Element UI vs Element Plus vs Quasar, Comprehensive Comparison.md

Comprehensive Comparison: Element UI vs Element Plus vs Quasar

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1. General Overview

Feature	Element UI	Element Plus	Quasar
Vue Version	Vue 2.x	Vue 3.x	Vue 2 (v1) / Vue 3 (v2)
Language	JavaScript	TypeScript	JavaScript (TS support)
License	MIT	MIT	MIT
Maintainer	ElemeFe (Alibaba)	Community-driven (Element Plus team)	Razvan Stoenescu / Community
First Release	2016	2020	2016
Status	Maintenance only	Active development	Active development
Design Language	Custom (Element Design)	Custom (Element Design, refined)	Material Design (customizable)
CSS Preprocessor	SCSS	SCSS / CSS Variables	Sass (SCSS)
Bundle Size (full)	~700 KB (min)	~800 KB (min)	Varies (tree-shaking)
Tree Shaking	Partial (babel plugin)	✅ Native ESM	✅ Native (auto-import)
TypeScript	Partial (declarations)	✅ Full (written in TS)	✅ Full support
RTL Support	❌ Community workarounds	✅ Built-in	✅ Built-in
SSR Support	Nuxt 2 (community)	Nuxt 3	✅ Built-in (first-class)
Dark Mode	❌ Manual	✅ Built-in	✅ Built-in (plugin)
i18n	✅ ~50+ locales	✅ ~50+ locales	✅ ~40+ locales
Accessibility (a11y)	Basic	Improved (WAI-ARIA)	Good (WAI-ARIA)
GitHub Stars (approx.)	~54k	~24k	~26k
npm Weekly Downloads	~400k	~500k	~100k

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2. Build Targets & Platform Support

Target	Element UI	Element Plus	Quasar
SPA	✅	✅	✅
SSR	Via Nuxt 2	Via Nuxt 3	✅ Built-in
PWA	❌ Manual	❌ Manual	✅ Built-in
Mobile (Cordova)	❌	❌	✅ Built-in
Mobile (Capacitor)	❌	❌	✅ Built-in
Desktop (Electron)	❌	❌	✅ Built-in
Browser Extension (BEX)	❌	❌	✅ Built-in
Static Site (SSG)	Via Nuxt	Via Nuxt	✅ (via SSR mode)

Key takeaway: Quasar is a full framework (not just a component library). Element UI/Plus are component libraries only.

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3. CLI & Tooling

Feature	Element UI	Element Plus	Quasar
Dedicated CLI	❌ (use Vue CLI)	❌ (use Vite/Vue CLI)	✅ @quasar/cli
Project Scaffolding	❌	❌	✅ quasar create
Dev Server	Webpack (via Vue CLI)	Vite or Webpack	✅ quasar dev (Vite or Webpack)
Build Command	Vue CLI	Vite or Vue CLI	✅ quasar build
Hot Module Reload	Via Vue CLI	Via Vite/Vue CLI	✅ Built-in
Mode Switching	N/A	N/A	`quasar dev -m [spa
Icon Genie	❌	❌	✅ Auto-generates all app icons
Auto-import	Via babel-plugin-component	Via unplugin-auto-import / unplugin-vue-components	✅ Built-in (zero config)
Upgrade Tool	❌	❌	✅ quasar upgrade

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4. Theming & Customization

Feature	Element UI	Element Plus	Quasar
CSS Variables	❌ (SCSS variables)	✅ CSS custom properties	✅ CSS custom properties + Sass variables
Theme Editor	✅ Online theme roller	❌ (use CSS vars / SCSS overrides)	❌ (Sass variable overrides)
SCSS Variable Overrides	✅	✅	✅ (quasar.variables.scss)
Brand Colors	Primary, Success, Warning, Danger, Info	Primary, Success, Warning, Danger, Info	Primary, Secondary, Accent, Dark, Positive, Negative, Info, Warning
Component-level Styling	Scoped CSS / BEM classes	Scoped CSS / BEM / CSS vars	Scoped CSS / Sass / CSS vars
Dark Mode	❌ Manual override	✅ namespace + class toggle	✅ $q.dark.set(true)
Dynamic Theming	❌	✅ Runtime CSS var changes	✅ Runtime via setCssVar()
Breakpoints	xs, sm, md, lg, xl	xs, sm, md, lg, xl	xs, sm, md, lg, xl (customizable)

