The downloads page mentions the npm package, but does not mention that without NODE_ENV=production + envify + uglify you are missing out on a free performance gain (some sources say ~30%?). Many packages do not make a distinction between dev and production mode, and for those that do, it's unusual for there to be such a big difference between development and production builds. Newer users of browserify may not know about this dance and may naively expect use of react through browserify to be equivalent to use through one of the provided builds.