React Router vs. React Router DOM: Understanding the Differences

Routing is the backbone of any React SPA. However, with React Router v7 and the continued use of React Router DOM, developers often ask: Which one should I use? In this guide, we’ll break down the differences, walk through setup examples, and share SEO best practices.

Why is routing essential in React?

React is a leading JavaScript framework for building single-page applications (SPAs), where content updates dynamically without full page reloads. However, React lacks built-in routing, requiring a solution to manage navigation between views. React Router fills this gap by enabling developers to define routes, map URLs to components, and maintain a seamless user experience. React Router v7 remains the standard routing solution for React web applications due to its unified architecture, data APIs and strong ecosystem support.

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What is React Router?

React Router is a powerful library for managing navigation in React applications. It keeps the user interface in sync with the browser’s URL, allowing developers to define which components to render for specific paths. Since the release of React Router v7, the library has adopted a unified architecture under the react-router package, which simplifies dependency management and enables more consistent routing patterns across applications.

Key packages

• react-router: The core library that handles routing logic, including route-matching algorithms and hooks, suitable for both web and native platforms.
• react-router-dom: A web-specific package that extends react-router with components like <BrowserRouter> and <Link>. In v7, a re-export of react-router is made for compatibility.
• react-router-native: Extends react-router for React Native apps with native-specific APIs.

In v7, react-router consolidates all functionality. However, react-router-dom remains widely used for web applications because of its familiar API and extensive documentation.

What is React Router DOM?

React Router DOM is tailored for web applications, providing all the features of react-router along with browser-specific components like <BrowserRouter>, <Link>, and <NavLink>. These components simplify dynamic routing, making it ideal for SPAs running in browsers. In React Router v7, react-router-dom is a re-export of react-router, ensuring compatibility for existing projects while allowing new projects to use react-router directly.

How to use React Router DOM

Step 1: Install the package

For web applications, install react-router-dom:

npm install react-router-dom@7 

For new projects, consider using react-router:

npm install react-router@7 

Step 2: Set up the router

Wrap your app with <BrowserRouter> to enable client-side routing:

import { BrowserRouter } from 'react-router-dom';

function App() {
    return (
        <BrowserRouter>
            {/* Routes go here */}
        </BrowserRouter>
    );
}
export default App;
 

Step 3: Define routes

Map URLs to components using <Routes> and <Route>:

import { BrowserRouter, Routes, Route } from 'react-router-dom';
import Home from './components/Home';
import About from './components/About';

function App() {
    return (
        <BrowserRouter>
            <Routes>
                <Route path="/" element={<Home />} />
                <Route path="/about" element={<About />} />
            </Routes>



        </BrowserRouter>
    );
}
export default App;

Step 4: Navigation

Create a navigation bar with <Link>:

import { Link } from 'react-router-dom';

function Navbar() {
    return (
        <nav className="p-4 bg-gray-100">
            <Link to="/" className="mr-4 text-blue-500 hover:underline">Home</Link>
            <Link to="/about" className="text-blue-500 hover:underline">About</Link>
        </nav>
    );
}

Step 5: Handle not found pages

Redirect to a 404 page for invalid routes:

import PageNotFound from './components/PageNotFound';

function PageNotFound() {
    return (
        <div>
            <h2>404 - Page Not Found</h2>
            <Link to="/">Return to Home</Link>
        </div>
    );
}

<Routes>
    <Route path="/" element={<Home />} />
    <Route path="/about" element={<About />} />
    <Route path="*" element={<PageNotFound />} />
</Routes>

React Router vs. React Router DOM: The difference

• react-router: The core package with essential routing logic, including route matching and hooks, designed for both web and native platforms.
• react-router-dom: Extends react-router with web-specific components like <BrowserRouter>, <Link>, and <NavLink>. In v7, it’s a re-export of react-router, ensuring compatibility for web developers.

When to use which

• Use react-router-dom: For web applications, especially when upgrading from v6 or preferring its familiar API. It includes all essential components for browser-based routing.
• Use react-router: For new projects to leverage the unified package structure and future enhancements. It’s also suitable for native apps with react-router-native.

For most browser-based React applications, react-router-dom is still the practical choice because it exposes web-specific components like <BrowserRouter> and <Link>, and remains the most documented and commonly referenced package.

New projects that prefer a minimal dependency surface or are building cross-platform routing logic can use react-router directly, as long as they’re comfortable configuring platform-specific routers themselves.

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Core capabilities in React Router v7

React Router v7, released in 2024, introduces several enhancements that improve usability and performance:

• Unified package structure: All routing functionality is consolidated under react-router, simplifying dependencies. react-router-dom is maintained as a re-export for compatibility.
• Data routers: Route-level loaders and actions are now the preferred way to fetch data and handle mutations in React Router–based applications. This pattern improves consistency, simplifies state management, and aligns well with SSR and streaming rendering.

  import { createBrowserRouter, RouterProvider } from 'react-router-dom';
  import { json } from 'react-router-dom';
  
  const router = createBrowserRouter([
      {
          path: "/user/:id",
          element: <UserProfile />,
          loader: async ({ params }) => {
          const response = await fetch(`/api/users/${params.id}`);
          return json(await response.json());
      },
    },
  ]);
  
  function App() {
      return <RouterProvider router={router} />;
  }

Note: When using createBrowserRouter and RouterProvider, you should not wrap your application with <BrowserRouter>. These approaches are mutually exclusive.

