Livewire vs React/Vue in Laravel: Do you need the extra complexity?

The "Livewire vs React/Vue" debate was a highly discussed topic at Laracon AU 2025, and for good reason. As Laravel developers, we're constantly weighing the trade-offs between simplicity and capability, and choosing tools based on what's best for that project versus what's popular.

If you're building a Laravel application and wondering whether you need React, Vue, or Livewire to achieve real-time reactivity, this article is for you.

The Case for JavaScript Frameworks

Let's be fair to the other side first. React and Vue are phenomenal frameworks that have revolutionised front-end development. They offer:

• Rich ecosystem of components and libraries
• Granular control over client-side state
• Powerful developer tools
• Massive community support

When paired with Laravel through Inertia.js (with optional server-side rendering) or Wayfinder (which provides type-safe route definitions in TypeScript) to fill the gap between Laravel and the front-end framework, you get a modern SPA experience while keeping your backend logic in Laravel.

For most Laravel applications, you don't need the extra complexity.

The Inertia/Wayfinder Tax

While Inertia.js and tools like Wayfinder bridge the gap beautifully between Laravel and JavaScript frameworks, they still introduce additional layers.

With Wayfinder, you need to define your routes, generate TypeScript definitions, and then import them in your frontend:

1// Wayfinder approach
2import { route } from '@/lib/wayfinder'
3 
4function handleSubmit() {
5    put(route('posts.update', { post: post.id }))
6}

Versus the Livewire approach where routes are implicit:

1// No route imports needed - just wire:click
2<button wire:click="save">Save</button>

Let's look at a more complete example with a simple post editor with real-time updates:

The Inertia.js + React Approach:

 1// Controller
 2public function show(Post $post)
 3{
 4    return Inertia::render('Posts/Edit', [
 5        'post' => $post,
 6    ]);
 7}
 8 
 9public function update(Request $request, Post $post)
10{
11    $validated = $request->validate([
12        'content' => 'required|min:10',
13    ]);
14 
15    $post->update($validated);
16 
17    return back();
18}

 1// React Component (Posts/Edit.jsx)
 2import { useForm } from '@inertiajs/react'
 3 
 4export default function Edit({ post }) {
 5    const { data, setData, put, processing, errors } = useForm({
 6        content: post.content,
 7    })
 8 
 9    function handleSubmit(e) {
10        e.preventDefault()
11        put(`/posts/${post.id}`)
12    }
13 
14    return (
15        <form onSubmit={handleSubmit}>
16            <textarea
17                value={data.content}
18                onChange={e => setData('content', e.target.value)}
19            />
20            {errors.content && <div>{errors.content}</div>}
21            <button disabled={processing}>Save</button>
22        </form>
23    )
24}

You're managing state in two places, handling validation errors in both PHP and JSX, and context-switching between languages.

The Livewire Approach:

 1// Livewire Component
 2class PostEditor extends Component
 3{
 4    public Post $post;
 5    public string $content = '';
 6 
 7    public function mount(Post $post)
 8    {
 9        $this->post = $post;
10        $this->content = $post->content;
11    }
12 
13    public function save()
14    {
15        $this->validate([
16            'content' => 'required|min:10',
17        ]);
18 
19        $this->post->update([
20            'content' => $this->content,
21        ]);
22 
23        $this->dispatch('post-saved');
24    }
25 
26    public function render()
27    {
28        return view('livewire.post-editor');
29    }
30}

1{{-- Blade View --}}
2<div>
3    <textarea wire:model.live="content"></textarea>
4    @error('content') <span>{{ $message }}</span> @enderror
5    <button wire:click="save">Save</button>
6</div>

One file. One language. Validation in one place. Real-time updates, validation messages, and database persistence—all in PHP.

Why Livewire Works

Alpine.js for interactivity

Livewire ships with Alpine.js, perfect for UI interactions that don't need server round-trips:

1<div x-data="{ open: false }">
2    <button @click="open = !open">Toggle</button>
3    <div x-show="open" x-transition>
4        Content here
5    </div>
6</div>

Wire:navigate for an SPA-like Feel

1<a href="/posts" wire:navigate>View Posts</a>

Instant navigation without full page reloads. No router configuration needed.

Validation Without Duplication

Your validation rules live in one place—your Livewire component. No need to mirror them in JavaScript:

1protected function rules()
2{
3    return [
4        'email' => 'required|email|unique:users',
5        'password' => 'required|min:8|confirmed',
6    ];
7}

Real-time validation messages appear automatically as users type with wire:model.live.

When You Actually Need React/Vue

Don't get me wrong—there are legitimate use cases for JavaScript frameworks in Laravel:

1. Highly interactive dashboards with complex client-side state (think Figma's web version level of complexity)
2. Real-time collaboration tools where milliseconds matter
3. Mobile apps using React Native or similar
4. Existing JavaScript team expertise that would be wasted

But for the majority of CRUD applications, admin panels, SaaS products, and content-driven sites? Livewire handles it beautifully while being performant, faster to build, better developer experience, and easy to maintain long-term due to less moving parts.

The Developer Experience Matters

It was clear from Laracon AU 2025 that Livewire is chosen often because of its "batteries included" approach, making it quick to deliver functionality without a lot of code.

If you're a Laravel developer who's comfortable with PHP, Blade, and Tailwind CSS, Livewire lets you stay in that flow state. You're not context-switching between languages, fighting build tools, or debugging hydration mismatches.

 1// Everything you need in one file
 2class UserProfile extends Component
 3{
 4    public User $user;
 5    public bool $editing = false;
 6 
 7    public function toggleEdit()
 8    {
 9        $this->editing = !$this->editing;
10    }
11 
12    public function save()
13    {
14        $this->validate(['user.name' => 'required']);
15        $this->user->save();
16        $this->editing = false;
17    }
18 
19    public function render()
20    {
21        return view('livewire.user-profile');
22    }
23}

Performance Considerations

"But what about performance?" I hear you ask.

Livewire 3 is fast. Really fast. With features like:

• Lazy loading components
• Defer loading for non-critical data
• Polling with intelligent intervals
• Offline state detection

For most applications, the performance difference is negligible, especially when you factor in Laravel's excellent caching layer.

Livewire 4 is coming out late 2025 with Islands which will improve performance even further.

The Verdict

After the interesting discussions at Laracon AU 2025, here's my take:

Start with Livewire. Build your features. Ship your product. Only reach for React/Vue when you encounter a specific limitation that Livewire can't solve.

The web development industry has a tendency to over-engineer solutions. We add React because everyone else is using it, not because our project needs it. Inertia.js and Wayfinder are brilliant tools that make the React/Vue experience in Laravel seamless, but they're still extra steps. This means extra cognitive load, extra build processes, extra maintenance, and extra potential points of failure.

Livewire gives you real-time reactivity, excellent developer experience, and the ability to ship features faster. For most Laravel projects, that's more than enough.

Building a Laravel application and not sure which stack to choose? I specialise in Laravel development and can help you make the right architectural decisions for your project. Get in touch to discuss your needs.