Svelte vs React: A 2021 Perspective

Svelte is gaining massive traction. Why? Because it moves the “framework” from the browser to the compiler.

No Virtual DOM

React diffs the Virtual DOM on every render. Svelte compiles your components into imperative vanilla JavaScript code that updates the DOM directly when state changes.

Reactivity Syntax

React uses hooks. Svelte uses… JavaScript.

React

const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
useEffect(() => {
    console.log(count);
}, [count]);

Svelte

let count = 0;
$: console.log(count); // Reactive statement

I find Svelte fantastic for small-to-medium apps and high-performance visualizations. React’s ecosystem is still unbeatable for large enterprise apps, but SvelteKit is closing the gap.