Top 10 Angular Alternatives

This article will explore ten of the best Angular alternatives. The list includes React, VueJS, Aurelia, EmberJS, MeteorJS, etc.

Initially released in 2010, Google’s Angular JS quickly rose to become one of the most popular and most used JavaScript frameworks among developers.

It enabled simpler and easier integration with third-party apps and resolved several development issues for developers, enabling them to build robust web apps rapidly.

Compared to other JavaScript frontend frameworks, Angular is much more mature and is backed by a large community that can easily help you out with any development challenges.

That said, come 2022, the relative popularity of Angular has been diverted to some of the other JavaScript libraries like React and Vue, which offer specific paradigms that might be better suited for certain situations.

In addition, there are certain disadvantages of using Angular, especially the problems with SEO, which has led to developers searching for Angular alternatives that can better serve the purpose.

In the following post, we take a look at some of the pros and cons of using Angular followed by some of the top alternatives to Angular.

If you have been wondering about which frontend framework to use for your next project, the following list should help you make an informed decision.

Keep reading to discover some of the best competitors to Angular.

What is Angular? 

In its current implementation, Angular is a platform and a Javascript client-side framework used primarily to build single-page web, desktop, and mobile applications using TypeScript and HTML.

The current version of Angular is actually a complete rewrite of the original (Angular JS), which was among the first web frameworks to introduce dependency injection and HTML-driven development.

This rewrite was primarily done to keep up with the latest changes in web development, such as decoupling the framework from the DOM and enabling the use of multiple renderers.

The rewrite uses Microsoft’s TypeScript, which is a typed superset of JavaScript. Angular borrows concepts and ideologies from Java, offering a framework for client-side MVC (model-view-controller) and MVVM (model-view-ViewModel) architectures.

Angular is heavily used in developing progressive web applications, UI animations, business web applications, and web and mobile apps.

Keep reading to discover some of the best competitors to Angular JS.

Advantages of Angular

• Speed

Unlike some of the other JavaScript libraries, Angular is a complete framework with diverse capabilities. Some of these functionalities like template syntax and routers enable rapid development and faster app loading.

Moreover, Angular is compatible with various types of backend languages to display the gathered data more efficiently.

• Performance

Angular is suitable for developing large-scale apps that require solid and scalable architectures. In the newer versions of Angular, large apps can use lazy-load modules to reduce the initial loading size of the application and the Ivy Renderer to improve the performance of the applications.

• Fast development process

Being supported by Google and a robust community, Angular contains a robust ecosystem of libraries and dependencies that allow the developers to focus on the core functionalities of the app.

The Angular CLI offers a complete set of helpful tools that can be used to solve complicated software issues, which further accelerate the development process.

Please read Deploying Angular.JS using containers to see how is easy is to deploy this technology.

Disadvantages of Angular

• Limited SEO options

One of the most common criticisms against Angular is the platform’s limited SEO options and indexing issues due to poor accessibility for search engine crawlers.

That said, since Angular comes from the house of Google, the largest search engine on the planet, there are hopes that this issue might be resolved in future updates.

• Hard to learn

Angular is a complex web of modules, integrations, customizable capabilities, etc., which make it difficult for newer developers to grasp the core concepts of the app.

While this is an obvious downside, it does make Angular capable to handle complex workloads effortlessly.

• Complex

If you are working on small-ticket assignments, the complexity of Angular can weigh you down and hamper productivity.

In such instances, consider using one of the single-library client-side Angular alternatives like React, which should serve your purpose better.

Top 10 Angular Alternatives

Here are ten of the best Angular competitors.

React

Facebook’s React is one of the most popular competitors to Angular and for good reason. It was originally designed to build app user interfaces, but it can be easily used to design and maintain frontend ecosystems.

React brings several important features like one-way data binding, virtual DOM, JavaScript XML extension, and modularity with each component having its own logic and controls. It is also SEO friendly, allowing developers to build functional and user-friendly websites rather easily.

