Which is Better Vite Vue Plugins?
@vitejs/plugin-vue vs vite-plugin-vue2
1 Year
@vitejs/plugin-vuevite-plugin-vue2
What's Vite Vue Plugins?

Vite is a modern build tool that significantly improves the frontend development experience. It leverages native ES modules and provides a fast development server with hot module replacement (HMR). The plugins '@vitejs/plugin-vue' and 'vite-plugin-vue2' serve to integrate Vue.js into Vite projects, but they cater to different versions of Vue. '@vitejs/plugin-vue' is designed for Vue 3, offering features like the Composition API and improved performance, while 'vite-plugin-vue2' is tailored for Vue 2, maintaining compatibility with the older ecosystem. Choosing between them depends on the version of Vue you intend to use in your project.

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@vitejs/plugin-vue2,097,542479193 kB7522 days agoMIT
vite-plugin-vue232,779619118 kB42-MIT
Feature Comparison: @vitejs/plugin-vue vs vite-plugin-vue2

Version Compatibility

  • @vitejs/plugin-vue: This plugin is specifically built for Vue 3, supporting its new features and syntax. It enables the use of the Composition API, which allows for better organization of logic in components, and enhances TypeScript support for better developer experience.
  • vite-plugin-vue2: Designed for Vue 2, this plugin ensures that all Vue 2 syntax and features work seamlessly with Vite. It allows developers to continue using Vue 2's Options API and existing libraries without modification.

Performance Optimization

  • @vitejs/plugin-vue: Utilizes Vite's optimized build process, which includes tree-shaking and code-splitting, leading to faster load times and improved performance in production builds. The plugin also supports HMR, making development faster and more efficient.
  • vite-plugin-vue2: While it provides a solid integration with Vue 2, it may not achieve the same level of performance optimizations as its Vue 3 counterpart. However, it still benefits from Vite's fast development server and build process.

Development Experience

  • @vitejs/plugin-vue: Offers a modern development experience with features like HMR, allowing developers to see changes in real-time without losing component state. This greatly enhances productivity and speeds up the development cycle.
  • vite-plugin-vue2: Provides a familiar development experience for those accustomed to Vue 2, but it may lack some of the advanced features and optimizations available in Vue 3, making it less efficient in some scenarios.

Ecosystem and Community Support

  • @vitejs/plugin-vue: As part of the Vue 3 ecosystem, this plugin benefits from ongoing updates and a growing community. It is well-supported by the Vue team and integrates well with other modern tools and libraries.
  • vite-plugin-vue2: While it supports Vue 2, the ecosystem is gradually shifting towards Vue 3. Therefore, community support and updates may be less frequent as the focus moves to newer technologies.

Learning Curve

  • @vitejs/plugin-vue: Adopting Vue 3 with this plugin may require learning new concepts like the Composition API, which can have a steeper learning curve for newcomers. However, it provides a more flexible and powerful way to structure applications once mastered.
  • vite-plugin-vue2: Staying with Vue 2 allows developers to leverage their existing knowledge and codebase, making it easier for teams already familiar with Vue 2 to continue development without significant changes.
How to Choose: @vitejs/plugin-vue vs vite-plugin-vue2
  • @vitejs/plugin-vue: Select this package if you are developing a project with Vue 3, as it provides support for the latest features and optimizations that Vue 3 offers, including the Composition API and improved TypeScript support.
  • vite-plugin-vue2: Choose this package if your project is based on Vue 2, ensuring compatibility with existing Vue 2 codebases and libraries, while still benefiting from Vite's fast build and development capabilities.
README for @vitejs/plugin-vue

@vitejs/plugin-vue npm

Note: as of vue 3.2.13+ and @vitejs/plugin-vue 1.9.0+, @vue/compiler-sfc is no longer required as a peer dependency.

// vite.config.js
import vue from '@vitejs/plugin-vue'

export default {
  plugins: [vue()],
}

For JSX / TSX support, @vitejs/plugin-vue-jsx is also needed.

Options

export interface Options {
  include?: string | RegExp | (string | RegExp)[]
  exclude?: string | RegExp | (string | RegExp)[]

  isProduction?: boolean

  /**
   * Requires @vitejs/plugin-vue@^5.1.0
   */
  features?: {
    /**
     * Enable reactive destructure for `defineProps`.
     * - Available in Vue 3.4 and later.
     * - **default:** `false` in Vue 3.4 (**experimental**), `true` in Vue 3.5+
     */
    propsDestructure?: boolean
    /**
     * Transform Vue SFCs into custom elements.
     * - `true`: all `*.vue` imports are converted into custom elements
     * - `string | RegExp`: matched files are converted into custom elements
     * - **default:** /\.ce\.vue$/
     */
    customElement?: boolean | string | RegExp | (string | RegExp)[]
    /**
     * Set to `false` to disable Options API support and allow related code in
     * Vue core to be dropped via dead-code elimination in production builds,
     * resulting in smaller bundles.
     * - **default:** `true`
     */
    optionsAPI?: boolean
    /**
     * Set to `true` to enable devtools support in production builds.
     * Results in slightly larger bundles.
     * - **default:** `false`
     */
    prodDevtools?: boolean
    /**
     * Set to `true` to enable detailed information for hydration mismatch
     * errors in production builds. Results in slightly larger bundles.
     * - **default:** `false`
     */
    prodHydrationMismatchDetails?: boolean
  }

