TL;DR; The article lists essential React libraries and plugins, covering various development aspects like UI components, state management, data fetching, chart, animation, etc. It provides top recommendations and alternatives for each category, helping developers choose the right tools for their React projects based on functionality, performance, and community support.
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When building an Application with React, selecting the right tools and libraries can make a significant difference in your project's success. React libraries and plugins provide developers with ready-to-use components and functionalities, allowing for faster development and a more robust application.
In this article, I've curated a list of essential React libraries and plugins based on their categories. Each category features the best recommendation along with two alternatives, ensuring you have options to choose from based on your specific project needs.
From component libraries to form validation, each library on this list has been carefully chosen for its reliability, performance, and community support.
Please note that these libraries are mostly client-side React app, although some of them can be used for Next.js as well. I'll cover about essential Next.js libraries later on another post.
Best React Libraries for Different functionalities in 2024
1. Component Libraries
It's a bit difficult to recommend component libraries, because each developer has preference on the design style. But, i will recommend them based on popularity and flexibilitty.
If you want more in-depth review about component libraries for react, i have another post for it:
Use Material UI - for quick implementation
Material UI is the most popular React UI framework that implements Google's Material Design. It offers a comprehensive set of pre-built components that are customizable and easy to use, making it an excellent choice for quickly building attractive and functional user interfaces.
Material UI has a large and active community, which means plenty of resources, third-party extensions, and regular updates. Its extensive documentation and wide adoption make it a solid choice for both beginners and experienced developers looking for a reliable UI solution.
GitHub stars: 92k+, Weekly npm downloads: 3.7M+
Data from Aug 04, 2024
Use Shadcn UI - for unlimited flexibility
Shadcn UI is a collection of re-usable components built using Radix UI and Tailwind CSS. It offers unlimited flexibility by providing beautifully designed components that you can copy and paste into your projects, allowing for complete customization.
Shadcn UI stands out for its approach to component distribution, giving developers full control over the code and styling. This makes it an excellent choice for projects that require a high degree of customization and unique designs.
Shadcn UI is not distributed as an npm package. Its installable with npx commands that copy the component codes into your project directly.
GitHub stars: 65k+
Data from Aug 04, 2024
Alternatives
Mantine: Known for its extensive component set and comprehensive hooks library, Mantine excels in performance and advanced theming capabilities.
Chakra UI: Chakra UI is distinguished by its simplicity and focus on accessibility, providing a developer-friendly experience with robust support for creating accessible React applications.
2. CSS / Styling Libraries
Use Tailwind CSS
Tailwind CSS is a utility-first CSS framework that has gained immense popularity in the React community. It provides low-level utility classes that let you build completely custom designs without ever leaving your HTML (or JSX in React's case). Tailwind CSS offers a highly customizable and flexible approach to styling.
Tailwind CSS shines in projects where you need complete control over your design and want to avoid writing custom CSS. Its utility-first approach allows for rapid development and easy maintenance. The framework's purge feature ensures that only the used classes are included in your production build, resulting in minimal CSS file sizes.
GitHub stars: 80k+, Weekly npm downloads: 9M+
Data from Aug 04, 2024
Alternative
- Bootstrap: A popular CSS framework that offers a comprehensive set of pre-styled components and a responsive grid system, ideal for quickly building responsive, mobile-first sites.
3. Routing Libraries
Use React Router
React Router is the most popular and widely used routing library for React applications. It provides a powerful set of navigation components that compose declaratively with your application, allowing you to create dynamic, client-side routing with ease.
React Router excels in both simple and complex applications, offering features like nested routes, route parameters, and programmatic navigation. It's particularly well-suited for single-page applications (SPAs) that require seamless navigation between different views without full page reloads.
The library's extensive documentation and large community make it an excellent choice for both beginners and experienced developers.
GitHub stars: 52k+, Weekly npm downloads: 9.8M+
Data from Aug 04, 2024
Alternative
- Tanstack Router: A fully type-safe routing library for React that offers powerful features like loader functions, lazy routes, and automatic code-splitting, making it ideal for large-scale applications with complex routing needs.
4. State Management
Use Built-in React Hooks and Context API
React's built-in hooks useState, useReducer and the Context API provide powerful state management capabilities out of the box. These tools allow you to manage both local and global state efficiently without the need for additional libraries.
