Hey, core contributor here! If a plain video element plus hls.js is all you need to accomplish your goals, we wouldn't ever try to convince you otherwise. In fact, our "HlsVideo" media renderer is backed by hls.js, and Rob Walch has done Herculean feats maintaining and updating that playback engine. If, however, you don't simply want what's provided from the built in <video controls>, or don't want to worry about all of the hairy edge cases or minutia of feature-rich UIs, VJS can help. If you want it to be dirt simple to switch between, say, a simple MP4, MPEG-DASH, or HLS, Video.js's architecture makes that simple. If you want to customize UIs from the ground up but not have to think about/worry about the state modeling of relevant media UI state, you can grab all and only the bits of VJS you want. Also, while still in its early stages, if you don't need the "swiss army knife" of features (and, sadly, code footprint) that is built into hls.js, you can use our "SimpleHlsVideo" media renderer.

We definitely aren't trying to convince anyone to use our free, open source library that doesn't need it. But we do think there are lots of value adds for lots of folks under lots of circumstances that we can and will help, including as simple as not needing to reinvent the wheel a bunch of times.