RIP Create React App: What Happened & What You Should Use Instead

If you’ve been around React for a while, you’ve probably used Create React App (CRA) at some point.

For years, it was the default way to start a new React project. But today, CRA is essentially dead—deprecated, slow, and replaced by better tools.

⚡ My Experience: Skipping CRA Altogether

When I started with React two years ago, I went straight to Vite. At the time, CRA was already feeling outdated—slow startup times, long builds, and missing modern optimizations.

I tried CRA once and immediately felt the difference. But I also recognize that without CRA, we wouldn’t have the great tooling we have today.

Now, I mainly use Next.js for production apps. But if I need a simple React setup, Vite is a no-brainer.

One of my favorite stacks lately is the T3 Stack because it includes tRPC, allowing me to write backend routes while keeping full type safety across the frontend and backend.

🚨 Facebook Officially Sunsets Create React App

On February 14, 2025, the React team officially announced the sunsetting of Create React App in a blog post:

👉 Read the official announcement

They acknowledged that CRA had served its purpose but was no longer the best tool for modern React development.

🚨 Why is Create React App Dying?

CRA had a good run, but it failed to evolve. Here’s why:

1️⃣ Slow Build Times – CRA’s reliance on Webpack made development feel sluggish. Vite and esbuild changed the game with near-instant hot reloads.

2️⃣ Bloat & Outdated Dependencies – CRA’s default setup included dependencies many projects didn’t need, making updates a headache.

3️⃣ No Built-In Server-Side Rendering (SSR) – As React apps grew in complexity, frameworks like Next.js became the preferred choice for production apps.

4️⃣ Meta (Facebook) Stopped Prioritizing It – The React team gradually stopped maintaining CRA, and its last major update was a long time ago.

The result? Developers moved on.

🔥 The Best Alternatives to Create React App

So if CRA is dead, what should you use instead?

1️⃣ Vite (Best for Speed & Simplicity)

Vite is now the go-to for most new React projects. Instant startup, lightning-fast HMR, and zero-config support for TypeScript, JSX, and more.

📌 To create a React app with Vite:

npm create vite@latest my-app --template react
cd my-app
npm install
npm run dev

2️⃣ Next.js (Best for Production Apps)

If you need SSR, static generation, API routes, and full-stack capabilities, Next.js is the clear choice. It’s what I personally use for most projects.

📌 To create a Next.js app:

npx create-next-app@latest my-app
cd my-app
npm install
npm run dev

3️⃣ T3 Stack (Full-Stack TypeScript with tRPC)

The T3 Stack, created by Theo, is an opinionated full-stack framework built on top of Next.js, Prisma, tRPC, and Tailwind CSS. Why I love it:

• tRPC: Full type safety between frontend and backend
• Next.js: Powerful SSR and API capabilities
• Prisma: Simplifies database interactions

📌 To start a T3 Stack project:

npx create-t3-app@latest

4️⃣ Remix (For Cutting-Edge React Development)

Remix offers a fresh take on progressive enhancement and server-side rendering with a strong focus on performance and UX.

📌 To start with Remix:

npx create-remix@latest

5️⃣ create-tsrouter-app (A New Alternative from the Creator of TanStack Query)

Tanner Linsley (creator of React Query) recently introduced create-tsrouter-app. It’s a lightweight, modern alternative that lets you scaffold a React + TypeScript app in seconds.

💬 His tweet announcing it:

📢 Final Thoughts: CRA’s Legacy & the Future of React Tooling While Create React App is no longer the best choice, we should acknowledge its impact. It made React more accessible, and without it, we wouldn’t have the tools we rely on today.

But if you’re starting a new React project in 2025, you shouldn’t even consider CRA. The ecosystem has moved on.

• ✅ For speed & simplicity → Vite
• ✅ For full-stack React apps → Next.js
• ✅ For progressive enhancement → Remix
• ✅ For new cutting-edge tooling → create-tsrouter-app

What do you use instead of CRA? Let’s talk in the comments! 🚀