The 25 most popular front-end web frameworks in 2023

Front-end web frameworks are tools that help developers build responsive and dynamic web applications quickly and efficiently. They provide a set of pre-built components and tools that developers can use to create user interfaces and layouts without having to write everything from scratch.

In this list, we've included 25 of the most popular front-end web frameworks, ranging from the widely used React and Angular to more specialized frameworks like Bulma and UIKit. Each framework has its own strengths and weaknesses, so it's important to choose the one that best fits your needs and skill level. We've provided a brief description, pros and cons, official website, and beginner's tutorial for each framework to help you make an informed decision.

Here are the 25 most used front-end web frameworks in 2023:

React

A JavaScript library for building user interfaces, React is maintained by Facebook and used by many popular companies such as Netflix, Airbnb, and Dropbox. It's known for its efficiency and modularity, making it easy to build complex UI components.

Pros:
Large community, efficient, reusable components.

Cons:
Steep learning curve, high abstraction.

Official website:
https://reactjs.org/

Beginner's tutorial:
https://www.taniarascia.com/getting-started-with-react/

Angular

Angular is a TypeScript-based open-source front-end web application framework. Developed by Google, it's known for its scalability and large community.

Pros:
Large community, scalable, full-featured.

Cons:
Steep learning curve, requires knowledge of TypeScript.

Official website:
https://angular.io/

Beginner's tutorial:
https://angular.io/start

Vue.js

Vue.js is an open-source progressive JavaScript framework for building user interfaces. It's known for its simplicity, speed, and flexibility.

Pros:
Easy to learn, flexible, fast performance.

Cons:
Small community, not as many resources compared to other frameworks.

Official website:
https://vuejs.org/

Beginner's tutorial:
https://www.taniarascia.com/getting-started-with-vue/

jQuery

jQuery is a fast, small, and feature-rich JavaScript library. It simplifies HTML document traversal and manipulation, event handling, and animation.

Pros:
Easy to learn, lightweight, large community.

Cons:
Some methods are outdated, not suitable for complex apps.

Official website:
https://jquery.com/

Beginner's tutorial:
https://learn.jquery.com/

Bootstrap

Bootstrap is a free and open-source front-end framework for designing websites and web applications. It includes HTML, CSS, and JavaScript templates for creating responsive, mobile-first web pages.

Pros:
Easy to use, responsive design, customizable.

Cons:
Can lead to similar-looking websites, may require customization for complex designs.

Official website:
https://getbootstrap.com/

Beginner's tutorial:
https://www.taniarascia.com/getting-started-with-bootstrap/

Ember.js

Ember.js is an open-source JavaScript web framework for building web applications. It's known for its conventions, productivity, and stability.

Pros:
Convention-based, productivity-focused, good for complex apps.

Cons:
Steep learning curve, may require extensive setup.

Official website:
https://emberjs.com/

Beginner's tutorial:
https://guides.emberjs.com/release/tutorial/part-1/

Backbone.js

Backbone.js is a lightweight JavaScript library that provides structure to web applications by providing models with key-value binding and custom events, collections with a rich API of enumerable functions, views with declarative event handling, and connects it all to your existing API over a RESTful JSON interface.

Pros:
Lightweight, flexible, good for small apps.

Cons:
Limited functionality, steep learning curve.

Official website:
https://backbonejs.org/

Beginner's tutorial:
https://www.taniarascia.com/getting-started-with-backbone-js/

Materialize

Materialize is a modern responsive front-end framework based on Material Design. It includes CSS and JavaScript components for building responsive websites and web applications.

Pros:
Easy to use, responsive design, modern design aesthetic.

Cons:
Limited customization options, may not be suitable for complex designs.

Official website:
https://materializecss.com/

Beginner's tutorial:
https://www.taniarascia.com/getting-started-with-materialize/

Foundation

Foundation is a responsive front-end framework that includes HTML, CSS, and JavaScript components for building responsive websites and web applications.

Pros:
Easy to use, flexible, customizable.

Cons:
Limited documentation compared to other frameworks, may require some customization for complex designs.

Official website:
https://foundation.zurb.com/

Beginner's tutorial:
https://foundation.zurb.com/learn/getting-started.html

Svelte

Svelte is a component-based front-end framework that focuses on efficient rendering and small bundle sizes. It compiles components into highly optimized vanilla JavaScript code.

Pros:
Efficient rendering, small bundle sizes, easy to learn.

Cons:
Smaller community, limited third-party library support.

Official website:
https://svelte.dev/

Beginner's tutorial:
https://svelte.dev/tutorial/basics

Aurelia

Aurelia is a JavaScript framework for building web, mobile, and desktop applications. It's known for its modular architecture, extensibility, and compatibility with other libraries.

Pros:
Modular architecture, extensible, good for enterprise apps.

Cons:
Steep learning curve, smaller community compared to other frameworks.

Official website:
https://aurelia.io/

Beginner's tutorial:
https://aurelia.io/docs/tutorials/creating-a-todo-app/

Mithril

Mithril is a client-side MVC framework for building single-page applications. It's known for its small size, simplicity, and speed.

Pros:
Small size, fast performance, easy to learn.

