Which is Better Data Fetching Libraries for React?
swr vs react-query vs axios-hooks
1 Year
swrreact-queryaxios-hooksSimilar Packages:
What's Data Fetching Libraries for React?

Data fetching libraries for React streamline the process of making HTTP requests and managing server state in applications. These libraries provide hooks and utilities that simplify the integration of asynchronous data into React components, enhancing the developer experience and improving code maintainability. They often include features such as caching, automatic re-fetching, and synchronization with the server, which are essential for building responsive and efficient applications.

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swr2,425,58930,581620 kB1499 months agoMIT
react-query1,412,32442,5922.26 MB892 years agoMIT
axios-hooks55,6061,87347 kB2a year agoMIT
Feature Comparison: swr vs react-query vs axios-hooks

Caching Mechanism

  • swr: swr implements a simple caching strategy that uses a stale-while-revalidate approach. It keeps data fresh by revalidating in the background while serving stale data immediately, which enhances user experience.
  • react-query: react-query offers an advanced caching mechanism that automatically caches responses and manages stale data. It allows for fine-grained control over cache expiration and invalidation, making it suitable for applications with dynamic data needs.
  • axios-hooks: axios-hooks does not provide built-in caching; it relies on Axios's request/response handling. Developers need to implement their own caching logic if required, which can lead to increased complexity in managing state.

Data Synchronization

  • swr: swr focuses on real-time data synchronization with its revalidation strategy. It automatically re-fetches data on focus and interval, ensuring that users always see the latest information without manual intervention.
  • react-query: react-query excels in data synchronization, automatically refetching data in the background when components mount or when the window regains focus. It also supports polling and real-time updates, making it ideal for applications requiring up-to-date data.
  • axios-hooks: axios-hooks provides basic data synchronization capabilities through its hooks, but it does not handle background data fetching or automatic refetching out of the box. Developers must manage synchronization manually.

Learning Curve

  • swr: swr has a gentle learning curve, emphasizing simplicity and ease of use. Its API is minimalistic, allowing developers to quickly grasp its concepts and integrate it into their projects.
  • react-query: react-query has a moderate learning curve due to its extensive feature set. While it is powerful, understanding its caching and synchronization mechanisms may require some time and practice, making it more suitable for medium to large applications.
  • axios-hooks: axios-hooks has a low learning curve, especially for developers familiar with Axios. It is straightforward to integrate and use, making it suitable for simple projects or those already using Axios for HTTP requests.

Flexibility and Extensibility

  • swr: swr is designed to be simple and flexible, providing a straightforward API that can be easily extended. However, it may not offer as many built-in extensibility features as react-query.
  • react-query: react-query is highly extensible, offering a wide range of configuration options and hooks for customizing data fetching behavior. It supports plugins and middleware, allowing developers to tailor it to their specific needs.
  • axios-hooks: axios-hooks is flexible as it allows developers to use Axios's full capabilities, including interceptors and custom configurations. However, it lacks built-in extensibility features compared to more comprehensive libraries.

Community and Ecosystem

  • swr: swr has a growing community and is backed by Vercel, which ensures good support and continuous updates. Its simplicity and focus on performance have garnered attention, leading to a supportive ecosystem.
  • react-query: react-query has a large and active community, with extensive documentation and resources available. Its popularity has led to a rich ecosystem of plugins and integrations, making it a go-to choice for many developers.
  • axios-hooks: axios-hooks has a smaller community compared to the other two libraries, as it is a wrapper around Axios. However, it benefits from the larger Axios ecosystem and its widespread usage.
How to Choose: swr vs react-query vs axios-hooks
  • swr: Choose swr if you prioritize simplicity and a focus on stale-while-revalidate caching strategy. It is great for applications that require real-time data updates and want to minimize the complexity of state management.
  • react-query: Choose react-query for a comprehensive solution that offers advanced features like caching, background updates, and query invalidation. It is suitable for applications that need robust data management and synchronization with server state, especially when dealing with complex data-fetching scenarios.
  • axios-hooks: Choose axios-hooks if you are already using Axios for HTTP requests and prefer a lightweight solution that integrates seamlessly with your existing Axios setup. It is ideal for projects that require simple data fetching without the overhead of additional features.
README for swr

SWR


Introduction

SWR is a React Hooks library for data fetching.

The name “SWR” is derived from stale-while-revalidate, a cache invalidation strategy popularized by HTTP RFC 5861. SWR first returns the data from cache (stale), then sends the request (revalidate), and finally comes with the up-to-date data again.

With just one hook, you can significantly simplify the data fetching logic in your project. And it also covered in all aspects of speed, correctness, and stability to help you build better experiences:

  • Fast, lightweight and reusable data fetching
  • Transport and protocol agnostic
  • Built-in cache and request deduplication
  • Real-time experience
  • Revalidation on focus
  • Revalidation on network recovery
  • Polling
  • Pagination and scroll position recovery
  • SSR and SSG
  • Local mutation (Optimistic UI)
  • Built-in smart error retry
  • TypeScript
  • React Suspense
  • React Native

...and a lot more.

With SWR, components will get a stream of data updates constantly and automatically. Thus, the UI will be always fast and reactive.


View full documentation and examples on swr.vercel.app.


Quick Start

import useSWR from 'swr'

function Profile() {
  const { data, error, isLoading } = useSWR('/api/user', fetcher)

  if (error) return <div>failed to load</div>
  if (isLoading) return <div>loading...</div>
  return <div>hello {data.name}!</div>
}

In this example, the React Hook useSWR accepts a key and a fetcher function. The key is a unique identifier of the request, normally the URL of the API. And the fetcher accepts key as its parameter and returns the data asynchronously.

useSWR also returns 3 values: data, isLoading and error. When the request (fetcher) is not yet finished, data will be undefined and isLoading will be true. When we get a response, it sets data and error based on the result of fetcher, isLoading to false and rerenders the component.

Note that fetcher can be any asynchronous function, you can use your favourite data-fetching library to handle that part.


View full documentation and examples on swr.vercel.app.


Authors

This library is created by the team behind Next.js, with contributions from our community:

Contributors

Thanks to Ryan Chen for providing the awesome swr npm package name!


License

The MIT License.