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Comparison guide
Date-fns vs Moment
Side-by-side NPM package comparison
Quick Verdict
Smallest Bundle
Date-fns
17.1 KB gzipped
Most Popular
Date-fns
98.1M weekly downloads
Best Maintained
Moment
100/100 maintenance score
Highest Quality
Date-fns
50/100 quality score
Overall Pick
Date-fns
Best all-around based on popularity, size, maintenance & quality
moment
Parse, validate, manipulate, and display dates
39.4M weekly downloads · 19.8 KB gzip · Health 85/100
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Choosing between Date-fns and Moment? Here's a data-driven comparison based on real npm data — downloads, bundle size, health scores, and more — to help you decide which package fits your project best.
Downloads & Popularity
Date-fns leads with 98.1M weekly downloads — roughly 2.5x more. Moment has 39.4M weekly downloads. Higher download counts generally indicate broader community adoption and a larger ecosystem of tutorials, plugins, and support.
Bundle Size
Date-fns has the smallest gzipped bundle at 17.1 KB. Moment comes in at 19.8 KB. A smaller bundle size means faster page loads, which improves user experience and Core Web Vitals scores.
Health Score Comparison
Moment has an overall health score of 85/100 (very good), with strong maintenance, security, popularity scores. Date-fns has an overall health score of 73/100 (good), with strong security, popularity scores. Health scores are calculated from maintenance activity, code quality, security posture, popularity, and stability metrics.
When to Choose Each
Choose Date-fns if you value massive community and ecosystem, strong security track record. Choose Moment if you value massive community and ecosystem, actively maintained, strong security track record.
Our Verdict
Both Date-fns and Moment are solid choices for JavaScript development. Moment has the edge in overall health score (85/100), while each package brings unique strengths to the table. Evaluate them based on your project's priorities — whether that's community size, bundle efficiency, or maintenance activity — and choose the one that aligns best with your requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is date-fns better than moment?
- It depends on your needs. Date-fns has a health score of 73/100 while Moment scores 85/100. Date-fns has more recorded weekly downloads (98.1M). Consider your specific requirements — bundle size, community support, and feature set — to decide which is the better fit.
- Which has a smaller bundle size, date-fns or moment?
- Date-fns has the smaller gzipped bundle at 17.1 KB. A smaller bundle means faster load times for your users, which can positively impact SEO and user experience.
- How many developers use date-fns vs moment?
- Date-fns has more recorded weekly downloads (98.1M). Download counts reflect package installations, not unique developers.
- Which is better maintained, date-fns or moment?
- Moment has a maintenance score of 100/100. Date-fns scores 60/100 and Moment scores 100/100 on maintenance.
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