esbuild vs Rolldown
esbuild
esbuild.github.io
Rolldown
rolldown.rsSide by side
| Figure | esbuild | Rolldown |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · JavaScript Build Tools | 8.4 (#3) | 8.7 (#1) |
| License | The repository provides esbuild under the MIT License, which permits use, copying, modification, distribution, sublicensing, and sale subject to the license conditions. | Rolldown is free and open source; VoidZero states that it remains open source and MIT-licensed. |
| Purpose | esbuild is an extremely fast bundler for the web designed to improve build tool performance and be easy to use. | Rolldown is a Rust-based bundler for JavaScript with a Rollup-compatible API and esbuild feature parity. |
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.
Rolldown
Rolldown is a free, open-source JavaScript bundler written in Rust and designed as the unified bundler powering Vite 8+. Its Rollup-compatible plugin API can reuse most existing Rollup plugins. Built-in capabilities include TypeScript and JSX transforms, syntax lowering, module resolution, ESM and CommonJS interoperability, define, inject, and minification. It can handle mixed ESM and CommonJS module graphs and supports configurable manual code splitting. Install commands are provided for npm, pnpm, yarn, bun, and vp. Prebuilt binaries are listed for Linux, Windows, Apple platforms, Android, and other targets; where none is distributed, a Wasm build or building from source are options. The guide recommends using Rolldown through Vite for most applications and points library authors to tsdown. Module types are experimental, and the JavaScript build() API may change in patch releases. The troubleshooting guide says Windows file-system access can slow builds, particularly when transforms run without plugins. An online REPL is linked, along with GitHub, Discord, and contribution resources. VoidZero Inc. holds the copyrights, funds development, and directs the project; it states Rolldown remains open source and MIT-licensed.