Both React and Vue are excellent frameworks, but our data from 100+ projects reveals clear patterns about when to choose each. Here's our unbiased analysis.
The Numbers Don't Lie
From our project portfolio:
- React projects: 82 (80%+ success rate)
- Vue projects: 18 (85% success rate)
- Average development time (React): 12 weeks
- Average development time (Vue): 10 weeks
- Developer availability (React): 10x more candidates
- Developer availability (Vue): Growing but limited
When We Choose React
1. Large Enterprise Applications
React's component model, hooks, and vast ecosystem make it ideal for complex, long-lived applications. The larger talent pool also ensures easier team scaling.
2. Mobile App Development
React Native allows us to share code between web and mobile apps. A typical project achieves 60-70% code sharing, dramatically reducing development costs.
3. Rich Ecosystem Requirements
Need authentication, state management, or data visualization? React's ecosystem has mature, battle-tested solutions for everything.
When We Choose Vue
1. Rapid Prototypes & MVPs
Vue's simplicity and gentle learning curve make it perfect for quick prototypes. We can build and iterate faster, especially with smaller teams.
2. Smaller Teams
For teams of 1-3 developers, Vue's convention-over-configuration approach reduces decision fatigue and increases productivity.
3. Gradual Integration
Vue excels at being incrementally adopted into existing applications. Start with one component and gradually expand.
Performance Comparison
Real-World Benchmarks (TodoMVC App):
| Metric | React 18 | Vue 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Initial render | 23ms | 18ms |
| Update 100 items | 12ms | 10ms |
| Bundle size | 42KB | 34KB |
| Memory usage | 4.2MB | 3.8MB |
Note: Differences are negligible in real-world applications
The Bottom Line
We choose React for most projects not because it's technically superior (it's not), but because:
- Easier to find experienced developers
- Better ecosystem for complex requirements
- React Native enables mobile development
- Corporate backing and long-term stability
However, Vue remains our go-to for rapid prototypes, smaller teams, and projects where development speed trumps ecosystem size.