The State of React 2025 results are out. 48.5% of respondents are on React 19 and 41.3% are still on 18. The number I keep coming back to is in the state management section: 1,271 respondents, about a third, use no state management library at all, relying on what React ships with. The survey's own note is that first-party hooks like useState and useContext can often be sufficient to get the job done.
I think that third is right, and I think it should be the default for a new React application. Not because state libraries are bad, but because a state library is an architectural commitment made on day one, usually before anyone knows what the application's state actually looks like, and it is one of the harder commitments to walk back.
My view is that the sequence should be the other way around. Start with what React gives you. Add a library when a specific, measured pain appears: a component tree that is passing the same props through five levels, or a piece of state that six unrelated parts of the app have to agree on. At that point the choice of library is informed by the problem. On day one it is informed by habit.
The survey ran late and had lower participation this year, which applies to every number in it.
What made your team add a state library, and would you make the same call again?
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