85
ExcellentModern JavaScript date utility library
- Weekly Downloads
- 87.0M
↓9%
- Bundle (gzip)
- 17.1 KB
- Updated
- Vulns
- 0
Health Score Breakdown
Maintenance
100
Popularity
100
Quality
50
Security
100
Stability
70
Comparison guide
Date-fns vs Dayjs
Side-by-side NPM package comparison
Quick Verdict
Smallest Bundle
Dayjs
3.0 KB gzipped
Most Popular
Date-fns
87.0M weekly downloads
Best Maintained
Date-fns
100/100 maintenance score
Highest Quality
Date-fns
50/100 quality score
Overall Pick
Dayjs
Best all-around based on popularity, size, maintenance & quality
85
Excellent2KB immutable date time library alternative to Moment.js with the same modern API
- Weekly Downloads
- 54.0M
↓4%
- Bundle (gzip)
- 3.0 KB
- Updated
- Vulns
- 0
Health Score Breakdown
Maintenance
100
Popularity
100
Quality
50
Security
100
Stability
70
Choosing between Date-fns and Dayjs? 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 87.0M weekly downloads — roughly 1.6x more. Dayjs has 54.0M weekly downloads. Higher download counts generally indicate broader community adoption and a larger ecosystem of tutorials, plugins, and support.
Bundle Size
Dayjs has the smallest gzipped bundle at 3.0 KB. Date-fns comes in at 17.1 KB. A smaller bundle size means faster page loads, which improves user experience and Core Web Vitals scores.
Health Score Comparison
Date-fns has an overall health score of 85/100 (very good), with strong maintenance, security, popularity scores. Dayjs has an overall health score of 85/100 (very good), with strong maintenance, 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, actively maintained, strong security track record. Choose Dayjs if you value massive community and ecosystem, minimal bundle footprint, actively maintained, strong security track record.
Our Verdict
Both Date-fns and Dayjs are solid choices for JavaScript development. Date-fns 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 dayjs?
- It depends on your needs. Date-fns has a health score of 85/100 while Dayjs scores 85/100. Date-fns has more weekly downloads (87.0M), suggesting broader adoption. 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 dayjs?
- Dayjs has the smaller gzipped bundle at 3.0 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 dayjs?
- Based on npm download statistics, Date-fns has approximately 87.0M weekly downloads and Dayjs has approximately 54.0M weekly downloads. These numbers reflect package installations, not unique developers, but they indicate relative adoption levels.
- Which is better maintained, date-fns or dayjs?
- Date-fns currently has the higher overall health score at 85/100. Date-fns has a maintenance score of 100/100 and Dayjs scores 100/100 on maintenance.
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