Biome

Biome is a high-performance, all-in-one toolchain for web projects that replaces both ESLint and Prettier with a single Rust-powered binary. We rate it 85/100 — an outstanding choice for JavaScript and TypeScript developers who want blazing-fast linting and formatting without the maintenance overhead of multiple tools and dozens of npm packages.

What is Biome?

Biome was officially launched on August 29, 2023, as the community successor to Rome Tools — a project that shut down when the company behind it folded. Core contributors, led by Emanuele Stoppa, forked the codebase and rebuilt it under the new name (a portmanteau of "Bis" and "Rome," meaning a second iteration). What started as a community rescue effort has since become one of the most exciting developer tools on GitHub, accumulating 24,400+ stars and growing. The latest release is v2.4.12 as of April 14, 2026.

The fundamental problem Biome solves: the modern JavaScript toolchain is fragmented and slow. A typical project runs ESLint (with 5–10 plugins), Prettier, and lint-staged — consuming hundreds of npm packages, multiple config files, and several seconds per run. Biome collapses all of this into a single self-contained binary with zero required configuration and benchmarks that regularly show 10–25x speedups over the ESLint + Prettier combination.

Key Features of Biome

• Rust-Powered Speed: Biome lints a 10,000-line monorepo in approximately 200ms vs. ESLint's 3–5 seconds — a 15–25x improvement. On cold runs, the difference is even more dramatic: tasks that took 6–10 seconds now complete in under 300ms.
• 97% Prettier Compatibility: Biome's formatter was engineered for near-perfect compatibility with Prettier's output, making migration nearly frictionless for most codebases. Formats JavaScript, TypeScript, JSX, TSX, JSON, JSONC, HTML, CSS, and GraphQL.
• 483 Lint Rules: Biome ships rules sourced from ESLint, TypeScript ESLint, eslint-plugin-react, eslint-plugin-jsx-a11y, and unicorn — all built-in, no plugins to install or configure. As of v2.4, 15 new HTML accessibility rules were added covering noAutofocus, useAltText, useValidAriaRole, and more.
• Single Binary, Zero Config: Install with npm install --save-dev @biomejs/biome and run biome check. No .eslintrc, no .prettierrc, no babel.config.js. One biome.json handles everything when you do want to customize.
• Embedded Snippet Support (v2.4): Biome now formats and lints CSS and GraphQL inside JavaScript template literals — a game-changer for styled-components and Emotion users who previously had to use separate tools for embedded styles.
• Framework-Aware: Native support for Vue, Svelte, and Astro single-file components, including framework-specific CSS pseudo-selectors like :slotted, :deep, :global, and :local.
• LSP Integration: Full Language Server Protocol support for VS Code, JetBrains, Neovim, and other editors, providing real-time diagnostics as you type.

What Users Say About Biome

Community sentiment is overwhelmingly positive with a few recurring caveats. On r/reactjs, a recent thread titled "Biome is an awesome linter" drew extensive agreement — one highly-upvoted comment summarized: "I've ripped out ESLint and Prettier from everything and switched to Biome. Haven't looked back." On r/webdev, users who switched away from Biome primarily cited missing ESLint plugins they depended on, such as eslint-plugin-import or framework-specific rules. On Hacker News (37k+ engagement on the original announcement), the most upvoted technical comment noted Biome's approach of trading plugin extensibility for speed and simplicity — calling it "the right trade for 90% of projects." The main recurring complaint across all platforms: Biome's type-aware linting sits around 85% coverage of what typescript-eslint offers, meaning power users with complex TypeScript codebases may hit gaps. Depot, the Docker build acceleration platform, became Biome's exclusive platinum sponsor in December 2025 — signaling real enterprise confidence in the project's longevity.

Biome Pricing

Biome is completely free and open source under the MIT license. There are no paid tiers, usage limits, or API rate limits. The project is funded through Open Collective sponsorships, with Vercel, Depot, and others contributing. An Enterprise support tier exists for organizations that need a formal SLA — contact the team at biomejs.dev/enterprise.

