Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

MobX VS Zustand

Compare MobX VS Zustand and see what are their differences

MobX logo MobX

Simple, scalable state management

Zustand logo Zustand

Bear necessities for state management in React
  • MobX Landing page
    Landing page //
    2024-04-24
  • Zustand Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-12-19

MobX features and specs

  • Simplicity
    MobX allows developers to manage state in a simple and straightforward manner. Its API is minimal and doesn't impose the rigid structure that other state management libraries might require.
  • Reactivity
    The library provides powerful reactive state management, meaning that it automatically updates the UI when the underlying data changes, minimizing boilerplate code.
  • Performance
    MobX optimizes re-rendering by tracking dependencies precisely, making updates efficient and reducing unnecessary renders.
  • Integration
    MobX can easily integrate with React and other JavaScript frameworks, making it flexible for use in various types of projects.

Possible disadvantages of MobX

  • Learning Curve
    While MobX is straightforward for simple use cases, understanding its reactivity and decorators might be challenging for beginners.
  • Scalability Concerns
    For very large applications, the unstructured nature of MobX might lead to spaghetti code if not managed properly, making it harder to maintain.
  • Less Community Support
    Compared to other state management libraries like Redux, MobX has a smaller community, which could mean fewer resources for troubleshooting and learning.
  • Loose Structure
    The lack of rigid structure, while contributing to simplicity, can result in code that is harder to manage, especially in larger applications where a more organized approach might be beneficial.

Zustand features and specs

  • Simplicity
    Zustand offers a minimalistic and simple API, making it easy to integrate and use for state management in React applications without an extensive learning curve.
  • Performance
    Zustand is optimized for performance, ensuring that components only re-render when necessary, which can lead to more efficient applications compared to some other state management libraries.
  • No Boilerplate
    Unlike some other state management solutions, Zustand requires very little boilerplate code, allowing developers to focus more on building features rather than writing repetitive setup code.
  • React Concurrent Mode Support
    Zustand is designed to work well with React's Concurrent Mode, enhancing performance and usability in complex applications.
  • Ease of Integration
    Integration with existing projects is straightforward due to its small API surface and minimalistic approach, making it suitable for both small and large applications.

Possible disadvantages of Zustand

  • Limited Ecosystem
    Compared to more established state management libraries like Redux, Zustand's ecosystem is relatively small, which might limit available third-party tools and extensions.
  • Community Support
    Zustand has a smaller community compared to larger state management solutions, which could mean less community support and fewer resources such as tutorials and community-driven libraries.
  • Feature Set
    While Zustand is efficient for many use cases, it may lack some advanced features that other state management libraries provide, which could be necessary for specific applications.
  • Dependency on Modern React Features
    Zustand relies on modern React features such as hooks, which means it might not be suitable for projects that need to support older React versions.

MobX videos

MobX vs Redux (A MobX Redux comparison)

More videos:

  • Tutorial - MobX tutorial #1 - MobX + React is AWESOME
  • Review - Introduction to MobX & React in 2020
  • Tutorial - MobX in React Tutorial - Scalable State Management
  • Review - Battlefield Developer Tells The Secrets of MobX Nested Stores

Zustand videos

Why I Moved from React Redux to Zustand and Why You Should Too!

More videos:

  • Review - Code Review: Zustand (small & fast state-management for React)
  • Review - Mastering Typescript State using Zustand

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to MobX and Zustand)
Javascript UI Libraries
63 63%
37% 37
Front-End Frameworks
64 64%
36% 36
JS Library
62 62%
38% 38
Application And Data
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using MobX and Zustand. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, MobX should be more popular than Zustand. It has been mentiond 20 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

MobX mentions (20)

  • Getting started with TiniJS framework
    States can also be organized in some central places (aka. stores). You can use Tini Store (very simple, ~50 lines) or other state management solutions such as MobX, TinyX, ... - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Episode 24/13: Native Signals, Details on Angular/Wiz, Alan Agius on the Angular CLI
    Similarly to Promises/A+, this effort focuses on aligning the JavaScript ecosystem. If this alignment is successful, then a standard could emerge, based on that experience. Several framework authors are collaborating here on a common model which could back their reactivity core. The current draft is based on design input from the authors/maintainers of Angular, Bubble, Ember, FAST, MobX, Preact, Qwik, RxJS, Solid,... - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • React State Management in 2024
    Mutable-based: leverages proxy to create mutable data sources which can be directly written to or reactively read from. Candidates in this group are MobX and Valtio. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Show HN: Cami.js – A No Build, Web Component Based Reactive Framework
    Looks good! FWIW I always felt the observable pattern much more intuitive than the redux/reducer style. Something like https://mobx.js.org/ Things get hairy in both, but redux pattern feels so ridiculously ceremonially to effectively manage a huge global state object with a false sense of "purity". Observables otoh say "fuck it, I'm mutating everything, do what you want with it". - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • React Redux
    It's important to note that Redux is just one of many options for global state management in a React application. Other popular options include MobX and the React context API.context API](https://reactjs.org/docs/context.html). - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
View more

Zustand mentions (7)

  • React + AI Stack for 2025
    For client-side state, Zustand is the way to go. It's got zero boilerplate, a tiny bundle size, and a simple but powerful API that's easy to learn. You can create a store with just a few lines of code, which is pretty neat. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • Lessons Learned: Overusing useMemo in React
    State Management with Zustand: Zustand offers a lightweight and intuitive approach to managing shared state, reducing the need for derived state or excessive memoization. It simplifies managing and updating global state without extra boilerplate. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • Top 10 NPM Packages to Try for React (and Beyond) in 2024
    📦 Package: zustand Https://zustand-demo.pmnd.rs/ ⭐ Why You Should Try It: A small, fast, and flexible state management library that’s simpler than Redux. It works great with React. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • Key Takeaways from My Recent Review of the React Docs
    Consider using the useReducer hook or a state management library like Redux or Zustand for complex state logic. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Revisiting Zustand and React with TS
    This is a simple example which I created to revise the working of Zustand with React and TypeScript with the help of the official Documentation of Zustand Zustand Official Docs. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing MobX and Zustand, you can also consider the following products

Redux.js - Predictable state container for JavaScript apps

RxJS - Reactive Extensions for Javascript

vuex - Centralized State Management for Vue.js

Recoiljs - A state management library for React.

react-context - Context provides a way to pass data through the component tree without having to pass props down manually at every level.

Next.js - A small framework for server-rendered universal JavaScript apps