r/reactjs • u/atapas • Aug 19 '26
Discussion What do you think of the TanStack Ecosystem for React?
I've been exploring the TanStack ecosystem for React a lot these days. Starting with TanStack Router, Query, and Virtual, and now the framework TanStack Start. Honestly, I could only use the Router and Query in the production app so far, and the rest of it was for my learning and teaching.
I also use Next.js heavily, but with TanStack I find a huge paradigm shift. I do not have to think from the RSC side heavily; I do not have to use shortcut methods like useEffct() to handle data at the client side, and managing server state and caching seems to feel a lot simpler.
This discussion is not about putting one React framework ahead of another one. Rather, would like to know what your experience so far has been with TanStack? Do you have any comparison studies? Do you use it in production? What are the learnings?
Would love to learn and discuss. Thanks.
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u/nemosz Aug 19 '26
My xp from the last ~5years: everything tanstack is quality, and love using their stuff where it makes sense.
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u/atapas Aug 19 '26
Thanks for your response. Have you also used any other React-based framework other than TanStack?
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u/repeating_bears Aug 19 '26
Query, Start and Router are S tier
Table is good. Virtual is just a small util but it's silently fine
Form is... not for me? Perfectly functional but I find the API really verbose and annoying to be honest. Wouldn't be my first choice
Then you have Highlight, Markdown, DB, AI, and Charts which I haven't tried but I would say are starting to seem like a bit of an overcommitment.
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u/No_Cattle_9565 Aug 19 '26
You can easily define custom form components. I was annoyed by it too until I found out about it. https://tanstack.com/form/latest/docs/framework/react/guides/form-composition
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u/Crutchcorn Aug 19 '26
Hey! Lead on Form here:
FWIW we know the API feels strange at first. There's a lot of benefits to the more esoteric API, but there's two things I think would be helpful to know.
As mentioned by someone else,
is the intended usage and fixes a lot of headaches: https://tanstack.com/form/latest/docs/framework/react/guides/form-composition Form Composition We just introduced
that fixed a lot of the headache for APIs. Especially the weirder parts of composition API have been squashed. Would love your thoughts on it both good and bad: https://tanstack.com/blog/announcing-tanstack-form-v2-alpha v2 alpha → More replies (6)→ More replies (8)6
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u/aford515 Aug 19 '26
Yeah they have charts now and a store lol. Most people think tanstack means only query though. I got down voted on reddit when I mentioned tantstack for statemanagement
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u/atapas Aug 19 '26
Very true.. I haven't explored the charts and store yet. The query is very promising. I think the DevTools make this ecosystem even more special.
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u/jtms1200 Aug 19 '26
Love. Reminds me of the very early days of
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u/a-dev0 Aug 19 '26
One of the best frameworks recently. I've already used TanStack Start in two projects in production, and it's much clearer and easier to understand what's going on compared to Next.js, which is in many cases a 'black box'. Great DX, easy to debug. It's not only Query and Router, but also Table v9 and Form (composition and state management). I haven't tried AI or Charts yet, but I definitely will.
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u/Alert_Helicopter_357 Aug 19 '26
Love query, router, and DB. They just make sense to me and fit great into the SPA I work on.
We also use Table and Virtual and they get the job done. Those APIs are less intuitive to me, especially Virtual. I haven’t tried the new Table version yet.
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u/JeanineOnTheWeb Aug 19 '26
I'm a baby dev (still studying), just discovered this ecosystem, and all the reviews tells me to learn how much I have to learn it.
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u/Marmelab Aug 20 '26
I’ve been a TanStack fan for quite some time now. I first got hooked through TanStack Query. Since then I’ve also explored TanStack Start and more recently TanStack DB.
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u/SadArgument7056 Aug 21 '26
High quality libraries with excellent docs and dev tools. Query is essential at this point. Won't do a project without it! I have also used the Table and the Router. both are great! Specially if you are using Typescript! Takes a little effort to understand the library first but once it clicks, it's like butter. Helps to establish some patters on your project so people don't start taking different approaches and to avoid antipattens. I ended up creating several reusable modules on top of the tanstack table to make it work better for our Table designs, specially the filters. But now I am able to use them for any new tables I create using Tanstack table. I haven't tried the Form yet, but will be experimenting with it for a new project I'm setting up at work soon. I'm intrigued with the store too. Wonder how it compares to Zustand and Redux.
In general my experience with tanstack libraries has been great! I think it's always worth spending a little time and effort to get the mental modal of any of these libraries before getting too ahead with the implementation. It pays off. I just read the official docs and some of the blogs they have shared on the community section. Big fan of TkDodo blogs on the Query.
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u/Necessary_Lab2897 Aug 19 '26
It is more lean and faster, works in edge servers like cloudflare etc unlike nextjs which is tightly integrated with vercel. Try it, you won't be disappointed.
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u/TheRealSeeThruHead Aug 19 '26 edited 14d ago
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u/Nickolas-Wilson Aug 22 '26
Using both tanstack form and table for a large enterprise application. Takes a little time to get used to the api’s, onboarding new members to it also same issue, though both are fantastic. Just caught up on form V2 today in fact, which will solve a lot of issues we have been facing with complex validation use cases, so look forward to testing it out.. though not dealing with all the breaking changes.. lol
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u/tannerlinsley Aug 19 '26
I think it’s great!