Published on Mar 26, 2026, filed under tools, development, html, performance, optimization. (Share this post, e.g., on Mastodon or on Bluesky.)

A quick update on HTML Minifier Next (HMN)! After releasing HMN 5, I focused on three things:

Zero-Config Mode

The HTML Minifier franchise comes with a great set of HTML minification options, at the price of a frictionless developer experience.

In HMN, this already got better with the introduction of presets, but use becomes even more convenient with its new “zero-config mode.” While opinionated—otherwise requiring configuration—, it allows to run HMN instantly in any folder:

npx html-minifier-next --zero

This uses comprehensive settings to minify all HTML code (as well as inline CSS, JS, and SVG code) in-place. Try it out under version control if you want to test the waters.

SVG Minification

Some HMN 4 versions featured basic SVG minification, but with HMN 5.1.0, SVGO was added in order to provide full SVG minification out of the box.

You can enable SVG minification via minifySVG (--minify-svg flag), which you can configure further if SVGO’s defaults aren’t satisfying all your project needs.

Performance Optimizations

Performance has been a priority ever since taking over the project, and that shows: If my memory is correct—I had to stop testing against other HTML Minifier projects because of bugs and limitations that were fixed in HMN—, HMN is at least 3 times faster (!) than the original HTML Minifier. (If you want to probe this and you find out I err, let me know! I share this not to boast, but to demonstrate genuine improvements.)

When you look at the HTML+ minifier benchmarks that I’ve started to maintain independently, you can tell that no JavaScript-based minifier can compete against a Rust-based minifier like minify-html. Still, HMN compares quite competitively, especially when you consider its effectiveness.

Although performance optimizations slowly hit a ceiling, speed will always be a priority for HMN.

_ What’s next? There’s no major update at the horizon right now, but I have some ideas both for HMN effectiveness and DX. Stay tuned, either here or right at the source!

About Me

I’m Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and I’m an engineering lead, guerrilla philosopher, and indie publisher. I’ve worked as a technical lead and engineering manager at various companies, including Google; I’m an open-source developer and a contributor to web standards (like HTML, CSS, WCAG); and I write and review books for O’Reilly and Frontend Dogma.

I love trying things, not only in web development and engineering management, but also with respect to politics and philosophy. Here on meiert.com I talk about some of my experiences and perspectives. (Please share feedback—interpret charitably, keep it friendly, but do be critical.)