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Hamza Khan
Hamza Khan

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🧠 JavaScript Framework Showdown: React vs. Vue vs. SolidJS in 2025

In 2025, the JavaScript ecosystem continues to evolve rapidly, but three contenders consistently stand out in front-end development: React, Vue, and SolidJS. While each of these frameworks has a strong community and robust tooling, they take very different approaches under the hood.

In this showdown, we'll compare them across five core areas:

  • Performance
  • Developer Experience
  • Reactivity Model
  • Ecosystem & Tooling
  • Use Cases

🚀 1. Performance (Hydration, Rendering & Reconciliation)

Framework Hydration Speed Runtime Overhead Benchmark Score (JS Framework Benchmark)
React 19 (w/ Compiler) Improved, still VDOM based Medium 52K ops/sec
Vue 4 (Reactivity Transform) Fast, but VDOM Low-Medium 61K ops/sec
SolidJS 1.7+ Near-native Ultra-low 118K ops/sec

Winner: SolidJS

SolidJS’s fine-grained reactivity and compiled output make it blazing fast. It avoids the virtual DOM altogether, which pays off in hydration and CPU-bound rendering.

🛠️ 2. Developer Experience

  • React now supports React Compiler, simplifying useMemo/ useCallback boilerplate.
  • Vue offers the Composition API, still regarded as highly intuitive for newcomers.
  • SolidJS borrows heavily from React’s DX but removes complexity around hooks.
// SolidJS - No hooks, just reactive primitives
const count = createSignal(0);
const double = () => count() * 2;
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Tie — React wins for large team support and devtools, Vue wins for simplicity, Solid wins for logic clarity.

⚙️ 3. Reactivity Model

Feature React Vue SolidJS
Virtual DOM Yes Yes
Signals Coming Soon Supported
Reactive Primitives useState, useMemo ref, reactive createSignal, createEffect

React and Vue are adding Signal-based models, but SolidJS is already there. Its reactivity works like an automatic spreadsheet, where updates flow without overhead.

Winner: SolidJS

📦 4. Ecosystem & Tooling

  • React dominates in libraries, job market, SSR tools (Next.js), and UI components.
  • Vue has Nuxt 4, Pinia, Vite integration, and growing TypeScript support.
  • SolidJS is catching up with SolidStart, but enterprise adoption is still limited.

Winner: React

🧑‍💻 5. Ideal Use Cases

Use Case React Vue SolidJS
Enterprise-Scale Apps ⚠️ (emerging)
Lightweight Widgets ⚠️
Edge Rendering (SSR) ✅ (Next.js) ✅ (Nuxt) ✅ (SolidStart)
Real-Time Dashboards ⚠️
Developer Onboarding ⚠️ ⚠️

✅ Vue remains the sweet spot for rapid onboarding and productivity.
✅ React rules at scale and cross-platform ecosystems.
✅ SolidJS wins when performance matters most.

🏁 Conclusion: Which Should You Use in 2025?

  • 🧩 Choose React if you're working in a large team, need mature libraries, or plan to use Next.js.
  • Choose SolidJS for building highly-performant, reactive apps with minimal overhead.
  • 🎨 Choose Vue if you want a smooth developer experience, fast prototyping, and clear syntax.

All three are solid choices—pun intended—but the right tool depends on your context.

💬 What’s your go-to JavaScript framework in 2025?

Let's chat in the comments 👇

Top comments (1)

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bewaji_toluwalase profile image
Bewaji Toluwalase

I use Vue it’s my go to framework i actually enjoy the framework