esbuild vs Gulp
esbuild
esbuild.github.ioGulp
gulpjs.comSide by side
| Figure | esbuild | Gulp |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · JavaScript Build Tools | 8.4 (#3) | 7.6 (#14) |
| Installation | The recommended installation method is the native executable installed using npm. | The Quick Start guide uses npm to install gulp-cli globally and gulp as a project devDependency. |
| Integrations | The FAQ names Vite, Amazon CDK, and Phoenix as projects that use esbuild. | The project README describes integrations with major IDEs and use with PHP, .NET, Node.js, Java, and other platforms. |
| License | The repository provides esbuild under the MIT License, which permits use, copying, modification, distribution, sublicensing, and sale subject to the license conditions. | The project's GitHub repository identifies its license as MIT. |
| Purpose | esbuild is an extremely fast bundler for the web designed to improve build tool performance and be easy to use. | Gulp is a toolkit for automating slow or repetitive development workflows and composing them into build pipelines. |
Plans
In their own words
esbuild
esbuild is a free bundler for web projects, designed to improve build-tool performance while remaining easy to use. It bundles ESM and CommonJS modules, including CSS modules, with built-in support for JavaScript, CSS, TypeScript and JSX. Optimization features include tree shaking, minification and source maps; development tools include a local server, watch mode and plugins. Developers can use the command-line, JavaScript or Go interface. The recommended installation is the native executable installed with npm. An alternative WebAssembly package works across platforms, though it can be substantially slower than the native package. esbuild is MIT-licensed. It does not type-check TypeScript, and its FAQ recommends running tsc separately. The FAQ describes code-splitting support as primitive. The maintainer says the project receives periodic releases and is maintained, but active feature development is not underway. The FAQ also notes that a project primarily built by one developer may not fit organizations seeking a larger or more active community.