Java mods and Bedrock add-ons mainly differ in terms of how players download/install them and which platforms they are available on. Besides that, they are quite similar.

Minecraft just launched add-ons, which are mods, not to be confused with the previous add-ons that were also mods, and won't replace mods for Minecraft Java. News.

Minecraft is a game that can be customized pretty heavily, thanks to add-ons and mods. ... Players on Java Edition will use mods that they can dig around for, mostly at no cost.

Add-ons can be combined however the player wants, though changes to the same asset will use a hierarchy system to determine load ... This is inarguably a step closer to Java-style mods on Bedrock.