React, Angular, and Vue: A Deep Dive into Popularity, Performance, and the AI Factor

A recent live stream provided an in-depth analysis of React, Angular, and Vue, highlighting their current standing in the developer ecosystem. React maintains a significant lead in npm download numbers, a trend observed to accelerate since January 2025, largely attributed to its emerging role as the default stack for many AI-powered coding tools and models. While Vue consistently outperforms Angular in npm downloads, anecdotal evidence and job market research cited in the stream suggest higher demand for Angular developers, particularly within large enterprises. The discussion underscored the increasing challenges for junior developers in a post-pandemic, AI-influenced job market, emphasizing the need for a strong grasp of fundamentals even when leveraging AI for productivity. Svelte, though acknowledged for its merits, was noted as outside the scope of the immediate comparison due to limited recent experience with the framework.

Delving into technical aspects, the ease of learning was a key differentiator: Vue is often cited as the most approachable, despite Vue 3’s Composition API adding nuances beyond its Options API. Angular, historically perceived as cumbersome, has significantly improved its developer experience with innovations like Signals, now positioning it as a middle-ground in terms of learning curve. React, while having simple core concepts, presents complexity in mastering its extensive hook ecosystem and avoiding common pitfalls like useEffect misuse. The ‘batteries included’ philosophy distinguishes the frameworks: Angular offers comprehensive built-in features like routing, forms, and an HTTP client. React, conversely, relies on a vast, community-driven third-party ecosystem. Vue balances this with core team-maintained companion libraries like Vue Router and Pinia. For full-stack development, Next.js dominates the React ecosystem, offering tight server-side integration, while Nuxt.js serves Vue, and AnalogJS supports Angular. Mobile development sees React Native as a prominent choice due to its vibrant ecosystem and AI integration, with NativeScript offering a long-standing, cross-framework alternative for Angular and Vue, and Electron.js remaining the standard for desktop applications. Performance benchmarks, though synthetic, often show Vue (especially with Vapor mode) delivering superior raw client-side performance and smaller bundle sizes compared to React and Angular, though all frameworks provide robust tools for optimization, and perceived performance is crucial.