We are in 2025, which is said to be the year of advancements in the information technology industry. If we conduct a survey and ask people about their top requirements in a web or mobile application, you will be surprised to know that people only want speed and responsiveness in the applications.
According to Dataforest.ai, the top two reasons for a visitor to leave a website are slow loading and a non-responsive website. Hence, an application is on the path to failure without fast loading and high responsiveness.
However, that’s not the case that every function or process loads instantaneously. External APIs, large data loads, or complex computations take time to process and load. This is where tools like React spinner components come into play.
In 2024, React ranked # 2 with 39.5% popularity in web frameworks and technologies, which makes it the most widely used frontend framework. It offers flexibility in managing and displaying loading states. Spinners in React are the most common and effective UI elements that serve this purpose. Hence, the key to making your React application interactive, responsive, and user-friendly is hiring dedicated React developers proficient in React development, especially in tools like spinner components.
This article will take you through the best spinner components available for React.js and other necessary information that will help you make an informed decision.
React Spinner – An Introduction
React is a popular frontend framework that comes with various tools and libraries that ensure smooth and effective development. One thing that takes React.js to new heights is the React Spinner.
It is a popular library used in web development for creating animated loading indicators, which are known as spinners.
What is a Spinner
Before understanding a spinner directly, let’s have a real-life example.
Suppose you walk into a restaurant and place an order. The waiter tells you that your order is in progress, or you get to see the kitchen through glass windows where chefs are working on your order. This little activity assures you that your order is coming.
A spinner in a React application is like that assurance that you have after ordering in a restaurant. It is a small animation or a visual indicator that informs the user that their said task or process is in progress.
It can be in the form of a rotating circle, dots, or any other icon that appears while your page is loading. Moreover, spinners are widely used in modern applications and websites as they have the sheer ability to improve the user experience.
Purpose of React Spinner
The purpose of React Spinner is to simplify the process of creating animated loaders using its simple API. With a React spinner, developers get to focus on building their application’s logic rather than spending time writing complex CSS animations.
- Using React Spinner, you have the liberty to easily customize the appearance and behavior of your spinners according to the requirements.
- It enables you to write code once and it handles browser compatibility issues.
- You get various props along with a React Spinner. It is also flexible as it offers a number of customization options including size, color, speed, and the kind of animation.
How Does React Spinner Work
Depending on the setup choices selected, React Spinner renders an SVG element with particular styles applied. The spinning effect is then produced by rotating the SVG element using CSS animations. This method guarantees that the spinner will look clear and fluid on all displays, even those with high resolution.
Installation and Setup of React Spinner
In case you wish to implement the React Spinner component into your project, you will need to install it. Now, we will review the installation and configuration process of the React Spinner component.
- Install React Spinner Using npm or Yarn
To install React Spinner, you can either use npm or Yarn. It is the most common way of installing React Spinner.
If using npm
npm install react-spinners
If using Yarn
yarn add react-spinners
- Import React Spinner
After installing React Spinner, it’s time to import it into your project. Before importing it, React must be installed in your project. To import React Spinner into your project, you have to add the given line at the top of your code:
Import {BarLoader} from ‘react-spinners’;
Note: BarLoader is a type of loader. You can import any type of loader by replacing the loader name with BarLoader in the code.
- Opt for Different Loaders
Using React Spinners, you will get to use different types of loaders such as BarLoader, CircleLoader, BeatLoader, etc., each having a unique style and animation.
- Props Setup
Lastly, you need to set up props according to your needs. React Spinners’ loaders come with customizable props, such as color, size, and loading speed.
Moreover, each loader type has its own props.
Features of a Good Spinner Component
It is for your understanding that all spinner components are not equal. Despite having the same purpose, the implementation process can vary. Here are some key things to understand before choosing a spinner component for your React project:
Choose a Spinner with High-Performance Efficiency
While you choose a spinner for your project, ensure that it is lightweight and has no noticeable overhead. Moreover, the spinner must support asynchronous rendering and should not create bottlenecks for the application’s performance.
Spinner Should Be Customizable
The customization is another aspect to look into when selecting a spinner. A good spinner also allows you to modify it the way you want. The color, size, speed and the style of the spinner can be altered to match your application design.
Component Should Be Easy to Use and Integrate
Furthermore, the component should furnish easy installation and integration. Moreover, it should possess clear documentation and support for TypeScript, which is crucial for large-scale applications.
It Should Be React Compatible
One thing you need to consider is to ensure that your chosen spinner component is React compatible. Moreover, you also need to double-check that the spinner works perfectly with the latest React versions and is compatible with React libraries such as React Router and Redux.
Spinner Should Be Responsive and Accessible
Lastly, your spinner should be responsive and capable of adapting to different screen sizes. Moreover, it should include accessibility features like ARIA roles for screen readers.
