@reduxjs/toolkit vs redux-starter-kit vs redux-toolkit

Redux Toolkit Packages: Official vs Deprecated vs Unofficial

@reduxjs/toolkit, redux-starter-kit, and redux-toolkit are npm packages related to Redux state management in JavaScript applications. @reduxjs/toolkit is the official, modern implementation endorsed by the Redux team to simplify Redux development with built-in best practices. redux-starter-kit was its original name but is now deprecated. redux-toolkit is an unofficial, unrelated third-party package that should not be confused with the official toolkit.

Package	Downloads	Stars	Size	Issues	Publish	License

@reduxjs/toolkit	10,582,932	11,167	7.04 MB	254	2 months ago	MIT
redux-starter-kit	10,646	11,167	-	254	6 years ago	MIT
redux-toolkit	3,106	2	-	0	-	-

Understanding the Redux Toolkit Evolution: @reduxjs/toolkit vs redux-starter-kit vs redux-toolkit

When working with Redux in modern JavaScript applications, developers often encounter three similarly named packages: @reduxjs/toolkit, redux-starter-kit, and redux-toolkit. At first glance, they appear redundant—but their relationship is actually a story of official adoption, renaming, and deprecation. Let’s clarify what each package is, how they differ, and which one you should use today.

📦 Package Origins and Current Status

`redux-starter-kit`

This was the original name of the official Redux toolkit introduced by the Redux team to simplify common Redux patterns. It provided utilities like createSlice, configureStore, and createAsyncThunk to reduce boilerplate.

However, this package is now deprecated. According to its npm page, it has been renamed to @reduxjs/toolkit. The repository and documentation explicitly direct users to the new package.

// ❌ DO NOT USE — Deprecated package
import { createSlice } from 'redux-starter-kit';

`redux-toolkit`

This package does not exist as an official Redux project. A search on npm shows it as an unrelated third-party package with no connection to the Redux team. Its GitHub repository (if any) is not maintained by Redux maintainers, and it lacks the core APIs like createSlice or configureStore that define the official toolkit.

Using this package would be a mistake—it offers no benefit over the official solution and risks introducing unmaintained or incompatible code.

// ❌ NOT RECOMMENDED — Unofficial and unrelated
import { something } from 'redux-toolkit'; // Not the real toolkit

`@reduxjs/toolkit`

This is the current, official, and actively maintained package from the Redux team. It is the successor to redux-starter-kit and includes all the modern Redux best practices baked in: immutable updates via Immer, Redux Thunk middleware by default, DevTools integration, and store setup validation.

It is the only correct choice for new and existing Redux projects.

// ✅ CORRECT — Official and maintained
import { createSlice, configureStore } from '@reduxjs/toolkit';

const counterSlice = createSlice({
  name: 'counter',
  initialState: { value: 0 },
  reducers: {
    increment: (state) => {
      state.value += 1; // Immer allows "mutating" syntax
    }
  }
});

const store = configureStore({
  reducer: {
    counter: counterSlice.reducer
  }
});

🔍 Feature Comparison: What Each Package Actually Provides

Feature	`@reduxjs/toolkit`	`redux-starter-kit`	`redux-toolkit`
`createSlice`	✅ Yes	✅ Yes (same API)	❌ No
`configureStore`	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌ No
`createAsyncThunk`	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌ No
Official Redux Team Maintained	✅ Yes	❌ Deprecated	❌ No
Immer Integration	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌ Unknown/No
TypeScript Support	✅ Full	✅ Full (at time of deprecation)	❌ Unreliable

⚠️ Note: While redux-starter-kit had the same APIs as @reduxjs/toolkit during its active life, it no longer receives updates. Any bug fixes, performance improvements, or new features (like RTK Query) are only available in @reduxjs/toolkit.

🛠️ Migration Path

If you’re still using redux-starter-kit, migration is trivial:

Uninstall the old package:
```
npm uninstall redux-starter-kit
```
Install the official one:
```
npm install @reduxjs/toolkit
```

Update your imports:

// Before
import { createSlice } from 'redux-starter-kit';

// After
import { createSlice } from '@reduxjs/toolkit';

No code changes are needed beyond the import paths—the APIs are identical.

