I used to reach for Vue.js by reflex. Every project started the same way: install the CLI, set up the router, configure the store, and wrap the whole thing in a single-page application shell. It did not matter if I was building a real-time dashboard or a simple contact form. Vue was my default, and I assumed anything lighter was a step backward.
This habit is common. If you have spent years inside the React or Vue ecosystem, the SPA model starts to feel inevitable. You stop asking whether you actually need that much machinery. You just reach for it. Over time, I noticed something troubling. I was wiring up Vuex stores for admin screens that only needed to toggle a status and refresh a table. I was composing fetch logic for landing pages that just needed to submit an email address. The complexity was not coming from the problems. It was coming from my choice of tool.
Then I started using HTMX. The shift was quieter than I expected, but it changed how I pick my stack.
What HTMX Actually Does
Most online discussions get this wrong. People frame it as a battle of Vue versus React versus HTMX. That comparison misses the point entirely. HTMX is not an SPA framework. It does not want to replace Vue. It is a library that makes HTML do more than the browser gives it out of the box.
Instead of writing a component that mounts, fetches JSON, parses it into local state, and re-renders a list, you add an attribute to a button. The server returns HTML fragments, not payloads of data. The browser swaps the content into place. You are still working with server-rendered pages, but you get the interactivity people usually associate with heavy JavaScript front ends.
This is not a downgrade. It is a different model. Vue asks you to build a client-side application and manage state in the browser. HTMX asks you to keep state on the server and send HTML over the wire. Because they solve different kinds of problems, both can coexist in the same project without conflict.
When Vue Is Still the Right Call
Complex interfaces need Vue. If you are building a real-time analytics dashboard with drag-and-drop widgets, nested filtering, and live charts that share data across multiple views, you want a reactive framework. The browser should own that state. You do not want to round-trip to the server every time a user drags a chart or toggles a filter group. Vue’s component model, reactivity system, and ecosystem are built exactly for this.
The same goes for highly interactive consumer applications. Think of a design tool, a collaborative whiteboard, or a music sequencer. These are not documents with buttons. They are applications that live in the browser. For that work, Vue is still my first choice.
Where HTMX Takes Over
The clearest win came when I looked at the boring parts of my projects. Admin panels were the first to change. An admin backend usually needs a table of records, a few action buttons, paginated filters, and a form or two. None of that needs a virtual DOM. What it needs is quick partial updates.
With HTMX, a delete button becomes a tag with hx-delete and hx-target attributes. Click it, the browser sends the request, the server responds with a refreshed table row