos

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Webpacker videos

RailsConf 2020 CE - Webpacker, It-Just-Works, But How? by Justin Gordon

More videos:

  • Review - Should you use React with Webpacker in your Rails project? Rails MVC vs Single Page App (SPA)!

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to rollup.js and Webpacker)
Web Application Bundler
78 78%
22% 22
JS Build Tools
79 79%
21% 21
Front End Package Manager
Developer Tools
71 71%
29% 29

User comments

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Reviews

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

rollup.js Reviews

Rollup v. Webpack v. Parcel
Rollup provides much simpler configuration over webpack 4 and has a host of pre-configured plugins that are a breeze to incorporate into your project. Rollup's also the fastest of the build tools period.
Source: x-team.com

Webpacker Reviews

We have no reviews of Webpacker yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, rollup.js should be more popular than Webpacker. It has been mentiond 60 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.

rollup.js mentions (60)

  • Valentine’s Day Breakup: React Dumps Create React App
    Vite is a modern frontend build tool used to develop fast and super efficient web applications. It serves files instantly and ensures that changes are updated immediately after they are implemented. It makes use of Rollup for optimized builds and has support for when you want to build a Javascript library (instead of a full app). - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Advanced Guide to Using Vite with React in 2025
    In 2025, mastering Vite for your React projects means leveraging powerful configurations, intelligent optimizations, and a robust plugin ecosystem. By understanding Vite’s modern architecture—native ES modules (ESM) during development and optimized Rollup bundling for production—you can significantly streamline your workflow, improve developer experience, and deliver fast, performant applications at scale. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Optimizing React Development with Vite🤩.
    6. Production-Ready Code Vite uses Rollup for production builds, which optimizes the code by bundling it efficiently, performing tree shaking, and minifying JavaScript. This results in smaller, optimized production builds that are ready for deployment. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • What is Evan You doing by creating VoidZero, and what are the issues with JS toolchains?
    Meanwhile, esbulid (developed in Go language, as introduced earlier) and rollup can also be used separately as packaging tools, and many third-party JS plugins are packaged using rollup. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • Node.js: A brief history of cjs, bundlers, and esm
    Npm packages dramatically sped up the productivity of developers by being able to leverage other developers' work. However, it had a major disadvantage: cjs was not compatible with web browsers. To solve this problem, the concept of bundlers was born. Browserify was the first bundler which essentially worked by traversing an entry point and "bundling" all the require()-ed code into a single .js file compatible... - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
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Webpacker mentions (17)

  • React + Ruby on Rails without any gems
    We will use Webpacker or JavaScript compiler and assets management. By following the webpacker installation guide, let’s add Webpacker and React to our application. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • Collecting JavaScript code coverage with Capybara in Ruby on Rails application
    For example, there is a Ruby on Rails application that uses Webpacker and has JavaScript files that are covered by the system tests. Capybara is used as the system testing tool. - Source: dev.to / 12 months ago
  • Asset Pipeline JS Migration
    Using Webpacker in Rails provides several advantages over the traditional asset pipeline. First, Webpacker uses JavaScript modules, which allows for better code organization and improved code reusability. Second, it offers modern frontend build tools, such as Babel and PostCSS, for transforming and compiling assets. Third, it provides faster build times and faster runtime performance through code splitting and... - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Thank you Webpacker, Goodbye Webpacker
    This article is replace Webpacker with Simpacker and webpack. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • How to setup ruby on rails + Angular
    In ruby ​​on rails 7 what is the best way to properly install Angular because I can't find any documentation about it. The only tutorial that exists uses webpacker (https://github.com/rails/webpacker) but unfortunately it is no longer supported and no longer up to date in terms of security. Source: over 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing rollup.js and Webpacker, you can also consider the following products

Webpack - Webpack is a module bundler. Its main purpose is to bundle JavaScript files for usage in a browser, yet it is also capable of transforming, bundling, or packaging just about any resource or asset.

Parcel - Blazing fast, zero configuration web application bundler

Turbolinks - Turbolinks makes navigating your web application faster

npm - npm is a package manager for Node.

Pingy CLI - Making Modern Websites Should Be Easier. Pingy is Here To Help.

Brunch - Brunch builds, lints, compiles, concatenates and shrinks your HTML5 app in an ultra-simple way. No more Grunt / Gulp mess.