Why Zustand is the Most Refreshing State Management Library for React Developers

I still remember the first time I had to add a simple piece of global state to a React app.

It was just a user's theme preference. Light or dark. That's it.

But the project used Redux. So I had to create an action type, an action creator, a reducer, update the root reducer, and map state to props. For a single boolean.

I felt like I was assembling IKEA furniture when all I needed was a shelf.

That's the moment I understood why so many React developers feel exhausted by state management. Not because it's conceptually hard-but because the tools make simple things complicated.

Then I found Zustand.

And honestly? It felt like a breath of fresh air.

The Prop Drilling Nightmare We All Know

Let's be real. We've all been there.

You start with a nice, clean component tree. Then you need to pass user data from the top-level App component down to a button buried five levels deep.

So you start passing props.

The components in between don't even need that data. They're just messengers. Middlemen. Glorified delivery trucks.

And when you need to add logout functionality? You now have to thread onLogout back up through all those layers.

It's like playing telephone, except everyone's annoyed.

Redux: Powerful but Heavy

Don't get me wrong-Redux is powerful. For large, complex applications with intricate state logic, it shines.

But for most apps? It's overkill.

Setting up Redux means:

• Installing multiple packages
• Writing action types (often as constants)
• Creating action creators
• Writing reducers with switch statements
• Connecting components with connect or hooks
• Setting up middleware for async actions

All that before you've even touched your actual business logic.

I've seen junior developers spend an entire day just setting up Redux for a simple todo app. That's not a learning curve-that's a learning cliff.

Context API: The Halfway Solution

React's Context API was supposed to solve this.

And for simple cases? It does.

But Context has its own problems:

• Provider hell: Wrapping your app in 6 different providers isn't fun
• Re-render issues: Any change causes all consumers to re-render
• No built-in dev tools: Debugging context is basically console.log archaeology
• Boilerplate: Still need to create providers, custom hooks, etc.

It's better than prop drilling, sure. But it still feels... clunky.

Enter Zustand

When I first saw Zustand's API, I thought it was too good to be true.

import create from 'zustand'

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

That's it. That's a complete store.

No providers. No reducers. No action types. Just a hook that returns your state and actions.

Use it anywhere:

function Counter() {
  const { count, increment } = useStore()
  
  return (
    

      {count}
      +
    
  )
}

Clean. Simple. Obvious.

Why Zustand Feels Different

1. It's Tiny

The entire library is less than 1KB. Seriously.

Redux is ~8KB. MobX is ~16KB. Zustand? Less than 1KB.

Your users' browsers will thank you.

2. Zero Boilerplate

Remember that theme preference I mentioned earlier? Here's the entire implementation with Zustand:

const useTheme = create((set) => ({
  theme: 'light',
  toggleTheme: () => set((state) => ({ 
    theme: state.theme === 'light' ? 'dark' : 'light' 
  })),
}))

Done. Ship it.

3. No Provider Needed

With Context, you wrap your app in providers. With Redux, you wrap your app in a provider. With Zustand? You don't wrap anything.

Just import the hook and use it. Anywhere. In any component. Even outside React components if you need to.

4. Selective Subscriptions

Here's something subtle but powerful. Zustand components only re-render when the specific slice of state they use changes.

// Only re-renders when count changes, not when user changes
function Counter() {
  const count = useStore((state) => state.count)
  return {count}
}

No manual optimization needed. No React.memo gymnastics. It just works.

A Real Example: Shopping Cart

Let me show you something practical. A shopping cart that I built in 20 minutes:

const useCart = create((set, get) => ({
  items: [],
  
  addItem: (product) => set((state) => ({
    items: [...state.items, { ...product, quantity: 1 }]
  })),
  
  removeItem: (id) => set((state) => ({
    items: state.items.filter(item => item.id !== id)
  })),
  
  updateQuantity: (id, quantity) => set((state) => ({
    items: state.items.map(item =>
      item.id === id ? { ...item, quantity } : item
    )
  })),
  
  getTotal: () => {
    const items = get().items
    return items.reduce((sum, item) => sum + item.price * item.quantity, 0)
  },
  
  clearCart: () => set({ items: [] }),
}))

Now any component can access the cart:

function CartButton() {
  const items = useCart((state) => state.items)
  
  return (
    
      Cart ({items.length})
    
  )
}

function ProductCard({ product }) {
  const addItem = useCart((state) => state.addItem)
  
  return (
    

      
{product.name}
       addItem(product)}>
        Add to Cart
      
    
  )
}

No prop drilling. No providers. No reducers. Just clean, readable code.

When Zustand Clicked for Me

I was building a dashboard with real-time notifications. Users could filter notifications, mark them as read, and dismiss them.

With Redux, I would've needed:

• Action types for fetching, filtering, marking, and dismissing
• Multiple reducers
• Middleware for the API calls
• Selectors for derived data
• Probably some normalization logic

With Zustand, I wrote this:

const useNotifications = create((set) => ({
  notifications: [],
  filter: 'all',
  
  fetch: async () => {
    const data = await api.getNotifications()
    set({ notifications: data })
  },
  
  markAsRead: (id) => set((state) => ({
    notifications: state.notifications.map(n =>
      n.id === id ? { ...n, read: true } : n
    )
  })),
  
  setFilter: (filter) => set({ filter }),
}))

It took 5 minutes. And it worked perfectly.

That's when I realized: state management doesn't have to be this hard.

The Mental Shift

The beautiful thing about Zustand is that it doesn't ask you to think differently.

You're not learning a new paradigm. You're not wrapping your head around actions and reducers. You're just writing JavaScript functions that update an object.

It's state management that feels like... nothing.

And that's exactly the point.

The best tools are the ones that get out of your way and let you build.

Should You Use Zustand?

Here's my honest take:

Use Zustand if:

• You want simple, fast state management
• You're tired of boilerplate
• Your app is small to medium-sized
• You value developer experience
• You want something that just works

Maybe stick with Redux if:

• You have a massive, complex app with intricate state logic
• Your team is already deeply invested in Redux
• You need time-travel debugging for every action
• You have very specific requirements that Redux solves

For everything else? Zustand.

The Bottom Line

State management should be boring.

Not in a bad way-in the way that plumbing should be boring. You shouldn't think about it. It should just work.

Zustand makes state management boring again.

And after years of Redux configuration files and Context provider pyramids, that feels incredibly refreshing.

Try it in your next project. I think you'll feel the same weight lift off your shoulders that I did.

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