For new Vue 3 projects, choose the Composition API — it gives you better TypeScript inference, cleaner logic reuse across components, and is the default in Nuxt 3, Vite scaffolds, and the official Vue docs. Keep the Options API only for small teams, simple CRUD apps, or codebases you're not actively growing. For existing Vue 2 or early Vue 3 codebases on the Options API, migrate incrementally rather than rewriting everything at once.

This isn't a stylistic debate anymore. Vue 2 reached official end of life on December 31, 2023, which means every team still shipping Options-API-only code is doing so on a framework version the core team no longer patches. The question for engineering leads in 2026 isn't "which API is nicer" — it's "which API sets my team up to hire, scale, and maintain this app for the next five years."

What is the difference between Composition API and Options API?

The Options API organizes a component by type of concern: data, methods, computed, watch, and lifecycle hooks each live in their own object property. It's how Vue looked from version 1 through Vue 2, and it reads like a form you fill in.

The Composition API organizes a component by feature, using a setup() function (or <script setup> syntax) where you compose reactive state, computed values, and functions using primitives like ref(), reactive(), and computed(). Related logic for one feature sits together, regardless of whether it's state, a method, or a lifecycle hook.

Both APIs compile to the same underlying reactivity system and produce the same runtime component — this is not a fork of Vue, it's two ways to author the same thing. You can even mix both in a single component during migration.

Which API should a new Vue 3 project use?

Use the Composition API with <script setup> for any new project, with one exception: a very small, short-lived app maintained by a single person who already knows the Options API cold. For anything a team will touch for more than a few months, the Composition API wins on three concrete dimensions:

• TypeScript inference. <script setup> with Composition API gives full type inference on props, emits, and refs with almost no manual annotation. The Options API requires defineComponent() wrappers and still loses inference in common patterns like this inside computed properties.
• Logic reuse. Composition API extracts shared logic into plain functions ("composables") that can be imported anywhere — no mixin naming collisions, no unclear "which mixin set this property" debugging.
• Bundle-size discipline. Composition API's function-based imports are naturally tree-shakeable; Options API components tend to import the full options object surface even when only a few features are used.

If your team is brand new to Vue and coming from React or Svelte, Composition API will also feel more familiar — it's conceptually closer to hooks (useX() composables mirror useX() hooks) than the Options API is.

When does the Options API still make sense?

The Options API is not deprecated, and it's not wrong. It still makes sense when:

• Your team is junior-heavy and the codebase is a simple dashboard or marketing site with limited shared logic across components.
• You're maintaining a legacy Vue 2 app that isn't being actively expanded, and a full migration isn't worth the risk right now.
• Your reviewers and onboarding docs are built around the options structure and switching would cost more in ramp-up time than it saves in code quality.

The Options API's fixed structure is genuinely easier for beginners to read cold — data, methods, and computed are self-documenting section headers. That's a real advantage for teams with high turnover or a lot of junior contributors touching the codebase.

How do you migrate an existing Vue project from Options API to Composition API?

Don't do a big-bang rewrite. Vue 3 supports both APIs in the same file and the same codebase simultaneously, so the safe path is incremental:

1. Confirm you're on Vue 3 first. If you're still on Vue 2, that migration (via the official Vue 2-to-3 migration build) comes before any API discussion — Vue 2 has no vendor support as of its EOL date.
2. Start with new components only. Write every new component in Composition API / <script setup>. Don't touch stable, working Options API components just to convert them.
3. Extract shared logic into composables first. If you have mixins, convert those to composables before touching component templates — mixins are the biggest source of implicit coupling and the highest-value thing to fix.
4. Convert components when you're already touching them for a feature or bug fix, not as a standalone refactor PR. This keeps the diff reviewable and ties the cost to work you're already doing.
5. Leave low-churn, low-risk components alone. A stable settings page nobody has touched in a year doesn't need to be converted for its own sake.

This staged approach avoids the two failure modes teams hit most: stalled "big rewrite" projects that never ship, and rushed conversions that introduce regressions in stable code.

Does the Composition API perform better than the Options API?

