I've been using it for a while to develop internal tools and I've been really impressed at how you can build complex applications with just pure HTML/CSS/JS
Previously I'd use React but now its not as clear to me the reason I would do that since either way I would just be developing through Claude.
It feels almost like the framework is just an implementation detail.
I find myself using a lot less libraries in general as well.
It kind of gives you a bit of NIH syndrome since the time cost is so low to roll your own sometimes.
In some cases, I’ve chosen to use frameworks I wouldn’t have otherwise because unfamiliarity is no longer a barrier. I can lean on the AI for the rote memorisation.
In other cases, I have stripped entire frameworks out of my projects because I can now get AI to produce the 250 lines of code that are perfectly tailored to my project, instead of importing someone else’s 5000 lines of (effectively) black box code.
Just the other day I implemented an audio player in HTML5 (progress, playlist, interactions, etc) and didn’t even consider a library. I have code that does what I want and is small enough for me to read in entirety and debug by hand if needs be. (One of the things I like to do is insist that AI comments most lines of code, and then I go through and trim comments to leave what’s useful to me.)
Conversely, I had Claude build a webapp for internal purposes to help translate some content we were creating. It was done in HTML, JS and tailwind with no framework. After a while, I could see that the jank it kept adding would be a problem so I had Claude refactor it using sveltekit.
Instead, I feel it's enabled us to more freely choose what frontend framework(s) we want to implement. Based on the problem we're trying to solve.
There's only so much that 1 human can become an expert at. Before AI assistants, we had to make some choices: I cannot become an expert at React, Vue, Angular, Svelte, SolidJS, Quik, and Astro/Alpine/HTMX simultaneously. Too much. So I must pick one or two that I think are best-suited for me. Learn them deeply. Then apply them everywhere.
With AI assistants, there's more freedom. I'm not an expert at Svelte. But if there's a web problem I feel Svelte would solve best? Then that's what I can use. If I really need React's virtual DOM? Then go that direction. If what I'm building is so simple that a static website with basic HTML and JS and a CSS framework is sufficient? I can go that direction.
Granted, there are absolutely risks for relying on AI assistants to write code you don't comprehend or understand. There are times I'm okay with it. And times I am not.
But as for your question, am I less-likely to use frontend frameworks now? No, I'm actually using them more than I did previously. I'm just being choosier about what I truly need, versus what's overkill.
The main reason frontend frameworks like React/Vue existed was to manage complexity, like state, DOM updates, component reuse. If your target is simple interactions, Claude can absolutely remove the need for a framework by generating clean vanilla JS without you needing the abstraction layer. But for complex interactions, using a framework is still the better choice, you can ask Claude to build on top of a given framework rather than letting it generate custom implementations that may break on edge cases.
So yes, Claude Code does reduce the need for frontend frameworks, but there are still good reasons to use them.
AI didn't eliminate the need for frameworks.. It just picks the right one for the Job.. when plain HTML is ok, it chooses plain HTML.
Have try various approach since Claude Code came out. It works well in any of the styles vanilla, React, Vue for simple pages. So for simple one page demo, I mostly just ask to use vanilla style. Because it can be fully self contained in one file and just be opened without any external steps.
While once it across certain complexity level and some manual change needed. It is super hard with pure vanilla style, due to so many procedure code.
So I usually just prompt to generate using my own framework with a distilled skill. I then change a bit to make it simpler and follow my own style.
I think the needs are perhaps a bit different now. Syntactic sugar is perhaps less important for example. But code structure and architecture are still critical.
So far apps are the best, easy to read, easier to maintain.