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5. Layout & Grid System

Feature	Element UI	Element Plus	Quasar
Grid System	el-row / el-col (24 columns)	el-row / el-col (24 columns)	Flexbox CSS classes (12 columns)
Container Layout	el-container, el-header, el-aside, el-main, el-footer	Same as Element UI	QLayout, QHeader, QFooter, QDrawer, QPage, QPageContainer
Responsive Utilities	xs, sm, md, lg, xl props on el-col	Same	col-xs-*, col-sm-*, col-md-*, etc. CSS classes
Gutter Control	:gutter prop	:gutter prop	q-gutter-* CSS classes
Flex Utilities	Limited	Limited	✅ Extensive (flex, justify-*, items-*, self-*, q-space, etc.)
Spacing Helpers	❌	<el-space> component	✅ q-pa-*, q-ma-*, q-px-*, q-mt-*, etc.
Visibility Helpers	hidden-xs-only, etc.	Same	xs, sm-and-up, gt-md, lt-lg, etc.
App Layout (Drawer/Sidebar)	Manual	Manual	✅ QLayout with configurable view prop (e.g., "lHh Lpr lFf")
Sticky Elements	❌	<el-affix>	QPageSticky, QPageScroller

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6. Complete Component Comparison

6.1 Basic / General

Component	Element UI	Element Plus	Quasar
Button	el-button	el-button	QBtn
Button Group	el-button-group	el-button-group	QBtnGroup
Button Dropdown	❌ (use Dropdown)	❌ (use Dropdown)	QBtnDropdown
Button Toggle	❌	❌	QBtnToggle
Icon	el-icon (custom font)	el-icon (SVG-based)	QIcon (supports Material, FA, SVG, img)
Link	el-link	el-link	❌ (use <a> or router-link)
Floating Action Button	❌	❌	QFab, QFabAction
Space	❌	el-space	QSpace + q-gutter-* classes
Divider	el-divider	el-divider	QSeparator
Text	❌	el-text	❌ (CSS classes)
Scrollbar	❌	el-scrollbar	QScrollArea
Config Provider	❌	el-config-provider	❌ (uses quasar.config.js)

6.2 Form Components

Component	Element UI	Element Plus	Quasar
Form	el-form	el-form	QForm
Form Item / Field	el-form-item	el-form-item	QField
Input	el-input	el-input	QInput
Textarea	el-input type="textarea"	el-input type="textarea"	QInput type="textarea"
InputNumber	el-input-number	el-input-number	QInput type="number" (no dedicated component)
Autocomplete	el-autocomplete	el-autocomplete	QSelect with use-input + @filter
Mention	❌	el-mention	❌ (third-party)
Select	el-select	el-select	QSelect
Virtualized Select	❌	el-select-v2	QSelect with virtual-scroll-slice-size
Select (Multiple)	✅	✅	✅ multiple prop
Select (Filterable)	✅ filterable	✅ filterable	✅ use-input + @filter
Select (Remote/Async)	✅ remote	✅ remote	✅ via @filter with async
Select (Creatable)	✅ allow-create	✅ allow-create	✅ new-value-mode
Cascader	el-cascader	el-cascader	❌ (use QSelect or third-party)
TreeSelect	❌	el-tree-select	❌ (combine QSelect + QTree manually)
Radio	el-radio, el-radio-group, el-radio-button	Same	QRadio, QOptionGroup
Checkbox	el-checkbox, el-checkbox-group, el-checkbox-button	Same	QCheckbox, QOptionGroup
Toggle / Switch	el-switch	el-switch	QToggle
Slider	el-slider	el-slider	QSlider
Range Slider	el-slider with range	Same	QRange (dedicated component)
Date Picker	el-date-picker	el-date-picker	QDate
Time Picker	el-time-picker	el-time-picker	QTime
DateTime Picker	el-date-picker type="datetime"	Same	QDate + QTime combined
Color Picker	el-color-picker	el-color-picker	QColor
Rate / Rating	el-rate	el-rate	QRating
Transfer	el-transfer	el-transfer	❌ (manual implementation)
Upload	el-upload	el-upload	QUploader / QFile
WYSIWYG Editor	❌	❌	QEditor (built-in rich text)
Knob	❌	❌	QKnob
Option Group	❌	❌	QOptionGroup (radio/checkbox/toggle group)
Validation	Built-in (async-validator)	Built-in (async-validator)	Built-in (rules prop + custom)
Inline Editing	❌	❌	QPopupEdit

