Are We Overcomplicating React State? A Look at Valtio

Source: Dev.to

React State Feels Simple — Until It Doesn’t

React state management often feels more complex than it needs to be.
Selectors, memoization, dependency arrays…
It’s not just what the state is, but how state updates.

Problems with Traditional State Management

In many React setups, especially as apps grow, state logic tends to spread:

• UI state and business state get mixed
• Selectors are added to control updates
• Manual re‑render optimizations are introduced
• Additional abstraction layers are created to keep things under control

It works — but it requires constant orchestration.

Introducing Valtio

Valtio takes a different approach based on proxies. Instead of thinking in terms of update triggers and subscriptions, you work directly with state.

import { proxy } from 'valtio';

const state = proxy({ count: 0 });

function increment() {
  state.count++;
}

Using Valtio in a Component

import { useSnapshot } from 'valtio';

function Counter() {
  const snap = useSnapshot(state);
  return <div>{snap.count}</div>;
}

That’s it.

• No selectors
• No dependency arrays
• Minimal boilerplate

Benefits

• You don’t have to think about when a component should re‑render.
• You don’t need to orchestrate updates manually.
• You focus on the state itself, not the mechanics around it.
• The model feels more reactive than controlled.

When Complexity Remains

Complexity doesn’t disappear entirely. In real‑world apps you still need structure for:

• Dynamic forms
• Derived state
• Asynchronous flows

Shifting the complexity away from orchestration makes the code easier to reason about.

Relevant Use Cases

• Complex forms (e.g., React Hook Form, MUI)
• Dynamic UIs with dependencies between fields
• State that evolves frequently during development

These are the scenarios where traditional patterns often hit their limits.

Conclusion

Valtio won’t replace every state‑management solution, but it challenges an important assumption:

Are we managing state… or managing the complexity around it?

Curious how others are approaching state management lately.