# Lexical vs Quill: Meta's editor framework or a ready-made editor

*Source: https://www.editorstack.cc/compare/lexical-vs-quill — last updated 2026-09-17. Licensed CC BY 4.0 with attribution to EditorStack.*

## Summary

- Lexical is a framework built around an immutable editor state, with plugins rather than an interface; Quill is a finished, themeable editor with a toolbar and the Delta document format.
- Measured: @lexical/react 0.50.0 with the rich-text and history plugins at 104.9 kB gzip, React external; quill 2.0.3 default build at 58.7 kB. Our benchmark applications needed 25 lines for Lexical and 8 for Quill.
- Both are permissively licensed — MIT and BSD-3-Clause — with no commercial tier. What separates them is how much editor you want to build and how actively each project releases.

## At a glance

| Product | Type | Licence | Frameworks | Bundle (min+gzip) | Price from | Self-hosted | White label | Score |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Lexical](https://www.editorstack.cc/libraries/lexical) | library | MIT | Any (framework-agnostic) | 104.9 kB gzip | Free (open source) | Yes | Yes | 7.4 |
| [Quill](https://www.editorstack.cc/libraries/quill) | library | BSD-3-Clause | Any (framework-agnostic) | 58.7 kB gzip | Free (open source) | Yes | Yes | not scored |

## Opposite ends of the effort scale

[Lexical](/libraries/lexical) needed more application code than any other editor in our
[time to first editor benchmark](/research/time-to-first-editor-benchmark): 25 lines to render an
editor with no toolbar. [Quill](/libraries/quill) needed 8 lines in our benchmark application to
render one with a toolbar.

That gap is not a quality judgement. Lexical makes every piece — composer, rich-text behaviour,
editable element, history — an explicit decision because it expects to be the foundation of a serious
editing product. Quill assumes you want an editor now.

## Where Lexical wins

**A stricter state model.** Immutable, transactional editor state, which makes behaviour predictable
as documents and features grow.

**Production scale behind the core.** Meta built it for its own editing surfaces.

**Active releases.** 0.50.0 was published to npm in September 2026. The pre-1.0 version line means
the API can still move, but the project is moving too.

**First-party React binding.** `@lexical/react` is maintained with the core. Quill's React wrappers
are community projects.

**Your interface, not a theme.** Nothing to override when the editor must match a design system.

## Where Quill wins

**About 44% less weight, with a toolbar.** 58.7 kB gzip against 104.9 kB, and Quill's figure includes
both themes and the toolbar module.

**A third of the code.** 8 lines against 25 in our benchmark applications.

**No framework coupling.** Quill mounts on a DOM node in any stack.

**A stable major version.** Quill is at 2.x; Lexical is pre-1.0.

**Deltas** as one format for documents and changes.

## Migration between them

Both can exchange HTML, which is the realistic bridge: export Quill content as HTML and import it into
Lexical with nodes covering the formats you used, or the reverse. Custom Quill formats become Lexical
nodes; Lexical plugins become Quill modules. Expect to rewrite the integration layer either way.

## Decision checklist

1. **Is the editor a core, long-lived part of our product?** Yes favours Lexical.
2. **Do we need a toolbar this sprint?** Quill has one.
3. **Are we on React?** Lexical's binding is first-party; Quill's are community.
4. **How do we weigh release activity against API stability?** Lexical releases often and is pre-1.0;
   Quill is 2.x with no release since November 2024.
5. **What is our JavaScript budget?** The measured gap is 46.2 kB.

## The number that matters

17 lines — the difference between our two benchmark applications, and the clearest measure of what
each project expects you to build. The same trade appears between Quill and
[Tiptap](/compare/quill-vs-tiptap), and the full category is on the
[rich-text editor comparison](/categories/rich-text).


## Frequently asked questions

### Which is lighter?

Quill, at 58.7 kB gzip for its default build including both themes, against 104.9 kB for Lexical's composer with rich-text and history plugins, React external.

### Which needs less code?

Quill: 8 lines in our benchmark application, with a toolbar, against Lexical's 25 lines, without one.

### Which is more actively released?

Lexical: @lexical/react 0.50.0 was published to npm in September 2026. Quill's latest npm release, 2.0.3, dates from November 2024.

### Which handles very large or unusual documents better?

Lexical is designed for that end of the problem — an immutable, transactional state model built for Meta's own products. Quill is sized for conventional rich-text fields.