🚫 Why You Should Avoid the Other Two

redux-starter-kit: Using a deprecated package means you miss out on security patches, new features (like RTK Query for data fetching), and compatibility with future Redux ecosystem tools. The Redux documentation no longer references it.
redux-toolkit: This is a trap for developers who assume the shorter name is the official one. It has no relation to Redux, may be abandoned, and could introduce bugs or outdated patterns. Always verify package ownership—official Redux packages are published under the @reduxjs scope.

✅ Best Practices for New Projects

Always install @reduxjs/toolkit when starting a new Redux project.
Pair it with React Redux (react-redux) for seamless integration with React components.
Use createSlice for defining reducers and actions together.
Use configureStore instead of the legacy createStore—it sets up middleware, DevTools, and immutability checks automatically.

// Modern Redux setup (2024+)
import { configureStore, createSlice } from '@reduxjs/toolkit';
import { Provider } from 'react-redux';

const appSlice = createSlice({
  name: 'app',
  initialState: { status: 'idle' },
  reducers: {
    setStatus: (state, action) => {
      state.status = action.payload;
    }
  }
});

const store = configureStore({
  reducer: appSlice.reducer
});

function App() {
  return (
    <Provider store={store}>
      {/* Your app */}
    </Provider>
  );
}

💡 Final Recommendation

There is only one correct choice: @reduxjs/toolkit. The other two packages are either deprecated (redux-starter-kit) or unofficial and misleading (redux-toolkit). Stick with the official package to ensure your codebase remains maintainable, secure, and aligned with Redux best practices. When in doubt, always check the Redux Toolkit official documentation—it exclusively references @reduxjs/toolkit.

@reduxjs/toolkit:
Choose @reduxjs/toolkit for all new and existing Redux projects. It is the official, actively maintained package that includes essential utilities like createSlice, configureStore, and createAsyncThunk, along with Immer integration, TypeScript support, and RTK Query for data fetching. It follows current Redux best practices and is the only recommended option by the Redux team.
redux-starter-kit:
Do not choose redux-starter-kit for any new project—it is officially deprecated and no longer maintained. If you encounter it in an older codebase, migrate to @reduxjs/toolkit immediately by updating import statements and reinstalling the official package. Continuing to use it means missing critical updates and new features.
redux-toolkit:
Avoid redux-toolkit entirely. It is not an official Redux package and has no affiliation with the Redux team. It lacks the core APIs and reliability of @reduxjs/toolkit and may introduce maintenance risks or compatibility issues. Always verify package scope—official Redux tools are published under @reduxjs.

@reduxjs/toolkit

redux-starter-kit

redux-toolkit

Redux Toolkit

GitHub Workflow Status

The official, opinionated, batteries-included toolset for efficient Redux development

Installation

Create a React Redux App

The recommended way to start new apps with React and Redux Toolkit is by using our official Redux Toolkit + TS template for Vite, or by creating a new Next.js project using Next's with-redux template.

Both of these already have Redux Toolkit and React-Redux configured appropriately for that build tool, and come with a small example app that demonstrates how to use several of Redux Toolkit's features.

# Vite with our Redux+TS template
# (using the `degit` tool to clone and extract the template)
npx degit reduxjs/redux-templates/packages/vite-template-redux my-app

# Next.js using the `with-redux` template
npx create-next-app --example with-redux my-app

We do not currently have official React Native templates, but recommend these templates for standard React Native and for Expo:

An Existing App

Redux Toolkit is available as a package on NPM for use with a module bundler or in a Node application:

# NPM
npm install @reduxjs/toolkit

# Yarn
yarn add @reduxjs/toolkit

The package includes a precompiled ESM build that can be used as a <script type="module"> tag directly in the browser.

Documentation

The Redux Toolkit docs are available at https://redux-toolkit.js.org, including API references and usage guides for all of the APIs included in Redux Toolkit.

The Redux core docs at https://redux.js.org includes the full Redux tutorials, as well usage guides on general Redux patterns.

