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The best Preact alternatives

8 tools that do a similar job to Preact, 8 of them open source. Each entry says what it does and who it suits, so you can pick the one that fits instead of the most famous.

You're replacing

Preact

A small (about 4kB) React-style library for building user interfaces in JavaScript.

  1. 1

    React

    Open source · MIT · ★ 252k

    A JavaScript library for building interactive user interfaces out of reusable components.

    Best for: Developers building interactive web interfaces with JavaScript; Teams adding React gradually to an existing project, as the README describes

    Full review Preact vs React
  2. 2

    Inferno

    Open source · MIT · ★ 16.5k

    A fast, React-like JavaScript library for building user interfaces in the browser and on servers.

    Best for: Developers already familiar with React who want a React-like API; Projects that re-render frequently with real-time data or large DOM trees

    Full review Preact vs Inferno
  3. 3

    Million.js

    Open source · MIT · ★ 17.7k

    An optimizing compiler that speeds up React components by skipping most of React's diffing work.

    Best for: React developers whose apps have many elements that update often; Teams looking for a performance boost without rewriting their components

    Full review Preact vs Million.js
  4. 4

    Mithril

    Open source · MIT · ★ 14.5k

    A small JavaScript framework for building single page web apps, with routing and XHR built in.

    Best for: Developers who want a small framework with routing and HTTP utilities included; Teams building single page apps who prefer a lightweight alternative to larger frameworks

    Full review Preact vs Mithril
  5. 5

    MDX

    Open source · MIT · ★ 19.8k

    A format for writing Markdown documents that can embed live JSX components.

    Best for: Developers building documentation or content sites in React, Preact, or Vue; Teams that want interactive components inside long-form written content

    Full review Preact vs MDX
  6. 6

    reactstrap

    Open source · MIT · ★ 10.5k

    React components that wrap Bootstrap 5 styles, so you can build pages with Bootstrap pieces.

    Best for: React developers who already know Bootstrap and want its styling as components; Teams building admin dashboards or internal tools with Bootstrap look and feel

    Full review
  7. 7

    shadcn/ui

    Open source · MIT · ★ 127k

    Copy-in React UI components you customize as your own code, built on Tailwind CSS.

    Best for: Developers building React or Next.js interfaces who want full control over component code; Teams that want a consistent design system they can change freely

    Full review
  8. 8

    Headless UI

    Open source · MIT · ★ 28.8k

    Unstyled, accessible UI components (React and Vue) that you style yourself, often with Tailwind CSS.

    Best for: React or Vue developers building custom-designed interfaces; Teams already using Tailwind CSS who want accessible widgets that match their styling

    Full review

How we pick: tools in the same category that solve the same problem, projects that name each other as alternatives, and open-source projects that describe themselves as an alternative to Preact. We don't take payment for placement.