XState vs Zustand

Overview

Zustand

Stacks371

Followers157

Votes34

XState

Stacks72

Followers43

Votes0

XState vs Zustand: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this article, we will compare the key differences between XState and Zustand, two popular state management libraries in JavaScript.

State Machine vs Store: The main difference between XState and Zustand lies in their core focus. XState is a state management library that is centered around state machines. It allows you to define and visualize complex state transitions, providing a formal and structured approach to state management. On the other hand, Zustand is a minimalist store that provides a simple and efficient way to manage application state without the need for state machines.
Declarative vs Imperative: XState follows a declarative approach to state management, where state transitions are defined using a declarative syntax. It allows you to define states, events, and transitions in a clear and concise manner. Zustand, on the other hand, uses an imperative approach, where state updates are performed imperatively using plain JavaScript.
Complexity vs Simplicity: XState is a powerful state management library that is suitable for managing complex state in large-scale applications. It provides advanced features like hierarchical state machines, parallel states, guards, actions, and more. Zustand, on the other hand, focuses on simplicity and aims to provide a lightweight and minimalist state management solution. It is easy to understand and use, making it suitable for small to medium-sized applications.
React Integration: Both XState and Zustand can be used with React, but they have different integration approaches. XState provides a React specific API called useMachine which allows you to easily integrate state machines into your React components. Zustand, on the other hand, is a standalone library that can be used with any JavaScript framework, including React. It provides a customizable useStore hook that allows you to access and update the store state.
Tooling and Ecosystem: XState is a more mature library that has been around for a longer time. It provides a comprehensive set of tools and utilities for working with state machines, including a visualizer, typed state machine models, and more. Zustand, although relatively new, has gained popularity for its simplicity and performance. It has a growing ecosystem of plugins and extensions, and its simplicity makes it easy to integrate with other libraries and tools.

In summary, XState is a feature-rich state management library focused on state machines, while Zustand is a lightweight and minimalist store that offers simplicity and efficiency. The choice between XState and Zustand depends on the complexity of your application's state requirements and your preference for declarative or imperative state management.

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CLI (Node.js)

Manual

Detailed Comparison

Zustand	XState
Small, fast and scaleable bearbones state-management solution. Has a comfy api based on hooks, that isn't boilerplatey or opinionated, but still just enough to be explicit and flux-like.	It is a library for creating, interpreting, and executing finite state machines and statecharts. It's a really powerful package that can be used to manage state in React Apps.
Simpler and un-opinionated; Makes hooks the primary means of consuming state; Doesn't wrap your app into context providers; Can inform components transiently (without causing render)	-
Statistics
Stacks 371	Stacks 72
Followers 157	Followers 43
Votes 34	Votes 0
Pros & Cons
Pros 10 Simple API 7 Unopinionated 5 Asynchronous action out the box 4 Supports Redux DevTools 3 Open source Cons 2 Requires function component	No community feedback yet
Integrations
React	Vue.js React

What are some alternatives to Zustand, XState?

Redux

It helps you write applications that behave consistently, run in different environments (client, server, and native), and are easy to test. t provides a great experience, such as live code editing combined with a time traveling debugger.

MobX

MobX is a battle tested library that makes state management simple and scalable by transparently applying functional reactive programming (TFRP). React and MobX together are a powerful combination. React renders the application state by providing mechanisms to translate it into a tree of renderable components. MobX provides the mechanism to store and update the application state that React then uses.

Effector

It is an effective multi-store state manager for Javascript apps, that allows you to manage data in complex applications.

redux-saga

An alternative side effect model for Redux apps

vuex

Vuex is a state management pattern + library for Vue.js applications. It serves as a centralized store for all the components in an application, with rules ensuring that the state can only be mutated in a predictable fashion. It also integrates with Vue's official devtools extension to provide advanced features such as zero-config time-travel debugging and state snapshot export / import.

redux-thunk

Redux Thunk middleware allows you to write action creators that return a function instead of an action. The thunk can be used to delay the dispatch of an action, or to dispatch only if a certain condition is met. The inner function receives the store methods dispatch and getState as parameters.

Statsbot

Statsbot is helping you take control of your raw data, providing an all-in-one analysis tool for engineers and non-tech folks alike.

Unstated

State so simple, it goes without saying

digna

Is the game-changing European modern data quality platform that effortlessly uncovers anomalies and errors in your data with Artificial Intelligence.

reselect

Simple “selector” library for Redux (and others) inspired by getters in NuclearJS, subscriptions in re-frame and this proposal from speedskater.

Related Comparisons

XState vs Zustand: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this article, we will compare the key differences between XState and Zustand, two popular state management libraries in JavaScript.

State Machine vs Store: The main difference between XState and Zustand lies in their core focus. XState is a state management library that is centered around state machines. It allows you to define and visualize complex state transitions, providing a formal and structured approach to state management. On the other hand, Zustand is a minimalist store that provides a simple and efficient way to manage application state without the need for state machines.
Declarative vs Imperative: XState follows a declarative approach to state management, where state transitions are defined using a declarative syntax. It allows you to define states, events, and transitions in a clear and concise manner. Zustand, on the other hand, uses an imperative approach, where state updates are performed imperatively using plain JavaScript.
Complexity vs Simplicity: XState is a powerful state management library that is suitable for managing complex state in large-scale applications. It provides advanced features like hierarchical state machines, parallel states, guards, actions, and more. Zustand, on the other hand, focuses on simplicity and aims to provide a lightweight and minimalist state management solution. It is easy to understand and use, making it suitable for small to medium-sized applications.
React Integration: Both XState and Zustand can be used with React, but they have different integration approaches. XState provides a React specific API called useMachine which allows you to easily integrate state machines into your React components. Zustand, on the other hand, is a standalone library that can be used with any JavaScript framework, including React. It provides a customizable useStore hook that allows you to access and update the store state.
Tooling and Ecosystem: XState is a more mature library that has been around for a longer time. It provides a comprehensive set of tools and utilities for working with state machines, including a visualizer, typed state machine models, and more. Zustand, although relatively new, has gained popularity for its simplicity and performance. It has a growing ecosystem of plugins and extensions, and its simplicity makes it easy to integrate with other libraries and tools.

XState vs Zustand

Overview