Storybook 10: Why I Chose It Over Ladle and Histoire for Component Documentation

Source: Dev.to

Storybook is slow and complicated, but speed isn’t everything. What matters for component documentation is interactivity, ecosystem, and deployment options. Below is the journey from researching alternatives to having 50+ interactive component stories deployed to production, and the trade‑offs discovered along the way.

🎯 The Problem

The Context

• 11 components: Badge, Button, Card, Dialog, Hero, Input, Navigation, Stack, Avatar, Container, etc.
• 50+ stories: Multiple variants, sizes, tones for each component
• Target users: Developers (internal + external), designers, stakeholders
• Requirements: Interactive demos, prop controls, visual documentation
• Deployment: Static hosting on Vercel
• Tech stack: React 19, TypeScript 5.6, Vite 5, Tailwind v4

The Challenge

Without proper component documentation:

• 🎨 Designers can’t see what’s available or how to use it
• 💻 Developers waste time reading source code to understand props
• 🤝 Teams can’t maintain consistency across projects
• 📝 Documentation gets outdated quickly
• 🐛 Regressions go unnoticed without visual testing
• ⏱️ Onboarding takes hours explaining components

Real Pain Example

// Developer asks: "How do I use the Button component?"
// Answer: "Read the TypeScript types and guess..."

// 30 minutes later: Found 5 variants, 4 sizes, 8 tones
// Still don't know what they look like visually

Why This Decision Mattered

• 📚 Documentation quality: Interactive > static docs
• 🚀 Developer velocity: Fast lookup > digging through code
• 🎨 Design collaboration: Visual demos enable feedback
• 🔄 Component testing: Isolated environment for each state
• 📦 Deployment: Need static export for easy hosting
• ⏱️ Development speed: Fast dev server = faster iteration

✅ Evaluation Criteria

Must‑Have Requirements

• Interactive controls – Change props visually in real‑time
• React 19 support – Works with latest React
• TypeScript support – Auto‑infer props from types
• Static export – Deploy as static site (no backend)
• Vite integration – Fast dev server, matches build tool

Nice‑to‑Have Features

• Docs mode (MDX for rich documentation)
• Addons ecosystem (accessibility, visual regression)
• Multiple frameworks (future Vue/Svelte support)
• Viewport testing (mobile, tablet, desktop)
• Keyboard shortcuts
• Search functionality

Deal Breakers

• ❌ No interactive prop controls (just static examples)
• ❌ Requires server‑side rendering (need static)
• ❌ Incompatible with React 19
• ❌ No TypeScript prop inference
• ❌ Can’t deploy to static hosting

Scoring Framework

🥊 The Contenders

Storybook 10.0.6 – The Industry Standard

• Best For: Production design systems needing full ecosystem
• Key Strength: 1000+ addons, universal adoption, feature‑complete
• Key Weakness: Slower startup, more complex config
• GitHub Stars: 84 k ⭐
• NPM Downloads: 10 M /week 📦
• First Release: 2016
• Maintained By: Storybook team (Chromatic Inc.)
• Language: TypeScript
• Current Version: 10.0.6 (React 19 support since v8)
• Bundle Size: ~50 MB node_modules, 5‑10 MB static output

Ladle – The Fast Alternative

• Best For: Personal projects, speed‑critical workflows
• Key Strength: 6.7× faster cold start, minimal config
• Key Weakness: Limited ecosystem, basic features only
• GitHub Stars: 2.6 k ⭐
• NPM Downloads: 40 k /week 📦
• First Release: 2021
• Maintained By: Uber (open source)
• Language: TypeScript (Vite‑native)
• Current Version: 4.x (stable)
• Bundle Size: ~5 MB node_modules, 1‑2 MB static output

Histoire – The Vue/React Hybrid

• Best For: Vue projects, or teams wanting modern UI
• Key Strength: Beautiful interface, fast, docs support
• Key Weakness: Vue‑first (React is secondary), smaller community
• GitHub Stars: 3.2 k ⭐
• NPM Downloads: 80 k /week 📦
• First Release: 2022
• Maintained By: Guillaume Chau (Vue core team)
• Language: TypeScript (Vite‑native)
• Current Version: 0.17.x (pre‑1.0)
• Bundle Size: ~10 MB node_modules, 2‑3 MB static output

Docusaurus – The Wrong Tool

• Best For: General documentation sites (not components)
• Key Strength: Great for markdown docs, MDX support
• Key Weakness: No interactive component controls (wrong tool)
• Note: Not a component playground – it’s a docs site generator
• Use Case: API docs, guides, blogs – NOT component libraries

📊 Head‑to‑Head Comparison

Quick Feature Matrix

Performance Benchmarks (My Project)

Performance Winner: Ladle (6.7× faster cold start)
Feature Winner: Storybook (complete ecosystem)

Why I Chose Storybook (Despite the Speed Hit)

1. Ecosystem Wins Long‑Term
   Designers and developers need to play with components: change variants, adjust sizes, toggle states, see all tones.

   • Storybook: ✅ Full controls with auto‑generated args
   • Ladle: ⚠️ Basic prop controls only
   • Histoire: ✅ Good controls, clean UI

2. Documentation (Critical)
   Components need written explanations, not just visual demos: usage guidelines, accessibility notes, code examples, design tokens.

   • Storybook: ✅ MDX docs mode, rich formatting
   • Ladle: ❌ No docs mode
   • Histoire: ✅ Docs support

3. Deployment (Critical)
   The documentation must be publicly accessible via Vercel with a custom domain and static export.

   • Storybook: ✅ Static build, works anywhere
   • Ladle: ✅ Static build
   • Histoire: ✅ Static build

4. Add‑on Ecosystem
   Future needs (accessibility testing, visual regression, internationalisation, theming) are covered by Storybook’s extensive addon marketplace, reducing the risk of having to switch tools later.

Result: 50+ interactive stories are now live on Vercel, providing a robust, searchable, and maintainable component documentation hub for developers, designers, and stakeholders alike.