Preact

Fast 3kB React alternative with the same API for lightweight web apps.

Overview

Preact is a lightweight JavaScript library that provides a fast virtual DOM implementation with the same modern API as React. At just 3kB, it's small enough that your application code becomes the largest part of your bundle, while still delivering excellent performance through a simple and predictable diff algorithm.

The library is designed to be closer to the DOM than React, building on stable platform features and registering real event handlers. This makes it portable and embeddable—you can use Preact to build parts of an app, embed it in widgets, or use it for full applications without complex integration. Despite its small footprint, Preact maintains ecosystem compatibility through a preact/compat alias that allows you to use thousands of React components seamlessly.

Key features

3kB minified size
Virtual DOM with fast diffing
React-compatible API
Ecosystem compatibility via preact/compat
Portable and embeddable
Works without transpilation in the browser
Automatic update batching
Props, state, and context support

Pros

Extremely small bundle size reduces download and parse time
Fast performance due to simple diff implementation
React-compatible API makes learning easy for React developers
Can use thousands of React components via compat layer
Portable enough for widgets and embedded use cases
Closer to the DOM with real event handlers

Cons

Smaller ecosystem compared to React
Less community content and third-party tooling
May require preact/compat for full React component compatibility
Fewer enterprise-focused features than React

Use this if

You need a lightweight framework for performance-critical applications, want to embed UI components in existing projects, or prefer a React-like API with a minimal footprint.

Skip this if

You need extensive enterprise tooling, a very large ecosystem of third-party packages, or features specific to React that aren't available in Preact.

Best for

Building lightweight web applicationsEmbedding UI components in existing projectsProgressive Web AppsPerformance-critical applicationsProjects where bundle size mattersReact developers wanting a smaller alternative

Alternatives

ReactVue.jsSvelteSolid.jsAlpine.js

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