Comparison with other libraries

The query builder library most often compared to React Query Builder (RQB) is react-awesome-query-builder (RAQB). Both render an interactive UI for building filter criteria, and both can export those criteria to several query languages, but they take meaningfully different approaches.

This page summarizes the differences as of RQB v8 and RAQB v6.6.15 (May 2025). If you're moving an existing RAQB implementation to RQB, see Migrating from react-awesome-query-builder.

Philosophy

	React Query Builder	react-awesome-query-builder
Query storage	Plain JSON (RuleGroupType), serializable as-is	immutable.js tree; plain JSON via Utils.getTree()
Configuration	Discrete props (fields, operators, combinators, controlElements, etc.)	One monolithic Config object (types, widgets, operators, funcs, settings)
Packaging	Composable packages — core, React, UI styles, and optional feature packages	Core package plus UI-specific packages
Non-React usage	@react-querybuilder/core has no React dependency (server-safe)	Core depends on React

RQB's plain-JSON query format means you can store queries in a database, send them over the wire, diff them, and hand-edit them without any conversion step. RQB's discrete props mean you only configure (and only bundle) the parts you use.

Query model

Aspect	React Query Builder	react-awesome-query-builder
Group children	rules	children1 (array, or keyed object when children1AsArray: false)
Combinators	combinator on the group, or independent combinators interleaved between rules	conjunction on the group only
Negation	not on groups	not on groups
Rule value	Scalar or array, depending on the operator	Always an array (one entry per operand)
Subqueries	Match modes — all, some, none, atLeast, atMost, exactly (with threshold)	!group fields with some/all/none and count operators
Disabled rules	disabled	isLocked
Muted rules	muted (kept in the query, excluded from exports)	—
Ternary/CASE	—	switch_group / case_group
Value sources	value, field, expressions, parameters	value, field, func
Left-hand side	Expressions supported on the LHS as well as the RHS	fieldSrc: "func"

Formats

RQB's formatQuery supports considerably more export targets, and its parsers support more import sources.

Direction	React Query Builder	react-awesome-query-builder
Export	JSON, SQL (plain/parameterized/named), MongoDB, CEL, JsonLogic, SpEL, ElasticSearch, JSONata, LDAP, natural language, Drizzle, TanStack DB, Prisma, Sequelize, Cypher, GraphQL, SPARQL, Gremlin, and more	SQL, MongoDB, JsonLogic, SpEL, ElasticSearch (partial), query string
Import	SQL, CEL, JsonLogic, MongoDB, SpEL, JSONata, Cypher, GraphQL, SPARQL, Gremlin, RAQB	JsonLogic, SpEL, SQL (separate package)

Ecosystem

Aspect	React Query Builder	react-awesome-query-builder
UI style packs	Ant Design, Bootstrap, Bulma, Chakra UI, Fluent UI, Mantine, MUI/Material, PrimeReact, Tremor	Ant Design, MUI, Material (v4), Bootstrap, Fluent UI
React Native	@react-querybuilder/native	—
Drag-and-drop	@react-querybuilder/dnd (opt-in)	Built in
Date/time	@react-querybuilder/datetime (relative dates, per-dialect formatting)	Built in (widgets and functions)
Expressions	@react-querybuilder/expr	Built in (config funcs)
Rules engine	@react-querybuilder/rules-engine	—
Accessibility	ARIA attributes, keyboard navigation, data-testid hooks	Not documented
Internationalization	translations prop accepting strings or JSX	i18next-based locale packs
Validation	Per-field validator plus defaultValidator	sanitizeTree / validateTree / isValidTree
Styling	Unstyled by default with CSS custom properties; official style packs	Bundled SCSS per UI package

Feature-by-feature notes

Most RAQB concepts have a direct RQB counterpart. These are the exceptions:

• Ternary (switch_group) — RAQB can build CASE/WHEN-style expressions. RQB has no equivalent in the query builder itself; conditional logic is generally modeled with @react-querybuilder/rules-engine instead.
• proximity operator — RAQB's full-text proximity operator (and its operatorOptions) has no RQB equivalent.
• is_empty / is_not_empty — RQB expresses these as = and != against an empty string.
• Locking — RQB models this with the disabled property rather than a separate locked property, but the behavior and UI are equivalent. The showLockButtons prop displays "Lock rule"/"Lock group" toggle buttons, which set disabled on the rule or group. As in RAQB, a locked group disables its header elements and all descendants. RQB has no equivalent to RAQB's canDeleteLocked setting.
• Date/time functions — RAQB models NOW, TODAY, RELATIVE_DATETIME, etc. as functions. RQB treats the same concept as a value: @react-querybuilder/datetime relative date/time values, which each rule processor serializes symbolically (e.g. current_timestamp - interval '7 days').
• Cardinality operators — RQB's match modes are a superset of RAQB's !group count operators, except that RQB has no strict-inequality modes (RAQB's less/greater counts).