TypeScript runtime comparisons

Comparison of Node.js TypeScript runtimes.

Disclaimer: This comparison is by the author & maintainer of tsx

Compared runtimes

Methodology

Tested on Node.js v12.20.0 because they all support it, and the node: prefix is not supported in require()
Tested in both package types commonjs & module when applicable

Symbols

Symbol	Description
✅	Pass (Sometimes clickable)
❌	Fail
⛔️	Error (Hover to see error message)

Project stats

	tsx	@swc/register	esbuild-runner	jiti	sucrase	ts-node	tsm
npm downloads
Install size
GitHub stars
Bugs
Issues open
Issues closed

Transformation

Supported transformation features and code tranformation correctness.

Package type: CommonJS

	tsx	@swc/register	esbuild-runner	jiti	sucrase	ts-node	tsm
TypeScript syntax	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
ESM → CJS: import/export syntax	✅	❌	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌
ESM → CJS: `import.meta.url` shim	✅	❌	❌	✅	❌	❌	❌
CJS scope in `.js` file	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
CJS scope in `.ts` file	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌
CJS scope in `.cjs` file	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
CJS scope in `.cts` file	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌
No CJS scope in `.mjs` file	✅	✅	✅	❌	✅	✅	✅
No CJS scope in `.mts` file	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅	✅
Source maps	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌	✅	❌

Package type: Module

	tsx	@swc/register	esbuild-runner	jiti	sucrase	ts-node	tsm
TypeScript syntax	✅	⛔️	⛔️	✅	⛔️	✅	✅
CJS scope in `.cjs` file	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
CJS scope in `.cts` file	✅	⛔️	⛔️	✅	⛔️	✅	❌
No CJS scope in `.js` file	✅	✅	✅	❌	✅	✅	✅
No CJS scope in `.ts` file	✅	⛔️	⛔️	❌	⛔️	✅	✅
No CJS scope in `.mjs` file	✅	✅	✅	❌	✅	✅	✅
No CJS scope in `.mts` file	✅	⛔️	⛔️	❌	⛔️	✅	✅
Source maps	✅	⛔️	⛔️	❌	⛔️	✅	❌

* CommonJS scope (CJS scope) refers to having the following variables available in the module scope: module, exports, require, __filename, __dirname.

Resolution

Whether require()/import() can resolve a given specifier.

`require()`

	tsx	@swc/register	esbuild-runner	jiti	sucrase	ts-node	tsm
`.ts` file	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
`.ts` file via `.js`	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅	❌
`.ts` file without extension	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌
`index.ts` file via directory	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌
`.cts` file	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
`.cts` file via `.cjs`	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅	❌
`.mts` file	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌	✅
`.mts` file via `.mjs`	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌
`node:` prefix	✅	❌	❌	✅	❌	❌	✅
tsconfig.json paths	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌

`import()`

	tsx	@swc/register	esbuild-runner	jiti	sucrase	ts-node	tsm
`.ts` file	✅	❌	❌	❌	✅	✅	✅
`.ts` file via `.js`	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅	✅
`.ts` file without extension	✅	❌	❌	❌	✅	❌	✅
`index.ts` file via directory	✅	❌	❌	❌	✅	❌	❌
`.cts` file	✅	❌	❌	❌	✅	✅	✅
`.cts` file via `.cjs`	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅	✅
`.mts` file	✅	❌	❌	❌	✅	✅	✅
`.mts` file via `.mjs`	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅	✅
tsconfig.json paths	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌

Interoperability

Whether it can correctly load a file for interoperability.

