Build tools also add a lot of dependencies. Let’s compare:

gulp: 172 dependencies
gulp-stylus: 111 dependencies
gulp-rollup: 69 dependencies
gulp-buble: 64 dependencies
gulp-uglify: 38 dependencies
total: 416 dependencies

stylus: 20 dependencies
rollup: 3 dependencies
buble: 15 dependencies
uglify-js: 17 dependencies
total: 55 dependencies

Oh, but Neutrino is now the hottest build tool. Let’s check that out:

neutrino: 382 dependencies
neutrino-preset-web: 642 dependencies
total: 1042 dependencies

(source: http://npm.anvaka.com)