Svelte VS Sveltekit

SVELTE

Svelte (version 3) is a component framework and can be compared to Vue.js or React. What makes Svelte so unique[1] is the fact that the magic happens at build time rather then at runtime which actually makes it more of a compiler. It will convert your Svelte code into highly optimized vanilla javascript during the build step instead of shipping with a runtime library. It’s intended to create components but can also be leveraged to create an entire application.

The main selling points of Svelte are:

• Reactivity
• Boilerplate free components
• Low bundle size
• Easy state management

SVELTEKIT

SvelteKit (at the time of writing still in public beta) is an application framework which could be compared to Angular. The framework makes it easier to develop applications using Svelte because it comes with “batteries included”, simply said: SvelteKit = “plain” Svelte + handy dependencies/features.

The provided file-based router is probably one of its biggest assets because that is a feature that most applications need in order to provide navigation. In “plain” Svelte you would need to include an external router[2].

Adapters are also a big feature in SvelteKit. They allow you to “transform” the compiled Svelte code into something platform specific. You could add a ‘node adapter’ to run your code on a NodeJS server or just run it completely on the client side by using the ‘static adapter’ which allows you to deploy the “adapted code” on a Nginx, Apache (HTTP server) ….

It offers more features like Layouts and Endpoints, which you can checkout in the documentation.

SAPPER

So how does Sapper fit into all of this? In short, Sapper is the predecessor of SvelteKit and it never made a version 1 rSo how does Sapper fit into all of this? In short, Sapper is the predecessor of SvelteKit and it never made a version 1 release.
This is what is currently on the official documentation page of Sapper.

• Sapper’s succesor, SvelteKit, is currently available for use. All development efforts moving forward will be focused on SvelteKit.
• If you get stuck, reach out for help in the Discord chatroom. See the migration guides for help upgrading from older versions.

So don’t bother to read up on Sapper because it will (probably) fade out in favour of SvelteKit.

[1]: There are other frameworks/toolkits who also use this approach.
[2]: There are excellent open-sourced Svelte routers available.