Browserify vs RequireJS: What are the differences?

Developers describe Browserify as "Browser-side require() the node.js way". Browserify lets you require('modules') in the browser by bundling up all of your dependencies. On the other hand, RequireJS is detailed as "JavaScript file and module loader". RequireJS loads plain JavaScript files as well as more defined modules. It is optimized for in-browser use, including in a Web Worker, but it can be used in other JavaScript environments, like Rhino and Node. It implements the Asynchronous Module API. Using a modular script loader like RequireJS will improve the speed and quality of your code.

Browserify and RequireJS can be primarily classified as "Front End Package Manager" tools.

"Node style browser code" is the primary reason why developers consider Browserify over the competitors, whereas "Open source" was stated as the key factor in picking RequireJS.

Browserify and RequireJS are both open source tools. Browserify with 12.7K GitHub stars and 1.12K forks on GitHub appears to be more popular than RequireJS with 12.2K GitHub stars and 2.3K GitHub forks.

Bodybuilding.com, Etsy, and Movielala are some of the popular companies that use RequireJS, whereas Browserify is used by Clever, Repro, and UNION. RequireJS has a broader approval, being mentioned in 914 company stacks & 184 developers stacks; compared to Browserify, which is listed in 111 company stacks and 42 developer stacks.