WebGL or WebGPU?

Neither API wins everywhere in 2026. The measured facts from this chapter and WebGPU line up like this:

WebGL 2 and WebGPU compared for a new project
Question	WebGL 2	WebGPU
Share of users (caniuse.com 3,038 , Sept. 2026)	96.44%	87.35%
Compute shaders, storage buffers	No	Yes (Compute and Workgroups-Particles and Culling)
Cost per draw call	High (Bottlenecks)	Lower; render bundles (4.15)
Software fallback here	SwiftShader 2,546 , reliable	No adapter (Migration Paths)
Shading language	GLSL ES 3.00	WGSL (WGSL Types)
Frame debugger	Spector.js 1,619	WebGPU Inspector 369 (4.4.7)

Choose WebGL 2 when reach matters most (older phones, locked-down corporate machines, Linux Firefox 555 ), when the scene is modest, or when you maintain WebGL code that works. Choose WebGPU when the work is compute (simulation, machine learning, sorting and culling on the GPU), when draw-call overhead limits a large scene, or when the project will outlive today's gaps in support. For most 3D sites the practical answer is neither directly: Three.js 30,815 and Babylon.js 89,603 (Three.js and Babylon.js) draw through WebGPU when it is available and fall back to WebGL 2, so the choice becomes a setting. BookNest's shelf fits WebGL 2 comfortably; its GPU-sorted catalog (GPU Price Sort) needs WebGPU.

WebGL 2 and WebGPU compared question by question, with the stronger answer shaded and a last row measured on this machineHTMLLive

<!doctype html>
<style>
  body { margin: 0; font: 11px system-ui, sans-serif; background: #f7f4ee; color: #333; }
  .wrap { position: relative; max-width: 600px; }
  canvas { display: block; width: 100%; }
  .cell { position: absolute; transform: translateY(-50%); font: 11px system-ui, sans-serif; padding-left: 8px; box-sizing: border-box; }
  .head { font-weight: bold; }
</style>
<div class="wrap"><canvas id="c" width="600" height="320"></canvas></div>
<script>
const gl = document.getElementById('c').getContext('webgl2');
const wrap = document.querySelector('.wrap');
// [question, WebGL 2, WebGPU, which is stronger: 1 = WebGL, 2 = WebGPU, 0 = neither]
const rows = [
  ['Share of users (caniuse, Sept. 2026)', '96.44%', '87.35%', 1],
  ['Compute shaders, storage buffers', 'No', 'Yes', 2],
  ['Cost per draw call', 'High', 'Lower; render bundles', 2],
  ['Software fallback', 'SwiftShader, reliable', 'No adapter', 1],
  ['Shading language', 'GLSL ES 3.00', 'WGSL', 0],
  ['Frame debugger', 'Spector.js', 'WebGPU Inspector', 0],
  ['On this machine', 'checking...', 'checking...', 0]];
const columns = [[0, 250], [250, 175], [425, 175]], rowH = 40;
const tints = { head: [0.16, 0.24, 0.33], plain: [0.97, 0.96, 0.93], alt: [0.93, 0.91, 0.87], win: [0.78, 0.88, 0.74], lose: [0.95, 0.85, 0.8] };
function cell(col, row, colour) {                      // one scissored clear per table cell, 1px gaps as grid lines
  const [x, w] = columns[col];
  gl.scissor(x + 1, 320 - (row + 1) * rowH + 1, w - 2, rowH - 2);
  gl.clearColor(...colour, 1); gl.clear(gl.COLOR_BUFFER_BIT);
}
function text(col, row, html, cls = '') {
  const [x, w] = columns[col];
  const el = document.createElement('div');
  el.className = 'cell ' + cls; el.innerHTML = html;
  Object.assign(el.style, { left: x / 6 + '%', width: w / 6 + '%', top: ((row + 0.5) * rowH) / 3.2 + '%' });
  wrap.append(el); return el;
}
function draw() {
  gl.enable(gl.SCISSOR_TEST);
  gl.clearColor(0.75, 0.72, 0.67, 1); gl.scissor(0, 0, 600, 320); gl.clear(gl.COLOR_BUFFER_BIT);
  [0, 1, 2].forEach((c) => cell(c, 0, tints.head));
  rows.forEach(([, , , best], i) => {
    const base = i % 2 ? tints.alt : tints.plain;
    cell(0, i + 1, base);
    cell(1, i + 1, best === 1 ? tints.win : best === 2 ? tints.lose : base);
    cell(2, i + 1, best === 2 ? tints.win : best === 1 ? tints.lose : base);
  });
}
['Question', 'WebGL 2', 'WebGPU'].forEach((h, c) => text(c, 0, h, 'head').style.color = '#fff');
const live = rows.map(([q, a, b], i) => [text(0, i + 1, q), text(1, i + 1, a), text(2, i + 1, b)]);
draw();
// The last row is measured: which API this browser can actually use right now.
const info = gl.getExtension('WEBGL_debug_renderer_info');
live[6][1].textContent = 'Yes' + (info ? ': ' + gl.getParameter(info.UNMASKED_VENDOR_WEBGL).replace(/\s*\(.*$/, '') : '');
rows[6][3] = 1; draw();
(navigator.gpu ? navigator.gpu.requestAdapter() : Promise.resolve(null)).then((adapter) => {
  live[6][2].textContent = adapter ? 'Yes: ' + (adapter.info?.vendor || 'adapter found') : navigator.gpu ? 'No adapter' : 'No navigator.gpu';
  rows[6][3] = adapter ? 0 : 1;
  draw();
}).catch(() => { live[6][2].textContent = 'Request failed'; });
</script>

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