If you’re like me you always need to look up the difference between local storage, session storage and cookies.

This post is for those’s that are always reaching for that comparison.

Local Storage

• Stores data with no expiry date
• Cleared only via JavaScript or clearing browser cache
• The storage limit is the largest of the 3 as big as 5MB
• Not supported by older browsers IE7 or lower
• Works on the same-origin policy. So, data stored will only be available on the same origin.

Session Storage

• Stores data only for the duration of the session, when the user closes their browser the data is lost
• Top-level browsing context, therefore it’s unique to each browser tab
• The storage limit is larger than cookies at 5MB
• Not supported by older browsers IE7 or lower

Cookies

• Stores data that can be transferred to the server via headers
• LocalStorage and SessionStorage can only be accessed on client-side
• Expiry is set on the creation of the cookie
• The storage limit is smallest at 4kb
• Cookies can be made secure making client side unable to read the contents. This is important for authentication to store user tokens.