React Virtualization Libraries Comparison
react-window vs react-virtualized vs react-virtual
1 Year
react-windowreact-virtualizedreact-virtualSimilar Packages:
What's React Virtualization Libraries?

React virtualization libraries are designed to optimize the rendering of large lists or tables by only rendering the visible items in the viewport. This significantly improves performance and user experience, especially when dealing with large datasets. By reducing the number of DOM nodes rendered at any given time, these libraries minimize memory usage and improve scrolling performance, making them essential for applications that require efficient handling of extensive lists or grids.

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react-window2,238,85516,009896 kB3a year agoMIT
react-virtualized1,053,64226,4632.2 MB42 years agoMIT
react-virtual310,1545,625158 kB69-MIT
Feature Comparison: react-window vs react-virtualized vs react-virtual

Performance Optimization

  • react-window:

    react-window provides excellent performance by implementing a simple and efficient virtualization technique. It is optimized for rendering large lists with minimal complexity, ensuring fast load times and smooth interactions.

  • react-virtualized:

    react-virtualized offers extensive performance optimizations, including windowing, dynamic row heights, and cell caching. It allows for complex layouts and can handle large datasets effectively, but it may require more configuration to achieve optimal performance.

  • react-virtual:

    react-virtual is designed for high performance with minimal overhead, focusing on rendering only the visible items in a list. It efficiently calculates the height of items and the scroll position, ensuring smooth scrolling even with large datasets.

API Complexity

  • react-window:

    react-window features a clean and minimal API that balances simplicity and functionality, making it easy to use while still providing the necessary features for effective virtualization.

  • react-virtualized:

    react-virtualized has a more complex API with a wide range of options and configurations. While this allows for greater flexibility, it can also lead to a steeper learning curve for new users.

  • react-virtual:

    react-virtual has a straightforward API that is easy to understand and implement, making it accessible for developers who want quick results without deep customization.

Flexibility and Features

  • react-window:

    react-window is designed to be lightweight and efficient, offering essential features for virtualization without unnecessary complexity. It strikes a balance between flexibility and simplicity, making it suitable for most common use cases.

  • react-virtualized:

    react-virtualized is highly flexible and feature-rich, supporting various use cases such as grids, tables, and dynamic content. This makes it suitable for applications that require advanced features but may be overkill for simpler projects.

  • react-virtual:

    react-virtual focuses on the core functionality of virtualization, providing a lightweight solution that is easy to integrate into existing projects without additional features that may complicate usage.

Community and Support

  • react-window:

    react-window, while newer, has gained popularity quickly and has a growing community. It benefits from the support of the React team and has good documentation, though it may not yet have the extensive resources of react-virtualized.

  • react-virtualized:

    react-virtualized has a large community and extensive documentation, making it easier to find support, examples, and solutions to common problems due to its long-standing presence in the React ecosystem.

  • react-virtual:

    react-virtual is relatively new compared to the other two, which may result in a smaller community and fewer resources available for troubleshooting and support.

Use Cases

  • react-window:

    react-window is perfect for applications that need efficient virtualization with minimal setup, making it suitable for most standard list rendering scenarios.

  • react-virtualized:

    react-virtualized is best suited for applications that need advanced features like variable row heights, grids, and more complex layouts, making it perfect for data-heavy applications.

  • react-virtual:

    react-virtual is ideal for projects that require fast and simple virtualization for lists without the need for complex features or configurations.

How to Choose: react-window vs react-virtualized vs react-virtual
  • react-window:

    Choose react-window if you want a modern, lightweight alternative to react-virtualized that is optimized for performance and simplicity. It is particularly useful for projects that prioritize minimal bundle size and faster rendering times, making it a great choice for applications with straightforward virtualization needs.

  • react-virtualized:

    Choose react-virtualized if you need a comprehensive solution with a wide range of features, including support for complex layouts, grid views, and dynamic row heights. It is suitable for applications that require advanced functionalities and flexibility in rendering large datasets, but it may come with a steeper learning curve due to its extensive API.

