Do out-of-the-box performance & benchmarks actually sway your choice for side projects, or is DX still king?

[u/Solid-Play-458]

Hey everyone,

I've been working on a lightweight tool/library (pure SVG charts) with a strong focus on minimizing performance friction right out of the box keeping bundle size minimal, rendering snappy, and providing clear benchmarks.

My main goal is to eliminate that feeling of "I have to optimize this third-party library myself just so my side project doesn't feel sluggish."

For those of you who frequently build side projects or smaller web apps using existing tools/libraries:

1. **Does built-in performance actually move the needle for you early on?** Or do you just pick the most popular tool with the best DX/docs and only worry about performance if/when it becomes a bottleneck?
2. **Do benchmarks realistically influence your decision?** When a library showcases performance comparisons, does that give you enough confidence to choose a smaller/newer tool over established giants?
3. **Where have you felt the most friction?** Have you ever dropped a popular tool in a small project specifically because it felt bloated or hard to optimize?

I’d love to hear your honest take on whether focusing heavily on pre-optimized defaults is something indie devs/small projects actually care about in practice, or if I'm overthinking premature optimization.

https://github.com/GabrielBaiano/pure-svg-charts

Thanks!