From what I've seen, protobuf-es is the clear winner in terms of API and general usability. I also burnt two full days resolving an off-by-typically-1 parsing error: https://github.com/bufbuild/protobuf-es/pull/1183, which impacted production significantly. If that implementation is the most compliant as it claims, well, I have concerns.

This recent experience is consistent with my past experience - that JS is the oddball of the ecosystem. I'm just hoping it doesn't have to be.