Comparison with other bundlers
webpack is not the only module bundler out there. If you are choosing between using webpack or any of the bundlers below, here is a feature-by-feature comparison on how webpack fares against the current competition.
Feature
Additional chunks are loaded on demand
substack/node-browserify
no
substack/node-browserify
no
Feature
AMD require loads on demand
jrburke/requirejs
with manual configuration
substack/node-browserify
no
jrburke/requirejs
only wrapping in define
substack/node-browserify
yes
jrburke/requirejs
only wrapping in define
substack/node-browserify
yes
Feature
CommonJS require.resolve
substack/node-browserify
no
Feature
Concat in require require("./fi" + "le")
substack/node-browserify
no
Feature
Debugging support
webpack/webpack
SourceUrl, SourceMaps
jrburke/requirejs
not required
substack/node-browserify
SourceMaps
jspm/jspm-cli
SourceUrl, SourceMaps
rollup/rollup
SourceUrl, SourceMaps
webpack/webpack
19MB / 127 packages
jrburke/requirejs
11MB / 118 packages
substack/node-browserify
1.2MB / 1 package
jspm/jspm-cli
26MB / 131 packages
rollup/rollup
?MB / 3 packages
Feature
ES2015 import/export
webpack/webpack
yes (webpack 2)
substack/node-browserify
no
Feature
Expressions in require (guided) require("./templates/" + template)
webpack/webpack
yes (all files matching included)
substack/node-browserify
no
Feature
Expressions in require (free) require(moduleName)
webpack/webpack
with manual configuration
substack/node-browserify
no
Feature
Generate a single bundle
substack/node-browserify
yes
Feature
Indirect require var r = require; r("./file")
substack/node-browserify
no
Feature
Load each file separate
substack/node-browserify
no
Feature
Mangle path names
substack/node-browserify
partial
rollup/rollup
not required (path names are not included in the bundle)
jrburke/requirejs
uglify, closure compiler
Feature
Multi pages build with common bundle
webpack/webpack
with manual configuration
substack/node-browserify
with manual configuration
jspm/jspm-cli
with bundle arithmetic
jrburke/requirejs
with manual configuration
substack/node-browserify
with manual configuration
Feature
Node.js built-in libs require("path")
substack/node-browserify
yes
Feature
Other Node.js stuff
webpack/webpack
process, __dir/filename, global
substack/node-browserify
process, __dir/filename, global
jspm/jspm-cli
process, __dir/filename, global for cjs
substack/node-browserify
yes
jrburke/requirejs
loaders
substack/node-browserify
transforms
jspm/jspm-cli
plugin translate
rollup/rollup
plugin transforms
brunch/brunch
compilers, optimizers
Feature
Replacement for browser
webpack/webpack
web_modules, .web.js, package.json field, alias config option
jrburke/requirejs
alias option
substack/node-browserify
package.json field, alias option
jspm/jspm-cli
package.json, alias option
webpack/webpack
file system
substack/node-browserify
file system
jspm/jspm-cli
through plugins
rollup/rollup
file system or through plugins
brunch/brunch
file system
webpack/webpack
243B + 20B per module + 4B per dependency
jrburke/requirejs
14.7kB + 0B per module + (3B + X) per dependency
substack/node-browserify
415B + 25B per module + (6B + 2X) per dependency
jspm/jspm-cli
5.5kB for self-executing bundles, 38kB for full loader and polyfill, 0 plain modules, 293B CJS, 139B ES2015 System.register before gzip
rollup/rollup
none for ES2015 modules (other formats may have)
jrburke/requirejs
not required
jspm/jspm-cli
not needed in dev
♦ in production mode (opposite in development mode)
X is the length of the path string