Best Moment.JS Alternatives
Comparing size, performance, Typescript support and more
Moment.js is indeed done
It has been a popular library for parsing, validating, manipulating, and formatting dates for a decade. However, Moment.js has too many drawbacks compared to modern date and time libraries. Its API is not immutable, it is large and it doesn’t support tree shaking. Even the Moment team discourages to use their library in new projects.
“We now generally consider Moment to be a legacy project in maintenance mode. It is not dead, but it is indeed done.” — The Moment team
Modern alternatives
There are multiple solid date and time libraries for JavaScript you can use instead. We’ll look into Luxon, Day.js, date-fns and js-joda.
The following comparison includes attributes that should help you choose the right one for your project.
GitHub stars
NPM packages using the libraries
Public GitHub repositories using the libraries
Immutability
TypeScript support
Performance
The following charts show one common operation from each type of date and time manipulation. Each operation in the chart was run 100 000 times.
Types of date and time manipulation
- Parsing — parseISO
- Formatting — YYYY-MM-DD
- Transformation — add 2 years
- Difference — diff in months between 2 instances
- Comparing — is one instance before another instance in time?
From the chart above, you can see that there’s no library that is best for all the operations. Another significant result shows that even 100 000 runs take less than 3 seconds. If you don’t need to process some big data, you shouldn’t be worried about performance of the libraries.
Size
Each size measurement includes the library, its companion library for time zone support if there’s one and polyfills. The polyfills are required for libraries that use the Intl API for locales, time zones, or both.
Code examples
The entire source code: https://github.com/pixochi/moment-js-alternatives
Luxon
Day.js
date-fns
js-joda
How to migrate from Moment.js
- Create a date-time service that hides what library you’re using. If you decide to replace the library in the future, you’ll need to update only one file.
- Create extensive unit tests for the service.
- Use eslint-plugin-you-dont-need-momentjs to find all instances of Moment in your codebase and replace them using your new service.
- Uninstall moment.js
Conclusion
I hope the comparison answered your questions about the modern date and time libraries that can replace Moment.js.
Let me and other developers know which library you’ve chosen in the comments. Did you consider any other libraries or additional attributes when choosing the right library?
You can find the entire code examples and performance testing in my GitHub repo:
If you like this article, follow me for more future tips on development with React, JavaScript, TypeScript and more :)
Best JavaScript Books and Courses in 2023
The Complete JavaScript Course 2023: From Zero to Expert
Modern JavaScript From The Beginning 2.0–2023 Revamp
JavaScript from Beginner to Professional: Learn JavaScript quickly by building fun, interactive, and dynamic web apps, games, and pages
Become a member
If you enjoy reading stories like these and want to support me as a writer, consider signing up to become a Medium member. It’s $5 a month, giving you unlimited access to stories on Medium. If you sign up using my link, I’ll earn a small commission 🙌
Job Opportunity — Come Join Me
My amazing team at Tjekvik is looking for more developers! Do you have experience with React and Ruby on Rails? Then don’t hesitate and apply right here: https://www.tjekvik.com/careers. You can work from anywhere in Europe! 🌍
Disclosure: Some links on this site are affiliate links. This means I may earn a commission if you make a purchase through those links, at no extra cost to you.
