Advanced State Management: When Redux is Overkill and Other Solutions You Should Consider

Let’s be honest — most of us learned Redux not because we needed it, but because we thought we were supposed to. It’s in tutorials, bootcamps, job interviews, everywhere. It became a rite of passage. But once you step into real-world projects — especially ones that aren’t enterprise-level beasts — you begin to wonder: Do I really need all this ceremony just to manage a couple of booleans and a loading state?

The Cost of Overengineering

I once joined a project where everything — and I mean everything — was handled through Redux. Modal state? Redux. Theme toggle? Redux. One tiny error state used by a single component? You guessed it: Redux.

By the time I had to debug a flickering loading spinner, I found myself navigating reducers, selectors, thunks, actions, and middleware — all just to trace a boolean value.

The worst part? That project didn’t even have dynamic routes yet. It wasn’t a scaling issue — it was overengineering.

When Redux Makes Sense

Let me be clear: Redux isn't bad. It shines in complex applications with:

• Deeply nested components
• Shared state across unrelated areas
• Predictable state changes that benefit from middleware like logging, persistence, etc.

If you’re building something like Notion, Slack, or a highly interactive dashboard, Redux can bring structure. But if you’re just toggling dark mode or managing form state — there are simpler ways.

Lighter Alternatives (That Might Be All You Need)

1. React Context (with useReducer, maybe)

For small to medium shared state, React’s built-in Context API often does the job.

// ThemeContext.tsx
const ThemeContext = createContext(null);

export function ThemeProvider({ children }) {
  const [theme, setTheme] = useState("light");

  return (
    <ThemeContext.Provider value={{ theme, setTheme }}>
      {children}
    </ThemeContext.Provider>
  );
}

It’s minimal, readable, and doesn’t require a separate mental model.

Personal take: Context feels like Redux’s younger, less complicated sibling — it can do the job, but don't push it too far or you'll hit performance issues from re-renders.

2. Zustand

Zustand is a tiny, minimalistic state manager that’s incredibly intuitive.

// useStore.ts
import { create } from 'zustand';

const useStore = create((set) => ({
  darkMode: false,
  toggleDarkMode: () => set((state) => ({ darkMode: !state.darkMode })),
}));

In a component:

const { darkMode, toggleDarkMode } = useStore();

Personal note: I used Zustand in some side projects . It felt like a breath of fresh air after wrestling with Redux slices and selectors.

Zustand doesn’t rely on a Provider. It’s just a hook. That alone can be a game-changer for simpler projects.

3. React Query (for Server State)

A mistake I made early on was storing fetched API data in Redux. I’d fetch posts, dispatch them to a reducer, then select them. So much boilerplate — for what?

React Query (now TanStack Query) eliminates that entirely:

const { data, isLoading } = useQuery(['posts'], fetchPosts);

It handles:

• Caching
• Refetching
• Pagination
• Background sync

Redux was never designed for server state. Don’t use a hammer when all you need is a screwdriver.

So... When Is Redux Overkill?

If you're using Redux to toggle a modal, switch between dark and light themes, or manage a loading spinner — stop. You probably don’t need it. For things like form validation or theme toggling, useState or useContext are more than enough. Even for authentication tokens, you might be better off with context or cookies, depending on the complexity.

The only time I’ve genuinely appreciated Redux was when dealing with intricate permission logic spread across different parts of the UI, or when I needed advanced features like undo/redo. Those are real use cases that justify its weight.

But caching API responses? That’s React Query’s job now. We’re in 2025 — we have better tools.

What You Gain by Using the Right Tool

• Less boilerplate → fewer bugs
• Faster development → cleaner components
• Happier devs → less mental fatigue

One of the biggest productivity killers I’ve seen in frontend work is developers managing complexity they created unnecessarily.

I've been there — setting up a reducer just to track a tab index.

Final Thoughts

You don’t earn seniority by reaching for Redux in every project — you earn it by knowing when not to.

The frontend ecosystem has matured. It’s time we moved past glorifying overengineering and started embracing appropriate abstraction.

Start simple. Scale when needed. Keep your mental model clean.

Sometimes, less is more.