Preact screenshot

Preact

Author Avatar Theme by Preactjs
Updated: 17 May 2025
37505 Stars

Fast 3kB React alternative with the same modern API. Components & Virtual DOM.

Categories

Overview:

Preact is a front-end library that provides the power of Virtual DOM components without the associated overhead. It offers a familiar React API and patterns, extensive React compatibility, and support for JSX, VDOM, DevTools, HMR, and SSR. Preact is highly optimized with a seamless hydration process for Server Side Rendering, supports all modern browsers and IE11, and enables transparent asynchronous rendering with a pluggable scheduler.

Features:

  • Familiar React API & patterns: Includes ES6 Class, hooks, and Functional Components.
  • Extensive React compatibility: Achieved through a simple preact/compat alias.
  • Supports all modern browsers and IE11
  • Highly optimized diff algorithm: Ensures efficient performance.
  • Seamless hydration: Facilitates Server Side Rendering.
  • Transparent asynchronous rendering: Allows pluggable scheduler integration.
  • JSX, VDOM, DevTools, HMR, SSR: Comprehensive set of features for web development.

Installation:

To install Preact, you can use npm with the following command:

npm install preact

Alternatively, you can use yarn:

yarn add preact

Summary:

Preact is a lightweight alternative to React that provides Virtual DOM components with enhanced performance. It offers compatibility with the React API, supports modern browser environments and IE11, and includes features like JSX, VDOM, DevTools, and Server Side Rendering. With a highly optimized diff algorithm and transparent asynchronous rendering capabilities, Preact is a powerful tool for developing efficient web applications.