Progressive Web Apps are the simplest ways of offering a more enhanced experience to users. They simplify things both for the developers and the users as they do not include the intricacies of download and installation.

They are built with standard technologies and offer higher performance, making it a win-win for everyone.

So, if you are a business looking for better user engagement, higher performance and a seamless experience across different platforms, progressive web app development frameworks can be a great help to you.

While these progressive apps are the perfect way to leverage the power of web and mobile applications, it is also essential to find the right framework to enjoy its full benefits.

Do you know?

Designer Frances Berriman and a Google Chrome Engineer, Alex Russell denoted the term Progressive Web Apps in 2015.

Their simplicity has bagged them a higher place on the native vs PWA discussion, especially as popular giants like Facebook and Twitter have turned in their favour.

The Benefits of Progressive Web Apps

Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) are a perfect blend of the power of modern web capability and an advanced mobile application-like experience for users.

However, if you want to enjoy the best of both – web and mobile applications with an immersive, reliable, and engaging user experience, it is essential to be aware of their benefits:

• Cross-platform compatibility
• Faster load speed
• Offline User Experience
• Better User Engagement -Push notifications
• Enhanced security

Popular Progressive Web App Development Frameworks

Angular JS

Angular JS is a robust framework with powerful and abundant built-in tools. Built by Google, it is a powerful and, often the first choice for building applications that demand performance.

It comes with efficient tools, TypeScript support, progressive enhancements and a UI component library.

CLI or Command Line Interface is also one of its powerful features that simplify project setup with its structure-based architecture, code reusability, well-defined routing, forms, maintainability, and a state management ecosystem for your web applications.

Its virtual DOM makes the progressive web apps powerful, just like native apps even during high traffic.

Pros

• Easy to learn
• High performing framework
• SEO friendly

Cons

• Longer code that reduces readability
• Specific syntax, higher learning curve

React

React is known for its flexibility, precision and high performance. It is a JavaScript-based framework developed by Facebook, perfect for breaking down complex user interfaces into smaller and reusable components due to its architecture.

It can also be integrated with CSS in Java libraries, making working on responsive designs easier, while its Virtual DOM makes updating changes more efficient.

Moreover, it also has built-in support that favours offline functionality.

This adds to the performance of applications and enables web pages to load faster in case of no or low internet. Its loading and shifting qualities make it the right choice for both single-page as well as multi-page applications.

This framework is the perfect choice for a progressive web app development framework for e-commerce, social media and productivity applications.

Pros

• Efficient Dom for high-performance
• Libraries to make development easier and faster
• Reusable and modular components for consistency and efficiency

Cons

• Complex due to a large library
• Apps are not SEO-friendly
• Prior knowledge of JSX required

Vue.js 

As powerful as the other progressive web app development

frameworks, Vue is an open-source, simpler choice with a lightweight feature. It has a lower learning curve and a gentle set-up making it easily accessible to the developers.

Its component-based architecture and reactive data binding make it the right choice for dynamic and responsive user interfaces. Additionally, the Vue CLI streamlines PWA development with its structured project setup and configuration.

Vue also supports browser downloads and server-side rendering, adding to its versatility.

Pros

• Simple and versatile
• Performance optimization techniques for smooth UX
• Easy integration capabilities

Cons

• Limited ecosystem
• It’s challenging to find experienced developers

Ionic

Ionic is the most preferred progressive web app development framework for building mobile-friendly PWA with HTML5. It is the best choice for PWA because it makes it easier to connect to a wide audience by leveraging web technologies like HTML, CSS and JAVAScript to develop cross-platform applications. These offer a similar experience to native applications.

Based on Angular Apache and Cordova, this open-source SDK was designed in 2013 and is the perfect fit for web pages that run inside the browser with a web view.

Its massive library with components for both iOS and Android makes it the right choice for developing PWAs.

Pros

• Low development cost
• Easy to maintain
• Extensive library with plugins

Cons

• Frequent updates
• Time-consuming maintenance

Polymer

The polymer framework is highly extensible and can be modified to meet the user requirements. It also comes with its toolbox and is highly customisable to speed up development.