6.3 Data Display

Component	Element UI	Element Plus	Quasar
Table	el-table	el-table	QTable
Virtualized Table	❌	el-table-v2	QTable with virtual-scroll
Table Sorting	✅	✅	✅
Table Filtering	✅	✅	✅
Table Selection	✅	✅	✅
Table Expandable Rows	✅	✅	✅
Table Server-side	✅	✅	✅ (first-class @request event)
Table Column Resizing	❌	❌	✅ (visible-columns + column resize)
Table Inline Editing	Manual	Manual	✅ with QPopupEdit
Table Sticky Header/Col	❌	✅ (sticky header)	✅ (sticky header + column)
Table Dense Mode	❌	❌	✅ dense prop
Table Grid Mode	❌	❌	✅ grid prop (card layout)
Table Full Screen	❌	❌	✅ fullscreen prop
Table Export	❌	❌	❌ (manual, but easy with @request)
Tree	el-tree	el-tree	QTree
Tree (Virtual)	❌	el-tree-v2	QTree (handles large trees)
Tree (Lazy Load)	✅	✅	✅ lazy-load prop
Tree (Drag & Drop)	✅	✅	❌ (manual)
Tag / Chip	el-tag	el-tag	QChip
Check Tag	❌	el-check-tag	QChip with selected
Badge	el-badge	el-badge	QBadge
Avatar	el-avatar	el-avatar	QAvatar
Card	el-card	el-card	QCard, QCardSection, QCardActions
Carousel	el-carousel	el-carousel	QCarousel, QCarouselSlide, QCarouselControl
Collapse / Accordion	el-collapse	el-collapse	QExpansionItem
Descriptions	❌	el-descriptions	❌ (use QList or QMarkupTable)
Empty	❌	el-empty	❌ (use slot or custom)
Image	el-image	el-image	QImg
Image Lazy Load	✅	✅	✅
Image Preview/Viewer	✅	✅	❌ (third-party / custom)
Infinite Scroll	v-infinite-scroll directive	v-infinite-scroll directive	QInfiniteScroll component
List	❌	❌	QList, QItem, QItemSection, QItemLabel
Pagination	el-pagination	el-pagination	QPagination
Progress (Linear)	el-progress	el-progress	QLinearProgress
Progress (Circular)	el-progress type="circle"	el-progress type="circle/dashboard"	QCircularProgress
Skeleton	❌	el-skeleton	QSkeleton
Statistic	❌	el-statistic	❌ (manual)
Countdown	❌	el-countdown	❌ (manual)
Timeline	el-timeline	el-timeline	QTimeline, QTimelineEntry
Calendar	el-calendar	el-calendar	❌ (use QDate or third-party)
Virtual Scroll	❌	Table V2, Select V2, Tree V2	QVirtualScroll (generic)
Parallax	❌	❌	QParallax
Video	❌	❌	QVideo (iframe embed)
Markup Table	❌	❌	QMarkupTable (styled HTML table)
Splitter	❌	❌	QSplitter (resizable panels)
Responsive	❌	❌	QResponsive (ratio-based sizing)
Watermark	❌	el-watermark	❌
Segmented Control	❌	el-segmented	QBtnToggle (similar)
Tour / Guide	❌	el-tour	❌ (third-party)
Anchor	❌	el-anchor	❌ (manual / scroll plugin)

