Shiki vs Prism vs highlight.js: Syntax Highlighting Libraries (2026)

TL;DR

Shiki uses VS Code's TextMate grammars — accurate, beautiful highlighting with VS Code themes, renders to HTML at build time, no client-side JavaScript needed, used by VitePress, Astro, and Nuxt Content. Prism is the lightweight client-side highlighter — extensible plugin system, token-based, 300+ languages, used by MDN and Gatsby. highlight.js is the classic auto-detecting highlighter — automatically detects language, 190+ languages, no dependencies, the most widely used. In 2026: Shiki for static/server-rendered docs, Prism for client-side with plugins, highlight.js for zero-config highlighting.

Key Takeaways

• Shiki: ~5M weekly downloads — VS Code grammars, server-side, zero client JS
• Prism: ~5M weekly downloads — lightweight, plugins (line numbers, copy), client-side
• highlight.js: ~10M weekly downloads — auto-detect language, zero-config, universal
• Shiki produces the most accurate highlighting (same engine as VS Code)
• Prism has the best plugin ecosystem (line highlighting, diff, toolbar)
• highlight.js is the easiest to set up (script tag + auto-detection)

---

Shiki

Shiki — VS Code-powered highlighting:

Basic usage

import { codeToHtml } from "shiki"

const html = await codeToHtml('console.log("Hello, World!")', {
  lang: "javascript",
  theme: "one-dark-pro",
})

console.log(html)
// → <pre class="shiki one-dark-pro" style="background-color:#282c34">
// →   <code><span style="color:#E5C07B">console</span>...
// → </pre>

// Output is fully styled HTML — no client-side JS needed!

Multiple themes (light/dark)

import { codeToHtml } from "shiki"

// Dual theme — light + dark mode:
const html = await codeToHtml('const x = 42', {
  lang: "typescript",
  themes: {
    light: "github-light",
    dark: "github-dark",
  },
})

// CSS to switch between themes:
// @media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
//   .shiki { background-color: var(--shiki-dark-bg) !important; }
//   .shiki span { color: var(--shiki-dark) !important; }
// }

Highlighter instance (performance)

import { createHighlighter } from "shiki"

// Create reusable highlighter (loads grammars once):
const highlighter = await createHighlighter({
  themes: ["one-dark-pro", "github-light"],
  langs: ["javascript", "typescript", "python", "rust", "json"],
})

// Fast repeated highlighting:
const html1 = highlighter.codeToHtml('const x = 1', { lang: "ts", theme: "one-dark-pro" })
const html2 = highlighter.codeToHtml('def main():', { lang: "python", theme: "one-dark-pro" })
const html3 = highlighter.codeToHtml('fn main() {}', { lang: "rust", theme: "one-dark-pro" })

// Dispose when done:
highlighter.dispose()

Transformers (line highlighting, diff, etc.)

import { codeToHtml } from "shiki"
import {
  transformerNotationDiff,
  transformerNotationHighlight,
  transformerNotationFocus,
} from "@shikijs/transformers"

const code = `
const old = "removed"  // [!code --]
const new = "added"    // [!code ++]
const highlighted = 1  // [!code highlight]
const focused = true   // [!code focus]
`

const html = await codeToHtml(code, {
  lang: "typescript",
  theme: "one-dark-pro",
  transformers: [
    transformerNotationDiff(),      // Red/green diff lines
    transformerNotationHighlight(), // Highlighted lines
    transformerNotationFocus(),     // Focus with dimmed context
  ],
})

Framework integrations

// VitePress — built-in Shiki:
// ```ts {1,3-4}  ← line highlighting
// const a = 1  // [!code ++]  ← diff
// ```

// Astro — built-in Shiki:
// astro.config.mjs
export default defineConfig({
  markdown: {
    shikiConfig: {
      theme: "one-dark-pro",
      wrap: true,
    },
  },
})

// Nuxt Content — built-in Shiki:
// nuxt.config.ts
export default defineNuxtConfig({
  content: {
    highlight: {
      theme: "github-dark",
      langs: ["js", "ts", "vue", "css", "html"],
    },
  },
})

---

Prism

Prism — lightweight client-side highlighter:

Basic setup

<!-- CDN (quickest setup): -->
<link href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/prismjs/themes/prism-tomorrow.css" rel="stylesheet" />
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/prismjs/prism.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/prismjs/components/prism-typescript.min.js"></script>

<!-- Your code blocks: -->
<pre><code class="language-typescript">
const greeting: string = "Hello, World!"
console.log(greeting)
</code></pre>

<!-- Prism auto-highlights on page load -->

Node.js / programmatic

import Prism from "prismjs"
import "prismjs/components/prism-typescript"
import "prismjs/components/prism-python"
import "prismjs/components/prism-rust"

const code = 'const x: number = 42'
const html = Prism.highlight(code, Prism.languages.typescript, "typescript")

console.log(html)
// → <span class="token keyword">const</span>
// → <span class="token literal-property">x</span>
// → <span class="token operator">:</span> ...

