Nue vs React: The Framework That Makes JavaScript Look Bloated

Picture this: You click a button on a modern web app — and your fan spins up like it’s trying to take off.

Why? Because that button just downloaded half a megabyte of JavaScript.

Now imagine an entire working app… that’s smaller than that one button.

Yeah. It’s real. It’s called Nue, and it’s here to make every frontend dev feel personally attacked — and maybe a little inspired.

This is Patchnotes — and today we’re roasting the modern web stack while cheering for a framework that remembered how to use HTML.

Let’s Talk About the Current State of Web Dev

Cut to 2025. You want to build a to-do list app.

You install React.

Which installs Next.js.

Which installs 372 dependencies, a CSS-in-JS engine, a dark mode toggle that breaks your layout, and a hydration warning that will never go away.

By the time you're done scaffolding, your app is 4MB, and it renders… a button.

And not just any button. A ShadCN React button. It’s beautiful, it’s accessible, and it’s… half a megabyte of UI chrome and regret.

Then Comes Nue, Quietly Breaking the Internet

Meanwhile, Nue shows up with a three-file app that loads faster than you can say “npm audit fix.”

It’s HTML. It’s CSS. It’s JavaScript.

That’s it.

No virtual DOM. No reactivity soup. No hook dependency arrays that break if you breathe on them wrong.

Just actual, readable code.

And the kicker? The whole thing — the entire web app — is smaller than that React button.

Literally.

Here’s the Part Where It Gets a Little Ridiculous

Let’s get nerdy. Nue’s demo app uses Rust and WebAssembly under the hood for search across 150,000 records. It stays buttery smooth.

React? That JS version crashed. Call stack overflow. Devs crying in their terminal.

Nue? Just chillin'. Handling real-time search like it’s 1999.

This isn’t just impressive. It’s insulting — in the best way possible.

So Who’s Gonna Love Nue?

Let’s break this down.

If you write Rust or Go and React makes you feel like you’re translating Shakespeare into emojis? Nue is your escape hatch.

If you’re a design engineer drowning in 40,000-line design systems? Nue gives you modern CSS tools that actually make sense — like @layer, calc(), and variables that don’t require a PhD in utility classes.

If you’re a UX engineer tired of debugging useEffect chains longer than a CVS receipt? Nue lets you build actual, usable, light-as-air apps.

In short: if you’re human, and you’ve suffered through frontend, Nue wants to show you a better way.

Is This the Start of a New Framework Era?

Maybe. Maybe not.

But here’s the truth: when a framework shows up and delivers real performance, simpler code, and actually makes you happy to write frontend... it deserves a look.

Nue is built on standards. It’s lean. It’s fast. And it’s calling out the bloated status quo with a smirk and a :not() selector.

The fact that an entire app can weigh less than a React button?

That’s not a feature. That’s a protest.

That’s it for this one. Like, subscribe, and remember: friends don’t let friends ship 800KB of JavaScript for a button.