Why Choose Zustand Over Redux?

When it comes to managing state in React applications, Redux has long been the go-to solution for developers. Its predictable state container and robust ecosystem made it a staple in many large-scale projects. Over time, it became the default choice for handling complex application states, especially in scenarios involving deeply nested components or extensive data flow across the application.

While Redux remains a powerful tool, its boilerplate and setup overhead and steep learning curve have led many developers to explore more lightweight and intuitive alternatives. One such solution gaining significant traction in the React ecosystem is Zustand.

Zustand offers a minimalistic yet flexible approach to state management. It eliminates the need for reducers, action types, and context providers, allowing developers to create global state with just a few lines of code. Zustand’s API is built around simplicity and performance, leveraging native JavaScript patterns to manage state efficiently. It also works seamlessly with TypeScript, offering strong typing without additional configuration.

Key Advantages of Zustand Over Redux

Dramatically Less Boilerplate

• Redux: Requires actions, reducers, dispatchers, selectors, and often Redux Toolkit to reduce complexity. The learning curve is also steep due to this.
• Zustand: Just define state and actions in one simple create function.

// Zustand Store
const useStore = create(set => ({
  count: 0,
  increment: () => set(state => ({ count: state.count + 1 }))
})

// Component
const count = useStore(state => state.count)
const increment = useStore(state => state.increment)

No Provider Wrapper Needed

• Redux: Requires <Provider store={store}> at app root
• Zustand: Works without any context provider

Built-in Support for Async Actions

• Redux: Need to use Thunk or Redux toolkit support
• Zustand: No middleware needed for async operations

fetchUsers: async () => {
  const users = await api.getUsers()
  set({ users })
}

Developer Experience

• Learning Curve: Zustand is much easier to learn
• TypeScript: Zustand has excellent TS support out of the box
• Community: Redux has more documentation/tutorials, but Zustand’s API is simple enough to need less

The Verdict

Choose Zustand if you:

• Want simple, clean state management
• Are starting a new project
• Prefer writing less code
• Don’t need advanced Redux DevTools features

Stick with Redux if you:

• Have an existing large Redux codebase
• Need advanced middleware capabilities
• Work on a team that already knows Redux well

For most React and React Native applications in 2023+, Zustand provides a better developer experience with nearly all the capabilities of Redux and none of the boilerplate. It’s particularly well-suited for:

• Small to medium-sized apps
• Rapid prototyping
• Projects where simplicity is valued

The choice ultimately depends on your specific needs, but Zustand has become the preferred solution for many modern React applications.