Plan	Price	Details
Open Source	$0	Full feature set, MIT license, unlimited usage
Enterprise Support	Contact	Formal SLA, dedicated support channel

Who Should Use Biome?

Best for: JavaScript and TypeScript developers who want the fastest possible formatter and linter without spending time managing toolchain config. Especially well-suited for teams starting new projects, monorepos where CI time is costly, and developers who are tired of the ESLint plugin ecosystem fragmentation. Biome is also ideal for frontend frameworks — Vue, Svelte, React, and Astro are all first-class citizens.

Not ideal for: Teams deeply invested in ESLint plugins that Biome has not yet replicated (e.g., complex custom rules, eslint-plugin-import ordering rules, or highly specific TypeScript rules from typescript-eslint). If your project relies on Prettier's exact output down to the character, be aware that 3% of formatting output differs.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• 10–25x faster than ESLint + Prettier on benchmark runs, according to multiple independent reviews and the team's own benchmarks
• Single tool, single config file, single binary — eliminates toolchain configuration sprawl
• Zero required configuration with sensible defaults that work on most projects out of the box
• Actively maintained with regular releases; v2.4 shipped April 2026 with HTML accessibility rules and embedded snippet support
• Backed by Vercel and Depot as platinum sponsors — strong signal of commercial viability for an OSS project

Cons:

• Type-aware linting coverage sits at ~85% of what typescript-eslint provides — a dealbreaker for some TypeScript-heavy projects
• No plugin ecosystem (by design) means custom rules require contributing upstream or going without
• Some Prettier-specific formatting quirks affect legacy codebases that need exact output parity

Alternatives to Biome

ESLint + Prettier — the incumbent combination. More rules, more plugins, full type-aware linting, but 10–25x slower and requires managing 3–5 separate tools. Still the right choice if you depend on niche plugins. oxc — another Rust-based JavaScript toolchain focused on performance, developed by contributors including members of the Vue.js ecosystem. Newer and less feature-complete than Biome at this stage. deno fmt / deno lint — Deno's built-in tools are fast and Biome-like, but locked to the Deno runtime — not suitable for Node.js or Bun projects.

Verdict: Is Biome Worth It?

For the majority of JavaScript and TypeScript projects, Biome is the clear winner in 2026. If you are starting a new project or greenfield repo, use Biome — there is no reason not to. If you are on an existing codebase, the migration is low-risk: run biome migrate and Biome will automatically convert your ESLint and Prettier configs. The speed gains alone justify the switch. We rate Biome 85/100 — it would score higher if type-aware linting had full parity with typescript-eslint, but that gap is narrowing with every release.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Biome free?

Yes. Biome is completely free and open source under the MIT license. There are no paid tiers — the full feature set is available at $0. Enterprise support contracts are available for teams that need formal SLAs.

What languages does Biome support?

Biome supports JavaScript, TypeScript, JSX, TSX, JSON, JSONC, CSS, GraphQL, and HTML. As of v2.4, it also formats and lints CSS and GraphQL embedded inside JavaScript template literals (styled-components, Emotion).

How does Biome compare to ESLint + Prettier?

Biome is 10–25x faster, requires zero additional npm packages, and uses a single configuration file. The trade-off is that Biome does not support the ESLint plugin ecosystem and type-aware linting coverage sits at ~85% of typescript-eslint. For most projects, Biome's rule set is more than sufficient.

Is Biome open source?

Yes. Biome is available on GitHub at github.com/biomejs/biome under the MIT license with 24,400+ stars.

Can I use Biome in CI/CD?

Yes. Biome is a single binary with no dependencies, making it ideal for CI/CD pipelines. It starts up in milliseconds and can check a large monorepo in under 300ms, significantly reducing pipeline times compared to ESLint.