date-fns vs luxon vs moment-duration-format
Date Manipulation Libraries Comparison
1 Year
date-fnsluxonmoment-duration-formatSimilar Packages:
What's Date Manipulation Libraries?

Date manipulation libraries are essential tools in web development that help developers manage, format, and manipulate dates and times in a consistent and efficient manner. These libraries provide functionalities such as parsing, formatting, comparing, and performing arithmetic operations on dates, which can be complex due to time zones, daylight saving time, and localization. By leveraging these libraries, developers can ensure that their applications handle date and time data accurately and efficiently, enhancing user experience and reducing errors related to date handling.

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date-fns30,076,21235,74022.6 MB8148 months agoMIT
luxon13,085,89115,8754.51 MB182a month agoMIT
moment-duration-format378,175969-476 years agoMIT
Feature Comparison: date-fns vs luxon vs moment-duration-format

Size and Performance

  • date-fns:

    date-fns is designed to be lightweight and modular, allowing developers to import only the functions they need. This results in smaller bundle sizes and improved performance, making it an excellent choice for performance-sensitive applications.

  • luxon:

    Luxon is larger than date-fns due to its comprehensive feature set, including time zone support. While it offers powerful functionalities, it may introduce more overhead in terms of bundle size, which could impact performance in smaller applications.

  • moment-duration-format:

    moment-duration-format is an extension of Moment.js, which is relatively large compared to date-fns. If your project already uses Moment.js, adding this package may not significantly increase the bundle size, but it is still heavier than date-fns.

Time Zone Handling

  • date-fns:

    date-fns has limited built-in support for time zones, which means developers may need to implement additional logic for handling time zone conversions. This can be a drawback for applications that require extensive time zone functionality.

  • luxon:

    Luxon excels in time zone handling, providing built-in support for time zones and daylight saving time. It allows developers to easily manipulate and display dates in different time zones, making it ideal for global applications.

  • moment-duration-format:

    moment-duration-format does not directly handle time zones, as it focuses on duration formatting. However, if used alongside Moment.js, you can leverage its time zone capabilities for comprehensive date and time management.

API Design

  • date-fns:

    date-fns offers a functional programming approach, where each function is independent and can be used in a modular way. This design encourages a more functional style of coding and makes it easy to understand and use individual functions without needing to instantiate objects.

  • luxon:

    Luxon uses an object-oriented approach, providing a rich API that encapsulates date and time functionalities within DateTime objects. This design can make it easier to manage complex date manipulations but may have a steeper learning curve for those unfamiliar with object-oriented programming.

  • moment-duration-format:

    moment-duration-format extends the Moment.js API, which is also object-oriented. It allows for chaining methods to manipulate durations, making it intuitive for developers already familiar with Moment.js.

Localization

  • date-fns:

    date-fns provides localization support, allowing developers to format dates in various locales. However, it may require additional setup for advanced localization features compared to Luxon.

  • luxon:

    Luxon offers extensive localization capabilities, making it easy to format dates and times according to different cultural conventions. This is particularly useful for applications targeting international audiences.

  • moment-duration-format:

    moment-duration-format inherits localization features from Moment.js, allowing for localized duration formatting. However, it may not be as comprehensive as Luxon in terms of overall date and time localization.

Learning Curve

  • date-fns:

    date-fns has a relatively low learning curve due to its modular nature and functional approach. Developers can quickly grasp how to use individual functions without needing to understand a complex API.

  • luxon:

    Luxon may have a steeper learning curve, especially for those not familiar with object-oriented programming. However, its comprehensive documentation and intuitive API can help mitigate this challenge for new users.

  • moment-duration-format:

    moment-duration-format is easy to learn for developers already familiar with Moment.js. Its extension of the existing API makes it straightforward to integrate duration formatting into applications.

How to Choose: date-fns vs luxon vs moment-duration-format
  • date-fns:

    Choose date-fns if you need a lightweight, modular library that provides a comprehensive set of date manipulation functions without the overhead of a full-featured library. It is ideal for projects where performance is critical and you want to include only the functions you need, as it allows tree-shaking to minimize bundle size.

  • luxon:

    Choose Luxon if you require robust support for time zones and internationalization. Luxon is built on the modern JavaScript DateTime API and provides a rich set of features for parsing, formatting, and manipulating dates and times, making it suitable for applications that need to handle complex date and time scenarios across different locales.

  • moment-duration-format:

    Choose moment-duration-format if you are working with durations and need to format them in a user-friendly way. This package extends Moment.js to handle durations specifically, allowing you to easily format and manipulate time intervals, which is particularly useful for applications that track time or require duration calculations.

README for date-fns

🔥️ NEW: date-fns v4.0 with first-class time zone support is out!

date-fns

date-fns provides the most comprehensive, yet simple and consistent toolset for manipulating JavaScript dates in a browser & Node.js

👉 Documentation

👉 Blog


It's like Lodash for dates

  • It has 200+ functions for all occasions.
  • Modular: Pick what you need. Works with webpack, Browserify, or Rollup and also supports tree-shaking.
  • Native dates: Uses existing native type. It doesn't extend core objects for safety's sake.
  • Immutable & Pure: Built using pure functions and always returns a new date instance.
  • TypeScript: The library is 100% TypeScript with brand-new handcrafted types.
  • I18n: Dozens of locales. Include only what you need.
  • and many more benefits
import { compareAsc, format } from "date-fns";

format(new Date(2014, 1, 11), "yyyy-MM-dd");
//=> '2014-02-11'

const dates = [
  new Date(1995, 6, 2),
  new Date(1987, 1, 11),
  new Date(1989, 6, 10),
];
dates.sort(compareAsc);
//=> [
//   Wed Feb 11 1987 00:00:00,
//   Mon Jul 10 1989 00:00:00,
//   Sun Jul 02 1995 00:00:00
// ]

The library is available as an npm package. To install the package run:

npm install date-fns --save

Docs

See date-fns.org for more details, API, and other docs.


License

MIT © Sasha Koss