Runtime performance is nearly identical for typical components — both compile down to the same reactivity system and virtual DOM, and Vue's own benchmarks don't show a meaningful raw-render-speed gap between the two authoring styles. The performance argument for Composition API is really a bundle-size and tree-shaking argument, not a runtime-speed one: function-based composables let bundlers eliminate unused code more effectively than Options API's object-shaped component definitions, which matters more as an app grows past a handful of components. If your app is small, don't expect the API choice alone to move your Core Web Vitals numbers — that's driven far more by routing strategy, image handling, and SSR/hydration setup.

What does the Vue ecosystem's direction tell you about which API to standardize on?

Ecosystem defaults are the clearest signal of where Vue is heading. Nuxt 3 scaffolds <script setup> Composition API by default. The official Vue documentation now presents Composition API examples first, with Options API as a toggle-able secondary view. create-vue, the official project scaffolding tool, defaults new projects to Composition API syntax.

None of this means Options API support is going away — Vue's core team has repeatedly committed to supporting both indefinitely, since so much production code runs on it. But for a team deciding what to standardize on for new work, "supported indefinitely" and "the direction the ecosystem, docs, and tooling are optimizing for" are two different questions, and the second one points at Composition API.

Adoption data backs this up. In the 2023 State of JavaScript survey, Vue.js was used by 52% of respondents — the second most-used front-end framework behind React — and Vue continues to post among the highest retention and satisfaction scores of any framework in that survey, a signal that teams who adopt it stick with it rather than churning off. Combined with Vue 2's confirmed end of life on December 31, 2023, the practical reality for 2026 is that "which API" really means "how fast should we finish standardizing on Vue 3 with Composition API."

How should a CTO decide between the two APIs for their team?

Run this checklist before deciding:

1. Is this a new codebase or a long-lived existing one? New → default to Composition API. Existing and stable → don't force a rewrite; migrate opportunistically.
2. Does the team need strong TypeScript guarantees? If yes, Composition API is close to mandatory — the type-inference gap with Options API is real and grows with codebase size.
3. How much logic is shared across components today? Heavy mixin use or copy-pasted methods across components is the strongest signal you need composables, and by extension, Composition API.
4. What's the team's current skill distribution? A team of mostly junior developers with high turnover may get more short-term velocity from the Options API's fixed structure, even if Composition API is the better long-term bet.
5. What does your hiring pipeline look like? New Vue hires in 2026 are trained on Composition API by default (it's what the docs, courses, and Nuxt starter templates teach). Standardizing on Options API-only makes onboarding harder over time, not easier.

For most teams building anything beyond a small internal tool, the answer nets out to: Composition API for new code, Options API tolerated in legacy code until it's touched, and no mandate to rewrite working code that isn't causing problems.

FAQ

Can I use both Composition API and Options API in the same Vue 3 project? Yes. Vue 3 fully supports mixing both APIs across different components in the same application, and even within a single component in some cases. This is the foundation of the incremental migration strategy — you don't need to pick one and convert everything at once.

Is the Options API deprecated in Vue 3? No. The Vue core team has stated both APIs are first-class and will continue to be supported. The Options API is not deprecated; it's simply no longer the default recommendation for new code in official docs, tutorials, and scaffolding tools.

Does Composition API require TypeScript? No, Composition API works fine in plain JavaScript. TypeScript is where its inference advantages become most visible, but you get logic-reuse and organizational benefits from <script setup> even in a JS-only codebase.

Will converting to Composition API break my existing Options API components? No, as long as you convert one component at a time and test it in isolation. Because both APIs compile to the same underlying component instance, a converted component behaves identically from the outside — props, events, and slots all work the same way regardless of which API authored it.

How long does a full Options-to-Composition API migration typically take? There's no fixed timeline — it depends on codebase size and how much shared logic (mixins, global mixins, this-dependent utilities) needs to be untangled first. Teams that migrate opportunistically (converting components only when already touching them for other work) spread the cost over months without a dedicated "migration sprint," which is why we recommend that approach over a scheduled big-bang rewrite.

Should I rewrite a stable Vue 2 Options API app that still works fine? Not for the API alone. But Vue 2 itself reached end of life on December 31, 2023, with no further security patches from the core team, so the more urgent question is migrating the Vue version, not the API style. Once you're on Vue 3, you can keep Options API syntax for stable code and introduce Composition API only for new features.