React.js Surpasses 30 Million Weekly Downloads: Analyzing Its Expanding Ecosystem

React has continued its impressive growth, reaching 32.06M downloads on NPM per week as of February 9, 2025, up from 22.26M in February 2024 — an increase of 43%, this sustained expansion highlights React’s dominance. However, React’s growth is not isolated; the ecosystem around it is also evolving. In this article, we will analyze the latest trends in popular technologies that have contributed to React’s widespread adoption, including Next.js, React Router DOM, React Native, Redux, and more.

React Router Remains Essential

Routing is a fundamental aspect of web applications and React Router remains the most widely used routing solution. Over the past year, it has grown from 10.1M to 12.7M downloads per week, reflecting a 25.7% increase. One significant shift in the routing space is that React Router has “merged” with Remix, a framework that enhances server-side rendering and data fetching. This integration signals a future where React routing and server-driven applications become even more streamlined.

Next.js Continues Its Expansion

As the leading full-stack framework for React, Next.js continues to dominate with 8.75M weekly downloads, up 61% from the previous year’s 5.42M. The framework’s built-in optimizations and seamless developer experience have made it the preferred choice for building React applications. With ongoing improvements in Edge Functions, App Router, and React Server Components, Next.js is shaping the future of performance-driven applications.

React Native is Growing

React Native has also seen strong growth, increasing from 1.89M to 2.93M downloads per week (+54%). React Native’s new architecture has become the default, improving performance and enabling better interoperability with native modules. Additionally, Expo has become the officially recommended way to develop React Native applications. With that said, React Native adoption is accelerating, reaching close to 3M weekly downloads.

Vite Grows While Create React App Declines

As modern bundlers replace older tooling, @vitejs/plugin-react has experienced a 71% increase in downloads, from 3.97M to 6.79M. The decline of Create React App (CRA) has accelerated this trend, as React-Scripts, which powers CRA, is now officially deprecated and has slowed to 3.50M downloads.

Form Handling and Data Fetching Libraries Gain Momentum

The React ecosystem has seen significant growth in form-handling and data-fetching libraries. React-Hook-Form grew 62%, from 4.53M to 7.36M, solidifying its place as the preferred form library, replacing older solutions like Formik, which only increased 14% (2.45M → 2.81M). Meanwhile, SWR, an increasingly popular alternative to React Query, surged 102%, from 1.66M to 3.37M downloads. Additionally, the data-fetching and state synchronization space continues to evolve, with TanStack React Table reaching 2.98M downloads and TanStack React Query climbing to 5.63M.

Redux Still Strong, But Alternatives Are Gaining Ground

While Redux remains a key player, increasing from 6.99M to 8.87M downloads (+27%), alternative state management libraries are growing at a faster pace. Zustand nearly doubled in popularity, reaching 5.67M downloads (+99%), while Jotai also saw significant growth, increasing 74% to 1.32M downloads.

UI Component Libraries Experience Massive Growth

UI libraries have seen some of the most dramatic growth in the React ecosystem. Material UI rose 47% (3.34M → 4.93M), @headlessui/react, increased 55% (1.51M → 2.35M), while Ant Design increased 41% (1.19M → 1.69M). However, the most significant growth came from Radix UI, with 135% growth (6.06M → 14.29M). A key driver behind this surge is shadcn/ui, which has revolutionized how developers build modern UI components with a focus on accessibility, customization, and unstyled yet powerful UI elements.

Styled-Components Is Gradually Declining

While many technologies are experiencing rapid adoption, Styled-Components has been gradually declining. While still in use, its adoption is slowing as developers shift toward Tailwind CSS, utility-first styling, and other modern styling approaches. Although its decline is not drastic, it is clear that many projects are opting for alternative solutions. Styled-Components weekly downloads decreased to 6.22M.

Animations and Drag & Drop Are on the Rise

The demand for smooth UI interactions and drag-and-drop functionality is also increasing. Framer Motion, the leading animation library for React, grew 88%, from 3.15M to 5.93M downloads, solidifying its position as the go-to choice for animations. Meanwhile, React-DnD, widely used for implementing drag-and-drop features, also saw a 25% increase, reaching 2.18M downloads. As modern applications require richer interactions, these libraries will likely continue growing.

So… React’s continued dominance is evident, with weekly downloads surpassing 30 million. However, its growth is fueled by a dynamic ecosystem, where frameworks, UI libraries, state management tools, and development environments are rapidly evolving.

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