React vs Vue in 2026: What the npm Data Actually Says

React has 96 million weekly downloads. Vue has 9 million. That's a 10x gap — but download counts don't tell you which framework is right for your next project. I built PkgPulse to answer exactly this kind of question with real data instead of opinions. We put React 19 and Vue 3.5 head-to-head across five dimensions: popularity, bundle size, performance, ecosystem, and developer experience. Here's what the numbers say. Originally published on pkgpulse.com At a Glance: The Numbers Metric React Vue Weekly Downloads 96.2M 9.2M Bundle Size (min+gzip) ~4.3KB (react + react-dom) ~44.8KB (full) / ~23KB (runtime) GitHub Stars 234K+ 208K+ First Release 2013 2014 Current Version 19.x 3.5.x TypeScript Built-in (19+) Built-in (3+) License MIT MIT See the full live comparison — health scores, download trends, and more — at pkgpulse.com/compare/react-vs-vue The headline stat: React dominates in adoption, but Vue's 9.2M weekly downloads still represent a massive, thriving ecosystem. That 10x gap is pa