  // `script`, `template` and `style` are lower-level compiler options
  // to pass on to respective APIs of `vue/compiler-sfc`

  script?: Partial<
    Omit<
      SFCScriptCompileOptions,
      | 'id'
      | 'isProd'
      | 'inlineTemplate'
      | 'templateOptions'
      | 'sourceMap'
      | 'genDefaultAs'
      | 'customElement'
    >
  >

  template?: Partial<
    Omit<
      SFCTemplateCompileOptions,
      | 'id'
      | 'source'
      | 'ast'
      | 'filename'
      | 'scoped'
      | 'slotted'
      | 'isProd'
      | 'inMap'
      | 'ssr'
      | 'ssrCssVars'
      | 'preprocessLang'
    >
  >

  style?: Partial<
    Omit<
      SFCStyleCompileOptions,
      | 'filename'
      | 'id'
      | 'isProd'
      | 'source'
      | 'scoped'
      | 'cssDevSourcemap'
      | 'postcssOptions'
      | 'map'
      | 'postcssPlugins'
      | 'preprocessCustomRequire'
      | 'preprocessLang'
      | 'preprocessOptions'
    >
  >

  /**
   * Use custom compiler-sfc instance. Can be used to force a specific version.
   */
  compiler?: typeof _compiler

  /**
   * @deprecated moved to `features.customElement`.
   */
  customElements?: boolean | string | RegExp | (string | RegExp)[]
}

Asset URL handling

When @vitejs/plugin-vue compiles the <template> blocks in SFCs, it also converts any encountered asset URLs into ESM imports.

For example, the following template snippet:

<img src="../image.png" />

Is the same as:

<script setup>
import _imports_0 from '../image.png'
</script>

<img :src="_imports_0" />

By default the following tag/attribute combinations are transformed, and can be configured using the template.transformAssetUrls option.

{
  video: ['src', 'poster'],
  source: ['src'],
  img: ['src'],
  image: ['xlink:href', 'href'],
  use: ['xlink:href', 'href']
}

Note that only attribute values that are static strings are transformed. Otherwise, you'd need to import the asset manually, e.g. import imgUrl from '../image.png'.

Example for passing options to vue/compiler-sfc:

import vue from '@vitejs/plugin-vue'

export default {
  plugins: [
    vue({
      template: {
        compilerOptions: {
          // ...
        },
        transformAssetUrls: {
          // ...
        },
      },
    }),
  ],
}

Example for transforming custom blocks

import vue from '@vitejs/plugin-vue'
import yaml from 'js-yaml'

const vueI18nPlugin = {
  name: 'vue-i18n',
  transform(code, id) {
    // if .vue file don't have <i18n> block, just return
    if (!/vue&type=i18n/.test(id)) {
      return
    }
    // parse yaml
    if (/\.ya?ml$/.test(id)) {
      code = JSON.stringify(yaml.load(code.trim()))
    }
    // mount the value on the i18n property of the component instance
    return `export default Comp => {
      Comp.i18n = ${code}
    }`
  },
}

export default {
  plugins: [vue(), vueI18nPlugin],
}

Create a file named Demo.vue, add lang="yaml" to the <i18n> blocks, then you can use the syntax of YAML:

<template>Hello</template>

<i18n lang="yaml">
message: 'world'
fullWord: 'hello world'
</i18n>

message is mounted on the i18n property of the component instance, you can use like this:

<script setup lang="ts">
import Demo from 'components/Demo.vue'
</script>

<template>
  <Demo /> {{ Demo.i18n.message }}
  <div>{{ Demo.i18n.fullWord }}</div>
</template>

Using Vue SFCs as Custom Elements

Requires vue@^3.2.0 & @vitejs/plugin-vue@^1.4.0

Vue 3.2 introduces the defineCustomElement method, which works with SFCs. By default, <style> tags inside SFCs are extracted and merged into CSS files during build. However when shipping a library of custom elements, it may be desirable to inline the styles as JavaScript strings and inject them into the custom elements' shadow root instead.

Starting in 1.4.0, files ending with *.ce.vue will be compiled in "custom elements" mode: its <style> tags are compiled into inlined CSS strings and attached to the component as its styles property:

import { defineCustomElement } from 'vue'
import Example from './Example.ce.vue'

console.log(Example.styles) // ['/* css content */']

// register
customElements.define('my-example', defineCustomElement(Example))

Note in custom elements mode there is no need to use <style scoped> since the CSS is already scoped inside the shadow DOM.

The customElement plugin option can be used to configure the behavior:

  • { customElement: true } will import all *.vue files in custom element mode.
  • Use a string or regex pattern to change how files should be loaded as Custom Elements (this check is applied after include and exclude matches).

License

MIT