On February 14, 2025, the React team officially announced the deprecation of Create React App (CRA) for new applications, urging developers to migrate to modern frameworks.
Back in 2016, setting up a new React app was complicated. Developers had to configure tools like Webpack, Babel, ESLint etc manually. To solve this, Create React App (CRA) was introduced as an all-in-one tool that provided a zero-config setup for React projects, making it easy to get started.
Why CRA is Being Deprecated
- No Active Maintainers
- Poor Performance for Production Apps
- Lack of Modern React Features and due to several other limitations.
Limitations of CRA
Routing
CRA did not include a routing solution, developers had to manually install React Router or similar libraries.
With frameworks like Next.js, routing is built-in, making navigation seamless and structured from the start.
Code Splitting & Performance
CRA bundled all JavaScript files into a single large file, causing slow initial page loads. While manual code splitting was possible, it wasn’t the most efficient approach.
Newer frameworks like Next.js automatically handle code-splitting at the route level, ensuring users only download the code they need for the page they are visiting.
Poor Production Readiness
While CRA was excellent for prototyping, it lacked optimizations required for production applications. Features like SSR (Server-Side Rendering), static site generation (SSG) were completely missing.
Recommended Alternatives
Next.js
A feature-rich framework with SSR, SSG, API routes, and automatic code-splitting. Best for scalable web apps.
Vite
A fast, lightweight alternative for those who want a simple yet efficient build tool without extra complexity.
Conclusion
The deprecation of CRA marks a shift towards more optimized, performant, and scalable solutions for building React applications. While CRA played a vital role in React’s growth, modern frameworks like Next.js, and Vite provide a better developer experience and ensure production-grade performance.
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