ethers vs web3 vs wagmi vs truffle vs web3modal
Ethereum Development Libraries Comparison
1 Year
ethersweb3wagmitruffleweb3modalSimilar Packages:
What's Ethereum Development Libraries?

These libraries facilitate interaction with the Ethereum blockchain, providing developers with tools to build decentralized applications (dApps). They each offer unique functionalities, ranging from smart contract deployment to wallet management and user interface integration, making them essential for modern blockchain development.

Package Weekly Downloads Trend
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Package
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ethers1,619,3008,13212.6 MB5752 months agoMIT
web3487,43719,6343.46 MB1553 months agoLGPL-3.0
wagmi223,2896,2051.03 MB125 days agoMIT
truffle15,85714,01059.2 MB528a year agoMIT
web3modal11,2695,0601.41 MB642 years agoMIT
Feature Comparison: ethers vs web3 vs wagmi vs truffle vs web3modal

Ease of Use

  • ethers:

    Ethers.js is designed with simplicity in mind, providing a clean and minimalistic API that makes it easy for developers to interact with Ethereum. Its straightforward approach allows for quick integration into projects without extensive setup.

  • web3:

    Web3.js has a steeper learning curve due to its extensive features and configuration options. However, it provides powerful capabilities for interacting with Ethereum, making it suitable for developers who need more control over their blockchain interactions.

  • wagmi:

    Wagmi is built specifically for React, making it intuitive for developers familiar with React hooks. Its design allows for easy state management and interaction with Ethereum, streamlining the development process for React applications.

  • truffle:

    Truffle offers a more complex setup due to its comprehensive nature, but it provides a powerful suite of tools for managing the entire development lifecycle of Ethereum applications, which can be beneficial for larger teams.

  • web3modal:

    Web3Modal is extremely user-friendly, allowing developers to quickly implement wallet connection features in their dApps. Its plug-and-play nature makes it easy to integrate without deep knowledge of wallet management.

Integration with Frameworks

  • ethers:

    Ethers.js can be easily integrated with various frameworks and libraries, making it versatile for different project setups. It works well with both frontend frameworks and backend services.

  • web3:

    Web3.js can be integrated into various JavaScript environments, but it may require additional setup for optimal use with frameworks like React or Angular, which can complicate the development process.

  • wagmi:

    Wagmi is specifically designed for React applications, providing hooks that make it easy to manage Ethereum interactions within React components. This tight integration enhances the developer experience for React developers.

  • truffle:

    Truffle is a standalone framework that integrates well with other tools in the Ethereum ecosystem, but it is primarily focused on the development and testing of smart contracts rather than frontend integration.

  • web3modal:

    Web3Modal is designed to work seamlessly with any JavaScript framework, making it easy to implement wallet connections regardless of the frontend technology used.

Community and Support

  • ethers:

    Ethers.js has a growing community and is well-documented, providing ample resources for developers to find help and examples. Its focus on simplicity has garnered a dedicated user base.

  • web3:

    Web3.js has been around for a long time and has a vast community. However, its documentation can be overwhelming due to the breadth of features, which may pose challenges for newcomers.

  • wagmi:

    Wagmi is newer but has quickly gained popularity within the React community. Its documentation is clear, and the community is active, providing support for developers using React with Ethereum.

  • truffle:

    Truffle has a large community and extensive documentation, making it easy to find tutorials and support. Its long-standing presence in the Ethereum ecosystem means many developers are familiar with it.

  • web3modal:

    Web3Modal has a supportive community and good documentation, making it easy for developers to implement wallet connections. Its popularity among dApp developers ensures a wealth of shared knowledge.

Performance

  • ethers:

    Ethers.js is lightweight and optimized for performance, making it suitable for applications where speed and efficiency are critical. Its minimalistic design contributes to faster load times and responsiveness.

  • web3:

    Web3.js can be resource-intensive due to its extensive feature set, which may impact performance in applications that require frequent interactions with the blockchain. Developers need to manage performance carefully.

  • wagmi:

    Wagmi is optimized for performance in React applications, allowing for efficient state management and reducing unnecessary re-renders, which enhances the user experience in dApps.

  • truffle:

    Truffle's performance is generally good, but it can be slower during the development process due to its comprehensive testing and deployment features, which may not be necessary for smaller projects.

  • web3modal:

    Web3Modal is lightweight and does not significantly impact the performance of dApps. Its primary function is to facilitate wallet connections without adding overhead.

Testing and Debugging

  • ethers:

    Ethers.js provides built-in utilities for testing and debugging, making it easier for developers to ensure their interactions with the blockchain are functioning as expected.

