React Context vs Redux in 2025: Which State Management Should You Choose?

Hey DEV community! 👋 Choosing the right state management is key for scalable React apps. In 2025, should you pick Context or Redux? Let’s find out! 🚀

React Context: Built-In Simplicity

React Context is perfect for small to medium apps or when you just need to share simple state (like themes, user info, or language settings) across components.

✅ Pros:

Comes built into React — no extra library required

Great for lightweight, straightforward state sharing

Simple API with createContext and useContext

❌ Cons:

Can become hard to maintain as your app grows

Frequent context updates can trigger unnecessary re-renders

No built-in middleware or dev tools for advanced debugging

🔎 Best for:
Small apps or isolated shared state (e.g., dark mode toggle)

Example: React Context for Theme

// ThemeContext.js
import { createContext, useContext, useState } from 'react';

const ThemeContext = createContext();

export const ThemeProvider = ({ children }) => {
  const [theme, setTheme] = useState('light');

  const toggleTheme = () => setTheme(prev => (prev === 'light' ? 'dark' : 'light'));

  return (
    <ThemeContext.Provider value={{ theme, toggleTheme }}>
      {children}
    </ThemeContext.Provider>
  );
};

// App.js
import { ThemeProvider, useTheme } from './ThemeContext';

function ThemeSwitcher() {
  const { theme, toggleTheme } = useTheme();

  return (
    <div style={{ background: theme === 'dark' ? '#333' : '#fff', color: theme === 'dark' ? '#fff' : '#000', padding: 20 }}>
      <p>Current theme: {theme}</p>
      <button onClick={toggleTheme}>Toggle Theme</button>
    </div>
  );
}

export default function App() {
  return (
    <ThemeProvider>
      <ThemeSwitcher />
    </ThemeProvider>
  );
}

// Hook for easy access
export const useTheme = () => useContext(ThemeContext);

✅ What’s happening?

-> ThemeProvider wraps your app and provides theme + toggleTheme to children.
-> useTheme hook makes accessing context simple.
-> Components like ThemeSwitcher read and update theme without prop drilling.

Redux: Powerful, Scalable State Management

Redux is still a battle-tested choice for large-scale applications that need predictable state, time-travel debugging, middleware, and advanced features.

✅ Pros:

Centralized, predictable state management

Excellent Redux DevTools for debugging

Middleware like Redux Thunk or Saga for handling async logic

Works great in complex apps with many state transitions

❌ Cons:

More boilerplate than Context

Learning curve can be steep for beginners

Can be overkill for small projects

🔎 Best for:
Large, complex apps where state logic needs to be consistent and maintainable across many components.

Example: Redux for Global Counter

// store.js
import { configureStore, createSlice } from '@reduxjs/toolkit';

const counterSlice = createSlice({
  name: 'counter',
  initialState: { value: 0 },
  reducers: {
    increment: state => { state.value += 1 },
    decrement: state => { state.value -= 1 },
  },
});

export const { increment, decrement } = counterSlice.actions;

export const store = configureStore({
  reducer: { counter: counterSlice.reducer },
});

// App.js
import { Provider, useSelector, useDispatch } from 'react-redux';
import { store, increment, decrement } from './store';

function Counter() {
  const count = useSelector(state => state.counter.value);
  const dispatch = useDispatch();

  return (
    <div style={{ padding: 20 }}>
      <p>Count: {count}</p>
      <button onClick={() => dispatch(increment())}>Increment</button>
      <button onClick={() => dispatch(decrement())}>Decrement</button>
    </div>
  );
}

export default function App() {
  return (
    <Provider store={store}>
      <Counter />
    </Provider>
  );
}

✅ What’s happening?

-> Redux store tracks counter.value.
-> useSelector reads state, and useDispatch dispatches actions.
-> Redux Toolkit simplifies boilerplate compared to classic Redux.

📝 Conclusion

🎯 Choose Context if: your app is small or medium-sized, and you only need to share simple state.

🚀 Choose Redux if: your app is large, complex, or needs powerful debugging and middleware support.

🎉 That’s it! Knowing when to use Context or Redux helps you choose the best state management for your React apps. Which one do you prefer? Share below! 👇💬

Comments

[Hubert Radziwiński]

Personally, of the two, I would choose zustand 🐻