TL;DR: Managing state in React can be challenging as apps scale. This guide explores five top React state management libraries, Redux Toolkit, Zustand, MobX, Recoil, and Jotai, to help you build enterprise-grade, performant applications.
Building modern single-page applications with React is exciting, but as your app grows, managing state becomes essential. State isn’t just about form inputs; it includes API responses, application status, and more.
Effective state management ensures your UI stays consistent, responsive, and predictable, even when handling dynamic data, asynchronous calls, and user interactions. Without a clear strategy, scattered states and duplication can lead to complexity and bugs. That’s why leveraging robust libraries for centralized state management is key to creating scalable, high-performance applications with seamless user experiences.
This article examines five React state management libraries, each with its own distinct architecture for building scalable, high-performance applications.
Redux toolkit
Redux remains a cornerstone of state management in React, built on the Flux architecture introduced by Facebook (Meta). It enforces a predictable, unidirectional data flow by centralizing state in a single store, ensuring that updates occur in a linear, controlled manner. This approach makes complex applications easier to maintain, reduces errors, and keeps UI logic consistent.
Previously, Redux required extensive boilerplate, but Redux Toolkit (RTK) has transformed the experience. RTK simplifies setup, reduces boilerplate, and introduces modern features like hooks, built-in async handling with RTK Query, and seamless TypeScript integration. For enterprise-grade applications that demand scalability, performance, and clarity, Redux Toolkit is a reliable and future-proof choice.
Example
import { createSlice, configureStore } from '@reduxjs/toolkit';
import { useSelector, useDispatch, Provider } from 'react-redux';
// Create a slice
const counterSlice = createSlice({
name: 'counter',
initialState: { value: 0 },
reducers: {
increment: (state) => { state.value += 1 },
decrement: (state) => { state.value -= 1 },
incrementByAmount: (state, action) => { state.value += action.payload; }
}
});
// Configure store
const store = configureStore({
reducer: { counter: counterSlice.reducer }
});
// Component usage
function Counter() {
const count = useSelector((state) => state.counter.value);
const dispatch = useDispatch();
return (
<div>
<h1>{count}</h1>
<button onClick={() => dispatch(counterSlice.actions.increment())}>Increment</button>
<button onClick={() => dispatch(counterSlice.actions.decrement())}>Decrement</button>
</div>
);
}
// App wrapper
function App() {
return (
<Provider store={store}>
<Counter />
</Provider>
);
}
Advantages
- Battle-tested: Used by thousands of enterprise applications
- Predictable state updates: Strict unidirectional data flow
- RTK query included: In-built data fetching and caching solution
- Developer tool: Comes with Redux devtools that help in comprehensive debugging
- Extendable: Extensive middlewares for asynchronous operation and monitoring
Disadvantages
- Setup: Even after using the toolkit, more configuration is required for integration.
- Learning curve: It takes time to master concepts like reducers, actions, dispatchers, immutability, etc.
- Not suitable for small apps: It is overkill for a small skill, too complex for applications that need simple state management.
- Provider overhead: The application has to be wrapped in a Provider to make use of it.
Zustand
Zustand is a small, fast, and scalable state management tool that follows the principles of the Flux architecture while leveraging hooks to simplify state management. It offers a minimal API and eliminates the need for boilerplate or wrapping the application with a Provider, making it an excellent choice for integration with existing state management tools without conflict.
Example
import create from 'zustand';
// Create store
const useStore = create((set) => ({
count: 0,
increment: () => set((state) => ({ count: state.count + 1 })),
decrement: () => set((state) => ({ count: state.count - 1 })),
reset: () => set({ count: 0 })
}));
// Component usage
function Counter() {
const count = useStore((state) => state.count);
const increment = useStore((state) => state.increment);
const decrement = useStore((state) => state.decrement);
return (
<div>
<h1>{count}</h1>
<button onClick={increment}>Increment</button>
<button onClick={decrement}>Decrement</button>
</div>
);
}
Advantages
- No boilerplate: It has a simple API; install it and it is ready to use. No need to wrap with provider.
