Features
- 20x faster than Babel for transpilation
- Built-in minification as a Terser replacement
- Plugin system with WebAssembly support
- Used by Next.js, Deno, and Parcel internally
Pros
- Dramatically faster than Babel with high compatibility
- Drop-in Babel replacement for most projects
- Actively maintained with wide industry adoption
Cons
- Plugin ecosystem is smaller than Babel's
- Some niche Babel plugins have no SWC equivalent
- WASM-based plugins add complexity
Overview
SWC (Speedy Web Compiler) is a Rust-based JavaScript/TypeScript compiler designed as a high-performance alternative to Babel. Created by Donny (kdy1), SWC can transpile TypeScript and modern JavaScript syntax to older targets at speeds 20x faster than Babel.
SWC has been adopted by major tools and frameworks as their underlying compiler. Next.js uses SWC for its default compilation pipeline, Deno uses it for TypeScript compilation, and Parcel uses it for transformation. This widespread adoption validates its correctness and performance.
Beyond transpilation, SWC also provides a minifier that serves as a faster alternative to Terser, and a bundler (swcpack) that is still in development.
When to Use
Use SWC when you need a fast JavaScript/TypeScript transpiler. If you are using Next.js, you are already using SWC. For standalone usage, it is an excellent Babel replacement when you need speed and your Babel plugins have SWC equivalents.
Getting Started
npm install --save-dev @swc/core @swc/cli
npx swc src/index.ts -o dist/index.js