# esbuild vs webpack

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** webpack

| Attribute | esbuild | webpack |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 54.1 (66% (medium)) | 69.9 (78% (high)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 0 | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 491,246 | 3,177 |
| adoption.github_stars | 40,078 | 65,972 |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"A fast bundler that combines JavaScript and other web assets into optimized output, with built-in TypeScript support and APIs accessible through command-line, JavaScript, and Go interfaces. It is indexed under Bundlers.","source":"https://esbuild.github.io","question":"What is esbuild?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"esbuild supports a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://esbuild.github.io","question":"What platforms does esbuild support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. esbuild is published under the MIT licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/evanw/esbuild","question":"Is esbuild open source?","confidence":0.95}]` | `[{"answer":"An open-source JavaScript bundler that prepares code and assets for production browser delivery. Offers code splitting for on-demand component loading, support for various module formats, preprocessing capabilities via loaders, and optimization to reduce bundle size and improve performance. It is indexed under Bundlers.","source":"https://webpack.js.org","question":"What is webpack?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"webpack is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the MIT licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://webpack.js.org","question":"Is webpack free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"webpack supports a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://webpack.js.org","question":"What platforms does webpack support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 4 integrations for webpack, including Gulp, Mocha, Karma and NPM Scripts. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://webpack.js.org","question":"What does webpack integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. webpack is published under the MIT licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/webpack/webpack","question":"Is webpack open source?","confidence":0.95}]` |
| description.long | A fast bundler that combines JavaScript and other web assets into optimized output, with built-in TypeScript support and APIs accessible through command-line, JavaScript, and Go interfaces. | A build tool that combines modules and assets into optimized bundles for web applications. It handles JavaScript, CSS, HTML, and other resource types through a plugin-based architecture with support for code splitting and transformation. |
| features.capabilities | `{"source_maps":true,"css_bundling":true,"tree_shaking":true}` | `{"open_source":true,"source_maps":true,"css_bundling":true,"tree_shaking":true,"code_splitting":true,"dev_server_hmr":true,"hmr_dev_server":true,"native_esm_dev":true,"polyglot_support":true,"incremental_builds":true,"webpack_plugin_compat":true,"tree_shaking_code_splitting":true,"hermetic_reproducible_builds":true}` |
| integrations.count | - | 4 |
| integrations.list | - | `[{"name":"Gulp"},{"name":"Mocha"},{"name":"Karma"},{"name":"NPM Scripts"}]` |
| language.primary | Go | JavaScript |
| license.spdx | MIT | MIT |
| market.availability | - | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true}` | `{"cli":true}` |
| pricing | - | `{"type":"open_source","summary":"Free and open-source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://webpack.js.org","retrievedAt":"2026-08-20T16:35:12.905Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | - | yes |
| pricing.model | - | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | - | free |
| release.cadence_days | 21 | 4 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/evanw/esbuild/releases/tag/v0.28.2","date":"2026-08-08T19:58:58Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.28.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/evanw/esbuild/releases/tag/v0.28.1","date":"2026-06-11T22:47:14Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.28.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/evanw/esbuild/releases/tag/v0.28.0","date":"2026-04-02T20:38:53Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.28.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/evanw/esbuild/releases/tag/v0.27.7","date":"2026-04-02T16:43:53Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.27.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/evanw/esbuild/releases/tag/v0.27.5","date":"2026-04-02T00:29:36Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.27.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/evanw/esbuild/releases/tag/v0.27.4","date":"2026-03-12T14:24:07Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.27.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/evanw/esbuild/releases/tag/v0.27.3","date":"2026-02-05T22:03:54Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.27.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/evanw/esbuild/releases/tag/v0.27.2","date":"2025-12-17T01:05:56Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.27.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/evanw/esbuild/releases/tag/v0.27.1","date":"2025-12-03T20:25:19Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.27.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/evanw/esbuild/releases/tag/v0.27.0","date":"2025-11-09T19:02:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.27.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/evanw/esbuild/releases/tag/v0.26.0","date":"2025-11-09T03:28:02Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.26.