The built-in solutions are best for small to medium-sized applications or when you need to manage state in specific components. They offer a simple and lightweight approach to state management, making them ideal for projects where you want to keep your bundle size small and avoid unnecessary complexity.
Use Zustand for more advanced cases
Zustand is a small, fast, and scalable state management solution for React. It uses a simple and intuitive API that makes it easy to create and manage global state without the boilerplate typically associated with other state management libraries.
Zustand is excellent for applications that require more advanced state management than what React's built-in tools offer, but don't need the complexity of larger libraries. It's particularly well-suited for projects where you need to share state across many components or manage complex state logic.
GitHub stars: 45k+, Weekly npm downloads: 3.7M+
Data from Aug 04, 2024
Alternative
- Redux with Redux Toolkit: A powerful and widely-used state management library that offers a predictable state container, time-travel debugging, and a large ecosystem of middleware and tools, making it suitable for large-scale applications with complex state requirements.
5. Data Fetching Libraries
Use Tanstack Query for powerful and flexible data management
Tanstack Query (formerly React Query) is a powerful library for fetching, caching, synchronizing and updating server state in React applications. It provides a declarative API that simplifies complex data fetching scenarios, including automatic background refetching, pagination, and data invalidation.
Tanstack Query excels in applications with complex data requirements, real-time data, or when you need fine-grained control over your data fetching and caching strategies. It's particularly useful for projects that require optimistic updates, infinite scrolling, or handling of stale data.
GitHub stars: 41k+, Weekly npm downloads: 3.6M+
Data from Aug 04, 2024
Use SWR for lightweight and intuitive data fetching
SWR (stale-while-revalidate) is a lightweight library for data fetching that focuses on speed and simplicity. It provides a hook-based API that makes it easy to fetch and cache data, with built-in features like revalidation on focus, polling, and pagination.
SWR is best suited for applications that prioritize performance and require real-time data. Its simple API and small bundle size make it an excellent choice for projects where you want to minimize complexity while still benefiting from smart data fetching strategies.
GitHub stars: 30k+, Weekly npm downloads: 2M+
Data from Aug 04, 2024
Alternatives
Apollo Client: A comprehensive state management library for GraphQL. It offers powerful caching, optimistic UI, and subscription support, making it ideal for complex GraphQL-based applications.
RTK Query: A powerful data fetching and caching tool built into Redux Toolkit. It provides a simplified API for defining and executing API requests, making it a great choice for applications already using Redux for state management.
6. Auth Libraries
Although Authentication is mostly a backend thing, you probably want to handle it with a library that will need to run both in backend and frontend, without having to reimplement the wheel. Or you might want it to entirely managed by 3rd party service for a quick yet secure solution.
Use Lucia for flexible and framework-agnostic authentication
Lucia is a framework-agnostic auth library that provides a robust and flexible authentication solution for React applications. It offers a low-level API that gives developers full control over the authentication flow while handling the complex security aspects behind the scenes.
Lucia is best suited for applications that require customizable authentication flows and want to avoid vendor lock-in. It's particularly useful for projects that need to support multiple authentication methods or require fine-grained control over the authentication process. Lucia's flexibility makes it an excellent choice for both simple and complex authentication scenarios.
GitHub stars: 8.6k+, Weekly npm downloads: 42k+
Data from Aug 04, 2024
Alternatives
Supabase Auth: A powerful, open-source authentication service that integrates seamlessly with Supabase's database and serverless functions, offering features like social logins, passwordless auth, and row-level security.
Auth0: A comprehensive identity platform that provides secure authentication and authorization services, offering features like single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, and social identity providers.
Firebase Auth: A fully managed authentication service by Google that offers easy integration with Firebase services, supporting various authentication methods including email/password, phone number, and popular federated identity providers.
7. Component Sandboxes & Testing
Use Storybook for Isolated Component Development and Testing
Storybook is an open-source tool for developing UI components in isolation, allowing developers to build, test, and showcase components without needing to run the entire application. It provides a visual environment for designing and documenting components, making it easier to create consistent and reusable UI elements.
