# Tiptap alternatives: Lexical, Quill, CKEditor 5, BlockNote and more *Source: https://www.editorstack.cc/alternatives/tiptap — last updated 2026-10-20. Licensed CC BY 4.0 with attribution to EditorStack.* ## Summary - Tiptap is MIT-licensed, headless and built on ProseMirror; we measured @tiptap/react with StarterKit at 123.3 kB gzip with React external, and it ships no toolbar. Most teams looking for an alternative are looking for one of those three things to be different. - For a finished editor on install: Quill (BSD-3-Clause, 58.7 kB, toolbar included) or CKEditor 5 (GPL-2.0-or-later or commercial, 161.2 kB). For a Notion-style block interface: BlockNote, which is itself built on Tiptap (386.1 kB). For a different engine: Lexical (MIT, 104.9 kB) or Plate on Slate (MIT, 150.8 kB, React-only). - Editor.js (Apache-2.0, 64.3 kB) is the alternative when the content is a list of blocks rather than a rich-text document. Remirror, the other ProseMirror toolkit people compare with Tiptap, last published to npm in August 2025. ## Decide what Tiptap is missing for you [Tiptap](/libraries/tiptap) makes three choices, and each is a common reason to look elsewhere. **It has no interface.** Tiptap gives you an editing engine and an extension API; the toolbar, menus and styling are yours to build. Our benchmark application needed 11 lines and rendered an editable heading and paragraph with nothing around them. **It is built on ProseMirror.** Extensions are the main API and raw ProseMirror plugins are the escape hatch. That is a strength until you would rather work with a different document model. **Its collaboration, comments and AI are hosted services.** The framework and open-source extensions are MIT with no usage ceiling, and the paid parts are Tiptap's own services. Each of these points to a different replacement. ## If you want an editor that works on install **[Quill](/libraries/quill)** is the light option: BSD-3-Clause, 58.7 kB gzip for the default build with both themes, and a toolbar from the first render. Its framework wrappers are community-maintained and its latest npm release, 2.0.3, is from November 2024. [Quill vs Tiptap](/compare/quill-vs-tiptap) covers the trade in detail. **[CKEditor 5](/libraries/ckeditor)** is the full-featured option: a finished editor with first-party React, Vue and Angular integrations at 161.2 kB in our measurement. Self-hosted use is GPL-2.0-or-later, with a "Powered by CKEditor" logo, or commercial terms; a closed-source product usually pays from day one. See [Tiptap vs CKEditor 5](/compare/tiptap-vs-ckeditor). ## If you want a block editor like Notion **[BlockNote](/libraries/blocknote)** is the shortest path, because it is Tiptap with the interface already built: `@blocknote/core` depends on `@tiptap/core`, and BlockNote adds the side menu, drag handle, slash menu and formatting toolbar. We measured `@blocknote/react` at 386.1 kB gzip with React external. The core is MPL-2.0; the AI, multi-column and export packages are GPL-3.0 or commercial. [Tiptap vs BlockNote](/compare/tiptap-vs-blocknote). **[Editor.js](/libraries/editorjs)** fits when the content really is a list of typed blocks stored as JSON: Apache-2.0, 64.3 kB, five lines to a working editor. It cannot express inline features such as mentions or comments on a phrase. [Editor.js vs Tiptap](/compare/editorjs-vs-tiptap). ## If you want a different engine **[Lexical](/libraries/lexical)** is Meta's MIT framework built around an immutable editor state. It is also headless, measured at 104.9 kB gzip, with a first-party React package and no commercial tier or hosted service at all. It asks for more assembly first: our application needed 25 lines against Tiptap's 11. [Tiptap vs Lexical](/compare/tiptap-vs-lexical). **[Plate](/libraries/plate)** is the React framework on Slate, with headless plugins and copy-in shadcn/ui components, measured at 150.8 kB. It is React-only, where Tiptap has first-party React and Vue bindings. [Plate vs Tiptap](/compare/plate-vs-tiptap). ## Side by side | | Licence | Engine | Interface included | Bundle (min+gzip) | Frameworks | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Tiptap | MIT | ProseMirror | No | 123.3 kB | React and Vue first-party | | Quill | BSD-3-Clause | Own (Delta) | Toolbar and themes | 58.7 kB | Any, community wrappers | | Editor.js | Apache-2.0 | Own (blocks) | Block interface | 64.3 kB | Any, community wrappers | | Lexical | MIT | Own | No | 104.9 kB | React first-party | | Plate | MIT | Slate | Copy-in components | 150.8 kB | React only | | CKEditor 5 | GPL-2.0-or-later or commercial | Own | Toolbar | 161.2 kB | React, Vue, Angular first-party | | BlockNote | MPL-2.0 core | ProseMirror via Tiptap | Block interface | 386.1 kB | React first-party | Bundle figures are from our own [bundle size benchmark](/research/bundle-size-benchmark-2026); React is treated as external for React-only packages. Licences and bindings are from each project's profile. ## Two names you may have seen compared with Tiptap **Remirror** is another MIT toolkit over ProseMirror: its `@remirror/pm` package bundles the ProseMirror libraries it builds on. The npm registry shows remirror 3.0.3, published on 2 August 2025, and about 43,000 weekly downloads in the week of 12 to 18 October 2026. We have not measured it, so it has no bundle figure here. **Draft.js**, Meta's earlier React editor, has not published a new version to npm since 0.11.7 in August 2020. ## Before you switch Tiptap stores a ProseMirror document, and its schema is defined by the extensions you install. Moving to BlockNote keeps you on the same foundation. Moving to Lexical, Plate or Quill means converting stored content, and the usual route is through HTML: export from Tiptap, import into the new editor, and check the marks and nodes your custom extensions added, because those are where a conversion loses information. ## Tiptap alternatives at a glance (from the dataset) - Consider [BlockNote](https://www.editorstack.cc/libraries/blocknote) if you need email output, real-time collaboration. - [Lexical](https://www.editorstack.cc/libraries/lexical) — no verified advantage over Tiptap in the dataset. - Consider [Plate](https://www.editorstack.cc/libraries/plate) if you need AI features. - Consider [Editor.js](https://www.editorstack.cc/libraries/editorjs) if you need a smaller JavaScript bundle. - Consider [CKEditor 5](https://www.editorstack.cc/libraries/ckeditor) if you need email output. - Consider [Quill](https://www.editorstack.cc/libraries/quill) if you need a smaller JavaScript bundle. ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the best Tiptap alternative for React? Lexical if you want another headless engine with a first-party React package and no commercial tier; Plate if you want React components to copy into your repository, at the cost of being React-only; BlockNote if you want a finished block-editing interface. ### Is there a Tiptap alternative with a toolbar included? Quill and CKEditor 5 both ship a working toolbar. Quill is BSD-3-Clause and 58.7 kB gzip in our measurement; CKEditor 5 is 161.2 kB and its self-hosted use is GPL-2.0-or-later unless you buy a commercial licence. ### Which alternative is lighter than Tiptap? In our benchmark, Quill (58.7 kB gzip), Editor.js (64.3 kB) and Lexical (104.9 kB) all come in under Tiptap with StarterKit at 123.3 kB. Plate (150.8 kB), CKEditor 5 (161.2 kB) and BlockNote (386.1 kB) are heavier. ### Remirror or Tiptap? Both are MIT-licensed toolkits over ProseMirror. On npm, remirror 3.0.3 was published on 2 August 2025 with about 43,000 downloads in the week of 12 to 18 October 2026, against more than 11 million for @tiptap/react, which last published in October 2026. Remirror is not in our measured dataset yet.