esbuild vs tsdown
esbuild
esbuild.github.iotsdown
tsdown.devSide by side
| Figure | esbuild | tsdown |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · JavaScript Build Tools | 8.4 (#3) | 7.0 (#27) |
| Installation | The recommended installation method is the native executable installed using npm. | The getting-started guide documents installation through npm, pnpm, yarn, and Bun. |
| Integrations | The FAQ names Vite, Amazon CDK, and Phoenix as projects that use esbuild. | The project says it supports Rolldown, Unplugin, and most Rollup plugins, as well as some Vite plugins. |
| 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 website states that tsdown is released under the MIT License. |
| Optimization | It supports tree shaking, minification, and source maps. | Built-in production features include tree-shaking, minification, and source maps. |
| Purpose | esbuild is an extremely fast bundler for the web designed to improve build tool performance and be easy to use. | tsdown is a bundler designed for building TypeScript and JavaScript libraries. |
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.