What Is Quill.js?
Quill.js is an MIT-licensed rich text editor released in 2013. It gained wide adoption for its modular architecture and clean API but development has stalled — Quill 2.0 has been in beta since 2019. Many developers are searching for an actively maintained Quill alternative for React and JavaScript projects.
Quill stores content as Delta — a JSON array of insert/retain/delete operations. This is powerful for operational-transform collaboration but adds complexity when you simply want clean HTML output for a database or CMS.
What Makes RayEditor Different?
RayEditor is a TypeScript WYSIWYG editor with zero dependencies that outputs clean, semantic HTML directly. It also ships features Quill never included: dark mode, bidirectional markdown mode, Notion-style slash commands, task lists, callout blocks, find & replace, and a plugin API.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | RayEditor | Quill.js |
|---|---|---|
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Active maintenance (2026) | ✓ | ✗ Stalled |
| Output format | Clean HTML | Delta JSON |
| TypeScript types (.d.ts) | ✓ Full | Partial |
| Dark mode | ✓ | ✗ |
| Markdown mode | ✓ | ✗ |
| Slash commands | ✓ | ✗ |
| Task lists | ✓ | ✗ |
| Find & Replace | ✓ | ✗ |
| Official React wrapper | ✓ | Community only |
| Zero dependencies | ✓ | ✗ |
HTML Output vs Delta Format
Quill stores content as Delta. Displaying it elsewhere requires loading the Quill runtime or converting with a library. RayEditor stores plain HTML — store in any string column, display with innerHTML, no editor runtime needed to display saved content.
React Integration
Quill has no official React wrapper. react-quill has React 18 Strict Mode compatibility issues. RayEditor ships an official controlled component:
import { RayEditor } from '@rohanyeole/ray-editor-react';
import '@rohanyeole/ray-editor/dist/ray-editor.css';
export default function App() {
const [html, setHtml] = React.useState('');
return <RayEditor value={html} onChange={setHtml} />;
}When to Choose RayEditor
- You need a React rich text editor with official React 18 support.
- You want clean HTML stored directly in your database.
- You need dark mode, markdown mode, or Notion-style slash commands.
- Active maintenance and TypeScript types are important to your project.
Conclusion
In 2026, stalled Quill development, absent official framework wrappers, and the Delta format make it hard to recommend for new projects. RayEditor delivers MIT license, extensible plugins, rich formatting, modern features, official React/Vue/Angular wrappers, and active maintenance.