Which is Better Routing Libraries for JavaScript Frameworks?
react-router vs vue-router
1 Year
react-routervue-routerSimilar Packages:
What's Routing Libraries for JavaScript Frameworks?

Routing libraries are essential for managing navigation and views in single-page applications (SPAs). They allow developers to define routes, handle navigation, and manage the browser's history, enabling a seamless user experience. React Router is designed specifically for React applications, providing a declarative way to manage routing, while Vue Router is tailored for Vue.js, integrating deeply with its ecosystem. Both libraries facilitate dynamic routing, nested routes, and route guards, but they cater to different frameworks and paradigms, making the choice between them critical based on the underlying framework used in the application.

NPM Package Downloads Trend
Github Stars Ranking
Stat Detail
Package
Downloads
Stars
Size
Issues
Publish
License
react-router11,142,44153,117858 kB1388 days agoMIT
vue-router3,180,0043,930831 kB462 months agoMIT
Feature Comparison: react-router vs vue-router

Integration with Framework

  • react-router: React Router is built specifically for React, allowing for deep integration with the component lifecycle and state management. It leverages React's context API to provide routing capabilities, making it easy to pass routing-related data to components without prop drilling.
  • vue-router: Vue Router is designed to work seamlessly with Vue.js, utilizing Vue's reactivity system to manage route changes. It allows for easy integration with Vue components, enabling developers to define routes directly in their Vue instances.

Dynamic Routing

  • react-router: React Router supports dynamic routing, allowing routes to be defined based on application state or user input. This flexibility enables developers to create complex routing scenarios, such as loading routes asynchronously or conditionally rendering routes based on user authentication.
  • vue-router: Vue Router also supports dynamic routing, allowing developers to define routes that can change based on application state. This feature is particularly useful for applications that require user-specific routes or those that need to load components on demand.

Nested Routes

  • react-router: React Router allows for nested routes, enabling developers to create complex UI structures where child routes can be rendered within parent components. This feature is beneficial for applications with multi-level navigation, providing a clear and organized routing structure.
  • vue-router: Vue Router supports nested routes, allowing for a hierarchical route structure that mirrors the component hierarchy in Vue applications. This feature simplifies the management of complex layouts and enhances the user experience by maintaining context during navigation.

Route Guards

  • react-router: React Router provides a mechanism for route guards through custom components and hooks, allowing developers to implement authentication and authorization checks before rendering specific routes. This feature is crucial for protecting sensitive areas of an application.
  • vue-router: Vue Router includes built-in route guards that can be applied globally, per-route, or within components. This feature allows developers to easily manage access control and perform checks before entering or leaving routes.

Community and Ecosystem

  • react-router: React Router has a large and active community, providing extensive documentation, tutorials, and third-party libraries that enhance its functionality. This support makes it easier for developers to find solutions and best practices for routing in React applications.
  • vue-router: Vue Router benefits from the strong Vue.js ecosystem, with a wealth of resources and community support. The documentation is comprehensive, and many plugins and tools are available to extend its capabilities, making it a reliable choice for Vue developers.
How to Choose: react-router vs vue-router
  • react-router: Choose React Router if you are developing a React application and require a robust, flexible routing solution that integrates seamlessly with React's component-based architecture. It supports dynamic routing and is widely adopted in the React community, ensuring a wealth of resources and examples.
  • vue-router: Choose Vue Router if you are building a Vue.js application and need a routing solution that is designed to work natively with Vue's reactivity system. Vue Router provides features like nested routes and route transitions, making it a perfect fit for Vue applications.
README for react-router

React Router

The react-router package is the heart of React Router and provides all the core functionality for both react-router-dom and react-router-native.

If you're using React Router, you should never import anything directly from the react-router package, but you should have everything you need in either react-router-dom or react-router-native. Both of those packages re-export everything from react-router.

If you'd like to extend React Router and you know what you're doing, you should add react-router as a peer dependency, not a regular dependency in your package.