Best Code Formatting Tools in 2026: Prettier vs Biome vs dprint

TL;DR

Prettier for maximum ecosystem compatibility; Biome for speed and combined lint+format. Prettier (~45M weekly downloads) is the established standard — every editor supports it, every config works. Biome (~1.5M downloads, growing fast) is 10-35x faster, written in Rust, and combines formatting + linting in one tool. dprint (~200K) is the fastest formatter and most configurable but has the smallest ecosystem. For new projects in 2026, Biome is compelling; for existing projects, Prettier is the safe choice.

Key Takeaways

• Prettier: ~45M weekly downloads — universal adoption, 2-language support, every editor plugin
• Biome: ~1.5M downloads — 10-35x faster, Rust-based, lint + format combined
• dprint: ~200K downloads — fastest, WASM plugins, most configurable
• Biome — compatible with most Prettier configs via biome migrate prettier
• ESLint + Prettier — still common combo but Biome replaces both

---

Prettier (The Standard)

// .prettierrc — config
{
  "semi": true,
  "singleQuote": true,
  "printWidth": 100,
  "tabWidth": 2,
  "useTabs": false,
  "trailingComma": "all",
  "bracketSpacing": true,
  "arrowParens": "always",
  "endOfLine": "lf",
  "overrides": [
    {
      "files": "*.json",
      "options": { "printWidth": 80 }
    }
  ]
}

# .prettierignore
node_modules
dist
.next
.cache
coverage
*.min.js

# Prettier CLI commands
prettier --write "src/**/*.{ts,tsx,js,jsx,json,css,md}"
prettier --check "src/**/*.{ts,tsx}"     # CI check (fails if not formatted)
prettier --write .                        # Format everything

# With package.json scripts
# "format": "prettier --write .",
# "format:check": "prettier --check ."

// package.json — Husky + lint-staged integration
{
  "lint-staged": {
    "*.{ts,tsx,js,jsx}": ["eslint --fix", "prettier --write"],
    "*.{json,css,md}": ["prettier --write"]
  }
}

---

Biome (Speed + Lint)

// biome.json — combines ESLint + Prettier replacement
{
  "$schema": "https://biomejs.dev/schemas/1.9.0/schema.json",
  "organizeImports": { "enabled": true },
  "formatter": {
    "enabled": true,
    "indentStyle": "space",
    "indentWidth": 2,
    "lineWidth": 100,
    "lineEnding": "lf"
  },
  "javascript": {
    "formatter": {
      "quoteStyle": "single",
      "trailingCommas": "all",
      "semicolons": "always",
      "arrowParentheses": "always"
    }
  },
  "linter": {
    "enabled": true,
    "rules": {
      "recommended": true,
      "correctness": {
        "noUnusedVariables": "error"
      },
      "style": {
        "noNonNullAssertion": "warn"
      },
      "suspicious": {
        "noExplicitAny": "warn"
      }
    }
  },
  "files": {
    "ignore": ["node_modules", "dist", ".next", "coverage"]
  }
}

# Biome commands
biome format --write .            # Format all files
biome check --write .             # Lint + format + organize imports
biome lint .                      # Lint only
biome ci .                        # CI check (no writes, fails on issues)

# Migrate from Prettier
biome migrate prettier --write    # Import .prettierrc settings

# Speed comparison (same codebase):
# Prettier: 2.3s
# Biome:    0.07s  (33x faster!)

# VS Code setup — install Biome extension
# .vscode/settings.json
{
  "editor.defaultFormatter": "biomejs.biome",
  "editor.formatOnSave": true,
  "[javascript]": { "editor.defaultFormatter": "biomejs.biome" },
  "[typescript]": { "editor.defaultFormatter": "biomejs.biome" },
  "[typescriptreact]": { "editor.defaultFormatter": "biomejs.biome" }
}

---

dprint (Fastest)

// dprint.json — plugin-based config
{
  "incremental": true,
  "typescript": {
    "lineWidth": 100,
    "indentWidth": 2,
    "useTabs": false,
    "singleQuotes": true,
    "quoteStyle": "preferSingle",
    "trailingCommas": "onlyMultiLine",
    "semicolons": "always"
  },
  "json": {
    "lineWidth": 80,
    "indentWidth": 2
  },
  "markdown": {
    "lineWidth": 80
  },
  "plugins": [
    "https://plugins.dprint.dev/typescript-0.93.0.wasm",
    "https://plugins.dprint.dev/json-0.19.4.wasm",
    "https://plugins.dprint.dev/markdown-0.17.8.wasm",
    "https://plugins.dprint.dev/toml-0.6.2.wasm"
  ]
}

# dprint commands
dprint fmt                 # Format all files
dprint check               # Check without writing (CI)
dprint fmt --diff          # Show what would change

# Speed: fastest formatter available
# Prettier: 2.3s | Biome: 0.07s | dprint: 0.04s

---

Speed Benchmark

Tool	Format 1000 files	Language Support	Lint	Type-aware
Prettier	2-5s	20+ languages	❌	❌
Biome	0.05-0.1s	JS/TS/JSON/CSS	✅	❌
dprint	0.03-0.08s	Via plugins	❌	❌
ESLint + Prettier	4-15s	JS/TS	✅	✅ optional

---

When to Choose

Scenario	Pick
Established project, max compatibility	Prettier
New project, want speed + lint	Biome
Monorepo with huge file count	Biome or dprint
Need type-aware linting	ESLint (or Biome + ESLint for type checks)
Non-JS files (Go, Rust, Python)	Prettier (for JS) + lang-specific tools
Migrating from Prettier	Biome (biome migrate prettier)
CI speed is critical	Biome or dprint

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