Developed by Google, this framework presents a good range of templates, tools and web components using HTML, JS and JSS.

Further, since its tools and components are compatible with multiple browsers like Chrome and Opera, this component is highly accessible and adaptable.

This framework also simplifies the implementation process with its detailed documentation.

Pros 

• Lightweight and efficient
• PWAs are compatible with modern device browser
• Easy to understand API

Cons

• Complex for large apps
• Not ideal for mobile

Svelte

Svelte is a modern component-based progressive web app development framework focused on efficient frameworks that perform well. It generates vanilla Javascript code known for delivering exceptional efficiency in browsers.

This framework allows users to create reusable components that are easy to compose to build complex user interfaces.

This framework takes a novel approach by speeding the development from the browser to compilation. It makes the application more efficient as it runs seamlessly and loads faster.

Svelte also makes it easier for the developer to build feature-rich applications for apps that are easy and easier to maintain.

It has also been gaining popularity among developers for its growing community loaded with libraries and tools that support different development needs.

It also offers faster page loading and syntactic analysis for a more efficient app by enabling CSS, making it simple yet versatile.

Pros

• simple and intuitive syntax
• easy to learn
• promotes code modularity and reusability.

Cons

• Debugging is challenging
• Limited Tooling ecosystem

More Frameworks

PWABuilder

It is often the first choice of developers for building Progressive web apps based on existing websites and web applications.

This framework is also known for simplifying app development by following a step-by-step approach that enhances its features with functionalities like offline support and push notifications. It offers features like offline support, push notifications and user-friendly design of the apps.

These features also make it the right choice for businesses who want to expand their online presence through easily accessible and interactive web applications.

Pros:

• Simple coding process
• Comprehensive features for enhanced UI
• Supports the utilization of device-specific features

Cons:

• Less flexibility
• Limited in handling complex application requirements

Lighthouse

It is an automated open-source tool by Google that performs audits on web pages and offers them insights on optimising the web page to improve their quality and performance.

It does a detailed analysis of performance accessibility and SEO and also works for PWAs. This tool makes it easier to develop applications that keep up with the standards and also

focuses on enhancing the user experience with error-free applications.

Pros:

• In-depth audits
• Enables continuous monitoring
• Useful for enhancement of web page performance and quality.

Cons:

• Requires technical expertise
• Suggested improvements for complex web applications can be challenging

Preact

It is a Javascript library that makes it easier to build interactive Progressive Web apps. This fast and lightweight framework has a similar syntax to React but does not compromise functionality.

Preact is the best choice for single-page applications focused on user experience, efficiency and performance.

This progressive web app development framework is also the right choice for creating robust applications in a resource-constrained environment.

Pros:

• Generates optimized and performing JavaScript code
• Faster and more responsive web applications.
• Simplifies the development process
• Facilitates seamless integration

Cons

• High learning curve.
• Smaller ecosystem
• Compatibility issues with third-party libraries or tools

It is one of the most preferred progressive web app tools for e-commerce platforms as it has tools for everything – including building user interfaces, data handling and testing.

Magento is a powerful tool with features to support every stage of the development process – including its deployment and maintenance of a PWA.

This framework is known for offering an enhanced experience and also gives users the freedom to receive notifications about updates about discounts. It is an effective, time-saving tool for administering and maintaining your web app.

Pros

• Saves effort and time
• Extensive tools
• Easy maintenance

‍Cons

• Limited availability of resources
• Lack of advanced features

The Top Hosting Options for PWA Development

• Firebase hosting
• Vercel
• Netlify
• Heroku
• Amazon Web Services
• Microsoft Azure

Concluding Words
Progressive web applications have revolutionised the way businesses function by making it easier to connect with clients. These make it easier for the users without compromising on the user experience offered to them. If you are looking for a web development company to develop a progressive web app, this list of top 10 progressive web app development frameworks will help you make the right choice.