Package type: CommonJS

	tsx	@swc/register	esbuild-runner	jiti	sucrase	ts-node	tsm
require() `.js` file (ESM export)	✅	⛔️	✅	✅	✅	✅	⛔️
require() `.ts` file (ESM export)	✅	⛔️	✅	✅	✅	✅	⛔️
require() `.cjs` file	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
require() `.cts` file	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
require() `.mjs` file	✅	⛔️	✅	✅	⛔️	⛔️	⛔️
require() `.mts` file	✅	⛔️	⛔️	⛔️	⛔️	⛔️	⛔️
import() `.js` file (ESM export)	✅	⛔️	❌	⛔️	✅	❌	⛔️
import() `.ts` file (ESM export)	✅	⛔️	⛔️	⛔️	✅	❌	✅
import() `.cjs` file	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌	✅	✅
import() `.cts` file	✅	⛔️	⛔️	⛔️	❌	✅	✅
import() `.mjs` file	✅	✅	✅	✅	⛔️	✅	✅
import() `.mts` file	✅	⛔️	⛔️	⛔️	⛔️	✅	✅

Package type: Module

	tsx	@swc/register	esbuild-runner	jiti	sucrase	ts-node	tsm
require() `.js` file (ESM export)	✅	⛔️	⛔️	⛔️	⛔️	⛔️	⛔️
require() `.ts` file (ESM export)	✅	⛔️	✅	⛔️	✅	⛔️	⛔️
require() `.cjs` file	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
require() `.cts` file	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
require() `.mjs` file	✅	⛔️	✅	⛔️	⛔️	⛔️	⛔️
require() `.mts` file	✅	⛔️	⛔️	⛔️	⛔️	⛔️	⛔️
import() `.js` file (ESM export)	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
import() `.ts` file (ESM export)	✅	⛔️	⛔️	✅	⛔️	✅	✅
import() `.cjs` file	✅	✅	✅	❌	✅	✅	✅
import() `.cts` file	✅	⛔️	⛔️	❌	⛔️	✅	✅
import() `.mjs` file	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
import() `.mts` file	✅	⛔️	⛔️	⛔️	⛔️	✅	✅

Performance features

	tsx	@swc/register	esbuild-runner	jiti	sucrase	ts-node	tsm
Compiler	esbuild	SWC	esbuild	Babel	Sucrase (Babel fork)	TypeScript / SWC	esbuild
Disk cache	✅ ^?	❌	✅ ^?	✅ ^?	❌	❌ ^?	❌

DX features

	tsx	@swc/register	esbuild-runner	jiti	sucrase	ts-node	tsm
TypeScript REPL	✅ ^?	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅ ^?	❌
Watch mode	✅ ^?	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌
Type checking	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅	❌
Hides experimental feature warnings	✅	-	-	-	-	✅ ^?	❌
Binaries	tsx	swc-node	esr	jiti	sucrase-node	ts-node, ts-node-esm, +4	tsm

Testing

	tsx	@swc/register	esbuild-runner	jiti	sucrase	ts-node	tsm
Operating systems	Linux & Windows	Linux	No tests	Linux & Windows	Linux	Linux & Windows	Linux & Windows
Node.js versions	12.20 ~ 18	Latest LTS	No tests	16	14 & 16	12 ~ 18 + Nightly	12.22.10 ~ 16.14

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 11 Commits
package-commonjs		package-commonjs
package-module		package-module
scripts/compare		scripts/compare
.gitignore		.gitignore
.nvmrc		.nvmrc
README.md		README.md
package.json		package.json
pnpm-lock.yaml		pnpm-lock.yaml
tsconfig.json		tsconfig.json

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TypeScript runtime comparisons

Compared runtimes

Methodology

Symbols

Project stats

Transformation

Package type: CommonJS

Package type: Module

Resolution

`require()`

`import()`

Interoperability

Package type: CommonJS

Package type: Module

Performance features

DX features

Testing

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neodon/ts-runtime-comparison

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TypeScript runtime comparisons

Compared runtimes

Methodology

Symbols

Project stats

Transformation

Package type: CommonJS

Package type: Module

Resolution

require()

import()

Interoperability

Package type: CommonJS

Package type: Module

Performance features

DX features

Testing

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`require()`

`import()`

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