Undoubtedly, Angular, Vue, and React are the top JS frameworks, but to choose the best and most suitable one for your project requires a lot of factors to consider.

This blog serves as a guide for the startups that are looking to launch an industry leading product or developers who debate on the pros and cons of Angular, React, and Vue for their projects.

Let’s get started and dive deep into each of these frameworks

Angular

Angular is a front-end open-source JavaScript framework that is best utilized for advanced, large-scale projects with the help of a seasoned Angular developer. Angular belongs to the MEAN stack, one of the trending tech stacks for startups. This web application development framework is based on Type-script. Angular is capable and is primarily used to build single page web applications or SPAs.

Background

1. Developed by Google

2. First released in 2010

3. TypeScript-based JavaScript framework

4. Latest stable version is Angular 11.1.1, released in January 2021

5. Quickly established itself as a mainstream technology

6. Downloaded by millions of developers

7. Currently 127,663 live websites use Angular

Performance highlights

1. Offers a robust collection of components resulting in simplified art of writing, altering, and using code
2. Reduces the initial load time of a webpage by splitting tasks into logical chunks because of MVC structure
3. MVC model helps in reducing queries in the background by allowing separation of views
4. Angular offers full customizable designs giving more power to the developers and designers
5. Offers seamless third-party integrations to improve the functionality of the product
6. The ‘ahead-of-time-compiler’ offers faster load times and enhanced security
7. During the development, Angular compiles HTML and TypeScript into JavaScript resulting in faster compilation of the code even before the browser loads your web app.
8. With Angular, dependency injection can be used as external elements decoupling components that make them reusable, easier to manage, and test.

Pros of Angular

1. Offers incredible structure

2. Easy two-way data binding

3. MVC architecture

4. Initial reduction of loading time of the webpage

5. Built-in module system

6. Large community and ecosystem

Cons of Angular

1. Limited SEO options
2. Weak accessibility for search engine crawlers
3. Quite difficult to learn
4. Complex SPAs lag and underperform

When to use Angular?

If you are thinking of betting on Angular for your next project, some instances are listed below where this framework is best-suited.

You can use Angular if you are planning for:

1. Developing Progressive Web App (PWA)
2. Large enterprise application with complex infrastructure
3. Dynamic content-based websites
4. Upgrading website application design
5. Improving the user-experience of large websites by redesigning

Popular Applications of Angular

React

React is an open-source, front-end, JavaScript library used for developing user interfaces. MERN stack, one of the most popular stacks for building high-end business applications, have React.js for building interactive user-interfaces.

User interface plays a crucial role in web development where the user sees and interacts with your application through it. Because of its simplicity and focus on user experience, React has become one of the most-favored frameworks.

Background

1. Developed by Facebook

2. Initially released in 2013

3. Front-end library used in creating stateful and reusable UI components

4. Latest stable version is React 17.0.0, released in October 2020

5. Out of the total websites developed using React, 59.3% of websites uses React v16, 19.1% uses v15, 17.5% uses React v0, and 4.1% uses React v17

6. Creates UI interfaces specifically for SPAs

7. There are approximately 38,11,542 live websites that are using React

Performance highlights

1. Virtual DOM offers efficiency and optimized performance for complex applications that require frequent changes. Virtual DOM allows you to make changes and update to only the portion where it is required. This causes the browser to re-render only a small part of the page rather than the entire thing.
2. React supports bundling and tree-shaking. These features are used for reducing the end users’ resource loads.
3. React offers better control over the project by supporting one-way data binding.
4. React is easily testable and monitored, making the whole development process better.

Pros of React

Key benefits that React offers and helps to stand out in the pool of front-end development:

1. Increases the speed of the development process by allowing react web developers to write individual parts on both client-side and server-side without changing the logic of application
2. React code is flexible due to its modular structure saving a lot of time and cost
3. The React code is easier to maintain
4. Offers high performance of complex apps
5. React offers mobile app development by supporting mobile native applications for both Android and iOS platforms

Cons of React

1. React doesn’t implement MVC which pushes you towards using extra libraries for state and model implementation
2. React’s constant updates and the usage of companion libraries to support it results in poor documentation
3. Fast acceleration of React technologies results in writing improper instructions due to lack of time
4. Constant updates are difficult to pace up for the React experts at times due to fast evolvement of React technologies

When to use React?

As a React developer, you may want to implement this library in your project, but every project doesn’t need React. React, if used in conjunction with Redux or MobX or any flux patterned library, becomes a high-powered tool.

If your application is quite simple, you can directly write in JavaScript.

React is best-suited for projects that involve many components with active/inactive states, navigation items, expanded/collapsed accordion sections, dynamic inputs, active/disabled buttons, and user login and access permissions. Managing such changing states and presenting different views to the users based on the state, is hassle-less with React. 

If your application has the chance to grow in scale and scope, React is a best fit for such applications as it’s declarative nature of components makes it easy to handle around such complex structures.

Popular websites using React

Vue

An open-source Model-View-View-Model front-end JavaScript framework, Vue.js is used to develop user-interfaces and Single Page Applications(SPAs).

This progressive JavaScript framework is approachable, high-performant, and versatile. Vue.js contributes to optimal and dynamic user experience on the web.

Background

1. Developed by Evan You in 2014

2. Initially released in 2014

3. Vue.js is built to be incrementally adoptable for users

4. Latest stable version is 3.0.5, released in December 2020

5. 12,92,620 live websites built with Vue.js

Performance highlights:

Vue is an exceptionally fast tool. Vue.js accords with high-end features, easy learning curve, highly-efficient, fast, and sophisticated single-page application, making it one of the most-starred JS frameworks on GitHub.

Pros of Vue

1. The size of the framework is quite small that makes it easy to download and install
2. Requires less optimization from the Vue.js developers due to its size
3. Due to the size of the framework, it stimulates the Vue js web app development and allows Vue.js experts to separate template-to-virtual DOM from the compiler
4. The virtual DOM in Vue.js allows updating of elements in a web page without rendering the whole DOM
5. Vue.js provides easy access to all its functions that supports customization
6. Vue.js is compatible and flexible as Vue.js uses HTML to render objects and a template system for seamless integration with existing applications
7. Vue.js is reusable if it is properly harnessed
8. The code base doesn’t get heavier as the application scales

Cons of Vue

1. Vue.js is comparatively new and will need some time to grow its community. Vue.js has a small community to back.
2. The market adoption of Vue.js isn’t broad as compared to React and Angular. It requires time to see a high demand in jobs for skilled Vue.js developers
3. Vue.js can’t be used for large-scale projects as it lacks scalability
4. Vue.js has fewer plugins as compared to React and Angular
5. Vue.js applications have performance issues with older versions of Safari and iOS mobile browsers

When to use Vue?

You can use Vue.js framework if:

1. Your app is full of animations and interactive elements
2. Your app requires seamless integration with multiple apps
3. You want to prototype without advanced skills
4. You want to launch your MVP fast

Top web and mobile apps built using Vue framework

In a nutshell

We have analyzed all the three front-end frameworks Angular, React, Vue.js.through their background, performance highlights, pros, cons, when they can be used, and popular web and mobile applications built using these top open-source, front-end frameworks. 

Whether you are a startup or a leading enterprise and looking to start a new project, you may face some innumerable different situations. The technology that you choose for your business application must cover all your requirements and should have the potential to work in every situation. While partnering with a leading web development company take your best shot on the basis of the scope of your project and the performance requirements.