Replacements for qs

URLSearchParams

URLSearchParams is built into browsers and Node.js (>= 10). Use it when you don’t need nested objects or automatic array parsing. It preserves multiple values via getAll, and toString() gives you a URL-safe query string.

Example:

import qs from 'qs'

const query = 'a=1&a=2&b=3'

const obj = qs.parse(query) 
const sp = new URLSearchParams(query) 
const obj = Object.fromEntries(sp) 
const a = sp.getAll('a') 

fast-querystring

fast-querystring is tiny and very fast. It handles flat key/value pairs and repeated keys as arrays; it does not support nested objects. Use it when you need arrays but not nesting.

Example:

import qs from 'qs'
import fqs from 'fast-querystring'

const obj = qs.parse('tag=a&tag=b') 
const obj = fqs.parse('tag=a&tag=b') 

const str = qs.stringify({ tag: ['a', 'b'], q: 'x y' }) 
const str = fqs.stringify({ tag: ['a', 'b'], q: 'x y' }) 

picoquery

picoquery supports nesting and arrays with a fast single‑pass parser and configurable syntax. v2.x and above are ESM‑only; v1.x is CommonJS and will be maintained with non‑breaking changes. nestingSyntax: 'js' offers the highest compatibility with qs, though you can pick other syntaxes for performance.

Example:

import qs from 'qs'
import { parse, stringify } from 'picoquery'

const opts = { 
  nestingSyntax: 'js', 
  arrayRepeat: true, 
  arrayRepeatSyntax: 'bracket'
} 

const obj = qs.parse('user[name]=foo&tags[]=bar&tags[]=baz') 
const obj = parse('user[name]=foo&tags[]=bar&tags[]=baz', opts) 

const str = qs.stringify({ user: { name: 'foo' }, tags: ['bar', 'baz'] }, { arrayFormat: 'brackets' }) 
const str = stringify({ user: { name: 'foo' }, tags: ['bar', 'baz'] }, opts) 

neoqs

neoqs is a fork of qs without legacy polyfills, with TypeScript types included, and with both ESM and CommonJS builds (plus a legacy ES5 mode). Choose it when you want qs‑level compatibility with modern packaging options.

Example:

import qs from 'qs'
import * as qs from 'neoqs'

const obj = qs.parse('a[b][c]=1&arr[]=2&arr[]=3')
const str = qs.stringify(obj, { arrayFormat: 'brackets' })