Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

stealjs VS rollup.js

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

stealjs logo stealjs

Futuristic JavaScript dependency loader and builder. Speeds up application load times. Works with ES6, CommonJS, AMD, CSS, LESS and more. Simplifies modular workflows.

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.
  • stealjs Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-12-25
  • rollup.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-02-09

stealjs features and specs

  • Modular Loader
    StealJS is a dynamic module loader that supports ES6, AMD, and CommonJS, offering flexibility in module formats and simplifying the development process.
  • Progressive Loading
    It supports progressive loading, which allows developers to load JavaScript dependencies only as needed, improving application performance and reducing initial load times.
  • Compatibility
    StealJS is compatible with various environments, including Node.js and web browsers, facilitating seamless development and deployment.
  • Plugin System
    Its extensible plugin system allows developers to customize the build process and integrate with other tools or libraries easily.
  • Live Reload
    StealJS provides live reload functionality, enabling developers to see changes instantly without manually refreshing the page, hence improving the development workflow.

Possible disadvantages of stealjs

  • Learning Curve
    Developers familiar with more traditional build tools might face a steep learning curve initially when adopting StealJS.
  • Community and Support
    StealJS has a smaller community compared to more popular bundlers like Webpack, which can result in less available support and resources.
  • Configuration Complexity
    Though powerful, its configuration can become complex for larger projects and may require additional effort to manage efficiently.
  • Performance Overhead
    Dynamic loading can introduce some runtime performance overhead compared to static bundling, potentially affecting execution speed.
  • Ecosystem
    While StealJS integrates with many tools, it may not have the same breadth of plugin ecosystem that some larger projects offer, potentially requiring manual integrations.

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.

stealjs videos

StealJS Overview

More videos:

  • Review - Getting Started With StealJS and ES6
  • Review - Easy ES6 with StealJS

rollup.js videos

No rollup.js videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to stealjs and rollup.js)
Web Application Bundler
16 16%
84% 84
JS Build Tools
18 18%
82% 82
Development
100 100%
0% 0
Front End Package Manager

User comments

Share your experience with using stealjs and rollup.js. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

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

stealjs Reviews

We have no reviews of stealjs yet.
Be the first one to post

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

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, rollup.js seems to be more popular. 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.

stealjs mentions (0)

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

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
View more

What are some alternatives?

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

RequireJS - RequireJS is a JavaScript file and module loader.

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.

JSPM - Front End Package Manager, Frontend Development, and Javascript

Parcel - Blazing fast, zero configuration web application bundler

npm - npm is a package manager for Node.

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