I would argue that, for a lot of sites, plain HTML + CSS + little JS functions is the right choice, because building stuff in plain JS is more painful than with frameworks. Having to do it in plain JS makes you think more carefully if you really need this JS. (At least, it does that for me.)

Also, the site loads so much faster, esp. when HTTP/2 is not an option for you (because your hosting does not support it or whatever).

I won't argue, though, that a complex web app should be built on a proper framework.

I also like Vue.js and am surprised it's not getting mentioned much. But it's nice for starting out, in my opinion, since you can pretty much decide if you go all-in. It's quite possible to just use it to sprinkle some JS here and there, but also possible to build SPAs with it.