# vanjs-org/van

🍦 VanJS: World's smallest reactive UI framework. Incredibly Powerful, Insanely Small - Everyone can build a useful UI app in an hour.

Repository: https://github.com/vanjs-org/van
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/van
Homepage: https://vanjs.org
Language: JavaScript
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: ui-framework, vanilla-dom-manipulation, vanilla-javascript, vanilla-js, data-binding, dom, dom-manipulation, minimalist, grab-n-go, reactive-ui, ultra-light, vannilajs, ultra-thin, lightweight-javascript-library, lightweight-framework, reactive, no-dependencies, no-setup, lightweight
Last push: 2026-07-16T18:32:40+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 83/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 92, release rhythm 69, longevity 86
- inputs: {"age_days": 1213, "days_push": 48, "days_rel": 48, "gap_med": 150, "n_releases_24m": 4}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 4422, forks 110 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:48.820629+00:00)

## What it is
VanJS is an ultra-lightweight (~1kB), zero-dependency reactive UI framework built on pure vanilla JavaScript and DOM. It offers React-like declarative components and reactive state binding without JSX, transpiling, or a virtual DOM.

## Use cases
- build a reactive UI without React or JSX
- add lightweight interactivity to a plain HTML page
- create reusable UI components with plain JavaScript functions
- bind state to the DOM with minimal boilerplate
- prototype a UI app quickly in the browser console
- avoid build tools and transpiling for a small web app

## When to choose
- you want React-style reactive UI with a ~1kB footprint and no build step
- you prefer vanilla JavaScript functions over JSX and virtual DOM
- you need zero dependencies and instant setup in any environment
- you're building small-to-medium UIs, widgets, or prototypes

## When to avoid
- you need a large ecosystem with routing, SSR, and mature tooling out of the box
- your team relies on TypeScript-first frameworks or JSX conventions
- you're building a complex enterprise app that benefits from a full-featured framework like React or Vue

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: active
- function: frontend-framework, ui-components, state-management
- domain: web-development, frontend
- platform: browser, cross-platform
- tags: reactive-ui, vanilla-javascript, no-jsx, ultra-lightweight, zero-dependency, dom-manipulation, data-binding, nodejs

## Member repositories
- vanjs-org/van (main) score 83

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:48.820629+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T18:20:58.695473+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/vanjs-org/van (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:48.820629+00:00, sha c6c41a38bd1c)
  - homepage: https://vanjs.org (fetched 2026-08-29T09:08:47.386649+00:00, sha 4661d310ac99)
  - site_page: https://vanjs.org/about (fetched 2026-08-29T09:08:47.389531+00:00, sha c939413af09d)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.