Storybook is best suited for projects that require extensive component development and testing, ensuring that each component works independently and integrates smoothly into larger applications. Storybook is widely adopted for its robust features and ease of use.
GitHub stars: 83.6k+, Weekly npm downloads: 3.8M+
Data from Aug 04, 2024
Alternatives
- Bit: Bit offers a platform for sharing and collaborating on reusable components across projects and teams, promoting consistency and efficiency in UI development.
8. Chart & Data Visualization Libraries
Use Chart.js for extensive collection of charts
Chart.js is the most popular, lightweight charting library that offers a wide range of chart types and is known for its ease of use and responsiveness. It provides a simple API for creating beautiful, animated charts that work well across devices.
Chart.js is best suited for projects that require quick implementation of common chart types without sacrificing customization options. It's particularly useful for dashboards, reports, and applications where performance and responsiveness are crucial.
GitHub stars: 64k+, Weekly npm downloads: 3.4M+
Data from Aug 04, 2024
Use Recharts for customizable React-specific charts
Recharts is a composable charting library built specifically for React applications. It leverages React components to create charts, making it easy to integrate with React-based projects and allowing for deep customization through props and composable components.
Recharts excels in React applications that require highly customizable charts with a declarative API. It's ideal for projects where you need fine-grained control over chart elements and want to maintain a consistent React-based workflow.
GitHub stars: 23k+, Weekly npm downloads: 1.9M+
Data from Aug 04, 2024
Alternatives
Tremor Chart: A React library that offers a collection of fully-styled chart components, making it perfect for quickly building beautiful dashboards and reports with minimal configuration.
D3.js: A powerful, low-level JavaScript library for creating custom data visualizations, offering unparalleled flexibility and control for complex or unique chart requirements.
9. Animation Libraries
Use Framer Motion for powerful and intuitive animations
Framer Motion is a production-ready motion library for React that makes creating animations and interactive UIs simple and intuitive. It provides a declarative API that allows developers to create complex animations with minimal code.
Framer Motion is best suited for applications that require sophisticated animations and gestures. It's particularly useful for projects that need to create fluid, physics-based animations, complex transitions, or responsive animations that adapt to different screen sizes. The library's ease of use and powerful features make it an excellent choice for both simple and complex animation scenarios in React applications.
GitHub stars: 23k+, Weekly npm downloads: 3.9M+
Alternatives
React Spring: A spring-physics based animation library that provides a flexible set of tools for creating natural and fluid animations, making it ideal for projects that require realistic motion and interactive user interfaces.
Animate.css: A cross-browser library of ready-to-use, CSS-based animations that can be easily integrated into React applications, perfect for quickly adding pre-defined animations to elements without writing complex JavaScript or CSS.
Read related post about animation libraries on Top 15 Animation Libraries for React & Javascript Apps
10. DataTable / DataGrid Libraries
Use Tanstack Table for powerful and flexible data tables
Tanstack Table (formerly React Table) is a lightweight and extensible data table library for React. It provides a headless UI approach, giving developers complete control over markup and styles while handling complex table logic such as sorting, filtering, and pagination.
Tanstack Table is best suited for applications that require highly customizable tables with advanced features. It's particularly useful for projects where you need to handle large datasets efficiently, create complex table layouts, or integrate tables seamlessly with your existing UI components. The library's flexibility makes it an excellent choice for both simple and complex table requirements.
GitHub stars: 24k+, Weekly npm downloads: 2.1M+
Alternative
- AG Grid: A feature-rich data grid library that offers excellent performance with large datasets, built-in themes, and enterprise-level features like pivot tables and excel export, making it ideal for complex business applications and data-intensive dashboards.
11. Calendar & Scheduling Libraries
Use Fullcalendar for feature-rich and customizable calendars
Fullcalendar is a powerful and flexible JavaScript event calendar library with a React wrapper. It offers a wide range of features including drag-and-drop event management, various view options (month, week, day, list), and seamless integration with external data sources.
Fullcalendar is best suited for applications that require advanced scheduling capabilities and high customizability. It's particularly useful for projects that need to handle complex event management, resource scheduling, or integration with backend systems for real-time updates.
