React
React is not technically a framework—it’s a JavaScript library—but at this point arguing that distinction is kind of pointless. Created by Meta, React focuses on building user interfaces using reusable components. You describe what the UI should look like, and React handles how it updates, thanks to its declarative approach.
Under the hood, React uses a Virtual DOM to efficiently update only what changes, which keeps interfaces fast and responsive. Its real superpower, however, is its ecosystem. Tools like Next.js and Vite bolt on everything from routing to performance optimisation, making React endlessly adaptable.
React dominates the framework market usage, which means opinions are loud. Facebook, Netflix, and Airbnb rely on it.
Angular
Angular, built by Google, is a full-featured frontend framework. Unlike React’s “choose your own adventure” approach, Angular is strongly opinionated. It tells you how to structure your app and how to write your code.
TypeScript is mandatory, which adds type safety and makes large codebases far more manageable. Angular also ships with everything included: routing, forms, HTTP clients, and testing tools are all built in.
The learning curve is steeper, but Angular shines in large, enterprise-scale applications where consistency and structure matter more than flexibility.
Vue
Vue is the framework that quietly wins people over. It’s a progressive JavaScript framework designed to be approachable, especially for beginners, without sacrificing power.
Vue borrows good ideas from both React and Angular and blends them into a clean, intuitive design. Single-file components keep HTML, CSS, and JavaScript neatly packaged together, which when written well feels incredibly satisfying.
The community is strong and the documentation is decent. Vue doesn’t have a strong NPM package ecosystem like react but its still strong!
Blazor
Blazor is Microsoft’s move into modern web development. It allows developers to build web applications using C# instead of JavaScript, which immediately makes it an interesting alternative compared to other offerings if nothing else.
Blazor can run on the server or directly in the browser via WebAssembly, offering flexibility in how applications are deployed. Its tight integration with .NET tooling makes it a natural fit for Microsoft ecosystem developers.
The ecosystem is far smaller than React or Vue. Blazor is most commonly found in Microsoft-centric environments..
Next.js
Next.js, built by Vercel, is a full-stack framework that adds structure and powerful features on top of React.
It supports server-side rendering for faster initial load times and static site generation for highly optimised pages. File-based routing makes navigation intuitive, and built-in API routes allow backend logic to live alongside frontend code.