Prettier vs Biome: Which Formatter for CI?
Prettier is the de facto formatter; Biome is a much faster, near-compatible alternative that also lints.
Prettier is the widely-adopted opinionated code formatter for JS/TS and more. Biome is a Rust toolchain whose formatter aims for high Prettier compatibility while also linting in the same binary.
| Prettier | Biome | |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | Slower (JS) | Very fast (Rust) |
| Linting | No (format only) | Yes (format + lint) |
| Prettier compatibility | n/a | High, not 100% |
| Language coverage | Broad (plugins) | Core web languages |
| Adoption | Ubiquitous | Growing |
In CI
A format --check step runs on every push; Biome makes it noticeably faster and can replace Prettier plus your linter with one tool. Prettier has broader language/plugin coverage and near-universal editor and ecosystem support. Compatibility is high but not perfect, so a switch may reformat some files.
Migration effort
Run Biome’s formatter across the repo in one commit to absorb any formatting diffs, then enforce it in CI. Keep Prettier if you rely on plugins for languages Biome does not format.
The verdict
Want fast formatting (and linting) in one tool with mostly-compatible output: Biome. Need Prettier’s broad plugin coverage and ecosystem ubiquity: stay on Prettier. Reformat in a single commit when switching.