Purpose

The Redux Toolkit package is intended to be the standard way to write Redux logic. It was originally created to help address three common concerns about Redux:

"Configuring a Redux store is too complicated"
"I have to add a lot of packages to get Redux to do anything useful"
"Redux requires too much boilerplate code"

We can't solve every use case, but in the spirit of create-react-app, we can try to provide some tools that abstract over the setup process and handle the most common use cases, as well as include some useful utilities that will let the user simplify their application code.

Because of that, this package is deliberately limited in scope. It does not address concepts like "reusable encapsulated Redux modules", folder or file structures, managing entity relationships in the store, and so on.

Redux Toolkit also includes a powerful data fetching and caching capability that we've dubbed "RTK Query". It's included in the package as a separate set of entry points. It's optional, but can eliminate the need to hand-write data fetching logic yourself.

What's Included

Redux Toolkit includes these APIs:

configureStore(): wraps createStore to provide simplified configuration options and good defaults. It can automatically combine your slice reducers, add whatever Redux middleware you supply, includes redux-thunk by default, and enables use of the Redux DevTools Extension.
createReducer(): lets you supply a lookup table of action types to case reducer functions, rather than writing switch statements. In addition, it automatically uses the immer library to let you write simpler immutable updates with normal mutative code, like state.todos[3].completed = true.
createAction(): generates an action creator function for the given action type string. The function itself has toString() defined, so that it can be used in place of the type constant.
createSlice(): combines createReducer() + createAction(). Accepts an object of reducer functions, a slice name, and an initial state value, and automatically generates a slice reducer with corresponding action creators and action types.
combineSlices(): combines multiple slices into a single reducer, and allows "lazy loading" of slices after initialisation.
createListenerMiddleware(): lets you define "listener" entries that contain an "effect" callback with additional logic, and a way to specify when that callback should run based on dispatched actions or state changes. A lightweight alternative to Redux async middleware like sagas and observables.
createAsyncThunk(): accepts an action type string and a function that returns a promise, and generates a thunk that dispatches pending/resolved/rejected action types based on that promise
createEntityAdapter(): generates a set of reusable reducers and selectors to manage normalized data in the store
The createSelector() utility from the Reselect library, re-exported for ease of use.

For details, see the Redux Toolkit API Reference section in the docs.

RTK Query

RTK Query is provided as an optional addon within the @reduxjs/toolkit package. It is purpose-built to solve the use case of data fetching and caching, supplying a compact, but powerful toolset to define an API interface layer for your app. It is intended to simplify common cases for loading data in a web application, eliminating the need to hand-write data fetching & caching logic yourself.

RTK Query is built on top of the Redux Toolkit core for its implementation, using Redux internally for its architecture. Although knowledge of Redux and RTK are not required to use RTK Query, you should explore all of the additional global store management capabilities they provide, as well as installing the Redux DevTools browser extension, which works flawlessly with RTK Query to traverse and replay a timeline of your request & cache behavior.

RTK Query is included within the installation of the core Redux Toolkit package. It is available via either of the two entry points below:

import { createApi } from '@reduxjs/toolkit/query'

/* React-specific entry point that automatically generates
   hooks corresponding to the defined endpoints */
import { createApi } from '@reduxjs/toolkit/query/react'

What's included

RTK Query includes these APIs:

createApi(): The core of RTK Query's functionality. It allows you to define a set of endpoints describe how to retrieve data from a series of endpoints, including configuration of how to fetch and transform that data. In most cases, you should use this once per app, with "one API slice per base URL" as a rule of thumb.
fetchBaseQuery(): A small wrapper around fetch that aims to simplify requests. Intended as the recommended baseQuery to be used in createApi for the majority of users.
<ApiProvider />: Can be used as a Provider if you do not already have a Redux store.
setupListeners(): A utility used to enable refetchOnMount and refetchOnReconnect behaviors.

See the RTK Query Overview page for more details on what RTK Query is, what problems it solves, and how to use it.

Contributing

Please refer to our contributing guide to learn about our development process, how to propose bugfixes and improvements, and how to build and test your changes to Redux Toolkit.