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Svelte

A compiler that turns components into vanilla JavaScript.

Svelte takes a different approach from React and Vue: rather than shipping a runtime virtual-DOM library, it compiles components to imperative JavaScript that surgically updates the DOM. The result is small bundle sizes and fast first-paint times because there is no general-purpose framework runtime to ship.

Components are written as .svelte files combining HTML, JavaScript, and CSS in a single block, with reactivity expressed through assignments rather than explicit hooks or APIs. The SvelteKit framework adds routing, server-side rendering, and full-stack capabilities — the same role Next.js plays for React.

Rich Harris created Svelte at the New York Times Graphics department around 2016. He later joined Vercel, which now sponsors much of his Svelte work. Svelte 5 (2024) introduced runes, a more explicit reactivity model that resembles signals in Solid and other modern frameworks. Adoption is smaller than React's or Vue's but has grown steadily, particularly among developers who value Svelte's compact syntax.

npm create svelte@latest my-app