Chroma
Chroma vs Solid and Leptos
An honest comparison of Chroma with SolidJS and Leptos to help you decide which fits your project.
Chroma, SolidJS, and Leptos all use fine-grained reactivity: signals update exactly the DOM they feed, with no virtual DOM. They differ in where the code is written, what compiles it, and how mature the ecosystem is.
At a glance
| Chroma | SolidJS | Leptos | |
|---|---|---|---|
| You write | JavaScript in .chr files, e(tag, props, ...children) | JSX or TSX | Rust with the view! macro |
| Reactive engine | Rust compiled to WebAssembly | JavaScript | Rust (WebAssembly in the browser) |
| Template compiler | None | Required (JSX transform) | Rust macros at compile time |
| Dev build step | None | Bundler | Rust compiler |
| Lists | For, no keys, rebuilds all nodes | For, keyed by reference, fine-grained | For with keys |
| SSR and hydration | Not available | Yes (SolidStart) | Yes |
| DevTools | No | Yes | See Leptos docs |
| Ecosystem and maturity | Small, early | Large, stable | Growing, stable core |
Check each project's own documentation for current details; the Solid and Leptos columns here are a summary, not a specification.
Choose Chroma when
- You want JavaScript authoring with no compiler or JSX step in development.
- You want one
.chrformat andchroma.jsonmanifest standardized across internal applications. - You want to ship the same app as a static bundle or inside Chroma Desktop.
Choose something else when
- You need SSR, hydration, or SEO-critical pages today (Chroma does not provide SSR): use SolidJS (SolidStart) or Leptos.
- You need large keyed lists that preserve focus and state across updates: use SolidJS or Leptos. Chroma's
Forrebuilds every item. - You need a mature ecosystem, DevTools, or error boundaries: use SolidJS.
- You want to write the whole app in Rust with compile-time checks: use Leptos.
Performance
Every DOM call in Chroma crosses the WebAssembly boundary, and no benchmarks are published. Do not choose Chroma for raw speed. See Architecture.