- No context dependency: Works without React context, removing the re-rendering issue.
- Flexible: Can be used outside React components and with other state management tools
- Developer tool: Option to integrate with Redux devtools that help in comprehensive debugging
- Typescript support: Excellent typescript support out of the box
- Tiny size: ~1kb gzipped.
Disadvantages
- Greater chance of inconsistency: As there is no strict pattern or structure, this freedom could result in possible issues with an inconsistent pattern in a large codebase.
- Not mature: It is not battle-tested like Redux for large enterprise applications
- Limited room for extensibility: Less extensive middleware ecosystem
Mobx
MobX applies reactive programming principles to state management, offering an alternate approach where components observe state and automatically react to changes. This makes state updates implicit and seamless. By using observable state and automatic dependency tracking, MobX enables efficient state management at scale with a simple API.
Mobx only re-renders the components that are directly affected by state changes, resulting in superior performance in applications with complex state relations.
Example
import { makeObservable, observable, action, computed } from 'mobx';
import { observer } from 'mobx-react-lite';
// Create store class
class CounterStore {
count = 0;
constructor() {
makeObservable(this, {
count: observable,
increment: action,
decrement: action,
doubleCount: computed
});
}
increment() {
this.count++;
}
decrement() {
this.count--;
}
get doubleCount() {
return this.count * 2;
}
}
const counterStore = new CounterStore();
// Component usage
const Counter = observer(() => {
return (
<div>
<h1>{counterStore.count}</h1>
<h2>Double: {counterStore.doubleCount}</h2>
<button onClick={() => counterStore.increment()}>Increment</button>
<button onClick={() => counterStore.decrement()}>Decrement</button>
</div>
);
});
Advantages
- Reactive: Automatic reactivity under the hood; no manual subscription of the component is required.
- Object-oriented: Uses class-based patterns.
- Performant: Fine-grained updates using state memoization, resulting in minimal re-renders, optimizing the performance.
Disadvantages
- Deeper understanding: Need to have a good understanding of the Reactive programming concepts, otherwise it will be harder to debug with the magical behavior of automatic re-rendering.
- Class-based: It uses object-oriented programming concepts, which do not align with React’s functional programming.
- Decorator dependency: Uses decorators under the hood, which is an experimental JavaScript feature.
Jotai
Jotai builds on Recoil’s principles, using atoms (units of state) and selectors to create a graph-based approach to state management in React. It supports concurrent state modifications and asynchronous queries, integrating smoothly with React Suspense for performance-sensitive applications.
Jotai also addresses limitations in Redux and MobX by improving derived data handling and cross-component synchronization.
Example
import { atom, useAtom, useAtomValue, useSetAtom } from 'jotai';
// Define atoms
const countAtom = atom(0);
const doubleCountAtom = atom((get) => get(countAtom) * 2);
// Component usage
function Counter() {
const [count, setCount] = useAtom(countAtom);
const doubleCount = useAtomValue(doubleCountAtom);
return (
<div>
<h1>Count: {count}</h1>
<h2>Double: {doubleCount}</h2>
<button onClick={() => setCount(count + 1)}>Increment</button>
</div>
);
}
// Advanced: Async atoms
const userAtom = atom(async (get) => {
const userId = get(userIdAtom);
const response = await fetch(`/api/users/${userId}`);
return response.json();
});
// Write-only atom
const decrementAtom = atom(
null,
(get, set) => set(countAtom, get(countAtom) - 1)
);
function DecrementButton() {
const decrement = useSetAtom(decrementAtom);
return <button onClick={decrement}>Decrement</button>;
}
Advantages
- Atomic architecture: Fine-grained reactivity and updates
- Built-in Async support: Native support for atoms to do asynchronous operations with suspense integration.
- React-first: Built to work with the concurrent features of React.
- Performant: Only components using specific atoms are re-rendered.
- Tiny-size: ~2.6KB gzipped
Disadvantages
- Uncontrolled atoms: Developer need to work on their atomic thinking, otherwise they may end up creating too many small atoms.
- Debugging issue: Hard to trace state flow if the number of atoms increases.