• Improved TypeScript support: Enhanced type safety for routes and parameters, ideal for TypeScript projects:

  import { useParams } from 'react-router-dom';
  
  interface Params extends Record<string, string> {
      id: string;
  }
  
  function UserProfile() {
      const { id } = useParams<Params>();
      return <h2>User ID: {id}</h2>;
  }

• React 19 integration: Leverages React 19+ features such as Suspense, streaming rendering, and concurrent updates for smoother data loading and improved perceived performance in large applications.
• Server-side rendering (SSR) improvements: Supports partial hydration for faster initial loads in SSR setups.

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Advanced usability features of React Router DOM

React Router DOM v7 offers several usability features that make it a top choice for web development:

• Intuitive components: Components like <BrowserRouter>, <Routes>, <Route>, and <Link> simplify route setup and navigation, requiring minimal configuration.
• Nested routing: Supports hierarchical layouts for complex applications, such as dashboards, using <Outlet>:

  import { Routes, Route, Outlet } from 'react-router-dom';
  
  function Layout() {
      return (
          <div>
              <h1>Header</h1>
              <Outlet />
              <footer>Footer</footer>
          </div>
      );
  }
  
  function App() {
      return (
          <Routes>
              <Route path="/" element={<Layout />}>
                  <Route index element={<Home />} />
                  <Route path="dashboard" element={<Dashboard />} />
              </Route>
          </Routes>
      );
  }
  

• Dynamic routing: Handles variable data in URLs (e.g., /user/:id) with useParams, enabling flexible, reusable routes.
• Route guards: Secures routes with authentication checks, improving app security:

  import { Navigate } from 'react-router-dom';
  
  function ProtectedRoute({ children }) {
      const isAuthenticated = useAuth(); // Assume auth hook
      return isAuthenticated ? children : <Navigate to="/login" />;
  }
  
  <Route path="/dashboard" element={<ProtectedRoute><Dashboard /></ProtectedRoute>} />
   

• Lazy Loading: Optimizes performance by loading components on demand with React.lazy and Suspense:

  import { lazy, Suspense } from 'react';
  const About = lazy(() => import('./About'));
  
  <Route 
      path="/about" 
      element={
          <Suspense fallback={<div>Loading...</div>}>
              <About />
          </Suspense>
      } 
  />

• SEO support: Integrates with SSR-capable frameworks (such as Next.js, Remix-style setups, or custom Node-based SSR) when combined with server rendering. React Router DOM enables SEO-friendly routing only when combined with server-side rendering or pre-rendering; client-only SPAs do not benefit from SEO improvements by default:

  import { Helmet } from 'react-helmet';
  
  function Home() {
      return (
          <div>
              <Helmet>
                  <title>Home Page</title>
                  <meta name="description" content="Welcome to our React SPA" />
              </Helmet>
              <h1>Home</h1>
          </div>
      );
  }

Hooks for Routing Logic

React Router v7 provides powerful hooks to simplify routing logic in functional components. These hooks allow developers to access and manipulate routing-related data and behavior without needing to pass props manually. Below are short type descriptions for the key hooks:

• useNavigate(): For programmatic navigation. Returns a function to navigate to a new location.
• useParams(): To access URL parameters. Returns an object of key/value pairs for dynamic route segments.
• useLocation(): To get current URL info. Returns the current location object, including pathname, search, and state.
• useMatch(): To match path patterns. Returns the match object for the current route, including path, url, and params.

Example usage

Here’s how these hooks can be used in a component:

import { useNavigate, useParams, useLocation, useMatch } from 'react-router-dom';

function UserProfile() {
    const navigate = useNavigate();
    const { id } = useParams();
    const location = useLocation();
    const match = useMatch('/user/:id');
    return (
        <div>
            <h2>User Profile: {id}</h2>
            <p>Current Path: {location.pathname}</p>
            <p>Route Match: {match ? 'Matched' : 'Not Matched'}</p>
            <button onClick={() => navigate('/home')}>Go Home</button>
        </div>
    );
}

SEO best practices for React Router DOM

SPAs can face SEO challenges due to dynamic content. Optimize with:

• Server-side rendering (SSR): Use Next.js or configure SSR with react-router to serve pre-rendered HTML.
• Dynamic meta tags: Update meta tags for each route using tools like react-helmet (see example above).
• Clean URLs: Use descriptive URLs (e.g., /products/electronics) for better indexing.
• Pre-rendering: Generate static HTML for key routes to improve crawlability.

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Conclusion

Effective routing in React is less about choosing between packages and more about picking the right routing strategy. React Router v7 introduces a unified, data-driven approach to routing that aligns closely with modern React patterns such as server rendering, streaming, and route-level data loading. While react-router is now the core package, react-router-dom remains the most practical and widely adopted choice for browser-based applications due to its web-specific components, stability, and ecosystem familiarity.

Have you tried React Router v7? Share your experience in the comments or explore our support forum for more help!

Resources:

• React Router official documentation
• React Router v7 migration guide

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