Bundlers Comparison

Compare modern JavaScript bundlers: Vite, Webpack, and Turbopack. Understand their strengths, trade-offs, and when to use each.

Vite
Next generation frontend tooling with native ES modules

Pros

  • Instant server start (no bundling in dev)
  • Lightning fast HMR
  • Native ESM-based development
  • Rich plugin ecosystem
  • Simple configuration

Cons

  • Production uses Rollup (different from dev)
  • Less mature for large enterprise apps
Best for: Modern web apps, Vue/React/Svelte projects, rapid development
Webpack
The most configurable and battle-tested bundler

Pros

  • Extremely configurable
  • Huge ecosystem of loaders/plugins
  • Battle-tested in production
  • Great for complex requirements
  • Federation for micro-frontends

Cons

  • Slower dev server startup
  • Complex configuration
  • Steeper learning curve
Best for: Enterprise apps, complex build requirements, micro-frontends
Turbopack
Rust-based successor to Webpack, integrated with Next.js

Pros

  • Written in Rust (extremely fast)
  • Native Next.js integration
  • Incremental computation
  • Compatible with Webpack loaders
  • 700x faster than Webpack (claimed)

Cons

  • Still in development
  • Next.js specific (for now)
  • Limited standalone usage
Best for: Next.js projects, teams wanting maximum performance

Vite Configuration

Vite uses native ES modules in development and Rollup for production builds. Configuration is minimal and intuitive.

vite.config.ts
// vite.config.ts
import { defineConfig } from 'vite';
import react from '@vitejs/plugin-react';
import path from 'path';

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [react()],
  resolve: {
    alias: {
      '@': path.resolve(__dirname, './src'),
    },
  },
  server: {
    port: 3000,
    open: true,
  },
  build: {
    outDir: 'dist',
    sourcemap: true,
    rollupOptions: {
      output: {
        manualChunks: {
          vendor: ['react', 'react-dom'],
        },
      },
    },
  },
});

Webpack Configuration

Webpack requires more configuration but offers unmatched flexibility. Loaders and plugins can handle any build requirement.

webpack.config.js
// webpack.config.js
const path = require('path');
const HtmlWebpackPlugin = require('html-webpack-plugin');

module.exports = {
  entry: './src/index.tsx',
  output: {
    path: path.resolve(__dirname, 'dist'),
    filename: '[name].[contenthash].js',
    clean: true,
  },
  resolve: {
    extensions: ['.tsx', '.ts', '.js'],
    alias: {
      '@': path.resolve(__dirname, 'src'),
    },
  },
  module: {
    rules: [
      {
        test: /\.tsx?$/,
        use: 'ts-loader',
        exclude: /node_modules/,
      },
      {
        test: /\.css$/,
        use: ['style-loader', 'css-loader', 'postcss-loader'],
      },
    ],
  },
  plugins: [
    new HtmlWebpackPlugin({
      template: './public/index.html',
    }),
  ],
  devServer: {
    port: 3000,
    hot: true,
    open: true,
  },
};

Turbopack with Next.js

Turbopack is integrated into Next.js and requires minimal configuration. It's compatible with most Webpack loaders.

next.config.ts
// next.config.ts
import type { NextConfig } from 'next';

const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
  // Turbopack is enabled by default in Next.js 15+
  // for development with 'next dev --turbopack'
  
  experimental: {
    // Turbopack-specific options
    turbo: {
      rules: {
        // Custom loader rules (Webpack-compatible)
        '*.svg': {
          loaders: ['@svgr/webpack'],
          as: '*.js',
        },
      },
      resolveAlias: {
        // Custom aliases
        '@components': './src/components',
      },
    },
  },
};

export default nextConfig;