React Query vs SWR: Which One Do You Use in Production?
I'm considering a server state management library. I've heard React Query has many features and an active community, while SWR is lightweight and works well with Next.js. Has anyone here used both in production? I'm curious which one is better in terms of caching strategies and error handling.
3 answers
I've been using React Query in production for over a year now. Its caching strategy is really powerful—just setting staleTime and gcTime properly can significantly reduce unnecessary network requests. Error handling is also convenient to centralize via useQuery's onError or QueryClient's defaultOptions. The community is large, so there are plenty of docs and examples, making the initial learning curve quite smooth.
I've only used SWR, but it fits really neatly in the Next.js environment. In particular, combining it with getServerSideProps to pre-fetch initial data felt very intuitive. Caching is sufficiently covered by the default revalidateIfStale option, and I handled errors using mutate's onError. It's lightweight, so it was perfect for small projects.
Having used both, I recommend choosing based on your project size. React Query shines when you need complex caching logic (e.g., optimistic updates) with its many options, while SWR is optimized for simple data fetching. If you're using Next.js, SWR will save you from headaches, but for CRA or Vite, React Query has been more stable.