Lit vs Symbiote.js

Hi, DEV! If you work with Web Components, you've probably heard of Lit . It's the most popular library in this space, maintained by the Google team, and it does its job well. So why would I write an article about an alternative? Because Symbiote.js takes some fundamentally different architectural decisions - and even if you personally never plan to use it, some of these approaches are genuinely interesting and might change how you think about component design. I'm Alex, the maintainer of Symbiote.js, and I want to walk you through the key differences, being as fair as possible to both sides. Lit and Symbiote.js both produce standard Custom Elements. They can coexist on the same page - alongside raw native web components - without any conflicts. This isn't "pick one forever"; you could literally use both in the same project. At a Glance Symbiote.js 3.x Lit 3.x Core size (brotli) ~5.9 kb ~5.1 kb Dependencies 0 runtime 0 runtime Shadow DOM Opt-in Default SSR Built-in Experimental ( @lit-l