6.4 Navigation

Component	Element UI	Element Plus	Quasar
Menu / Nav	el-menu (vertical/horizontal)	el-menu	QList + QItem / QMenu
Tabs	el-tabs	el-tabs	QTabs, QTab, QRouteTab
Tab Panels	Built into el-tabs	Built into el-tabs	QTabPanels, QTabPanel (decoupled)
Breadcrumb	el-breadcrumb	el-breadcrumb	QBreadcrumbs, QBreadcrumbsEl
Dropdown	el-dropdown	el-dropdown	QBtnDropdown / QMenu
Steps / Stepper	el-steps	el-steps	QStepper, QStep, QStepperNavigation
Page Header	el-page-header	el-page-header	❌ (use QToolbar)
Toolbar	❌	❌	QToolbar, QToolbarTitle
Back to Top	el-backtop	el-backtop	QPageScroller
Pull to Refresh	❌	❌	QPullToRefresh
Navigation Drawer	Manual (container+aside)	Same	QDrawer (built-in, swipeable)

6.5 Feedback / Overlay

Component	Element UI	Element Plus	Quasar
Dialog / Modal	el-dialog	el-dialog	QDialog
Dialog (Programmatic)	MessageBox	ElMessageBox	$q.dialog() plugin
Alert	el-alert	el-alert	QBanner
Message (Toast)	Message service	ElMessage	$q.notify()
Notification	Notification service	ElNotification	$q.notify() (with positioning)
Message Box (Confirm)	MessageBox.confirm()	ElMessageBox.confirm()	$q.dialog({ ... })
Loading (Full/Partial)	v-loading directive / Loading service	Same	QInnerLoading / $q.loading plugin
Loading Bar	❌	❌	QAjaxBar / $q.loadingBar
Tooltip	el-tooltip	el-tooltip	QTooltip
Popover	el-popover	el-popover	QMenu (with anchor)
Popconfirm	el-popconfirm	el-popconfirm	QMenu + confirm layout (manual)
Drawer / Sheet	el-drawer	el-drawer	QDialog position="bottom/left/right/top"
Bottom Sheet	❌	❌	$q.bottomSheet()
Action Sheet	❌	❌	$q.bottomSheet()
Overlay	❌	el-overlay	❌ (built into QDialog)
Result	❌	el-result	❌ (manual)
Spinner	❌	el-loading	QSpinner (15+ variants)
Bar (Title Bar)	❌	❌	QBar (desktop-style title bar)

6.6 Spinner Variants (Quasar Exclusive)

Quasar provides 15+ built-in spinner styles:

• QSpinner
• QSpinnerAudio
• QSpinnerBall
• QSpinnerBars
• QSpinnerBox
• QSpinnerComment
• QSpinnerCube
• QSpinnerDots
• QSpinnerFacebook
• QSpinnerGears
• QSpinnerGrid
• QSpinnerHearts
• QSpinnerHourglass
• QSpinnerInfinity
• QSpinnerIos
• QSpinnerOval
• QSpinnerPie
• QSpinnerPuff
• QSpinnerRadio
• QSpinnerRings
• QSpinnerTail

Element UI/Plus: only the generic el-loading spinner.

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7. Directives

Directive	Element UI	Element Plus	Quasar
Loading	v-loading	v-loading	❌ (use QInnerLoading)
Infinite Scroll	v-infinite-scroll	v-infinite-scroll	❌ (use QInfiniteScroll)
Ripple	❌	❌	v-ripple
Close Popup	❌	❌	v-close-popup
Go Back	❌	❌	v-go-back
Scroll	❌	❌	v-scroll
Scroll Fire	❌	❌	v-scroll-fire
Touch Hold	❌	❌	v-touch-hold
Touch Pan	❌	❌	v-touch-pan
Touch Repeat	❌	❌	v-touch-repeat
Touch Swipe	❌	❌	v-touch-swipe
Intersection	❌	❌	v-intersection
Mutation	❌	❌	v-mutation
Morph	❌	❌	v-morph

