Head-to-Head: date-fns vs Luxon Analysis

date-fns

v4.1.0(5 months ago)

This package is actively maintained.Types definitions are bundled with the npm packageNumber of direct dependencies: 0Monthly npm downloads

date-fns is a modern JavaScript date utility library that provides comprehensive functionality for manipulating, formatting, and parsing dates. It offers a modular and functional approach to working with dates, allowing developers to easily perform common date operations like adding or subtracting time, calculating differences between dates, and formatting dates in various locales.

Alternatives:
dayjs+
luxon+
moment+
js-joda+
chrono-node+
spacetime+
date-and-time+
ms+
dateformat+
timeago.js+

Tags: javascriptdatetimeutilityformatting

luxon

v3.5.0(6 months ago)

This package is actively maintained.Types definitions are provided via a separate npm package: @types/luxonNumber of direct dependencies: 0Monthly npm downloads

Luxon is a modern JavaScript library for working with dates and times, offering a rich set of features for parsing, formatting, and manipulating date and time values. It provides a more robust and intuitive API compared to traditional date handling in JavaScript, making it easier to work with timezones, durations, and intervals. Luxon is actively maintained and offers excellent performance and reliability for date-related operations.

Alternatives:
date-fns+
dayjs+
moment+
js-joda+
spacetime+
chrono-node+
date-and-time+
timeago.js+
fecha+
date-holidays+

Tags: javascriptdatetimeformattingparsing

Fight!

Popularity

Both Date-fns and Luxon are popular choices for working with dates and times in JavaScript. Date-fns has gained significant popularity in recent years, while Luxon, although slightly less popular, has a dedicated user base and is known for its powerful features and great developer experience.

Size

Date-fns is a modular library consisting of individual modules, allowing you to import only the functionalities you need, which helps keep your bundle size minimal. Luxon, on the other hand, has a larger codebase, which can result in a slightly larger bundle size.

Functionality

Both libraries provide comprehensive date and time manipulation functionalities. Date-fns is known for its functional programming approach and provides a wide range of utility functions for working with dates and times. Luxon, on the other hand, is a full-featured library that offers a more high-level and object-oriented API, with built-in support for internationalization, time zones, and formatted output.

Developer Experience

Date-fns provides a clean and intuitive API, making it easy to work with dates and times. It has good TypeScript support and offers a consistent and predictable API surface. Luxon also provides a great developer experience with a fluent and chainable API, allowing for expressive and readable code. It has excellent TypeScript support, making it a preferred choice for TypeScript projects.

Flexibility

Date-fns is a more lightweight and modular library, which allows you to pick and choose the functionalities you need, making it highly flexible and customizable. Luxon, on the other hand, is a more feature-rich library that provides a comprehensive set of functionalities out-of-the-box, making it a good choice for projects that require a more robust date and time handling.

Compatibility

Date-fns works in both browser and Node.js environments and supports a wide range of legacy browsers. Luxon also works in browser and Node.js environments, but it may have limitations with certain legacy browsers due to its usage of newer JavaScript language features.