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SWC vs Babel: catalog facts
SWC	Babel
Best for: JavaScript and TypeScript developers who want faster builds than Babel	Best for: Web developers who need modern JavaScript to run in older browsers
Free Free and open source under the Apache 2.0 licence.	Free Free and open source, funded by community sponsors.
Windows, macOS, Linux, Web, Command line	Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line
Much faster transpilation than Babel by the project's benchmarks Handles compilation, minification and bundling All 4 strengths for SWC Much faster transpilation than Babel by the project's benchmarks Handles compilation, minification and bundling Prebuilt binaries for many platforms Used by widely adopted tools such as Next.js and Deno	Lets you use new JavaScript features while supporting older browsers Widely used in build pipelines All 3 strengths for Babel Lets you use new JavaScript features while supporting older browsers Widely used in build pipelines Active project with a recent major release
Most people use it through another build tool rather than directly Plugins via WebAssembly add complexity compared with Babel plugins	Usually needs configuration inside a build setup Newer, faster tools now cover some of its use cases
Downloadable app, Web application	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: Apache-2.0	License: MIT
No account needed	No account needed
Offline features available	Offline features available
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for SWC swc.rs Catalog checked October 2, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Babel babeljs.io Catalog checked October 2, 2026

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