Releasing Babel 8 today: ESM-only, drop ES5 default, and a smooth migration path · Babel

Babel 8 is officially released after 8 years since Babel 7. The major changes include: Babel is now ESM-only and requires Node.js 24+; @babel/preset-env no longer compiles to ES5 by default, instead targeting Browserslist's defaults (roughly ES2023); TypeScript types are now bundled in all Babel packages eliminating the need for @types/babel__* packages; the loose and spec options are removed/deprecated in favor of assumptions; and polyfill injection via corejs/useBuiltIns options is extracted to separate packages. The release focuses on modernization rather than new features, with a migration guide provided. The Babel team also notes declining donations despite growing download counts (651M weekly) and calls for community support.