Vue offers a more gradual learning curve coming from HTML. Because in the beginning, you don't write components in JS at all. Instead, you can use Vue "directives" like `v-if` right inside your HTML. Later, when you're ready for components, you have to add a compiler.

React takes a different approach. It doesn't "pretend" to be HTML by extending it with custom directives. Instead, it forces you to start the journey in JS land. That can be frustrating at first if you're unfamiliar with JS. But the gap between "simple" and "complex" is smaller: you learn the idea of components once, and can apply it with or without a toolchain.