Comparisons

Comparison of HTTP Request Libraries

Feature	GRAB	Axios	TanStack Query	SWR	Alova	SuperAgent	Apisauce	Ky
Size	✅ 3KB	❌ 13KB	❌ 39KB	❌ 4.2KB	⚠️ 4KB	❌ 19KB	❌ 15KB (with axios)	⚠️ 4KB
Zero Dependencies	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ Needs Axios	✅ Yes
isLoading State Handling	✅ Auto-managed	❌ Manual	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌ Manual	❌ Manual	❌ Manual
Auto JSON Handling	✅ Automatic	✅ Configurable	❌ Manual	❌ Manual	✅ Automatic	✅ Automatic	✅ Automatic	✅ Automatic
Request Deduplication	✅ Built-in	❌ No	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No
Caching	✅ Multi-level	❌ No	✅ Advanced	✅ Advanced	✅ Multi-level	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No
Mock Testing	✅ Easy setup	❌ Needs MSW/etc	❌ Needs MSW/etc	❌ Needs MSW/etc	⚠️ Basic	❌ Needs separate lib	❌ Needs separate lib	❌ Needs MSW/etc
Rate Limiting	✅ Built-in	❌ Manual	❌ Manual	❌ Manual	⚠️ Basic	❌ Manual	❌ Manual	❌ Manual
Automatic Retry	✅ Configurable	⚠️ Via interceptors	✅ Built-in	✅ Built-in	✅ Built-in	✅ Built-in	❌ Manual	✅ Built-in
Request Cancellation	✅ Auto + manual	✅ Manual	✅ Automatic	✅ Automatic	✅ Manual	✅ Manual	✅ Manual	✅ Manual
Pagination Support	✅ Infinite scroll	❌ Manual	✅ Advanced	⚠️ Basic	✅ Built-in	❌ Manual	❌ Manual	❌ Manual
Interceptors	✅ Advanced	✅ Advanced	⚠️ Limited	⚠️ Limited	✅ Advanced	✅ Plugins	✅ Transforms	✅ Hooks system
Debug Logging	✅ Colored output	⚠️ Basic	✅ DevTools	✅ DevTools	⚠️ Basic	⚠️ Basic	⚠️ Basic	⚠️ Basic
Request History	✅ Built-in	❌ Manual	✅ DevTools	✅ DevTools	❌ Manual	❌ Manual	❌ Manual	❌ Manual
Easy Syntax	✅ Minimal	⚠️ Medium	❌ High	❌ High	⚠️ Medium	⚠️ Medium	✅ Low	✅ Minimal

Key Strengths of GRAB

• Simplicity: One function covers all use cases, with no complex setup or configuration.
• Lightweight: At just 3KB, it's significantly smaller than most alternatives.
• Instant Productivity: Works seamlessly with any framework or plain JavaScript.
• Testing Ready: Built-in mocking removes the need for external tools like MSW or Nock.
• Smart Defaults: Automatically detects localhost for debugging and handles JSON out of the box.
• Performance: Features like deduplication, caching, and rate limiting are built in to reduce redundant requests.

Migration Guide

Stop trying to make fetch happen! *

Why fetch things when you can just GRAB?

Debugging requests is a bitch. Make the switch!

*Meme Reference Explanation

From Fetch

// Fetch
const response = await fetch('/api/users', {
  post: true,
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  body: JSON.stringify({ name: 'John' })
});
const user = await response.json();

// GRAB
const user = await grab('users', {
  post: true,
  name: 'John'
});

From Axios

// Axios
axios.defaults.baseURL = 'https://api.example.com';
const response = await axios.get('/users', { params: { page: 1 } });
const users = response.data;

// GRAB
grab.defaults.baseURL = 'https://api.example.com';
const users = await grab('users', { page: 1 });

From TanStack Query

// TanStack Query
const mutation = useMutation({
  mutationFn: (newUser) => {
    return fetch('/api/user/create', {
      post: true,
      headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
      body: JSON.stringify(newUser)
    }).then(res => res.json())
  },
  onSuccess: () => {
    queryClient.invalidateQueries(['users'])
  }
});

// GRAB
const [users, setUsers] = useState({});
grab('user/create', { 
    response: users, 
    post: true,
    newUser 
});

Top 20 JavaScript Request Libraries

1. vtempest/GRAB-API - Elegantly simple syntax, deduping, mock, cache, defaults.
2. axios/axios - Promise based HTTP client for the browser and Node.js
3. TanStack/query - Powerful data synchronization for web applications
4. vercel/swr - Data fetching library with caching, revalidation, and more
5. sindresorhus/ky - Tiny and elegant HTTP client based on Fetch API
6. sindresorhus/got - Human-friendly and powerful HTTP request library for Node.js
7. ladjs/superagent - Ajax for Node.js and browsers (feature-rich)
8. skellock/apisauce - Axios + standardized errors + request/response transforms
9. elbywan/wretch - A tiny wrapper built around fetch with an intuitive syntax
10. lukeed/httpie - Ultra-lightweight Node.js HTTP client
11. tomas/needle - Nimble, streamable HTTP client for Node.js
12. nodejs/undici - An HTTP/1.1 client, written from scratch for Node.js
13. alovajs/alova - Request strategy library for MVVM libraries
14. ava/use-http - React hook for making isomorphic HTTP requests
15. unjs/ofetch - Better fetch API. Works on node, browser and workers
16. node-fetch/node-fetch - A light-weight module that brings window.fetch to Node.js
17. mikeal/bent - Functional HTTP client for Node.js w/ async/await
18. bitinn/node-fetch - A light-weight module that brings window.fetch to Node.js
19. developit/redaxios - The Axios API, as an 800 byte fetch wrapper
20. bekacru/better-fetch - fetch with standard schema validations, pre-defined routes, callbacks, plugins