Datastar
Lightweight hypermedia JavaScript framework that drives frontend reactivity with server-sent events.
Loved for keeping app state on the server and pushing updates over SSE,123 for running from a single script include with no build step,45 and for handling highly interactive UIs where htmx hit its limits.67 Complaints are rare; one newcomer questions what it adds over vanilla JS.8
Why people recommend it
Server-driven SSE · 3
Commenters like keeping state on the server and pushing updates to the browser over SSE, which they say simplifies apps.
“I now much prefer to have it all on the server-side and I simplified everything by using SSE / datastar”
“I’ve compared Datastar and HTMX and decided on Datastar.”
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“Full ack that calling it a "simplification would be a gross understatement".”
Beyond htmx · 3
Several call it htmx-like but more capable, with built-in DOM morphing that removes friction they hit with htmx.
“So we tried datastar, and it basically addressed all the friction points we had”
“You might be interested in Datastar [1], which is like htmx but centered around Server-Sent Events.”
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“Folks really ought to check out Datastar. It's a newish js framework that is extremely innovative”
Backend agnostic · 3
Users pair it with Clojure, Go and Templ, Common Lisp and Lua backends.
“Datastar + Templ + Go is a highly effective combination.”
“HTMX or Datastar are great fit for Lisp”
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“I now much prefer to have it all on the server-side and I simplified everything by using SSE / datastar”
No build step · 3
A single script include replaces NPM dependencies and JS build tooling.
“Slap a datastar script tag in there for everything else. It’s just easy peasy.”
“At work we've switched to DataStar (a single JS include) and coupled that with ClojureScript/GCL”
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“Folks really ought to check out Datastar. It's a newish js framework that is extremely innovative”
Small, fast pages · 2
Users report tiny bundles and much faster loads, including a 20KB first page load after moving off React.
“We recently rewrote a half-million LOC codebase from react to datastar”
“At work we've switched to DataStar (a single JS include) and coupled that with ClojureScript/GCL”
Caveats and dissent
Unclear value · 1
One newcomer is unsure what it offers over vanilla JS or how it compares to Solid and Svelte.
“I'm getting confused about what these light frameworks/libraries are doing that I need over vanilla js.”
Often compared with
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- Let's Make the Worst Htmx 2 mentions
- Clojure 1.13 adds support for checked keys 2 mentions
- Jank – The native Clojure dialect with seamless C++ interop 1 mention
- The Future of CSS 1 mention
- A Modern Web App in C 1 mention
- Whistle: Speech to Text in 16.9 MB 1 mention
Also written as DataStar. Data: datastar.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 17
“I now much prefer to have it all on the server-side and I simplified everything by using SSE / datastar”
“Slap a datastar script tag in there for everything else. It’s just easy peasy.”
“Combining it with Datastar could be brilliant”
“I follow hypermedia.systems and htmx/datastar/alpine.js because I'm still trying to get back that powerful _web_ tech advancement”
“Datastar + Templ + Go is a highly effective combination.”
“I use datastar daily”
“You might be interested in Datastar [1], which is like htmx but centered around Server-Sent Events.”
“I'm getting confused about what these light frameworks/libraries are doing that I need over vanilla js.”
“So we tried datastar, and it basically addressed all the friction points we had”
“We recently rewrote a half-million LOC codebase from react to datastar”
“Full ack that calling it a "simplification would be a gross understatement".”
“At work we've switched to DataStar (a single JS include) and coupled that with ClojureScript/GCL”
“HTMX or Datastar are great fit for Lisp”
“I encourage you to also to take a look at this https://data-star.dev/”
“Similar to another web project that I’m fond of, Datastar.”
“Folks really ought to check out Datastar. It's a newish js framework that is extremely innovative”
“I’ve compared Datastar and HTMX and decided on Datastar.”