Starting a new web app with a React project, should you go with React JavaScript or TypeScript?

Question

Deciding between React with JavaScript and React with TypeScript is an important early choice.

---

Go with React + TypeScript if:

1. You want type safety – TypeScript helps catch bugs during development by checking types.
2. Your project will grow in complexity or involve a team – It’s much easier to maintain and refactor code with TypeScript.
3. You want better editor support (autocomplete, refactoring, etc.) – TS improves the development experience in VS Code and similar editors.
4. You’re comfortable learning/using TypeScript or are willing to invest a bit of time upfront to learn it.

Pros:

• Fewer runtime errors
• Better documentation via types
• Easier onboarding for new developers
• Huge ecosystem support (React + TS is now the standard in many teams)

---

Go with React + JavaScript if:

1. You want to move quickly and keep things simple, especially for prototypes or MVPs.
2. You’re not yet familiar with TypeScript and don’t want the learning curve at the moment.
3. The project is small or throwaway, and long-term maintainability is not a concern.

Pros:

• Faster to start
• No need to learn types or manage TS config
• Slightly simpler build tooling

---

Recommendation (TL;DR):

Use React + TypeScript unless you have a strong reason not to.
It's now the default for many professional React projects and will pay off as your codebase grows.

Comments

Go with Javascript plus jsdoc. gives lots of typescript benefit without writing typescript and simple if you are going fast

---

Great breakdown of the pros and cons between React with JavaScript and TypeScript. This really helped clarify why TypeScript might be the better long-term choice for larger, more scalable projects.