  • react-virtual:

    Choose react-virtual if you need a lightweight solution that focuses on simplicity and performance for rendering large lists. It is ideal for projects that require minimal setup and a straightforward API, making it suitable for developers looking for quick integration without extensive customization.

README for react-window

react-window

React components for efficiently rendering large lists and tabular data

If you like this project, 🎉 become a sponsor or ☕ buy me a coffee


React window works by only rendering part of a large data set (just enough to fill the viewport). This helps address some common performance bottlenecks:

  1. It reduces the amount of work (and time) required to render the initial view and to process updates.
  2. It reduces the memory footprint by avoiding over-allocation of DOM nodes.

Sponsors

The following wonderful companies have sponsored react-window:

Learn more about becoming a sponsor!

Install

# Yarn
yarn add react-window

# NPM
npm install --save react-window

Usage

Learn more at react-window.now.sh:

Related libraries

  • react-virtualized-auto-sizer: HOC that grows to fit all of the available space and passes the width and height values to its child.
  • react-window-infinite-loader: Helps break large data sets down into chunks that can be just-in-time loaded as they are scrolled into view. It can also be used to create infinite loading lists (e.g. Facebook or Twitter).
  • react-vtree: Lightweight and flexible solution to render large tree structures (e.g., file system).

Frequently asked questions

How is react-window different from react-virtualized?

I wrote react-virtualized several years ago. At the time, I was new to both React and the concept of windowing. Because of this, I made a few API decisions that I later came to regret. One of these was adding too many non-essential features and components. Once you add something to an open source project, removing it is pretty painful for users.

react-window is a complete rewrite of react-virtualized. I didn't try to solve as many problems or support as many use cases. Instead I focused on making the package smaller1 and faster. I also put a lot of thought into making the API (and documentation) as beginner-friendly as possible (with the caveat that windowing is still kind of an advanced use case).

If react-window provides the functionality your project needs, I would strongly recommend using it instead of react-virtualized. However if you need features that only react-virtualized provides, you have two options:

  1. Use react-virtualized. (It's still widely used by a lot of successful projects!)
  2. Create a component that decorates one of the react-window primitives and adds the functionality you need. You may even want to release this component to NPM (as its own, standalone package)! 🙂

1 - Adding a react-virtualized list to a CRA project increases the (gzipped) build size by ~33.5 KB. Adding a react-window list to a CRA project increases the (gzipped) build size by <2 KB.

Can a list or a grid fill 100% the width or height of a page?

Yes. I recommend using the react-virtualized-auto-sizer package:

screen shot 2019-03-07 at 7 29 08 pm

Here's a Code Sandbox demo.

Why is my list blank when I scroll?

If your list looks something like this...

...then you probably forgot to use the style parameter! Libraries like react-window work by absolutely positioning the list items (via an inline style), so don't forget to attach it to the DOM element you render!

screen shot 2019-03-07 at 7 21 48 pm

Can I lazy load data for my list?

Yes. I recommend using the react-window-infinite-loader package:

screen shot 2019-03-07 at 7 32 32 pm

Here's a Code Sandbox demo.

Can I attach custom properties or event handlers?

Yes, using the outerElementType prop.

Screen Shot 2019-03-12 at 8 58 09 AM

Here's a Code Sandbox demo.

Can I add padding to the top and bottom of a list?

Yes, although it requires a bit of inline styling.

Screen Shot 2019-06-02 at 8 38 18 PM

Here's a Code Sandbox demo.

Can I add gutter or padding between items?

Yes, although it requires a bit of inline styling.

Screen Shot 2019-03-26 at 6 33 56 PM

Here's a Code Sandbox demo.

Does this library support "sticky" items?

Yes, although it requires a small amount of user code. Here's a Code Sandbox demo.

License

MIT © bvaughn