State Management in 2025: TanStack Query vs. Redux

The biggest unlock in modern React is recognizing that most state isn't client state — it's a cache of server data. TanStack Query owns that: fetching, caching, invalidation, and background refresh, all with far less code than hand-rolled Redux thunks.

Redux still earns its keep for genuinely global client state — complex UI orchestration, multi-step flows, cross-cutting concerns. The mistake is using it for server data it was never meant to hold.

My default is server cache via Query plus local component state, reaching for a global store only when shared client state truly demands it.