Preact SPA

Preact for lightweight React-compatible SPAs.

FrontendSimple

Stack Components

FrameworkPreact 10

BuildVite 6

StatePreact signals

StylingTailwindCSS 4

Why

3KB runtime, React API compatibility. JavaScript is used by 62% of developers per the Stack Overflow 2024 survey, and React holds 40% framework market share (State of JS 2024).

Vite replaced Webpack as the default bundler, cutting dev server startup from 30s to <1s.

When

Use for size-constrained widgets. Avoid if needing full React ecosystem.

How

1. npm create preact@latest myapp 2. Write components like React 3. npm run build 5. Add environment configuration — cp .env.example .env && edit values 6. Run tests — npm test or pnpm test to verify setup 7. Deploy — git push to trigger CI/CD or manual deploy

Example

import { signal } from '@preact/signals' const count = signal(0) render(<button onClick={() => count.value++}>{count.value}</button>, document.body)

Common Problems

⚠React compatibility gaps — test with preact/compat
⚠Signal integration with class components
⚠Configuration drift between environments — use infrastructure-as-code (Terraform/Pulumi) to keep dev/staging/prod identical

Best Practices

✓Use preact/compat alias for React libs
✓Leverage signals for fine-grained updates
✓Set up health checks and graceful shutdown — handle SIGTERM to drain in-flight requests before exit

FAQ

What is Preact SPA and what projects is it for?

Preact for lightweight React-compatible SPAs. It pairs layered technologies for end-to-end type safety and out-of-the-box deploys, fitting everything from MVPs to production SaaS.

How do I spin up a working demo with Preact SPA in 10 minutes?

Two steps: (1) npm create preact@latest myapp; (2) Write components like React. Get the local dev server running, then wire one real data source to verify the end-to-end loop.

What is the most common pitfall with Preact SPA and how do I avoid it?

The most common pitfall is: React compatibility gaps — test with preact/compat. Avoid it by adding the matching checklist to your PR template and running type-check + lint + unit tests in CI — three gates before merge.

What are the best practices for Preact SPA?

Best practices for Preact SPA include: Use preact/compat alias for React libs; Leverage signals for fine-grained updates; Set up health checks and graceful shutdown — handle SIGTERM to drain in-flight requests before exit. The first one — "Use preact/compat alias for React libs" — should be set up at project init to avoid costly rework later.

When should I NOT choose Preact SPA?

Pick something else in three cases: (1) the team has zero experience with the core framework and the deadline is tight (learning-curve risk); (2) it's a pure content/marketing site (Astro is lighter); (3) you need very high throughput (>10k RPS) or strict-consistency microservices (Go/Rust). Preact SPA shines for mid-to-high complexity full-stack and API work — don't over-engineer simple static pages with it.