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8. Plugins & Utilities (Quasar Exclusive or Comparison)

Plugin / Utility	Element UI	Element Plus	Quasar
Platform Detection	❌	❌	$q.platform (OS, browser, mobile, etc.)
Screen Breakpoint	❌	❌	$q.screen (reactive breakpoints, width, height)
Dark Mode	❌	CSS class toggle	$q.dark (reactive plugin)
App Fullscreen	❌	❌	$q.fullscreen
App Visibility	❌	❌	$q.appVisible (reactive)
Address Bar Color	❌	❌	AddressbarColor plugin (mobile)
Cookies	❌	❌	$q.cookies (SSR-compatible)
Local Storage	❌	❌	$q.localStorage (reactive)
Session Storage	❌	❌	$q.sessionStorage (reactive)
Meta / SEO	❌	❌	useMeta() (SSR-compatible meta tags)
Bottom Sheet	❌	❌	$q.bottomSheet()
Dialog (Plugin)	MessageBox	ElMessageBox	$q.dialog() (fully customizable)
Loading (Plugin)	Loading.service()	ElLoading.service()	$q.loading.show()
Notify (Plugin)	Message / Notification	ElMessage / ElNotification	$q.notify() (unified)

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9. CSS Utility Classes

Category	Element UI	Element Plus	Quasar
Typography	Minimal	Minimal	✅ text-h1–text-h6, text-subtitle1, text-body1, text-caption, text-overline
Color	❌	❌	✅ text-primary, bg-positive, text-white, etc.
Spacing	❌	❌	✅ q-pa-xs–q-pa-xl, q-mx-md, q-mt-lg, etc.
Flex	❌	❌	✅ row, column, wrap, justify-center, items-center, self-end, flex-center, etc.
Visibility	hidden-* responsive classes	Same	✅ gt-xs, lt-sm, xs, sm-and-up, etc.
Shadows	❌	❌	✅ shadow-1–shadow-24, no-shadow
Borders	❌	❌	✅ rounded-borders, no-border-radius
Positioning	❌	❌	✅ absolute, relative, fixed, fullscreen, float-left, etc.
Sizing	❌	❌	✅ full-width, full-height, fit, etc.

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10. Icon Support

Feature	Element UI	Element Plus	Quasar
Built-in Icons	Element Icons (font)	@element-plus/icons-vue (SVG components)	❌ (choose your icon set)
Material Icons	❌	❌	✅
Material Symbols	❌	❌	✅
Font Awesome	❌	❌	✅
Ionicons	❌	❌	✅
MDI	❌	❌	✅
Eva Icons	❌	❌	✅
Themify	❌	❌	✅
Line Awesome	❌	❌	✅
Bootstrap Icons	❌	❌	✅
SVG Icon Support	❌	✅ (component-based)	✅ (SVG use, img, component)
Custom Icon Set	❌	❌	✅
Icon Count	~280	~280	Depends on chosen set (1,000s available)

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11. Internationalization (i18n)

Feature	Element UI	Element Plus	Quasar
Supported Locales	~55	~55	~40+
Runtime Switch	✅	✅ (via ConfigProvider or global)	✅ $q.lang.set(langPack)
Day.js Integration	❌ (Moment.js optional)	✅ (Day.js)	❌ (uses own date utils or date-fns)
Plural Forms	❌	❌	❌ (handled by vue-i18n)
Integration with vue-i18n	✅	✅	✅