GitHub stars: 18.3k+, Weekly npm downloads: 657k+
Data from Aug 04, 2024
Alternative
- React Big Calendar: A React-specific calendar component that offers a simpler API and easier integration with React applications, making it ideal for projects that require a straightforward, customizable calendar solution without the need for extensive features.
12. Testing Libraries
Use Jest + React Testing Library for comprehensive unit and integration testing
Jest, combined with React Testing Library, provides a powerful and widely-adopted solution for testing React applications. Jest serves as the test runner and assertion library, while React Testing Library offers a set of helpers for testing React components in a way that resembles how users interact with your app.
This combination is best suited for applications that require thorough unit and integration testing of React components and application logic. It's particularly useful for projects that prioritize testing user interactions and accessibility, as React Testing Library encourages writing tests that mirror real user behavior.
Jest GitHub stars: 43k+, Weekly npm downloads: 22M+
Data from Aug 04, 2024
Use Playwright for comprehensive end-to-end testing
Playwright is a powerful, cross-browser automation library that excels in end-to-end testing for web applications. It provides a high-level API to control Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit browsers, allowing you to write tests that simulate real user scenarios across different browsers.
Playwright is best suited for applications that require thorough end-to-end testing, especially those that need to ensure consistency across multiple browsers. It's particularly useful for projects with complex user flows, single-page applications, or those that require testing of browser-specific behavior.
GitHub stars: 64k+, Weekly npm downloads: 6.4M+
Data from Aug 04, 2024
Alternative
- Vitest + React Testing Library: A fast and lightweight test runner that's fully compatible with Jest, offering near-instant feedback during development when combined with React Testing Library, making it ideal for projects that prioritize speed in the test-driven development process.
13. Date & Time Handling Libraries
Use Day.js for lightweight and modern date manipulation
Day.js is a minimalist JavaScript library for parsing, validating, manipulating, and formatting dates. It provides a modern and lightweight alternative to larger date libraries, with an API that is largely compatible with Moment.js.
Day.js is best suited for applications that require efficient date and time operations without adding significant bundle size. It's particularly useful for projects that need basic to moderate date manipulation capabilities and prioritize performance and small bundle size. Day.js also supports internationalization and a plugin system for extended functionality.
GitHub stars: 46k+, Weekly npm downloads: 20M+
Data from Aug 04, 2024
Alternative
- date-fns: A comprehensive, modular date utility library that provides pure functions for date manipulation, making it ideal for projects that require extensive date operations and prefer a functional programming style.
Read related post about Working with Date in Javascript
14. Form Handling & Validation Libraries
Use React Hook Form for performant, flexible form validation
React Hook Form is a lightweight library for managing form state and validation in React applications. It leverages React hooks to provide a performant and flexible solution for handling forms, with minimal re-renders and easy integration with UI libraries.
React Hook Form is best suited for applications that require efficient form handling with complex validation rules. It's particularly useful for projects that prioritize performance, have forms with many fields, or need to integrate with existing UI components. The library's focus on uncontrolled components and minimal re-renders makes it an excellent choice for optimizing form performance in React applications.
GitHub stars: 40k+, Weekly npm downloads: 5.2M+
Data from Aug 04, 2024
Alternatives
Yup: A schema validation library that works well with form libraries like Formik and React Hook Form, providing a powerful and expressive way to define validation schemas for your forms.
Formik: A complete solution for handling forms in React, offering a declarative and intuitive API for form state management, validation, and submission handling, making it ideal for projects that need a more opinionated and all-in-one form solution.
15. Drag and Drop Libraries
Use React-dnd for Advanced Drag-and-Drop Functionality
React-dnd is a powerful library for implementing complex drag-and-drop interactions in React applications. It provides a set of tools and APIs that allow developers to create highly customizable and performant drag-and-drop features. React-dnd is ideal for applications requiring advanced drag-and-drop capabilities, such as project management tools, dashboards, and interactive data visualizations.
React-dnd is best suited for applications that require advanced and customizable drag-and-drop functionality. React-dnd is a trusted choice among developers for its flexibility and robust performance. Its extensive documentation and active community support make it easy to get started and integrate into existing projects.
GitHub stars: 20k+, Weekly npm downloads: 1.9M+
Data from Aug 04, 2024
Alternatives
dnd-kit: dnd-kit is known for its modern, lightweight approach to drag-and-drop interactions, offering a flexible API and excellent performance.
