# Svelte Headless Table vs TanStack Table A focused Svelte table API vs a larger multi-framework ecosystem ## Overview Both libraries are MIT-licensed, headless, TypeScript-first, and native to Svelte 5. TanStack Table v9 provides a runes-native Svelte adapter over a high-performance core shared across ten frameworks. @humanspeak/svelte-headless-table is the narrower option: its public API, documentation, stores, plugin state, and component renderers are designed only for Svelte. The choice is focus and familiarity versus ecosystem breadth and advanced features — not Svelte 5 support or licensing. - **Svelte Headless Table site:** https://table.svelte.page - **Svelte Headless Table npm:** https://www.npmjs.com/package/%40humanspeak%2Fsvelte-headless-table - **Svelte Headless Table slug:** svelte-headless-table - **Category:** Headless table primitives (multi-framework) - **Approach:** Framework-agnostic core + per-framework adapter - **Website:** https://tanstack.com/table - **GitHub:** https://github.com/TanStack/table - **npm:** https://www.npmjs.com/package/%40tanstack%2Fsvelte-table ## Feature comparison | Feature | @humanspeak/svelte-headless-table | TanStack Table | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Svelte 5 Support | Yes | Yes | Both packages support Svelte 5 natively. `@tanstack/svelte-table@9.1.2` declares `svelte: ^5.0.0` and uses runes with Svelte-aware atom bindings. | | TypeScript Support | Yes | Yes | | | Headless Rendering | Yes | Yes | Both libraries leave markup and styling entirely to the application. | | Sorting | Yes | Yes | | | Column Filters | Yes | Yes | | | Global Filter | addTableFilter plugin | Yes | | | Pagination | Yes | Yes | | | Group By | addGroupBy plugin | Yes | | | Expanded / Sub-Rows | addExpandedRows + addSubRows | Yes | | | Row Selection | addSelectedRows plugin | Yes | | | Column Resizing | addResizedColumns plugin | Yes | | | Column Ordering | addColumnOrder plugin | Column-order state; pair with a DnD library for drag controls | | | Column Visibility | addHiddenColumns plugin | Yes | | | Column Pinning | No | Yes | | | Row Pinning | No | Yes | | | Virtualization | addVirtualScroll plugin | Pair with TanStack Virtual or another virtualizer | | | Editable Data | createRender(EditableCell) | Documented pattern | | | API Style | Svelte stores + named plugin builders + pluginStates | TanStack Store atoms + framework adapter | | | GitHub Stars | Smaller community | 28k+ | | | Licence | MIT | MIT | Licence is parity, not a differentiator. | ## Svelte Headless Table strengths - Svelte-only public API and documentation — there is no framework-neutral guide to translate into Svelte concepts - Table behaviours are named plugins on one createTable call, with their stores grouped under pluginStates - Cell renderers are ordinary Svelte components through createRender, and the view model exposes familiar Svelte stores - Integrated addVirtualScroll plugin for semantic table virtualization without choosing and wiring a separate virtualizer ## TanStack Table strengths - Runes-native Svelte 5 adapter backed by TanStack Store atoms - Battle-tested core shared across React, Vue, Solid, Svelte, Qwik, Angular, Lit, and other adapters - Massive ecosystem (~28k GitHub stars) and rich third-party tooling - Column pinning, row pinning, and a broader set of advanced table primitives - Published large-table performance work and tree-shakable feature registration - Cross-framework knowledge transfer — same mental model in every adapter ## Svelte Headless Table limitations - Much smaller community and third-party ecosystem - No column pinning or row pinning yet — open feature requests - No published large-table benchmark suite to compare with TanStack v9 claims - Plugin order affects transformations and must be understood when composing complex tables ## TanStack Table limitations - Framework-agnostic core plus a Svelte adapter introduces more concepts and type boundaries than a Svelte-only API - Broader feature surface can mean more API to learn when you only need a focused data table - Virtualization requires choosing and integrating TanStack Virtual or another virtualizer ## Verdict TanStack Table is the stronger default when you need pinning, a large ecosystem, published performance work, or one table model across frameworks. Choose @humanspeak/svelte-headless-table when your application is Svelte-only, its focused feature set covers the job, and you prefer named plugins, pluginStates, Svelte stores, and Svelte component renderers over adopting the broader TanStack model. Both are native to Svelte 5, headless, TypeScript-first, and MIT. ## Keywords tanstack table, tanstack svelte table, tanstack table svelte 5, svelte headless table, tanstack table vs svelte headless table