- Immature: Have been recently in the market, less battle-tested on the enterprise scale application.
Hookstate
Hookstate is a powerful yet simple state management library that serves as an alternative to Zustand. It leverages React hooks to deliver fine-grained reactivity through a straightforward API.
Using proxy-based tracking, Hookstate efficiently identifies which components need to re-render in response to state updates, ensuring optimal performance with minimal complexity.
Example
import { hookstate, useHookstate } from '@hookstate/core';
// Create global state
const globalState = hookstate({
count: 0,
user: {
name: 'John',
age: 30
},
todos: []
});
// Component usage
function Counter() {
const state = useHookstate(globalState);
return (
<div>
<h1>{state.count.get()}</h1>
<button onClick={() => state.count.set(c => c + 1)}>Increment</button>
<button onClick={() => state.count.set(c => c - 1)}>Decrement</button>
</div>
);
}
// Scoped access (only re-renders when count changes)
function OptimizedCounter() {
const count = useHookstate(globalState.count);
return (
<div>
<h1>{count.get()}</h1>
<button onClick={() => count.set(c => c + 1)}>Increment</button>
</div>
);
}
// Nested state management
function UserProfile() {
const user = useHookstate(globalState.user);
return (
<div>
<input
value={user.name.get()}
onChange={e => user.name.set(e.target.value)}
/>
<input
type="number"
value={user.age.get()}
onChange={e => user.age.set(parseInt(e.target.value))}
/>
</div>
);
}
// Local state (component-scoped)
function LocalExample() {
const state = useHookstate({ count: 0 });
return (
<div>
<h1>{state.count.get()}</h1>
<button onClick={() => state.count.set(c => c + 1)}>Increment</button>
</div>
);
}
Advantages
- Simple: No extra learning is required, uses React hooks, is simple to get started with, and to use.
- Scalable: Easier to do nested deep state manipulation
- Performant: Scoped subscriptions prevent unnecessary re-renders.
- Tiny-size: ~3.5KB gzipped
Disadvantages
- Limited community: It has a smaller developer community and adoption, and documentation is also not as comprehensive.
- Debugging issue: Limited devtools support for debugging.
- Immature: Have been recently in the market, less battle-tested on the enterprise scale application, fewer uses in a scalable enterprise application.
Comparison
| Feature | Redux Toolkit | Zustand | Mobx | Jotai | Hookstate |
| Bundle-size | ~13KB | ~1KB | ~2.6KB | ~16KB | ~3.5kb |
| Learning curve | Steep | Gentle | Moderate | Moderate | Easy |
| Performance | Good | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Good |
| DevTools | Excellent | Good | Good | Basic | No |
| TypeScript | Excellent | Excellent | Good | Excellent | Good |
| Async support | RTK Query | Manual | Manual | Native | No |
| Ideal Use Case | Large-scale applications with complex async logic and strict state structure | Small to medium apps needing minimal setup and high performance | Apps with complex state relationships and automatic reactivity | Fine-grained reactivity and atomic state management | Hook-based local/global state with plugin extensibility |
Conclusion
Choosing the right state management library can significantly impact the scalability and performance of your React app. Whether you prefer Redux Toolkit’s predictability or Zustand’s simplicity, these tools offer solutions for modern development challenges. Ready to optimize your React workflow? Start experimenting with one today!
Here’s a quick guide to choosing the right tool:
- Small apps: Hookstate, simple and hook-based.
- Medium apps: Zustand, minimal setup, scalable.
- Enterprise apps: Redux Toolkit, robust and battle-tested.
- Automatic reactivity: MobX, great for complex state relationships.
- Fine-grained control: Jotai, atomic and performant.
Many successful applications utilize multiple state management tools to achieve optimal results.
If you have any questions or need assistance, you can reach us through our support forum, support portal, or feedback portal. We’re always here to help!
Related Blogs
- React Hooks vs. Redux in 2024
- Recoil: the Future of State Management for React?
- Understanding React’s useEffect and useState Hooks
- React useState Vs. Context API: When to Use Them
This article was originally published at Syncfusion.com.
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