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12. Form Validation

Feature	Element UI	Element Plus	Quasar
Validation Library	async-validator	async-validator	Built-in rules system
Inline Rules	✅ via rules prop	✅ via rules prop	✅ via rules prop (array of functions)
Custom Validators	✅	✅	✅
Regex Rules	✅ (via async-validator)	✅	✅ (custom function)
Async Validation	✅	✅	✅ (return Promise)
Form-level Validate	form.validate()	formRef.validate()	form.validate()
Reset Fields	✅ resetFields()	✅ resetFields()	✅ reset()
Scroll to Error	❌	✅ scrollToField()	❌ (manual)
Error Display	Below form item	Below form item	Below field / floating / tooltip
Lazy Validation	❌	✅	✅ lazy-rules prop

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13. Table Feature Deep Comparison

Table Feature	Element UI	Element Plus	Quasar
Fixed Columns	✅ fixed	✅ fixed	✅ (CSS sticky)
Fixed Header	✅ height prop	✅	✅ sticky
Sorting	✅ sortable	✅ sortable	✅ sortable
Multi-column Sort	❌	❌	✅
Filtering	✅ Column filters	✅	✅ filter prop + method
Selection (Single/Multi)	✅	✅	✅
Expandable Rows	✅	✅	✅
Tree Data	✅	✅	❌ (use expand + tree)
Custom Columns (Slots)	✅ Scoped slots	✅ Scoped slots	✅ Scoped slots (body-cell-[name])
Row Drag & Drop	❌	❌	❌ (third-party)
Virtual Scrolling	❌	✅ (Table V2)	✅ virtual-scroll
Server-side Pagination	✅ (manual)	✅ (manual)	✅ @request event (first-class)
Loading State	✅ v-loading	✅ v-loading	✅ loading prop
No Data Slot	✅	✅	✅ no-data slot
Dense Mode	✅ size="small/mini"	✅ size="small/large"	✅ dense prop
Grid Mode (Cards)	❌	❌	✅ grid prop
Fullscreen	❌	❌	✅ fullscreen prop
Column Visibility Toggle	❌	❌	✅ visible-columns
Row Click	✅ row-click	✅ row-click	✅ @row-click
Separator Style	❌	❌	✅ separator (horizontal, vertical, cell, none)
Wrap Cells	❌	❌	✅ wrap-cells
Column Templates	Scoped slots	Scoped slots	Header/Body/Footer cell scoped slots
Summary Row	✅ show-summary	✅ show-summary	❌ (use bottom-row slot)
Span Method (Merge)	✅ span-method	✅ span-method	❌ (manual with body slot)
Column Resizing	❌	✅ (Table V2)	❌

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14. Transition / Animation

Feature	Element UI	Element Plus	Quasar
Built-in Transitions	el-fade-in, el-zoom-in-center, el-zoom-in-top, etc.	Same + more	✅ 20+ transitions (slide-right, fade, jump-up, scale, rotate, flip-left, etc.)
Transition Duration	Fixed	Fixed	Customizable
CSS Animation Classes	Limited	Limited	✅ Animate.css integration
Morph	❌	❌	✅ v-morph / morph() util

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15. Accessibility (a11y)

Feature	Element UI	Element Plus	Quasar
ARIA Attributes	Partial	✅ Improved	✅ Good
Keyboard Navigation	Partial	✅ Improved	✅
Focus Management	Partial	✅	✅
Screen Reader	Basic	Improved	Good
High Contrast	❌	❌	❌
WCAG Compliance	Partial	Better	Good

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16. Developer Experience

Feature	Element UI	Element Plus	Quasar
Documentation Quality	✅ Good	✅ Good	✅ Excellent (very detailed)
Playground	❌	✅ Element Plus Playground	✅ CodePen/Codandsandbox starters
DevTools	Vue DevTools	Vue DevTools	Vue DevTools
Starter Templates	❌	❌	✅ Official starters
IDE Support	Vetur	Volar (official)	Volar
Type Inference	Partial	✅ Full	✅ Good
Discord / Community	GitHub issues	Discord + GitHub	✅ Discord (very active) + Forum
Figma / Sketch Kit	✅	✅	✅ Community
Upgrade Guide	N/A	✅ Migration from Element UI	✅ Upgrade guide per version

