Zustand vs Jotai vs Recoil: Lightweight Alternatives

In this module, we will dive into three popular state management libraries in the React ecosystem: Zustand, Jotai, and Recoil. These libraries are lightweight and provide an alternative to more traditional solutions like Redux or the Context API. We will compare them, highlight their unique features, and explore use cases for each.

Table of Contents

1. What is Zustand?
2. What is Jotai?
3. What is Recoil?
4. Zustand vs Jotai vs Recoil: Key Differences
5. When to Use Zustand
6. When to Use Jotai
7. When to Use Recoil
8. Comparison Table
9. Code Example: Zustand, Jotai, and Recoil in Action
10. Conclusion

1. What is Zustand?

Zustand is a small, fast, and scalable state management library for React. It is designed to be simple and intuitive, providing a minimal API that makes it easy to create and manage state in your application.

Key Features:

• Minimal API: Zustand has a minimal API with a single function to create a store.
• React Native Support: Works seamlessly with React Native as well as React for web applications.
• No Context Provider: Zustand doesn’t require wrapping your components in a context provider, making it simpler to set up.
• Global State: Zustand provides a store that allows you to manage global state without any additional boilerplate.

Example:

import create from 'zustand';

const useStore = create((set) => ({
  count: 0,
  increase: () => set((state) => ({ count: state.count + 1 })),
}));

const Counter = () => {
  const { count, increase } = useStore();
  return (
    <div>
      <p>{count}</p>
      <button onClick={increase}>Increase</button>
    </div>
  );
};

2. What is Jotai?

Jotai is a minimalistic state management library that provides primitive state atoms. Jotai’s unique approach allows you to store individual pieces of state in “atoms,” making it a very flexible and composable solution.

Key Features:

• Atoms: Each unit of state is an atom, and atoms can be composed together to form complex state logic.
• No Boilerplate: Jotai requires minimal setup and has no need for reducers or actions, making it simple to use.
• Reactivity: Jotai relies on React’s built-in reactivity, so when an atom’s state changes, React will automatically re-render components that depend on that atom.

Example:

import { atom, useAtom } from 'jotai';

const countAtom = atom(0);

const Counter = () => {
  const [count, setCount] = useAtom(countAtom);
  return (
    <div>
      <p>{count}</p>
      <button onClick={() => setCount(count + 1)}>Increase</button>
    </div>
  );
};

3. What is Recoil?

Recoil is a state management library for React developed by Facebook. It provides a set of tools for managing global state with an emphasis on performance and scalability. Recoil’s core feature is the concept of “atoms” and “selectors,” which provide fine-grained control over state and derived data.

Key Features:

• Atoms and Selectors: Recoil uses atoms to store state and selectors to compute derived state.
• Async State: Recoil supports asynchronous state and allows for promises to be part of the state.
• Efficient State Updates: Recoil ensures that only the components that subscribe to an atom are re-rendered when it changes, making it highly efficient.

Example:

import { atom, useRecoilState } from 'recoil';

const countAtom = atom({
  key: 'count',
  default: 0,
});

const Counter = () => {
  const [count, setCount] = useRecoilState(countAtom);
  return (
    <div>
      <p>{count}</p>
      <button onClick={() => setCount(count + 1)}>Increase</button>
    </div>
  );
};

4. Zustand vs Jotai vs Recoil: Key Differences

Here’s a breakdown of the core differences between Zustand, Jotai, and Recoil:

5. When to Use Zustand

Use Zustand when:

• You need a simple, lightweight state management solution with minimal setup.
• You want a store that works seamlessly with React and React Native.
• Your application doesn’t require complex derived state or async logic.
• You prefer not to use Context API or multiple layers of abstraction.

Zustand is great for smaller applications or situations where simplicity and performance are key.

6. When to Use Jotai

Use Jotai when:

• You need to manage state as discrete units (atoms) for better composability and flexibility.
• You need minimal setup without any reducers, actions, or context providers.
• Your app needs fine-grained control over state reactivity.
• You need a flexible, atomic model for state management that can scale with complexity.

Jotai is ideal for highly composable state where components need to read and write to individual pieces of state.

7. When to Use Recoil

Use Recoil when:

• Your application needs scalable state management with fine-grained control over state changes.
• You need to manage complex derived state, like filters, queries, or computations.
• Your app involves async operations or needs to combine multiple pieces of state.
• You’re already familiar with or using React and want to integrate advanced state management patterns like atoms and selectors.

Recoil shines when you need a more scalable, complex state management solution but still want fine-grained control over component rendering.

8. Comparison Table

9. Code Example: Zustand, Jotai, and Recoil in Action

Let’s build a simple counter using Zustand, Jotai, and Recoil to demonstrate the differences in implementation.

Zustand Example:

import create from 'zustand';

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

const Counter = () => {
  const { count, increment } = useStore();
  return (
    <div>
      <p>{count}</p>
      <button onClick={increment}>Increase</button>
    </div>
  );
};

Jotai Example:

import { atom, useAtom } from 'jotai';

const countAtom = atom(0);

const Counter = () => {
  const [count, setCount] = useAtom(countAtom);
  return (
    <div>
      <p>{count}</p>
      <button onClick={() => setCount(count + 1)}>Increase</button>
    </div>
  );
};

Recoil Example:

import { atom, useRecoilState } from 'recoil';

const countAtom = atom({
  key: 'count',
  default: 0,
});

const Counter = () => {
  const [count, setCount] = useRecoilState(countAtom);
  return (
    <div>
      <p>{count}</p>
      <button onClick={() => setCount(count + 1)}>Increase</button>
    </div>
  );
};

10. Conclusion

Zustand, Jotai, and Recoil are all excellent state management solutions that cater to different use cases. Zustand is ideal for simple, lightweight applications, while Jotai provides flexibility with atomic state management. Recoil, on the other hand, is a more scalable solution, offering advanced features like selectors and async support.

Choosing the right tool depends on your project’s complexity and your state management needs. Understanding these libraries’ unique approaches will help you make informed decisions for your applications.