React
Open-source JavaScript library for building user interfaces from reusable components.
Liked for building complex, interactive UIs123 out of composable components, backed by a large ecosystem that suits AI-assisted coding.4567 The most common complaint is that it is complex and bloated,891011 with large JS bundles and hook footguns hurting performance.121314
Why people recommend it
Interactive UIs · 3
Commenters say React handles dynamic, complex, highly interactive sites better than plain HTML or lighter tools.
“React is really, really good at the thing it was designed for: building interactive UIs.”
“There is a reason we use React today - if you want dynamic and complex site, HTML is PITA to work with.”
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“still trust react for bigger more interactive ones”
Developer experience · 3
React handles DOM and state updates for you so developers can focus on data and business logic.
“I want to focus on data dependencies, so I use React instead of Web Components”
“javascript-based een frameworks not only solve them by making them implementation details but also go through great lengths to improve the developer experience.”
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“it's the best blend of many leaky abstractions we use to code against the browser apis”
Component model · 3
Self-contained, composable components and JSX make apps easier to structure and reason about.
“React was one of those ways of building software that gave me back the giddy excitement I had learning Visual Basic as a kid.”
“The reason I use React is to create components that can exist on their own”
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“with AI starting to write more of my UIs now I've switched to React/Next.js for new non-progressive UIs”
Ecosystem and AI · 3
Its huge ecosystem and abundant training data make integration and AI-generated code easier.
“React, as the most bare-bones framework, might be simplest to integrate, and you can see that by the enormous size of its ecosystem.”
“the training data for React is so massive and the patterns so standardized that the AI productivity gains are impossible to ignore.”
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“Might as well tap into the React ecosystem (I love Vue BTW) and get module-organization and DRY, live preview, syntax highlighting, autocomplete, linting”
Industry standard · 3
React is described as the standard client framework that most big websites use.
“React is the "standard" client framework of the last number of years.”
“it's not really React that's the issue. It's the team who built the site”
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“Frontend - React/Typescript”
Simplicity · 2
Some fans find React simple, with a functional-programming feel and full TypeScript support.
“I haven’t found a front end library I like more than React except maybe Astro.”
“I came to really appreciate React over time.”
Caveats and dissent
Complexity and bloat · 3
Many describe React as overly complex, bloated, or needlessly cumbersome.
“I find React to be really complex.”
“it seems like it's a huge bloated mess.”
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“inbred, unecessarily cumbersome compromise bred from JavaScript and performance metrics”
Performance and size · 3
Large JS bundles and virtual DOM overhead can make sites slow, and some sites felt worse after switching to React.
“First page load is 20KB down from a 750KB js bundle.”
“But if everyone holds react wrong, it's react's fault.”
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“Github (just to cite one example) has become much less usable since they switched to React.”
Hooks and state · 2
Hook rules, re-rendering components and state in components lead to confusing performance and design footguns.
“has a lot of performance footguns (looking at you useRef and useMemo)”
“The problems OP tries to address are unfortunately a deep design flaw in mainstream frameworks like React and Vue.”
Ecosystem churn · 3
The ecosystem is criticized for churn, fragmentation and frequent dependency security alerts.
“The React ecosystem is by far the worst offender.”
“having to deal with the React loop. The ecosystem is so fragmented there”
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“I love not having security alerts every week to patch because of some buried react dependency library”
Build tooling · 2
Some prefer setups that avoid React's build and deploy steps entirely.
Server-rendering push · 1
One fan's only complaint is the push toward server rendering and the partnership with Next.js.
“I haven’t found a front end library I like more than React except maybe Astro.”
Often compared with
2 moved from HTMX to React
3 moved from React to HTMX
2 moved from React to SvelteVue20 comments mention both
1 moved from Vue to React
1 moved from React to Vue
1 moved from React to Django
2 moved from React to Solid
Who recommends it in their own words
From the makers not counted in the ranking
“I'm biased because I was part of the people that made it happen but yeah, I love React.”
“We love python, react, tailwind, OpenAI, Google Cloud, and Claude Code.”
