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Rollup vs esbuild: catalog facts
Rollup	esbuild
Best for: Bundling JavaScript libraries and custom build pipelines	Best for: Web developers who want fast bundling and minification
Free Free and open source.	Free Free and open source.
Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line	Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line
Thorough tree-shaking Many output formats including ESM, CommonJS and UMD All 4 strengths for Rollup Thorough tree-shaking Many output formats including ESM, CommonJS and UMD Simple plugin API used by Vite Code splitting without extra loader code	Very fast builds without a cache TypeScript, JSX and CSS supported without plugins All 4 strengths for esbuild Very fast builds without a cache TypeScript, JSX and CSS supported without plugins Tree shaking, minification and source maps CLI, JavaScript and Go APIs
No built-in development server More configuration than preconfigured tools like Vite	Plugin ecosystem is smaller than webpack's Does not type-check TypeScript
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License not stated	License: MIT
No account needed	No account needed
Offline features available	Offline features available
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Rollup rollupjs.org Catalog checked October 1, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for esbuild esbuild.github.io Catalog checked September 23, 2026

“Not stated” means we have not confirmed it. Features can vary by device and plan.