Best React.js Spinner Component for Loading States
React Spinners by Davidhu
The React Spinners library by Davidhu offers various effective animated loader spinners for your React applications. It is a lightweight and flexible library loaded with a variety of spinner components that are easy to use, customize, and integrate.
In this library, you will find popular spinner types such as ClipLoader, BeatLoader, CircleLoader, etc.
How to install React Spinners?
npm install react-spinners
React Loader Spinner
React Loader Spinner is another library that offers versatile and easy-to-use spinners that help you load state in an attractive way. This library offers different spinner types, which include classic circular loaders and modern designs such as hearts, bars, and Mutating Dots.
Moreover, this library offers ease of customization, allowing you to adjust loader size, color, height, and width with simple props to fit any design requirement.
How to install React Loader Spinner?
npm install react-loader-spinner
NProgress
If you want to keep yourself away from traditional spinners and want something different, you can opt for NProgress. It is a lightweight and simple progress bar that can prove to be a wonderful choice for you in place of a spinner.
It offers a simple and clean UI featuring a horizontal loading bar at the top of the screen. Moreover, it is a JavaScript spinner library that can’t be directly integrated into a React.js application. Hence, to integrate it into a React app, you will opt for the way to install nmp or Yarn library to import NProgress into a React application.
How to install NProgress?
// RouteProgress.js
import { useEffect } from ‘react’;
import { useLocation } from ‘react-router-dom’;
import NProgress from ‘nprogress’;
import ‘nprogress/nprogress.css’;
NProgress.configure({ showSpinner: false });
const RouteProgress = () => {
const location = useLocation();
useEffect(() => {
NProgress.start();
NProgress.done();
}, [location.pathname]);
return null;
};
export default RouteProgress;
React-awesome-spinners
It is also a lightweight React loader component that provides a vast collection of loading spinners. It gives an easy way to implement spinners in your React applications.
How to install react-awesome-spinners?
npm install react-awesome-spinners
React-loading
React-loading is another React spinner component that offers minimal and clean loaders like balls, bubbles, spins, and bars. Moreover, it is easy to use with color and type props for a no-fuss implementation.
How to install react-loading?
npm install react-loading
React-css-loaders
It also a package of UI components, pure CSS loaders packaged into reusable components. It includes over 20+ loaders such as spin, ring, bounce, pulse, etc. Further, using react-css-loaders, there is no need for SVG or image files.
How to install react-css-loaders?
npm install react-css-loaders
Epic-spinners
Epic-spinners is originally a library of Vue/CSS library, but it has a React wrapper too. Like its name, it furnishes epic, fun spinners of different animations such as atom, orbit, and pixelated rings. The spinners in epic-spinners are highly stylish and unique.
How to install epic-spinners?
npm install react-epic-spinners
FlyonUI – Tailwind CSS Loading
FlyonUI is an open-source Tailwind CSS UI Component library loaded with pre-built loaders with captivating animations. It has a vast array of animated loader types that fit your different requirements.
Moreover, it is not a direct React spinner library, but the good thing is that you can easily integrate it into your React project using its detailed integration guidelines.
How to integrate FlyonUI with the React project?
To integrate FlyonUI with a React project, you can go through this guide.
How to Choose the Right Spinner for Your React Application
Choose Spinner According to Project Type and Size
Always choose a React spinner according to the project type and size. For enterprise-level applications, you should opt for libraries like react-loader-spinner. On the other hand, if you are working on a small project, React Loading can be a good choice.
Ensure Design Language Consistency
While opting for a spinner, you should ensure that it aligns with the overall design language of your system. To keep the design language consistent, you can opt for react-spinners.
Avoid Performance Constraints
You need to avoid choosing spinners that create performance bottlenecks for your project. Hence, if you are building a low-bandwidth project, you need to prefer lightweight loaders.
Wrapping Up
From today’s article, you must have understood the importance of spinners in modern-day software development. Appropriately used spinners won’t be fed up with the users despite the long loading time. Moreover, spinners significantly enhance the user experience by providing feedback during uncertain wait times.
Thus, you need to implement spinners in your React application to not only meet modern coding standards but elevate user experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the purpose of a spinner in React apps?
A spinner provides visual feedback that an action is in progress, like data fetching, or processing.
Which spinner library is best for performance-sensitive applications?
React Loading is lightweight and is ideal for performance-critical applications.
Can I use CSS-only spinners with React?
Yes, you can use CSS-only spinners in your React components.
How do I manage loading states in React?
Use state variables (useState) along with lifecycle hooks like useEffect or use data-fetching libraries like React Query.
Are React spinners accessible?
Yes, some React spinners are accessible. Look for spinners that support ARIA attributes and screen reader support.