  • web3:

    Web3.js lacks built-in testing tools, which means developers often need to rely on external libraries or frameworks for testing their blockchain interactions, potentially complicating the testing process.

  • wagmi:

    Wagmi does not have dedicated testing tools but integrates well with existing React testing libraries, allowing developers to test their components and Ethereum interactions effectively.

  • truffle:

    Truffle excels in testing and debugging smart contracts, offering a robust suite of tools for writing tests and simulating blockchain interactions, which is essential for reliable smart contract development.

  • web3modal:

    Web3Modal does not provide testing features as it focuses on wallet connections. Developers need to ensure wallet integration works correctly through manual testing.

How to Choose: ethers vs web3 vs wagmi vs truffle vs web3modal
  • ethers:

    Choose Ethers.js for a lightweight, user-friendly library focused on interacting with the Ethereum blockchain. It is ideal for projects that require a simple API for reading and writing data to the blockchain without the overhead of a full framework.

  • web3:

    Use Web3.js if you need a robust library that supports multiple Ethereum networks and offers extensive features for interacting with smart contracts. It is suitable for projects that require deep integration with Ethereum's ecosystem.

  • wagmi:

    Opt for Wagmi if you are building React applications and want a set of React hooks for managing Ethereum state and interactions. It simplifies the integration of Ethereum features into React components, making it perfect for frontend developers.

  • truffle:

    Select Truffle if you need a comprehensive development environment for Ethereum. It includes tools for compiling, deploying, and testing smart contracts, making it suitable for larger projects that require a structured workflow.

  • web3modal:

    Choose Web3Modal if you want to provide users with a seamless way to connect their wallets to your dApp. It supports multiple wallet providers and simplifies the user experience for wallet connection.

README for ethers

The Ethers Project

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A complete, compact and simple library for Ethereum and ilk, written in TypeScript.

Features

  • Keep your private keys in your client, safe and sound
  • Import and export JSON wallets (Geth, Parity and crowdsale)
  • Import and export BIP 39 mnemonic phrases (12 word backup phrases) and HD Wallets (English as well as Czech, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Traditional Chinese)
  • Meta-classes create JavaScript objects from any contract ABI, including ABIv2 and Human-Readable ABI
  • Connect to Ethereum nodes over JSON-RPC, INFURA, Etherscan, Alchemy, Ankr or MetaMask
  • ENS names are first-class citizens; they can be used anywhere an Ethereum addresses can be used
  • Small (~144kb compressed; 460kb uncompressed)
  • Tree-shaking focused; include only what you need during bundling
  • Complete functionality for all your Ethereum desires
  • Extensive documentation
  • Large collection of test cases which are maintained and added to
  • Fully written in TypeScript, with strict types for security and safety
  • MIT License (including ALL dependencies); completely open source to do with as you please

Keep Updated

For advisories and important notices, follow @ethersproject on Twitter (low-traffic, non-marketing, important information only) as well as watch this GitHub project.

For more general news, discussions, and feedback, follow or DM me, @ricmoo on Twitter or on the Ethers Discord.

For the latest changes, see the CHANGELOG.

Summaries

Installing

NodeJS

/home/ricmoo/some_project> npm install ethers

Browser (ESM)

The bundled library is available in the ./dist/ folder in this repo.

<script type="module">
    import { ethers } from "./dist/ethers.min.js";
</script>

Documentation

Browse the documentation online:

Providers

Ethers works closely with an ever-growing list of third-party providers to ensure getting started is quick and easy, by providing default keys to each service.

These built-in keys mean you can use ethers.getDefaultProvider() and start developing right away.

However, the API keys provided to ethers are also shared and are intentionally throttled to encourage developers to eventually get their own keys, which unlock many other features, such as faster responses, more capacity, analytics and other features like archival data.

When you are ready to sign up and start using for your own keys, please check out the Provider API Keys in the documentation.

A special thanks to these services for providing community resources:

Extension Packages

The ethers package only includes the most common and most core functionality to interact with Ethereum. There are many other packages designed to further enhance the functionality and experience.

  • MulticallProvider - A Provider which bundles multiple call requests into a single call to reduce latency and backend request capacity
  • MulticoinPlugin - A Provider plugin to expand the support of ENS coin types
  • GanaceProvider - A Provider for in-memory node instances, for fast debugging, testing and simulating blockchain operations
  • Optimism Utilities - A collection of Optimism utilities
  • LedgerSigner - A Signer to interact directly with Ledger Hardware Wallets

License

MIT License (including all dependencies).