Comparison with Alternatives

Feature Matrix

Feature	fetch-smartly	axios	ky	got	ofetch
Zero dependencies	Yes	No (6)	No (2)	No (11)	No (4)
Native fetch based	Yes	No (XMLHttpRequest)	Yes	No (http module)	Yes
Isomorphic (Node + Browser)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Node only	Yes
Edge runtime support	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
TypeScript (strict)	Yes	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes
Retry with backoff	Yes	Plugin	Yes	Yes	Yes
Retry-After header respect	Yes	No	No	No	No
Circuit breaker	Yes	No	No	No	No
Request deduplication	Yes	No	No	No	No
Offline queue	Yes	No	No	No	No
Typed error hierarchy	Yes	Partial	Partial	Yes	Partial
AbortController timeout	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
User signal composition	Yes	No	No	No	No
Bundle size (min)	~16KB	~29KB	~10KB	Node only	~12KB

When to Choose fetch-smartly

• You need zero dependencies and care about supply chain security
• You want circuit breaker and deduplication built-in, not as separate packages
• You need to work across Node.js, browsers, and edge runtimes with one API
• You want strict TypeScript with typed errors you can pattern-match on
• You want Retry-After header respect for 429 responses out of the box

When to Choose Something Else

• axios — If you need interceptors, request/response transforms, or XMLHttpRequest support for older browsers
• ky — If you want a tiny fetch wrapper without retry orchestration or circuit breakers
• got — If you're Node.js only and need streams, pagination, or cookie support
• ofetch — If you want Nuxt/Nitro integration