Software Alternatives & Startups

Three.js VS Create React App

Compare Three.js VS Create React App and see what are their differences

Three.js

A JavaScript 3D library which makes WebGL simpler.

Rating
0 reviews
Pricing
Open source
Create React App

Create React apps with no build configuration

Rating
0 reviews

Which is more popular?

Based on our record, Three.js should be more popular than Create React App. It has been mentioned 259 times since March 2021.

social mentions
259 vs 121
Javascript UI Libraries popularity
71% vs 29%
alternatives listed
240+ vs 89

Base details

Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.

Three.js
Create React App
Website threejs.org github.com
Pricing
Open source
—
Listed in

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

Three.js 5 features
Create React App 7 features
  • Ease of Use
    Three.js simplifies the complex task of 3D rendering with an intuitive API, making it accessible to developers who may not have deep expertise in 3D graphics.
  • Cross-Browser Compatibility
    Three.js is built upon WebGL, ensuring compatibility across modern browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge.
  • Comprehensive Documentation
    The library offers extensive documentation, examples, and an active community, which helps in quickly resolving issues and understanding implementation.
  • Integration with HTML and CSS
    Three.js can be easily integrated with HTML and CSS, allowing for the blending of 2D and 3D elements in web applications.
  • Extensive Features
    It supports a wide range of features including cameras, lights, materials, shaders, and post-processing effects, making it highly versatile for various 3D projects.

Possible disadvantages

  • Performance Overhead
    Despite its powerful capabilities, Three.js can have significant performance overhead, especially for complex scenes, which might require optimization.
  • Learning Curve
    While easier than raw WebGL, Three.js still has a learning curve, particularly for those new to 3D graphics, requiring time to become proficient.
  • Limited Built-in Advanced Tools
    Although feature-rich, Three.js lacks some advanced tools out-of-the-box compared to more specialized or industry-standard 3D engines, necessitating custom solutions for certain tasks.
  • Dependency on WebGL
    Three.js relies on WebGL, meaning it cannot be used in environments where WebGL is not supported, which can limit accessibility and compatibility.
  • Frequent Updates
    The library is actively developed, which is generally positive, but frequent updates can mean breaking changes, requiring developers to frequently refactor their code.
  • Ease of Setup
    Create React App provides a simple command to quickly set up a new React project. This reduces the time required for initial configuration.
  • Zero Configuration
    The tool comes with a large set of defaults out of the box. You don't need to configure Webpack, Babel, or other build tools manually.
  • Best Practices
    It encapsulates a lot of best practices for building React applications, ensuring you start off on the right foot.
  • Development Server
    Includes a local development server with hot-module reloading powered by Webpack, which improves the development experience.
  • Community Support
    As a Facebook-backed project with a wide user base, Create React App benefits from extensive documentation and community support.
  • Testing Setup
    Initial Jest configuration is included, providing a straightforward way to start writing and running tests.
  • Production Optimizations
    Built-in optimizations for production builds, such as code splitting and minification.

Possible disadvantages

  • Limited Customization
    While the zero-configuration approach is convenient, it can be limiting if you need to modify the underlying configurations (Webpack, Babel, etc.).
  • Monolithic
    Create React App is a single monolithic package, which can make it difficult to understand or change certain aspects without ejecting.
  • Eject Complexity
    Ejecting from Create React App exposes all underlying configurations, which can be overwhelming and increase the complexity of your project.
  • Dependency Management
    Because it abstracts away many details, you may not be aware of what dependencies are being used in your project.
  • Less Control
    Advanced users may find Create React App restrictive as it abstracts many details and does not easily allow for deep customization.
  • Performance Overhead
    For very small applications, the built-in tooling might be overkill and add unnecessary complexity and performance overhead.

Analysis

An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.

Three.js
Create React App

No analysis of Three.js yet.

Overall verdict

  • Create React App is a good choice for developers looking for a straightforward way to start React applications without delving into setup configurations. It's a robust, flexible tool for beginners and those who appreciate productivity and ease of use over micromanaging build setups.

Why this product is good

  • Create React App is widely appreciated for streamlining the setup of new React projects. It abstracts away the complex configurations of tools like Webpack and Babel, allowing developers to focus on building applications rather than managing build processes. It offers a strong development environment with features like hot reloading, a development server, and support for the latest JavaScript features. Additionally, it provides a sensible set of defaults and is maintained by the React team, ensuring compatibility and access to the latest React updates.

Recommended for

  • Beginners who are new to React and want to start building projects quickly.
  • Developers who want to focus on app development rather than configuration details.
  • Teams that require a standardized project setup to streamline the development process.
  • Projects that do not require a highly customized build process, as Create React App might be restrictive for advanced use cases that need significant flexibility.

Videos

Walkthroughs and reviews on video.

Three.js 2 videos + Add
Create React App 2 videos + Add

Getting Started With Three.js

More videos

  • - Ricardo Cabello (Mr doob) - 5 years of three.js

Why You Should Stop Using Create React App | React.js Todo List | Code Review #4 Part 2

More videos

  • - Create React App Explained

Category popularity

How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.

Score bands 0–20 21–40 41–50 51–60 61–100
Three.js
Create React App
71% 71%
29% 29%
100% 100%
0% 0%
0% 0%
100% 100%
100% 100%
0% 0%

User comments

Share your experience with using Three.js and Create React App. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

Log in or Post with

Reviews and articles

External articles and on-site reviews we used to compare the two products.

Three.js no reviews yet
Create React App no reviews yet
  • Top 20 Javascript Libraries
    hackr.io · Mar 2022

    Cross-browser JS library and API that allows for the creation of beautiful animations, Three.js relies on WebGL rather than conventional browser-plugins. Through its library utilities, developers can include complex...

We have no reviews of Create React App yet. Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Recommendations tracked on public social media and blogs since March 2021.

Three.js 259 mentions
Create React App 121 mentions
  • 101 Indian monuments, modelled in the browser
    Nothing in the viewer is a downloaded mesh, and the site has no build step. Each landmark is a module in js/monuments/ that builds the structure in code from three.js primitives (boxes, cylinders, spheres, lathed profiles and extruded... - Source: dev.to / 4 days ago
  • How I built a playable ocarina in the browser with Web Audio and three.js
    Stack is deliberately small: TypeScript, three.js, and the Web Audio API, built with Vite. No framework, no game assets. Below is how the pieces actually work in the code — every claim maps to a file in the repo. - Source: dev.to / 17 days ago
  • Why a static Three.js scene still cooks your phone, and the dirty-flag fix
    So I have a bunch of small games on my site. Ludo, tic-tac-toe, carrom, rock-paper-scissors. Nothing fancy, the kind of thing you'd think runs on a potato. They're built with Three.js, which is the standard library for drawing 3D... - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago

View more

  • Understanding Docker multi-stage builds
    Let's start by preparing a sample application that we want to place in a Docker image. This will be a web application created using the React framework and its create-react-app tool. It will generate a code template and configuration,... - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Those Golden Era of React...👩‍💻☺️
    This project was bootstrapped with Create React App. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • You should know this before choosing Next.js
    I could totally see how you'd arrive there. Backstory: create-react was a starter boilerplate for React built and maintained by Facebook. This was when webpack was the standard and just getting a local development environment to "hello... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago

View more

Alternatives to Three.js and Create React App

When comparing Three.js and Create React App, you can also consider the following products.