markstream-vue vs vue-stream-markdown

Summary

Both render streaming Markdown in Vue 3. vue-stream-markdown focuses on the streaming experience. markstream-vue extends this with optional heavy blocks, virtualization, cross-framework parser sharing, and a safe HTML policy.

When to use vue-stream-markdown

Use vue-stream-markdown when:

• You need a lightweight Vue 3 streaming Markdown renderer
• You don't need Mermaid/KaTeX/Monaco support
• You don't need virtualized long documents
• You want the smallest Vue streaming Markdown dependency

When to use markstream-vue

Use markstream-vue when:

• You need progressive Mermaid during streaming
• KaTeX math in AI output matters
• Monaco or Shiki code blocks with diff tracking are needed
• Virtualized long documents (1MB+) are part of your use case
• Safe HTML policy without v-html is required
• Mobile WebView px CSS for root-font scaling matters
• Cross-framework consistency (same parser as React/Svelte/Angular) is valuable
• You need custom component overrides for specific node types

Feature comparison

	markstream-vue	vue-stream-markdown
Streaming content	✅	✅
Incomplete Markdown	✅	✅
content + nodes mode	✅ both	content-focused
Progressive Mermaid	✅ optional peer	❌
KaTeX math	✅ optional peer	❌
Monaco code blocks	✅ optional peer	❌
Shiki highlighting	✅ optional peer	❌
Virtualization	✅	❌
Safe HTML policy	✅ configurable	⚠️
Mobile px CSS	✅ index.px.css	❌
Custom components	✅	✅
VitePress / Nuxt SSR	✅ documented	⚠️
D2 / Infographic diagrams	✅ optional peers	❌

Bundle and dependency notes

markstream-vue is larger at base because it includes the parser and rendering infrastructure. However, all optional peers (Mermaid, KaTeX, Monaco, D2, Infographic) are only loaded when installed. If you don't install them, you pay zero cost for them.

vue-stream-markdown is smaller at base but offers fewer features. Choose based on your AI output requirements, not just bundle size.