Introduction

Vue has always been praised for its simplicity and developer experience. With Vue 3, the Composition API was introduced as an alternative to the traditional Options API.

For small projects, both approaches work well. But when you scale into enterprise-level applications with dozens of contributors, complex domains, and long-term maintainability concerns, the Composition API offers clear advantages.

In this post, we’ll explore why the Composition API is better suited for large teams and real-world production scenarios, with practical examples along the way.

What Is the Composition API?

The Composition API is a set of APIs that allow you to write Vue components using functions instead of object options. It focuses on logical grouping rather than lifecycle options.

Example (simple counter):

<script setup lang="ts">
import { ref } from 'vue'

const count = ref(0)
const increment = () => count.value++
</script>

<template>
  <button @click="increment">Count: {{ count }}</button>
</template>

Instead of placing data, methods, and computed separately, all logic for count lives together.

Why the Composition API Scales Better

1. Logic Grouping vs. Logic Splitting

• Options API: logic is scattered across data, methods, computed.
• Composition API: related logic is grouped in composables.

➡️ For large teams, grouping related logic reduces context switching and cognitive overhead.

2. Code Reuse with Composables

With the Composition API, you can extract reusable functions called composables.

// useUser.ts
import { ref } from 'vue'

export function useUser() {
  const user = ref(null)
  const setUser = (u: any) => (user.value = u)
  return { user, setUser }
}

Now any component can import and use useUser().
This is far more powerful and maintainable than mixins or duplicated logic in Options API.

3. TypeScript Support

• Options API with TypeScript often feels verbose and unintuitive.
• Composition API embraces TypeScript naturally with ref, computed, and generics.

➡️ This makes refactoring safer and reduces bugs in large codebases.

4. Testing and Maintainability

Composables can be tested in isolation:

import { useUser } from './useUser'

test('sets user correctly', () => {
  const { user, setUser } = useUser()
  setUser({ name: 'Eron' })
  expect(user.value.name).toBe('Eron')
})

This modular approach means teams can build and validate features independently.

5. Team Collaboration

In enterprise settings, teams often split responsibilities.

• With Options API, multiple devs working on the same component = merge conflicts.
• With Composition API, logic can be extracted into composables or modules, allowing teams to work in parallel with fewer conflicts.

When to Use Options API

The Options API still shines for:

• Small projects with simple components.
• Teams of juniors who benefit from its simplicity.
• Legacy codebases already built on Options API.

But once your project grows past a certain size, the Composition API becomes the sustainable choice.

Real-World Example

At TUI Group, we migrated micro frontends from Vue 2 (Options API) to Vue 3 (Composition API).

• Before: components were large, with state spread across data, methods, and watchers.
• After: we extracted domain logic into composables, improving readability, reusability, and testability.

Result: load times reduced by 75%, and onboarding new developers became faster since logic was modular and discoverable.

Conclusion

The Composition API isn’t just a new syntax — it’s a new way of thinking about Vue architecture.

By grouping logic, enabling true code reuse, improving TypeScript integration, and simplifying testing, it gives large teams the tools they need to scale Vue applications sustainably.

If you’re working on enterprise apps, adopting the Composition API is one of the best decisions you can make for long-term maintainability.

✅ Next steps for you:

• Try refactoring one of your Vue components from Options API to Composition API.
• Extract common logic into composables.
• Measure maintainability and performance improvements.