March 17, 2026

By ReactUse Team

ReactUse vs usehooks-ts: Which React Hooks Library Should You Choose?

Both ReactUse (@reactuses/core) and usehooks-ts are TypeScript-first React hooks libraries that aim to reduce boilerplate in your components. They share a similar philosophy — provide clean, reusable hooks with excellent type inference — but they differ significantly in scope, SSR handling, and browser API coverage.

We maintain ReactUse, so we have a perspective. We have done our best to be fair and acknowledge what usehooks-ts does well.

At a Glance

Code Comparison: useLocalStorage

ReactUse:

import { useLocalStorage } from "@reactuses/core";

function Settings() {
  const [theme, setTheme] = useLocalStorage("theme", "light");
  return (
    <button onClick={() => setTheme(theme === "light" ? "dark" : "light")}>
      Current: {theme}
    </button>
  );
}

usehooks-ts:

import { useLocalStorage } from "usehooks-ts";

function Settings() {
  const [theme, setTheme] = useLocalStorage("theme", "light");
  return (
    <button onClick={() => setTheme(theme === "light" ? "dark" : "light")}>
      Current: {theme}
    </button>
  );
}

The API is nearly identical here. Both return a [value, setter] tuple that mirrors useState. This is one of the strongest points of usehooks-ts — its API is clean and familiar.

Code Comparison: useMediaQuery

ReactUse:

import { useMediaQuery } from "@reactuses/core";

function ResponsiveLayout() {
  const isMobile = useMediaQuery("(max-width: 768px)");
  return <div>{isMobile ? "Mobile" : "Desktop"}</div>;
}

usehooks-ts:

import { useMediaQuery } from "usehooks-ts";

function ResponsiveLayout() {
  const isMobile = useMediaQuery("(max-width: 768px)");
  return <div>{isMobile ? "Mobile" : "Desktop"}</div>;
}

Again, very similar. Both libraries return a boolean. The difference shows up at the SSR layer — ReactUse internally guards the window.matchMedia call so it returns false safely during server rendering without any extra work from you.

Code Comparison: useDebounce

ReactUse:

import { useDebounceFn } from "@reactuses/core";

function Search() {
  const { run } = useDebounceFn((query: string) => {
    fetch(`/api/search?q=${query}`);
  }, 300);

  return <input onChange={(e) => run(e.target.value)} />;
}

usehooks-ts:

import { useDebounceCallback } from "usehooks-ts";

function Search() {
  const debouncedFetch = useDebounceCallback((query: string) => {
    fetch(`/api/search?q=${query}`);
  }, 300);

  return <input onChange={(e) => debouncedFetch(e.target.value)} />;
}

Both work well. ReactUse additionally provides useThrottleFn, useDebouncedValue, and useThrottledValue for more granular control.

SSR Safety

This is the most important practical difference between the two libraries.

ReactUse checks isBrowser internally in every hook that accesses window, document, or navigator. You never need to write typeof window !== "undefined" yourself. This means ReactUse hooks work out of the box with Next.js, Remix, and any other SSR framework.

usehooks-ts leaves SSR handling inconsistent. Some hooks guard browser APIs, others do not. If you are building an SSR application, you may need to wrap usehooks-ts hooks in your own guards or use dynamic imports, which adds complexity.

When to Choose usehooks-ts

usehooks-ts is a solid choice when:

• You need only a handful of common hooks (localStorage, media query, debounce, click outside)
• Your project is a client-only SPA with no SSR requirements
• You want the smallest possible dependency footprint
• You prefer reading source code inline in the docs — usehooks-ts shows every implementation directly

usehooks-ts does what it does well. Its implementations are clean, readable, and easy to understand. For small projects that only need a few utilities, it is a perfectly reasonable option.

When to Choose ReactUse

ReactUse is the better fit when:

• You are building a production application that may need SSR now or later
• You need browser API hooks beyond the basics (geolocation, clipboard, fullscreen, speech recognition, battery status, notifications)
• You need DOM observer hooks (IntersectionObserver, ResizeObserver, MutationObserver, element bounding)
• You want animation utilities (useRafFn, useTransition, useInterval, useTimeout)
• You want sensor hooks (useDeviceMotion, useDeviceOrientation, useMouse, useScroll)
• You want a single library that covers 100+ use cases instead of assembling multiple packages

Migration Guide: usehooks-ts to ReactUse

If you are already using usehooks-ts and want to migrate, the process is straightforward because both libraries follow the [value, setter] convention.

Step 1: Install ReactUse

npm i @reactuses/core

Step 2: Update imports

Step 3: Remove SSR guards — ReactUse handles them internally, so you can delete any typeof window checks you added for usehooks-ts hooks.

Installation

npm i @reactuses/core

import { useLocalStorage, useMediaQuery, useClipboard } from "@reactuses/core";

Every hook is documented with a live demo, full API reference, and TypeScript definitions at reactuse.com.

Try ReactUse today. Get started →