Cons:
Limited community support, may not be suitable for complex apps.

Official website:
https://mithril.js.org/

Beginner's tutorial:
https://mithril.js.org/simple-application.html

Riot.js

Riot.js is a simple and elegant component-based JavaScript library for building user interfaces. It's known for its small size, easy learning curve, and compatibility with other libraries.

Pros:
Small size, easy to learn, compatible with other libraries.

Cons:
Smaller community, limited functionality compared to other frameworks.

Official website:
https://riot.js.org/

Beginner's tutorial:
https://riot.js.org/documentation/#getting-started

Polymer

Polymer is a JavaScript library for building web components. It provides a set of reusable HTML elements that can be used to build web applications.

Pros: Web component-based, reusable elements, good for building custom components.

Cons: Limited community support, may not be suitable for complex apps.

Official website:
https://www.polymer-project.org/

Beginner's tutorial:
https://www.taniarascia.com/getting-started-with-web-components/

Knockout.js

Knockout.js is a JavaScript library that helps you to create rich, responsive display and editor user interfaces with a clean underlying data model.

Pros:
Easy to learn, good for small apps, clean data model.

Cons:
Limited functionality, may not be suitable for complex apps.

Official website:
https://knockoutjs.com/

Beginner's tutorial:
https://knockoutjs.com/documentation/introduction.html

Stencil

Stencil is a web component compiler that generates optimized, reusable web components that can be used in any framework or vanilla JavaScript project.

Pros:
Generates reusable web components, compatible with any framework, easy to learn.

Cons:
Smaller community, may require some setup.

Official website:
https://stenciljs.com/

Beginner's tutorial:
https://stenciljs.com/docs/getting-started

Semantic UI

Semantic UI is a modern front-end development framework that uses human-friendly HTML to create responsive and mobile-friendly websites.

Pros:
Easy to use, human-friendly HTML, customizable.

Cons:
Smaller community, may require customization for complex designs.

Official website:
https://semantic-ui.com/

Beginner's tutorial:
https://semantic-ui.com/introduction/getting-started.html

Bulma

Bulma is a flexible and modern CSS framework that allows developers to easily build responsive and mobile-friendly websites. It's known for its simplicity, customization, and ease of use.

Pros:
Easy to use, customizable, modern design.

Cons:
Smaller community, may require customization for complex designs.

Official website:
https://bulma.io/

Beginner's tutorial:
https://bulma.io/documentation/overview/start/

Chakra UI

Chakra UI is a modern, accessible, and customizable component library for React that allows developers to easily build responsive and accessible web applications.

Pros:
Accessible, customizable, easy to use.

Cons:
Limited documentation, may require some customization for complex designs.

Official website:
https://chakra-ui.com/

Beginner's tutorial:
https://chakra-ui.com/docs/getting-started

Vuetify

Vuetify is a popular front-end framework for building responsive and mobile-first applications using Vue.js. It provides a set of customizable components and allows developers to easily create beautiful and responsive web applications.

Pros:
Easy to use, customizable, responsive design.

Cons:
May have a steep learning curve for beginners, may require customization for complex designs.

Official website:
https://vuetifyjs.com/

Beginner's tutorial:
https://vuetifyjs.com/en/getting-started/quick-start

Tailwind CSS

Tailwind CSS is a utility-first CSS framework that allows developers to easily create responsive and mobile-friendly web applications. It provides a set of customizable classes that can be used to style HTML elements.

Pros:
Customizable, easy to use, flexible.

Cons:
May require customization for complex designs, some developers may find the utility-first approach limiting.

Official website:
https://tailwindcss.com/

Beginner's tutorial:
https://tailwindcss.com/docs/guides/create-react-app

Ant Design

Ant Design is a popular UI library for React that provides a set of customizable components for building responsive and mobile-friendly web applications.

Pros:
Customizable, easy to use, responsive design.

Cons:
May have a steep learning curve for beginners, may require customization for complex designs.

Official website:
https://ant.design/

Beginner's tutorial:
https://ant.design/docs/react/getting-started

Materialize CSS

Materialize CSS is a modern and responsive front-end framework that allows developers to easily create mobile-first web applications using Material Design principles.

Pros:
Easy to use, responsive design, customizable.

Cons:
May require customization for complex designs, limited community support.

Official website:
https://materializecss.com/

Beginner's tutorial:
https://materializecss.com/getting-started.html

Quasar

Quasar is a high-performance front-end framework for building responsive and mobile-first applications using Vue.js. It provides a set of customizable components and allows developers to easily create beautiful and responsive web applications.

Pros:
Easy to use, customizable, responsive design.

Cons:
May have a steep learning curve for beginners, may require customization for complex designs.

Official website:
https://quasar.dev/

Beginner's tutorial:
https://quasar.dev/start/pick-quasar-flavour

UIKit

UIKit is a lightweight and modular front-end framework that allows developers to easily build responsive and mobile-friendly web applications. It provides a set of customizable components and supports both CSS and JavaScript plugins.

Pros:
Lightweight, easy to use, customizable.

Cons:
Limited community support, may require some customization for complex designs.

Official website:
https://getuikit.com/

Beginner's tutorial:
https://getuikit.com/docs/introduction