Overview
CRA (stands for Create React Application) was a default approach to start a React Application for years. But on March 16, 2023, CRA became officially deprecated.
So what to use in 2024?
First, you need to determine what will you build: a Full stack application (Frontend + API) or Single Page Application (Frontend only)
So in terms of Full Stack application, there are only two worth to mention options:
- Next.js
- Remix
Remix sounds promising, meanwhile, **Next.js** has a way bigger community support. Also worth mentioning that Next.js is maintained by **Vercel**.
If you develop an application without an API, **Vite** is the best option currently available. Even before the shutdown of CRA, many front-end engineers were already using **Vite** due to its superior performance.
Summary
CRA is deprecated and you shouldn’t use it in your production. Moreover, from the start, CRA was pretty limited and required “eject” command.
I do like this quote from this [source](https://medium.com/@dawid.niegrebecki/create-react-app-is-dead-what-to-use-instead-fcdd46b70295):
If I need a frontend with an API. I go with NextJS.
If I need only frontend. I go with Vite with React.
Sources:
- [Create-react-app is dead. What to use instead?](https://medium.com/@dawid.niegrebecki/create-react-app-is-dead-what-to-use-instead-fcdd46b70295)
- [It looks like create-react-app is dead. What should I use instead?](https://www.reddit.com/r/reactjs/comments/12x6k9x/it_looks_like_createreactapp_is_dead_what_should/)
- [Goodbye create-react-app](https://dev.to/ag2byte/create-react-app-is-officially-dead-h7o)