Preactvs
React
React: The framework Preact mirrors, with the full ecosystem and a much larger runtime
Preact
3kB alternative to React with the same modern API
As of 29 August 2026, Preact is free to use. A 3kB React alternative with the same API, for when bundle size is the constraint. Softwr lists it under Web Development. Preact is available on Web.
Overview
What Preact does
Preact is a lightweight alternative to React with substantially the same modern API, in roughly 3kB. It keeps the virtual DOM model and component API, so most React code and many React libraries work through a compatibility layer. It exists for one reason: payload. On sites where every kilobyte of JavaScript is measurable — embedded widgets, marketing pages, low-bandwidth markets — dropping React for Preact is a small change with a visible effect on load time.
What people use it for
- Embedded widgets that load inside someone else’s page and must stay small
- Marketing and content sites where JavaScript payload affects Core Web Vitals
- Applications targeting low-bandwidth or low-powered devices
Related searches
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about Preact.
- Compatibility through preact/compat is good but not total, and some React libraries break in ways that are hard to diagnose
- Behavioural differences from React exist in edge cases, particularly around event handling
- A much smaller community, so unusual problems have fewer existing answers than React
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of Preact
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
Pricing
What Preact costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Preact
Free
- Full library
- Commercial use permitted
- No usage limits
Capabilities
Features
3kB runtime
A fraction of React’s size with the same component model
preact/compat
Compatibility layer letting most React libraries work unchanged
Same modern API
Hooks, context and function components as in React
Fast rendering
Lighter diffing with less framework overhead per update
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
Is Preact free?
Yes, open source under the MIT licence.
Can I use React libraries with Preact?
Most, through the preact/compat layer. Compatibility is good but not complete, so libraries relying on React internals can break.
Why choose Preact over React?
Bundle size, almost always. If payload is not a binding constraint, React’s ecosystem is usually the better trade.
Keep looking
Where to go from Preact
- Preact alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- Preact pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- Preact badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Web Development softwareThe full category
- Best Web Development softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Web Development software for
Compare Preact with
- React
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- esbuild
- Lit
- MySQL
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- HTMX
- Node.js
- v0 by Vercel
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- Apache HTTP Server
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Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Preact, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on Preact
Preact alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
Preact pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare Preact
Put it head to head with anything we hold
Preact badge
Its rating, and an embed for your own site
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