// Wrap in <pre><code>:
const block = `<pre class="language-typescript"><code>${html}</code></pre>`

Plugins

<!-- Line numbers: -->
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/prismjs/plugins/line-numbers/prism-line-numbers.min.js"></script>
<link href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/prismjs/plugins/line-numbers/prism-line-numbers.css" rel="stylesheet" />
<pre class="line-numbers"><code class="language-js">...</code></pre>

<!-- Line highlight: -->
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/prismjs/plugins/line-highlight/prism-line-highlight.min.js"></script>
<pre data-line="2,4-6"><code class="language-js">...</code></pre>

<!-- Copy to clipboard: -->
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/prismjs/plugins/toolbar/prism-toolbar.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/prismjs/plugins/copy-to-clipboard/prism-copy-to-clipboard.min.js"></script>

<!-- Diff highlight: -->
<pre><code class="language-diff-typescript diff-highlight">
- const old = "removed"
+ const new = "added"
</code></pre>

Themes

Built-in themes:
  prism.css             — Default (light)
  prism-dark.css        — Dark
  prism-funky.css       — Funky
  prism-okaidia.css     — Okaidia (Monokai)
  prism-twilight.css    — Twilight
  prism-coy.css         — Coy
  prism-solarizedlight.css — Solarized Light
  prism-tomorrow.css    — Tomorrow Night

Community themes (prism-themes package):
  prism-vsc-dark-plus    — VS Code Dark+
  prism-one-dark         — Atom One Dark
  prism-dracula          — Dracula
  prism-nord             — Nord
  prism-material-dark    — Material Dark

---

highlight.js

highlight.js — auto-detecting highlighter:

Basic setup

<!-- CDN (simplest possible setup): -->
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/highlight.js/styles/github-dark.min.css" />
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/highlight.js/highlight.min.js"></script>
<script>hljs.highlightAll()</script>

<!-- Code blocks — language auto-detected! -->
<pre><code>
const greeting = "Hello, World!"
console.log(greeting)
</code></pre>
<!-- highlight.js detects this as JavaScript automatically -->

Node.js / programmatic

import hljs from "highlight.js"

// Auto-detect language:
const result = hljs.highlightAuto('const x = 42')
console.log(result.language) // → "javascript"
console.log(result.value)    // → highlighted HTML

// Specify language:
const result2 = hljs.highlight('const x: number = 42', { language: "typescript" })
console.log(result2.value)
// → <span class="hljs-keyword">const</span>
// → <span class="hljs-attr">x</span>: ...

// Only load specific languages (smaller bundle):
import hljs from "highlight.js/lib/core"
import javascript from "highlight.js/lib/languages/javascript"
import typescript from "highlight.js/lib/languages/typescript"

hljs.registerLanguage("javascript", javascript)
hljs.registerLanguage("typescript", typescript)

Themes

Built-in themes (300+):

Popular dark themes:
  github-dark.css
  atom-one-dark.css
  vs2015.css          — VS Code dark
  monokai.css
  dracula.css
  nord.css
  tokyo-night-dark.css

Popular light themes:
  github.css
  atom-one-light.css
  vs.css              — VS Code light
  stackoverflow-light.css
  xcode.css

// Use theme:
<link rel="stylesheet" href="highlight.js/styles/github-dark.css" />

Language auto-detection

import hljs from "highlight.js"

// Auto-detect works by scoring each language:
const results = [
  hljs.highlightAuto('print("hello")'),           // → python
  hljs.highlightAuto('console.log("hello")'),      // → javascript
  hljs.highlightAuto('fn main() { println!("hello"); }'), // → rust
  hljs.highlightAuto('SELECT * FROM users'),       // → sql
]

results.forEach((r) => {
  console.log(`${r.language}: confidence ${r.relevance}`)
})

// Limit detection to specific languages:
const result = hljs.highlightAuto(code, ["javascript", "typescript", "python"])

With Markdown renderers

import MarkdownIt from "markdown-it"
import hljs from "highlight.js"

const md = new MarkdownIt({
  highlight(str, lang) {
    if (lang && hljs.getLanguage(lang)) {
      return hljs.highlight(str, { language: lang }).value
    }
    return hljs.highlightAuto(str).value
  },
})

const html = md.render("```typescript\nconst x = 42\n```")

---

Feature Comparison

Feature	Shiki	Prism	highlight.js
Engine	TextMate (VS Code)	Custom tokenizer	Custom parser
Rendering	Server-side (HTML)	Client-side (DOM)	Client/server
Client JS needed	❌	✅	✅
Language auto-detect	❌	❌	✅
Languages	200+	300+	190+
Themes	VS Code themes	CSS themes	300+ CSS themes
Light/dark toggle	✅ (CSS vars)	✅ (swap CSS)	✅ (swap CSS)
Line numbers	Via transformer	✅ (plugin)	✅ (plugin)
Line highlighting	✅ (transformer)	✅ (plugin)	❌
Diff highlighting	✅ (transformer)	✅ (plugin)	✅
Copy button	Via transformer	✅ (plugin)	❌
Accuracy	Highest (VS Code)	Good	Good
Bundle size	0 (server-side)	~20KB + langs	~30KB + langs
Used by	VitePress, Astro	MDN, Gatsby	Many CMS/blogs
Weekly downloads	~5M	~5M	~10M

---

When to Use Each

Use Shiki if:

• Building a static site or documentation (VitePress, Astro, Nuxt)
• Want the most accurate highlighting (VS Code quality)
• Need zero client-side JavaScript
• Want VS Code themes (One Dark Pro, GitHub Dark, etc.)
• Need line highlighting, diff, or focus transformers

Use Prism if:

• Need client-side highlighting with plugins
• Want line numbers, copy button, toolbar out of the box
• Building a CMS or user-facing code editor
• Need the largest language support (300+ languages)
• Prefer CSS-based theming

Use highlight.js if:

• Want the simplest setup (script tag + auto-highlight)
• Need automatic language detection
• Building a blog or content site with user-submitted code
• Want the largest theme collection
• Need Markdown renderer integration

---

Methodology

Download data from npm registry (weekly average, February 2026). Feature comparison based on Shiki v1.x, Prism v1.x, and highlight.js v11.x.

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