Threads where it came up
- Does Anybody Actually Like React? 12 mentions
- Please just try HTMX 6 mentions
- Why don't more developers “use the platform”? 3 mentions
- The Future of CSS 2 mentions
- Htmx 4.0 2 mentions
- Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (August 2026) 2 mentions
Data: react.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 49
“using React or a similar framework is simply the right move”
“Yes, I love react. It is so awesome.”
“React? We can all criticize it, but it has revolutionized the web.”
“I gave up on React over 5 years ago”
“For web I'd probably also accept Vue, Svelte, or (simple) React.”
“javascript-based een frameworks not only solve them by making them implementation details but also go through great lengths to improve the developer experience.”
“I haven’t found a front end library I like more than React except maybe Astro.”
“But if everyone holds react wrong, it's react's fault.”
“React, as the most bare-bones framework, might be simplest to integrate, and you can see that by the enormous size of its ecosystem.”
“React + TypeScript for frontend”
“I'll be glad when frontend web development sheds Tailwind and React”
“I use React for the web frontend”
“The lack of single-file components is one of several reasons I wouldn't reach for React prior to the LLM craze”
“avoid the complexities of React”
“Stack is just Next.js / React + PostgreSQL hosted on Vercel + Supabase with GH Actions.”
“It's built apps for me using React, Ember, Astro, etc.”
“maybe it's good for some things, not for everything and not as a default”
“I honestly love React”
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (UTC−3) Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: TypeScript (strict) · React · Next.js · Node.js · Python · SQL/PostgreSQL · Supabase · Docker · GitHub Actions/CI · Azure · LLM APIs (Anthropic, OpenAI) · RAG · agent architectures · Cursor/Claude Code in the daily loop Résumé/CV: https://sidneyferreira.com - https://aifield.tech — https://github.com/sidfer Email: ferreirasidn
“React, TypeScript, Next.js, Node.js, Nest.js, PostgreSQL”
“i'm using react on the front, pretty interesting how it manages states in the frontend”
“The stack is Next.js / React / Zustand with zundo for undo/redo, Clerk for auth.”
“have been relying heavily on React for side projects”
“my go-to visualization package is React, sometimes with a pinch of D3.js”
“First page load is 20KB down from a 750KB js bundle.”
“still trust react for bigger more interactive ones”
“if we need some reactivity, i use react (simply due to react experience from work)”
“I cannot swallow yet another Vue/React crap.”
“I like React well enough.”
“I want to focus on data dependencies, so I use React instead of Web Components”
“it's not really React that's the issue. It's the team who built the site”
“we use three and react”
“frontend is React (mostly TS now, with some legacy JS still being converted)”
“Frontend - React/Typescript”
“use React or even vibecode”
“React is the "standard" client framework of the last number of years.”
“FastAPI, React, Celery, Postgres, and Redis”
“we actually use React / Vite and Next with Persona across a few of our products”
“But I like React”
Location: Istanbul, Türkiye (relocating to Guildford, UK in Sept 2026) Remote: Yes — full EU overlap; US-East evenings (UTC+3, moving to UTC+0) Willing to relocate: No Technologies: TypeScript, Node.js, NestJS, Fastify, Next.js, React, React Native/Expo, PostgreSQL/Prisma, Redis/BullMQ, Claude API, RAG, tool-calling/MCP, pgvector, Playwright Résumé/CV: https://github.com/denizcakiroglu322 Email: denizcakiroglu322@gma
“There is a reason we use React today - if you want dynamic and complex site, HTML is PITA to work with.”
“React was one of those ways of building software that gave me back the giddy excitement I had learning Visual Basic as a kid.”
“React is really, really good at the thing it was designed for: building interactive UIs.”
“it seems like it's a huge bloated mess.”
“has a lot of performance footguns (looking at you useRef and useMemo)”
“I've never did see any value in monsters like React.”
“I find React to be really complex.”
“The reason I use React is to create components that can exist on their own”
“the training data for React is so massive and the patterns so standardized that the AI productivity gains are impossible to ignore.”