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/evanw/esbuild/releases/tag/v0.25.12","date":"2025-11-01T23:36:36Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.25.12"},{"url":"https://github.com/evanw/esbuild/releases/tag/v0.25.11","date":"2025-10-15T02:13:49Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.25.11"},{"url":"https://github.com/evanw/esbuild/releases/tag/v0.25.10","date":"2025-09-17T16:19:38Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.25.10"},{"url":"https://github.com/evanw/esbuild/releases/tag/v0.25.9","date":"2025-08-12T23:27:19Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.25.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/evanw/esbuild/releases/tag/v0.25.8","date":"2025-07-19T19:24:41Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.25.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/evanw/esbuild/releases/tag/v0.25.7","date":"2025-07-18T22:51:51Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.25.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/evanw/esbuild/releases/tag/v0.25.6","date":"2025-07-07T17:00:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.25.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/evanw/esbuild/releases/tag/v0.25.5","date":"2025-05-27T03:14:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.25.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/evanw/esbuild/releases/tag/v0.25.4","date":"2025-05-06T00:31:55Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.25.4"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/webpack/webpack/releases/tag/v5.111.1","date":"2026-09-18T11:23:07Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.111.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/webpack/webpack/releases/tag/v5.111.0","date":"2026-09-14T06:11:20Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.111.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/webpack/webpack/releases/tag/v5.110.3","date":"2026-09-01T19:57:07Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.110.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/webpack/webpack/releases/tag/v5.110.2","date":"2026-08-30T14:53:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.110.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/webpack/webpack/releases/tag/v5.110.1","date":"2026-08-27T20:01:43Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.110.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/webpack/webpack/releases/tag/v5.110.0","date":"2026-08-27T11:28:05Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.110.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/webpack/webpack/releases/tag/v5.109.2","date":"2026-07-28T18:14:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.109.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/webpack/webpack/releases/tag/v5.109.1","date":"2026-07-27T21:58:06Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.109.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/webpack/webpack/releases/tag/v5.109.0","date":"2026-07-23T19:19:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.109.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/webpack/webpack/releases/tag/v5.108.4","date":"2026-07-04T18:09:51Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.108.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/webpack/webpack/releases/tag/v5.108.3","date":"2026-06-29T22:00:22Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.108.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/webpack/webpack/releases/tag/v5.108.2","date":"2026-06-29T12:56:26Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.108.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/webpack/webpack/releases/tag/v5.108.1","date":"2026-06-26T13:04:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.108.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/webpack/webpack/releases/tag/v5.108.0","date":"2026-06-25T09:40:34Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.108.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/webpack/webpack/releases/tag/v5.107.2","date":"2026-05-25T15:18:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.107.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/webpack/webpack/releases/tag/v5.107.1","date":"2026-05-21T14:29:33Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.107.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/webpack/webpack/releases/tag/v5.107.0","date":"2026-05-20T09:40:29Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.107.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/webpack/webpack/releases/tag/v5.106.2","date":"2026-04-15T11:44:13Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.106.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/webpack/webpack/releases/tag/v5.106.1","date":"2026-04-10T10:42:06Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.106.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/webpack/webpack/releases/tag/v5.106.0","date":"2026-04-08T15:11:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.106.0"}]` |
| security.scorecard | 5 | 5.7 |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":3,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=esbuild&per_page=100","last_12m":2,"max_severity":"HIGH"}` | `{"count":4,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=webpack&per_page=100","last_12m":2,"max_severity":"CRITICAL"}` |

## Capabilities (Bundlers)

| Capability | esbuild | webpack |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Capabilities** |  |  |
| Dev server hmr | - | ✓ |
| Native esm dev | - | ✓ |
| Code splitting | - | ✓ |
| Tree shaking | ✓ | ✓ |
| Css bundling | ✓ | ✓ |
| Zero config | - | - |
| Webpack plugin compat | - | ✓ |
| Rollup plugin compat | - | - |
| Monorepo aware | - | - |
| Source maps | ✓ | ✓ |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T17:44:43.899Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*