• Performance:

- Vite: Vite is designed to be faster, especially in development mode. It achieves this by serving native ES modules directly to the browser, which eliminates the need for a full bundle during development. It also uses an optimized Hot Module Replacement (HMR) system, which significantly speeds up updates.

- Webpack: Webpack bundles the entire project before serving it, which can make the development process slower, especially for larger projects. However, it also provides a robust and flexible environment for production builds.

• Configuration:

- Vite: Vite comes with a simpler configuration out of the box. It’s opinionated, meaning it has built-in best practices and defaults, making it easier to get started with.

- Webpack: Webpack is highly configurable and can be customized extensively, but this flexibility often comes with a steeper learning curve and more complex configuration files.

• Build Process:

- Vite: Vite handles modern JavaScript features natively, leveraging the browser’s capabilities during development and optimizing for production only when needed.

- Webpack: Webpack can bundle any kind of asset (JavaScript, CSS, images, etc.) and provides advanced features like code splitting, tree shaking, and asset management, but these can add complexity to the build process.

• Ecosystem:

- Vite: Vite has a growing ecosystem with plugins, and it's designed to be framework-agnostic, although it has strong support for Vue and React.

- Webpack: Webpack has a mature ecosystem with a vast array of plugins and integrations, making it suitable for complex and large-scale projects.

In summary, while both Vite and Webpack serve similar purposes in managing and bundling assets for web applications, Vite is often preferred for its speed and simplicity, particularly in development, whereas Webpack offers more customization and flexibility, making it a strong choice for complex builds.