State Management: Redux Toolkit vs Zustand vs Jotai

Sep 30, 2025 |

11 minutes read

Navigating React State: Local, Shared, and External Libraries

State management sits at the heart of every modern React application. Whether building a small widget or an enterprise-scale platform, the way state is handled can make the difference between a seamless user experience and a fragile, difficult-to-maintain codebase.

React itself provides excellent foundational tools—such as useState, useReducer, and the Context API—that allow developers to manage both local and shared state effectively. Larger projects require patterns that provide predictability, maintainability, and developer-friendly tooling to ensure scalability.

This need has given rise to a variety of external state management libraries. Among the most prominent today are Redux Toolkit, Zustand, and Jotai. Redux Toolkit offers enterprise-level robustness and developer tooling, Zustand provides simplicity and performance with minimal boilerplate, and Jotai introduces a novel atom-based approach to fine-grained reactivity.

Choosing the right state management solution isn’t about finding the “best” library universally—it’s about aligning the strengths of a library with the specific needs of your project.

Problem Statement

[Text Wrapping Break]React developers face common state-related hurdles, particularly in larger and more dynamic applications. While local state management with useState works for small, isolated cases, challenges quickly emerge when data needs to be shared across multiple components or updated frequently.

Prop drilling: Passing state through multiple nested components become error-prone.
Complex state updates: Interdependent states may require multiple useState hooks or nested Context Providers, leading to tangled code.
Boilerplate code: Maintaining consistency for global state updates without a structured library can result in repetitive and verbose code.
Debugging difficulties: Tracking how and when state changes occur in large apps becomes challenging without proper tools.

These limitations often result in slower development, higher maintenance costs, and reduced application performance, especially when components re-render unnecessarily or state mutations cause inconsistent UI behavior.

Challenges with the Traditional Approach

Maintenance overhead: Keeping track of all state variables across multiple components can be overwhelming.
Performance bottlenecks: Context API triggers re-renders in all components consuming the context whenever any state changes, even if some parts of the tree do not rely on that specific piece of state.
Error-prone patterns: Without enforced immutability, state updates can accidentally mutate objects, leading to unpredictable UI behavior.
Limited developer tooling: Debugging and inspecting state becomes difficult without integrated dev tools, time-travel debugging, or logging mechanisms.

Redux Toolkit

Redux Toolkit is reduces boilerplate, provides built-in tools for immutable state updates, and integrates well with the React ecosystem.

`
javascript[Text Wrapping Break]// 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 storeData = configureStore({ 
  reducer: { counter: counterSlice.reducer }, 
});

Zustand

It is a lightweight state management library that use hooks. It avoids boilerplate and provides a simple API with excellent performance.

`
javascript[Text Wrapping Break]// store.js[Text Wrapping Break] 
import { configureStore, createSlice } from '@reduxjs/toolkit'; 
 
// Define a slice for counter state 
const counter = createSlice({ 
  name: 'counter', 
  initialState: { count: 0 }, 
  reducers: { 
	increase: (state) => { 
  	state.count += 1; 
	}, 
	decrease: (state) => { 
  	state.count -= 1; 
	}, 
  }, 
}); 
 
// Export actions for use in components 
export const { increase, decrease } = counter.actions; 
 
// Create and export the Redux store 
export const store = configureStore({ 
  reducer: { 
	counter: counter.reducer, 
  }, 
});[Text Wrapping Break]// Usage[Text Wrapping Break]function Counter() {[Text Wrapping Break]  const { count, increment, decrement } = useStore();[Text Wrapping Break]  return ([Text Wrapping Break]	[Text Wrapping Break]  	[Text Wrapping Break]  	{count}[Text Wrapping Break]  	[Text Wrapping Break]	
[Text Wrapping Break]  );[Text Wrapping Break]}[Text Wrapping Break]

Jotai

Jotai is a primitive and flexible state management library for React based on atoms. It provides fine-grained reactivity and works well with TypeScript.

`
javascript[Text Wrapping Break]// store.js[Text Wrapping Break]import { atom, useAtom } from 'jotai';[Text Wrapping Break][Text Wrapping Break]const countAtom = atom(0);[Text Wrapping Break][Text Wrapping Break]function Counter() {[Text Wrapping Break]  const [count, setCount] = useAtom(countAtom);[Text Wrapping Break]  return ([Text Wrapping Break]	[Text Wrapping Break]  	[Text Wrapping Break]  	{count}[Text Wrapping Break]  	[Text Wrapping Break]	[Text Wrapping Break]  );[Text Wrapping Break]}[Text Wrapping Break]

Comparison: Redux Toolkit vs Zustand vs Jotai

• Redux Toolkit: Best for large-scale apps needing strict structure and DevTools support[Text Wrapping Break]• Zustand: Great for small-to-medium apps, minimalistic and performant[Text Wrapping Break]• Jotai: Excellent for apps requiring fine-grained reactivity with atomic state management

Best Practices / Recommendations

Redux Toolkit: Use for enterprise-level apps with multiple developers, complex state, and a need for structured stores. It’s also preferred if you want DevTools integration and strict state management.
Zustand: Best suited for small to mid-sized applications where ease of use and speed are essential. It’s ideal for features that demand quick responsiveness without the overhead of complex setup or excessive boilerplate.
Jotai: Best suited for projects requiring fine-grained, atomic state updates. Excellent for TypeScript-heavy projects and apps with complex UI interactivity.
React Built-in State: For local component state or simple shared state, useState and Context API are often sufficient—avoid over-engineering with external libraries when unnecessary.
Organize state logically: Regardless of the library, structure your state to minimize prop drilling and ensure scalability.
Monitor performance: Use tools like React DevTools to detect unnecessary re-renders and optimize state usage.

Master React state management for better apps

The Way Forward

Robust state management is a cornerstone of creating React applications that are both scalable and easy to maintain.While React’s built-in state management tools work well for simple apps, larger projects require more structured solutions. Redux Toolkit offers enterprise-level predictability and tooling, Zustand provides a lightweight and performant solution for small-to-medium apps, and Jotai delivers fine-grained reactivity for atom-based state management.

By understanding the strengths and trade-offs of each library, developers can choose the most suitable solution to optimize productivity, maintainability, and performance. Adopting the right state management approach ensures your React applications remain responsive, scalable, and easier to maintain as they grow.