htmz
Ranked 18 of 24 JavaScript libraries by recommenders
People recommend htmz as an extremely small alternative to HTMX, at about 166 bytes, that repurposes iframes for HTML-driven partial page updates.
People recommend htmz as an extremely small alternative to HTMX, at about 166 bytes, that repurposes iframes for HTML-driven partial page updates.
7 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Extremely small, about 166 bytes
“htmz is intentionally more minimal (it's literally 166 bytes)”
Comment from 8 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: µJS, a 5KB alternative to Htmx and Turbo with zero dependencies” “a single inline 166-byte (sic!) onload handler named HTMZ”
Comment from 29 Aug 2026 in “Htmx 4.0” “You don't need HTMX, there is 160-bytes HTMZ”
Comment from 30 May 2026 in “API proposed by Chrome: Declarative partial updates” Minimal, strips out bloat
“for extreme minimalisim, htmz, which repurposes iframes for a similar idea”
Comment from 31 Jan 2026 in “htmx: Server Sent Event (SSE) Extension” “if you really want to lose bloat, there's always Htmz”
Comment from 18 Dec 2025 in “Please just try HTMX” Simple and actually usable
“I took that idea and made it actually usable.”
Comment from 24 Dec 2025 in “Please just try HTMX” “htmz is a masterclass in simplicity.”
Comment from 7 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: µJS, a 5KB alternative to Htmx and Turbo with zero dependencies”
Other JavaScript libraries people recommend
The four most recommended other JavaScript libraries, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| jQuery | 111 | 48 | 70% | 12 | 16 yrs8 owners | Approved |
| Picknplace.js | 58 | 26 | 69% | 1 | — | — |
| Alpine.js | 50 | 16 | 76% | 11 | 1 yr4 owners | Approved |
| Effect (TypeScript library) | 38 | 16 | 70% | 10 | 2 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| htmzThis page | 7 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
8 of the 9 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“a single inline 166-byte (sic!) onload handler named HTMZ”
“You don't need HTMX, there is 160-bytes HTMZ”
“htmz is intentionally more minimal (it's literally 166 bytes)”
“htmz is a masterclass in simplicity.”
“for extreme minimalisim, htmz, which repurposes iframes for a similar idea”
“I took that idea and made it actually usable.”
“if you really want to lose bloat, there's always Htmz”
“If you are looking for a very tiny foot print, you might like htmz-be.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.