Pragmatic drag and drop: Pragmatic drag and drop is a library that excels in simplicity and ease of use, making it perfect for quickly implementing sortable lists and basic drag-and-drop features.
16. Video Player Libraries
Use React-player for Versatile Media Embedding
React-player is a versatile media player library for React applications, supporting a wide range of media sources including YouTube, Facebook, SoundCloud, and more. It provides an easy-to-use API for embedding and controlling media content, making it a great choice for projects that need to handle various media types seamlessly.
React-player is best suited for applications that require embedding media from multiple sources with minimal setup.React-player is widely used and appreciated for its flexibility and ease of integration.
GitHub stars: 9.1k+, Weekly npm downloads**: 945k+
Data from Aug 04, 2024
Alternatives
Vidstack player: Vidstack player offers a modern, lightweight video player solution with advanced features like HLS/DASH streaming and customizable UI components.
Video.js: Video.js is a popular open-source HTML5 video player that provides a robust and extensible framework, ideal for projects requiring comprehensive video playback and customization options.
17. Map Libraries
Use React Leaflet for Interactive Map Applications
React Leaflet is a popular library for integrating Leaflet maps into React applications, providing a powerful and flexible solution for creating interactive maps. It leverages the robustness of Leaflet and the declarative nature of React, making it easy to create complex map interfaces with custom markers, layers, and controls.
React Leaflet is best suited for applications that require detailed and customizable maps, such as geospatial data visualizations, location-based services, and interactive dashboards. React Leaflet is a trusted choice for developers seeking a reliable and feature-rich mapping library.
GitHub stars: 5k+, Weekly npm downloads: 353k+
Data from Aug 04, 2024
Alternatives
- Google map react: Google map react offers seamless integration with Google Maps, providing extensive features and customization options for projects requiring robust map functionalities.
- React map GL: React map GL is a comprehensive library for integrating Mapbox maps into React applications, offering advanced features like dynamic styling and extensive customization options.
- React simple map: React simple map is known for its simplicity and ease of use, making it ideal for creating lightweight and responsive map visualizations with minimal setup.
18. PDF Libraries
Use React PDF for creating and rendering PDF documents
React PDF is a powerful library for creating PDF documents using React components. It provides a declarative way to define document structure and styling, allowing developers to leverage their React knowledge for PDF generation.
React PDF is best suited for applications that require dynamic PDF creation directly in the browser or on the server. It's particularly useful for projects that need to generate complex, data-driven documents such as invoices, reports, or tickets. The library's React-based approach makes it intuitive for React developers to create and customize PDF layouts.
GitHub stars: 14.5k+, Weekly npm downloads: 523k+
Alternative
- PSPDFKit: A comprehensive PDF SDK that offers advanced features like PDF viewing, annotation, form filling, and editing, making it ideal for applications that require a full-featured PDF solution with both viewing and editing capabilities.
19. Icon Libraries
Use React Icons for a comprehensive collection of popular icon sets
React Icons is a library that brings together icon sets from multiple popular icon libraries, offering them as easy-to-use React components. It includes icons from Font Awesome, Material Design, Feather, and many other well-known icon sets.
React Icons is best suited for applications that require a wide variety of icons from different sources. It's particularly useful for projects that need flexibility in icon choices or want to maintain consistency with popular design systems. The library's modular approach allows developers to import only the icons they need, helping to keep bundle sizes small.
GitHub stars: 11k+, Weekly npm downloads: 2.1M+
Data from Aug 04, 2024
Tips
Almost all popular icon packs are included in react-icons package, so i dont provide alternative here. But you should stick to only one type of icon pack for design consistency, even if you can mix different icon types with react-icons.
You can also explore my list of Best Icon Libraries
20. Rich Text Editor Libraries
Use Quill for a powerful and customizable rich text editor
Quill is a free, open-source WYSIWYG editor built for the modern web. It offers a powerful API for customization and can be easily integrated into React applications using wrapper libraries like react-quill.
Quill is best suited for applications that require a robust and feature-rich text editor with a clean, minimal interface. It's particularly useful for projects that need advanced text formatting, real-time collaboration features, or custom content and formatting rules. Quill's modular architecture allows developers to tailor the editor to their specific needs while maintaining performance.