Vue JS

Vue is one of the new kids on the block and is silently rising in the popularity ranks. It is a lightweight alternative to Angular but offers much more core functionalities that React.

Even though the recent versions of Angular have considerably low sizers, a fully featured Vue project is significantly smaller than one developed using Angular CLI.

Moreover, Vue is easier to learn and is more suitable for cross-platform applications.

Aurelia

Aurelia is another popular full framework that is very well received thanks to the multitude of features it brings to the table.

It comes with a number of libraries that work in tandem with other well-defined interfaces, providing modern JavaScript models with modularity and flexibility.

Unlike Angular, developers also do not need to specify the controllers of view-models, and the dependency injection containers simplify the decomposing system substantially.

Ember JS

Ember is another popular JS web framework that is used by several top names like LinkedIn, Twitch, Vine, Apple Music, etc. It is immensely popular among developers, allowing them to build scalable web apps using common idioms akin to the Model-view-ViewModel architecture.

It enables easier access to jQuery’s features and presents an easily understandable API and Element Modifier Manager that make it easier to develop complex projects.

Backbone JS

Released shortly after Angular, Backbone has grown in popularity to become a viable competitor to Angular due to the ease and simplicity of the library.

It is based on the model-view-presenter design model, which makes the communication between the server and client entirely through a RESTful JSON API.

Backbone is highly flexible and lightweight, making it easier to build apps and their front ends using JavaScript and Underscore methods.

Mithril

Mithril is a small client-side JavaScript framework that is primarily used to create single-page apps.

It is easy to learn, loads very fast and has a smaller API compared to its alternatives, which requires users to learn only a few functions to get started, making Mithril the first choice for many developers starting JS development.

In addition to the easy learning curve, Mithril is faster compared to Angular as it deploys a smaller code to run.

Meteor JS

Meteor JS is a full-stack JavaScript framework that contains a comprehensive collection of interdependent libraries that can be used to build websites and apps quickly and easily.

It includes a set of technologies and offers developers a platform for building connected client reactive apps for the web, iOS, and Android.

Meteor also provides a database that is entirely written in JavaScript and contains universal apps that allow developers to use the same code for multiple platforms. 

Polymer

Polymer is another open-source JavaScript library launched by Google in 2015 to build apps with web components.

The popularity of Polymer can be attested by the fact that it is used by a number of top companies like Electronic Arts (EA), Netflix, IBM, and Coca-Cola.

With Polymer, developers can create their own custom elements using CSS, HTML, and JavaScript to add features and interactions to the element.

It supports both one-way and two-way data binding and cross-browser compatibility.

Svelte

Svelte is a radical new approach to building web app UIs. It is a popular free and open-source compiler that does not include a framework script; instead, Svelte shifts its work into a compile step to produce cybernetically improved web apps.

Unlike its peers like React and Vue which do the bulk of their work in the browser, Svelte does not do its work in the browser and instead updates the DOM instantly to offer better reactivity, scalability, and speed.

Knockout

Released in early 2017, Knockout has also been consistently growing in popularity as a standalone JavaScript implementation of the MVVM pattern with templates.

It has a comparatively easier learning curve and a low entry barrier; it also has extensive documentation with tutorials and live examples. Templates help developers built complex UI structures and provide an easier way of handling complex data-driven interfaces.

Some of the most sought after features of Knockout includes declarative bindings, deep browser support, built-in templating support, etc. 

Conclusion

Angular is arguably one of the most complete JavaScript frameworks available to developers. There are certain things that Angular does better, that Angular alternatives simply omit.

Meanwhile, other theoretical implementations are much better executed by the abovementioned competitors. Developers will therefore need to understand the requirements of their projects thoroughly to decide which alternative will be the best fit for their deployment.

If you cannot conclude on your own, consider getting in touch with one of the leading Javascript hosting companies, where the experts can help you decide on the best software solutions for your upcoming projects.

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