I Built the Same App 10 Times: Evaluating Frameworks for Mobile Performance
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A developer built the same kanban board application using 10 different frameworks to evaluate mobile web performance. Next-generation frameworks like Marko, SolidStart, SvelteKit, and Qwik achieve 35-39ms First Contentful Paint with bundle sizes ranging from 28.8 kB to 58.4 kB compressed, while React-based frameworks ship 118.2-176.3 kB compressed with significantly slower load times. The measurements reveal that React's architecture creates unavoidable performance costs, with bundles 2-6x larger than alternatives, while Vue via Nuxt proves established frameworks can compete when properly optimized. For mobile-first applications on cellular networks, framework choice directly impacts user experience through measurable differences in bundle size and load performance.
Table of contents
Why I Built ThisKey Takeaways (TL;DR)Why Mobile Web Performance MattersThe Experiment SetupWhy I Expanded from Three to Ten FrameworksBundle Size Reality CheckThe Verdict: What I’m RecommendingPerformance Reality: What Lighthouse HidesDoes Complexity Buy You Anything?Does Next.js 16’s Built-in Compiler Change Anything?The Web is the Last Commons: Why This Matters Beyond FrameworksConclusion: What This Evaluation RevealedReproducing These ResultsCall to ActionAcknowledgements3 Comments
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