Preact vs Snabbdom
Which should you use? A side-by-side look at what each one does, who it suits, what it costs, how hard it is to set up, and where each falls short.
Open source · MIT
A small (about 4kB) React-style library for building user interfaces in JavaScript.
Open source · MIT
A small, fast virtual DOM library for building and updating web interfaces efficiently.
The short answer
Choose Preact if you need…
- Web developers who already know React and want a lighter library
- Projects where small bundle size matters, such as pages loaded over slow connections
- Teams that want an optional compatibility alias (preact/compat) to reuse React-based code
- Developers building apps that need server-side rendering with hydration
Choose Snabbdom if you need…
- Developers building interactive web interfaces who want a small, low-level rendering library
- Teams that prefer to pick only the modules they need rather than adopt a full framework
- Projects that need to integrate rendering with functional or reactive (FRP) code
- Developers who want to read and understand the rendering core end to end
Side-by-side
| Preact | Snabbdom | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Library | Library |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 39k | 12.4k |
| Setup difficulty | Intermediate | Intermediate |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Install with a package manager |
| Main language | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last code update | 4 days ago | 5 months ago |
What each one is
Preact
Preact is a JavaScript library for building user interfaces out of reusable components, using an API that closely follows React. The README describes it as a fast, roughly 4kB alternative to React with a similar modern API, covering components, hooks, JSX, and a virtual DOM. Developers use it when they want React-style code with a much smaller download size.
Snabbdom
Snabbdom is a JavaScript library that manages a virtual DOM, a lightweight in-memory description of what a web page should look like. When your app state changes, it compares the new description with the old one and updates only the parts of the real page that changed. Its core is intentionally small, and extra features such as classes, styles, properties and event listeners are added through optional modules.
Best for
Preact
- Web developers who already know React and want a lighter library
- Projects where small bundle size matters, such as pages loaded over slow connections
- Teams that want an optional compatibility alias (preact/compat) to reuse React-based code
- Developers building apps that need server-side rendering with hydration
Snabbdom
- Developers building interactive web interfaces who want a small, low-level rendering library
- Teams that prefer to pick only the modules they need rather than adopt a full framework
- Projects that need to integrate rendering with functional or reactive (FRP) code
- Developers who want to read and understand the rendering core end to end
Strengths
Preact
- Very small size (the README states about 4kB), which helps page load time
- Familiar React API, including class components, hooks, and functional components
- MIT licensed with a large community and many stars on GitHub
Snabbdom
- The core is about 200 SLOC, so it is easy to read and understand
- Modular design lets you include only the features you use
- The README describes it as among the fastest virtual DOM libraries, with a built-in JSX option
Not ideal for
Preact
- Complete beginners who have never written JavaScript; the README assumes familiarity with components and modern JS syntax
- Projects that depend on React-only libraries without testing compatibility, since the README only describes compatibility as 'extensive' via an alias and does not list limits
- Native mobile app development, which the README does not mention
Snabbdom
- Beginners looking for a complete framework with routing, state management and tooling included, since the README describes Snabbdom as a focused library
- Projects that need a large built-in ecosystem of components, as the README lists mainly a few third-party packages
Trade-offs
Preact
- The README is truncated and gives limited detail on edge-case React compatibility
- Some React ecosystem libraries may need the compat layer or may not work fully
- Tooling such as DevTools and HMR depends on additional setup that the README only briefly mentions
Snabbdom
- Fewer built-in features than full frameworks; routing and state management are not mentioned in the README
- Requires following its specific patch and vnode conventions, which are described as necessary for its design
- Documentation is limited to the README excerpt provided here, so some advanced areas are unclear
Getting started
Snabbdom
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/snabbdom/snabbdomFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between Preact and Snabbdom?
Preact: A small (about 4kB) React-style library for building user interfaces in JavaScript. Snabbdom: A small, fast virtual DOM library for building and updating web interfaces efficiently. Preact suits web developers who already know react and want a lighter library, while Snabbdom suits developers building interactive web interfaces who want a small, low-level rendering library.
Are Preact and Snabbdom free?
Preact: Free and open source. Snabbdom: Free and open source.
Is Preact or Snabbdom more popular?
Preact has more GitHub stars (39k) than Snabbdom (12.4k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to Preact and Snabbdom?
Other options people compare them with include React, Inferno, Million.js, Mithril, MDX.
Keep comparing
Built from our catalogue entries for both products: open-source details come from each project's README (AI-assisted, refreshed weekly) and GitHub data; AI-tool details are editorial. Spotted something wrong? Let us know from either product's page.