Storybook vs Vue Styleguidist: What are the differences?

Introduction

Storybook and Vue Styleguidist are both popular tools used for documenting and developing components in web applications. While they both serve similar purposes, there are key differences between the two.

1. Configuration and Setup: When it comes to configuration and setup, Storybook follows a modular approach, allowing developers to easily integrate it into their existing codebase. It supports multiple frameworks and can be customized extensively through various addons. On the other hand, Vue Styleguidist is more opinionated and comes with a preconfigured setup specifically for Vue.js applications. It provides a default development environment and requires less setup time compared to Storybook.

2. Supported Frameworks: Storybook supports a wide range of frameworks including React, Vue.js, Angular, and more. This flexibility makes it a popular choice for projects that involve different frameworks or when there is a need to migrate between them. In contrast, Vue Styleguidist is built specifically for Vue.js applications and offers out-of-the-box support for Vue's single-file component (SFC) format. It provides a dedicated Vue.js development environment and offers more tailored features for the Vue ecosystem.

3. Theme Customization: Storybook allows developers to customize the appearance of the UI to match their project's branding or design system. It provides theming options that can be easily configured through addons. In contrast, Vue Styleguidist provides a simpler theming system that focuses on changing the color scheme and typography. It offers a few predefined themes but doesn't offer as much customization as Storybook in terms of UI appearance.

4. Documentation Generation: Storybook offers a dedicated addon called Docs that allows developers to automatically generate component documentation from source code comments. This addon provides a powerful markup syntax and supports various documentation formats including Markdown. On the other hand, Vue Styleguidist doesn't have a built-in documentation generation feature like Storybook's Docs addon. However, it provides support for Markdown documentation by allowing developers to include Markdown files within the style guide.

5. Component Testing: Storybook includes a testing addon that allows developers to write and run tests for components. This addon provides a convenient way to visualize component states during test execution and helps ensure UI consistency. Vue Styleguidist, on the other hand, doesn't have a built-in testing addon. However, it can be integrated with popular testing frameworks like Jest or Karma to perform component testing.

6. Ecosystem and Community: Storybook has a larger and more mature ecosystem compared to Vue Styleguidist. It has been adopted by many organizations and has a robust community that actively contributes to its development and supports a wide range of addons and plugins. Vue Styleguidist, while growing in popularity, has a smaller ecosystem and community in comparison. However, it benefits from the strong and active Vue.js community.

In summary, Storybook provides a modular and flexible approach to component development and documentation, supporting multiple frameworks and extensive customization options. Vue Styleguidist, on the other hand, offers a more opinionated and Vue-centric approach, providing a simpler setup and integration specifically for Vue.js applications.