GitHub stars: 42k+, Weekly npm downloads: 1.3M+
Data from Aug 04, 2024
Alternatives
Slate: A completely customizable framework for building rich text editors, offering unparalleled flexibility for creating unique editing experiences tailored to specific use cases.
TinyMCE: A full-featured, enterprise-grade WYSIWYG editor with a vast array of plugins and tools, suitable for complex content management systems and applications requiring advanced editing capabilities.
21. Localization Libraries
Use React i18next for comprehensive and flexible internationalization
React i18next is a powerful internationalization framework for React applications. It's an extension of the popular i18next library, specifically tailored for seamless integration with React components and hooks.
React i18next is best suited for applications that require robust, scalable internationalization capabilities. It's particularly useful for projects with complex localization needs, including pluralization, context-based translations, and dynamic content. The library's extensive ecosystem, including various plugins and integrations, makes it an excellent choice for both small and large-scale React applications requiring multi-language support.
GitHub stars: 9.1k+, Weekly npm downloads: 3.4M+
Alternative
- FormatJs: A collection of libraries that provide a comprehensive suite of internationalization tools, including React-specific components and hooks, making it ideal for applications that need to handle complex formatting of dates, numbers, and pluralization in addition to translations.
22. Markdown Parser Libraries
Use React Markdown for efficient and customizable Markdown rendering
React Markdown is a powerful Markdown component for React that allows you to render Markdown content as React components. It's built on top of remark, a powerful Markdown processor, and provides a simple way to transform Markdown into React elements.
React Markdown is best suited for applications that need to render Markdown content with high performance and customizability. It's particularly useful for projects that require fine-grained control over the rendering process, such as blogs, documentation sites, or content management systems. The library's plugin system allows for easy extension of its capabilities.
GitHub stars: 12.7k+, Weekly npm downloads: 2.7M+
Data from Aug 04, 2024
Use MDX for Markdown with embedded JSX and React components
MDX is a powerful format that lets you seamlessly write JSX in your Markdown documents. It combines the simplicity of Markdown with the power of React, allowing you to import and use React components directly in your Markdown files.
MDX is best suited for applications that need to create rich, interactive documentation or content that goes beyond simple Markdown. It's particularly useful for projects like technical documentation, interactive tutorials, or blogs that require complex, component-based layouts within Markdown content. MDX allows developers to leverage the full power of React ecosystem within their Markdown files.
GitHub stars: 17.2k+, Weekly npm downloads: 5.7M+
Data from Aug 04, 2024
Alternative
- Marked: A fast and lightweight Markdown parser and compiler for JavaScript that can be easily integrated into React applications, making it ideal for projects that prioritize speed and simplicity in Markdown rendering.
23. Image Carousel / Gallery Libraries
Use React Slick for Responsive Carousel Sliders
React Slick is a powerful carousel component built specifically for React, providing an easy way to create responsive and customizable sliders. It is based on the popular Slick carousel, offering a wide range of features like lazy loading, autoplay, and custom navigation, making it an excellent choice for implementing carousels in your React applications.
React Slick is best suited for applications that require dynamic and interactive carousel sliders, such as image galleries, product showcases, and testimonials. React Slick is trusted by developers for its reliability and extensive customization options.
GitHub stars: 11.7k+, Weekly npm downloads: 1M+
Data from Aug 04, 2024
Alternatives
- React Image Gallery: React Image Gallery is known for its advanced features tailored specifically for image and video galleries, offering a sleek and modern user experience.
Conclusion
Selecting the right libraries and plugins is crucial for the success of any React application. The tools listed in this article offer a broad spectrum of functionalities that cater to various aspects of app development. By leveraging these libraries, you can build more efficient, maintainable, and user-friendly applications.
Remember that the best choice of library often depends on the specific requirements of your project. Experiment with these recommendations and alternatives to find the perfect fit for your needs. With the right combination of tools, you can elevate your React development workflow and deliver high-quality applications that meet the demands of modern users.
What did i miss?
If you have other React libraries worth mentioned here, please share them in the comment below :smile:
Consider liking and sharing if you find this list helpful.
Thank you. Have a good day!