As a front-end engineer working with React daily, I'm always on the lookout for libraries that make development cleaner, faster, and more maintainable. Over time, I've narrowed down a set of tools I reach for in most projects. Some are old favourites that continue to evolve, and others are newer additions that have earned their place. Here are my favourite React libraries in 2025 and why I keep coming back to them.
1. Zustand
If you’ve ever wrestled with Redux boilerplate or felt limited by React Context, Zustand is a breath of fresh air. It offers a minimal, scalable state management solution that works beautifully with both small and large applications. I love how easy it is to create composable stores, persist state, and use middleware when needed.
const useStore = create((set) => ({ count: 0, increase: () => set((state) => ({ count: state.count + 1 })), }))
Clean, simple, and no Provider trees.
2. React Hook Form
Form management in React used to be a pain. React Hook Form changed that. It’s performant, integrates smoothly with controlled and uncontrolled components, and supports advanced features like field arrays, validation, and schema integration (with Zod or Yup).
const { register, handleSubmit } = useForm()
Its developer experience is top-tier, and I rarely build a form without it anymore.
3. Framer Motion
Animation can elevate a UI when done right. Framer Motion makes it both powerful and easy. Whether it's a simple fade-in or a complex gesture-based transition, Framer Motion provides a clean API and excellent performance.
<motion.div initial={{ opacity: 0 }} animate={{ opacity: 1 }}> Hello, world </motion.div>
It’s not just about visuals. Good animations help guide users, and this library nails that balance.
4. TanStack Query (React Query)
Handling data fetching manually is no longer worth the effort. React Query gives you caching, loading states, background updates, and much more out of the box.
const { data, isLoading } = useQuery(['user', userId], fetchUser)It makes working with async data feel almost synchronous. In 2025, it’s still essential.
5. shadcn/ui
Component libraries used to feel either too opinionated or too raw. Shadcn/ui struck a perfect middle ground. It offers beautiful, accessible components powered by Tailwind CSS and Radix UI, but you also own the code and can modify anything.
You can scaffold only what you need, which keeps bundle size down and flexibility up. It feels like building your own design system but with a head start.
6. Zod
While not React-specific, Zod pairs perfectly with React and TypeScript. It's my go-to for runtime validation and TypeScript-safe schemas. Whether I'm validating form data, API responses, or config objects, Zod helps keep things clean and typesafe.
const schema = z.object({ name: z.string(), age: z.number().min(18), })
Combine it with React Hook Form and you’ve got powerful form validation without the ceremony.
7. Lucide-react
Icons matter, and Lucide-react provides a modern, lightweight, and customisable icon set that works seamlessly with React. It’s a spiritual successor to Feather Icons with active development and better DX.
import { User, Mail } from 'lucide-react'<User size={20} />
It plays nicely with Tailwind, motion libraries, and component systems.
Honorable Mentions
- React Router v7: Cleaner APIs, better nested routing support.
- Jotai: A great alternative to Zustand for atomic state needs.
- SWR: Still solid, especially for lightweight fetch use cases.
Final Thoughts
React’s ecosystem is vast, but these libraries have stood out by solving real problems in elegant ways. They save time, reduce bugs, and improve the developer experience. If you're building modern React apps in 2025, I highly recommend giving these a try.