Version 1.3.11
0
90
ExcellentBun is a fast all-in-one JavaScript runtime.
- Weekly Downloads
- 997.8K
↑10%
- Bundle (gzip)
- 5.8 KB
- Updated
- Vulns
- 0
Health Score Breakdown
Maintenance
100
Popularity
90
Quality
80
Security
100
Stability
70
Bun vs Vite
Side-by-side NPM package comparison
Quick Verdict
Smallest Bundle
Bun
5.8 KB gzipped
Most Popular
Vite
90.0M weekly downloads
Best Maintained
Bun
100/100 maintenance score
Highest Quality
Bun
80/100 quality score
Overall Pick
Bun
Best all-around based on popularity, size, maintenance & quality
Version 8.0.3
0
85
ExcellentNative-ESM powered web dev build tool
- Weekly Downloads
- 90.0M
↑43%
- Bundle (gzip)
- 638.7 KB
- Updated
- Vulns
- 0
Health Score Breakdown
Maintenance
100
Popularity
100
Quality
50
Security
100
Stability
70
Choosing between Bun and Vite? Here's a data-driven comparison based on real npm data — downloads, bundle size, health scores, and more — to help you decide which package fits your project best.
Downloads & Popularity
Vite leads with 90.0M weekly downloads — roughly 90.2x more. Bun has 997.8K weekly downloads. Higher download counts generally indicate broader community adoption and a larger ecosystem of tutorials, plugins, and support.
Bundle Size
Bun has the smallest gzipped bundle at 5.8 KB. Vite comes in at 638.7 KB. A smaller bundle size means faster page loads, which improves user experience and Core Web Vitals scores.
Health Score Comparison
Bun has an overall health score of 90/100 (excellent), with strong maintenance, quality, security, popularity scores. Vite has an overall health score of 85/100 (very good), with strong maintenance, security, popularity scores. Health scores are calculated from maintenance activity, code quality, security posture, popularity, and stability metrics.
When to Choose Each
Choose Bun if you value actively maintained, strong security track record. Choose Vite if you value massive community and ecosystem, actively maintained, strong security track record.
Our Verdict
Both Bun and Vite are solid choices for JavaScript development. Bun has the edge in overall health score (90/100), while each package brings unique strengths to the table. Evaluate them based on your project's priorities — whether that's community size, bundle efficiency, or maintenance activity — and choose the one that aligns best with your requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is bun better than vite?
- It depends on your needs. Bun has a health score of 90/100 while Vite scores 85/100. Vite has more weekly downloads (90.0M), suggesting broader adoption. Consider your specific requirements — bundle size, community support, and feature set — to decide which is the better fit.
- Which has a smaller bundle size, bun or vite?
- Bun has the smaller gzipped bundle at 5.8 KB. A smaller bundle means faster load times for your users, which can positively impact SEO and user experience.
- How many developers use bun vs vite?
- Based on npm download statistics, Bun has approximately 997.8K weekly downloads and Vite has approximately 90.0M weekly downloads. These numbers reflect package installations, not unique developers, but they indicate relative adoption levels.
- Which is better maintained, bun or vite?
- Bun currently has the higher overall health score at 90/100. Bun has a maintenance score of 100/100 and Vite scores 100/100 on maintenance.
Bun vs Vite: Do You Even Have to Choose?
Bun and Vite are not direct competitors in the way most "X vs Y" comparisons imply. Vite is a frontend build tool — dev server, HMR, production bundling, and a plugin ecosystem with 800+ community plugins powering React, Vue, Svelte, and SolidJS. Bun is a JavaScript runtime that happens to include a bundler. Bun's bundler is fast and zero-config, but it lacks React Fast Refresh, has no plugin API, and doesn't support the framework integrations that Vite handles out of the box.
The real 2026 story is that Vite 8 shipped Rolldown — a Rust-based bundler replacing Rollup — which closed the raw build speed gap that was Bun's main advantage. In benchmarks on real codebases, Vite 8 production builds are within 1.5-2x of Bun's bundler, down from 5-10x slower in Vite 5/6 era. Meanwhile, Bun's bundler still doesn't support HMR for development workflows, making it impractical as a standalone frontend dev tool.
The best setup in 2026 is Bun + Vite together: use Bun as your package manager (bun install is 10-25x faster than npm) and script runner, with Vite as your build tool. You get Bun's speed for everything outside the build pipeline and Vite's mature plugin ecosystem for the build itself. If you're building a CLI tool, serverless function, or backend bundle where you don't need HMR or framework plugins, Bun's bundler is the simpler, faster choice.
Related Comparisons
The 2026 JavaScript Stack Cheatsheet
One PDF: the best package for every category (ORMs, bundlers, auth, testing, state management). Used by 500+ devs. Free, updated monthly.