Zustand vs Redux: why I switched and never looked back

Redux fatigue is real

I used Redux for 3 years. Action types, action creators, reducers, selectors, middleware, thunks, the boilerplate was suffocating. For a simple counter, you'd write 40 lines of code. For a real app, you'd spend more time wiring Redux than building features.

Then I tried Zustand. My first store was 8 lines. It just worked.

The Zustand way

import { create } from "zustand";
 
interface PlantStore {
  selectedPlantId: string | null;
  filters: Record<string, string>;
  setSelectedPlant: (id: string) => void;
  setFilter: (key: string, value: string) => void;
  resetFilters: () => void;
}
 
export const usePlantStore = create<PlantStore>((set) => ({
  selectedPlantId: null,
  filters: {},
  setSelectedPlant: (id) => set({ selectedPlantId: id }),
  setFilter: (key, value) =>
    set((state) => ({ filters: { ...state.filters, [key]: value } })),
  resetFilters: () => set({ filters: {} }),
}));

That's it. No provider wrapper. No context. No boilerplate. Use it anywhere:

function PlantSelector() {
  const { selectedPlantId, setSelectedPlant } = usePlantStore();
  // ...
}

Why Zustand wins for dashboard apps

At Renewalytics, our dashboards have complex filter states, date ranges, plant selections, metric types, view modes. With Redux, managing this meant a dedicated slice, actions for each filter, and selectors that composed them.

With Zustand, I define the store inline and use it directly. When the state shape changes (which happens constantly during development), I change one file.

When I still reach for React Query

Zustand is for client state, UI state, filter selections, modal states. For server state (API data, database queries), React Query (TanStack Query) is the right tool. They complement each other perfectly:

• Zustand: "which plant is selected?" "is the sidebar open?" "what filters are active?"
• React Query: "what's the latest telemetry data?" "what are the active alarms?"

The migration was painless

I replaced Redux stores one at a time over a sprint. Each migration took 15-30 minutes. The total codebase shrank by ~2,000 lines. Performance stayed the same. Developer experience improved dramatically.

If you're still on Redux and feeling the pain, just try Zustand. You won't go back.