<h1>JavaScript Bundler Performance Benchmark 2025: Webpack vs Rollup vs ESBuild vs Farm</h1>
<p>Looking for the <strong>fastest JavaScript bundler in 2025</strong>?
In 2025, you cannot imagine the frontend job without using some kind of 
bundler. But have you ever thought, how many resources do you need to 
run it, in order to compile your frontend application? We benchmarked <strong>Webpack</strong>, <strong>Rollup</strong>, <strong>ESBuild</strong>, and <strong>Farm</strong> to see how much <strong>RAM</strong> and <strong>CPU</strong> each tool uses while bundling a simple React project.</p>
<p>To ensure fair and consistent results, all benchmarks were run under the
<strong>same controlled conditions</strong>. We used a single machine with identical hardware
and software configurations for each test, keeping tool versions fixed to
avoid version-related performance differences. Each bundler compiled the
<strong>same minimal React project</strong> containing only one <code>index.jsx</code> file, ensuring
that the benchmark focused on <strong>bundler overhead</strong> rather than application 
complexity. Every test was executed <strong>10 times</strong>, and we calculated averages
to reduce the impact of random system fluctuations. While this setup provides
a clear comparison, it’s important to note some limitations: we did not
measure warm-cache performance, advanced configurations, or cross-platform 
differences such as Windows or macOS environments.</p>
<h2>Test Environment &amp; Setup</h2>
<p>We created a minimal React project (<code>index.jsx</code>) and bundled it using:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://webpack.js.org">Webpack</a> (version 5.101.3)</li>
<li><a href="https://rollupjs.org/">Rollup</a> (version 4.48.0)</li>
<li><a href="https://esbuild.github.io/">ESBuild</a> (version 0.25.9)</li>
<li><a href="https://www.farmfe.org">Farm</a> (version 1.6.7)</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>System Configuration</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>OS: Linux ArchHost 6.16.4-arch1-1</li>
<li>Node.js: v22.14.0</li>
<li>Cores: 16</li>
<li>RAM: 16 GB (2 × 8 GB)</li>
</ul>
<h2>Benchmark Command</h2>
<p>We used <code>/usr/bin/time -v</code> to measure peak <strong>RAM</strong> usage and <strong>CPU</strong>
load during the bundling process:</p>
<pre><code class="hljs language-bash"><span class="hljs-keyword">for</span> i <span class="hljs-keyword">in</span> {1..10}; <span class="hljs-keyword">do</span>
/usr/bin/time -v yarn build:esbuild 2&gt;&amp;1 | awk <span class="hljs-string">&#x27; # replaced with corresponding bundler
  /Maximum resident set size/ {ram=$6/1024}
  /Percent of CPU this job got/ {cpu=$0; sub(/.*: /,&quot;&quot;,cpu)}
  END {printf &quot;Peak RAM: %.2f MB\nCPU Load: %s\n&quot;, ram, cpu}&#x27;</span>
<span class="hljs-keyword">done</span>
</code></pre><h2>Bundler Performance Results</h2>
<h3>Rollup Performance</h3>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>RAM</th>
<th>CPU</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody><tr>
<td>420.66 Mb</td>
<td>210%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>376.51 Mb</td>
<td>211%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>420.25 MB</td>
<td>213%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>369.96 MB</td>
<td>212%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>370.79 MB</td>
<td>216%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>368.41 MB</td>
<td>211%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>371.82 MB</td>
<td>211%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>431.74 MB</td>
<td>210%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>375.54 MB</td>
<td>212%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>371.10 MB</td>
<td>213%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>444.08 MB</td>
<td>212%</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<h3>Webpack Performance</h3>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>RAM</th>
<th>CPU</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody><tr>
<td>298.85 MB</td>
<td>187%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>281.30 MB</td>
<td>189%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>297.50 MB</td>
<td>186%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>294.16 MB</td>
<td>185%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>298.09 MB</td>
<td>185%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>297.80 MB</td>
<td>185%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>300.30 MB</td>
<td>187%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>295.35 MB</td>
<td>188%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>293.68 MB</td>
<td>188%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>295.55 MB</td>
<td>189%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>294.28 MB</td>
<td>188%</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<h3>Farm Performance</h3>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>RAM</th>
<th>CPU</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody><tr>
<td>262.68 MB</td>
<td>149%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>261.49 MB</td>
<td>152%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>261.98 MB</td>
<td>146%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>260.79 MB</td>
<td>150%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>257.18 MB</td>
<td>150%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>259.48 MB</td>
<td>146%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>259.43 MB</td>
<td>151%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>257.86 MB</td>
<td>149%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>259.36 MB</td>
<td>147%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>257.00 MB</td>
<td>145%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>258.05 MB</td>
<td>150%</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<h3>ESBuild Performance</h3>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>RAM</th>
<th>CPU</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody><tr>
<td>91.71 MB</td>
<td>115%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>91.55 MB</td>
<td>114%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>91.10 MB</td>
<td>117%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>91.14 MB</td>
<td>118%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>91.86 MB</td>
<td>118%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>92.61 MB</td>
<td>120%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>91.88 MB</td>
<td>118%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>91.41 MB</td>
<td>117%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>92.12 MB</td>
<td>119%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>92.14 MB</td>
<td>114%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>92.16 MB</td>
<td>118%</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<h2>Average Benchmark Results: 2025</h2>
<p>Now, based from the previous results let&#39;s calculate the average for the bundlers</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Bundler</th>
<th>RAM</th>
<th>CPU</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody><tr>
<td>Webpack</td>
<td>294.35 Mb</td>
<td>187%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Rollup</td>
<td>392.81 Mb</td>
<td>212%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>ESBuild</td>
<td>91.79 Mb</td>
<td>117%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Farm</td>
<td>235.96 Mb</td>
<td>149%</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<h2>Key Takeaways</h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>ESBuild</strong> is the <strong>fastest</strong> bundler with the lowest RAM usage and CPU consumption.</li>
<li><strong>Farm</strong> is the <strong>second most efficient</strong> option for modern projects.</li>
<li><strong>Webpack</strong> and <strong>Rollup</strong> remain popular but are heavier on resources.</li>
</ul>
<p>If performance and build speed matter in 2025, <strong>ESBuild</strong> or <strong>Farm</strong> should be your top choices.</p>
<p>You can find the project on <a href="https://github.com/FallenAngel97/bundlers-comparison">Github</a></p>
<p>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@simonkadula?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Simon Kadula</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/a-factory-filled-with-lots-of-orange-machines-8gr6bObQLOI?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Unsplash</a></p>


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