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17. Performance

Feature	Element UI	Element Plus	Quasar
Tree Shaking	Plugin-based (babel-plugin-component)	✅ Native ESM	✅ Automatic
On-demand Import	✅ (with plugin)	✅ (native + unplugin)	✅ (auto-detected by CLI)
Virtual Scrolling	❌	✅ (V2 components)	✅ (QVirtualScroll, QTable, QSelect)
Lazy Loading	Image component	Image component	✅ QImg + QIntersection
Code Splitting	Manual	Manual	✅ Auto (CLI manages routes)
Gzip Size (full)	~200 KB	~220 KB	~100–150 KB (typical SPA)

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18. Mobile / Touch Support

Feature	Element UI	Element Plus	Quasar
Touch Gestures	❌	❌	✅ (swipe, pan, hold, repeat)
Pull to Refresh	❌	❌	✅ QPullToRefresh
Swipeable Drawer	❌	❌	✅ QDrawer (swipe to open/close)
Bottom Sheet	❌	❌	✅ $q.bottomSheet()
Responsive Design	Basic grid	Basic grid	✅ Comprehensive (layout + grid + CSS helpers)
Cordova Integration	❌	❌	✅ First-class
Capacitor Integration	❌	❌	✅ First-class
Native-like Components	❌	❌	✅ (spinners, pull-refresh, drawer, etc.)
Platform-specific Styling	❌	❌	✅ (detect iOS/Android, adapt)
Addressbar Color	❌	❌	✅ Plugin

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19. Desktop App Support

Feature	Element UI	Element Plus	Quasar
Electron Integration	❌ (manual)	❌ (manual)	✅ quasar dev -m electron
Electron Preload Scripts	N/A	N/A	✅ Built-in
Electron Builder	N/A	N/A	✅ (packager or builder)
Title Bar Component	❌	❌	✅ QBar

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20. Summary Matrix

Dimension	Element UI	Element Plus	Quasar
Best For	Legacy Vue 2 admin panels	Vue 3 admin panels / dashboards	Full-stack apps, multi-platform
Component Count	~55	~70+	~80+ components + directives + plugins
Learning Curve	Low	Low	Medium (more concepts)
Flexibility	Medium	Medium	High
Opinionatedness	Medium	Medium	High (framework-level)
Admin Template Ecosystem	Huge (vue-element-admin, etc.)	Growing	Moderate
Mobile Readiness	❌ Poor	❌ Poor	✅ Excellent
Enterprise Adoption	Very High (China)	Growing	Growing
Long-term Viability	❌ Declining (Vue 2 EOL)	✅ Active	✅ Active
Unique Strengths	Mature ecosystem, huge community	Modern Vue 3, TS, CSS vars	Multi-platform, CLI, touch, SSR, PWA
Weaknesses	Vue 2 only, no mobile, no TS	Desktop-focused, no CLI	Steeper learning curve, smaller admin ecosystem

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21. Migration Path

Element UI (Vue 2) ──→ Element Plus (Vue 3)   [Component API ~80% compatible]
Element UI (Vue 2) ──→ Quasar v2 (Vue 3)      [Full rewrite needed]
Element Plus ──────→ Quasar v2                  [Full rewrite needed]

Element UI → Element Plus Migration Notes:

• Most component names stay the same (el-*)
• Icon system changed from font to SVG components
• Some props renamed
• Event names changed to kebab-case
• size values changed (mini → small)
• Vue 3 Composition API compatible

To Quasar Migration:

• Completely different component names (Q* prefix)
• Different API philosophy (more prop-driven, less slot-heavy)
• Need to learn Quasar CLI and project structure
• Gain: multi-platform support, utilities, plugins

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Bottom Line:

• Element UI: Legacy choice for Vue 2. Don't start new projects with it.
• Element Plus: Best for Vue 3 admin dashboards / internal tools with a familiar API. Desktop-focused.
• Quasar: Best for multi-platform apps (web + mobile + desktop + PWA) from a single codebase. More of a framework than a library. Steeper learning curve but vastly more capable for complex/multi-platform projects.