Top 10 React Courses According To Developers: Community Favorites

React just turned 12, and it's never been a better time to learn it.

But here's the thing: with React Server Components, Server Actions, and the Next.js App Router fundamentally changing how we build React apps, half the tutorials you'll find online are teaching yesterday's patterns. You'll spend hours learning class components and lifecycle methods, only to realize the entire React community moved on years ago.

Community Rankings: Real Developers, Real Opinions

The Community React Top Picks leaderboard below shows courses ranked by developers who've built production React applications. Not theoretical courses, but practical guides from people who've shipped real user interfaces with React.

Every course you see has been upvoted by the developer community. These rankings reflect what actually works—courses that teach you modern React patterns you'll use every day. If you've taken a React course that helped you ship to production, come back and vote to help other developers find the best resources.

What Makes a Great React Course

The React ecosystem evolved dramatically. A great course today needs to cover:

Hooks-First Approach: If a course is still teaching class components as the primary way to write React, skip it. Hooks aren't just "modern"—they're how you should think about React from day one.

Real Component Patterns: You need to learn composition, custom hooks, and how to structure an actual application. Building a todo list is fine for week one, but you want a course that shows you how to build something you'd actually ship.

The Modern Stack: React doesn't exist in a vacuum. Good courses show you how React fits with TypeScript, how to handle data fetching with React Query, and ideally, how React Server Components change the game.

Error Boundaries and Suspense: These aren't advanced topics anymore—they're fundamental to building resilient React apps that actually handle loading states and errors properly.

The Server Components Shift

If you're learning React now, you can't ignore React Server Components. They're not just a Next.js thing—they're the future of React itself.

Here's what's wild: Server Components let you write components that only run on the server. No bundle size impact. No client-side JavaScript. Just components that fetch data and render HTML.

This isn't a minor feature. It's a fundamental rethink of how React works. And the best React courses now teach you why this matters and when to use it.

How the Leaderboard Works

The Community React Top Picks leaderboard at the top of this page shows live rankings based on developer votes. Each course is ranked by upvotes from real developers who've used these resources to learn React.

You'll find courses covering:

• Modern React fundamentals: Hooks, functional components, state management, and component composition from day one
• Server Components: Understanding React Server Components, Server Actions, and the Next.js App Router
• Data fetching patterns: React Query, SWR, Suspense, and handling loading states and errors properly
• Performance optimization: Code splitting, lazy loading, memoization, and building fast React applications
• Production patterns: Testing with Vitest/RTL, TypeScript integration, error boundaries, and deployment strategies

The rankings update in real-time as developers vote. See a course you've taken? Click the upvote button to help others discover it. Looking for recommendations? Start with the top-ranked courses—they're community-tested and production-proven.

How to Actually Learn React (Not Just Watch Videos)

Here's what nobody tells you: watching a React course isn't learning React. Building with React is learning React.

The best approach? Pick a course from the leaderboard below, but after each section, build something with what you just learned. Not the tutorial project—your own thing. Even if it's terrible. Especially if it's terrible.

You'll hit errors the tutorial never covered. You'll get stuck on things that seemed simple in the video. That's not a sign you're bad at this—it's the only way to actually learn.

One developer told me they watched three React courses and still couldn't build anything. Then they spent a weekend building a terrible weather app that barely worked, and suddenly everything clicked. The courses gave them the concepts. The broken weather app taught them React.

TypeScript or JavaScript?

Learn JavaScript first. Once you're comfortable with React in JavaScript, add TypeScript.

I know that's controversial. Some developers swear by learning TypeScript from day one. But here's the reality: when you're struggling with React concepts, you don't want to also be struggling with TypeScript syntax.

Get your first React app working. Understand state, effects, and component composition. Then add TypeScript. You'll appreciate it more because you'll know exactly what problems it's solving.

Start Learning: Use the Leaderboard

Ready to learn React? The Community React Top Picks leaderboard at the top of this page is your starting point. Here's how to use it:

Browse the Rankings: Courses are sorted by developer upvotes. The top-ranked courses have helped the most developers build production React applications.

Read Course Details: Each entry shows the instructor, platform, topics covered, and current vote count. Click through to learn more about courses that match your level and goals.

Vote for Your Favorites: Taken a course that helped you? Click the upvote button. Your vote helps other developers discover quality resources.

Check Back Often: Rankings update in real-time as the community votes. New courses appear as developers discover them. The leaderboard evolves with the community's needs.

Your Learning Path

1. Start with modern fundamentals: Learn hooks and functional components from day one—skip class components and lifecycle methods
2. Build real projects: After each section, create your own component or feature—learning happens when you hit errors the tutorial didn't cover
3. Master data fetching: Understand React Query, Suspense, and how to handle loading states and errors properly
4. Learn Server Components: Understand how React Server Components change the game and when to use them
5. Ship to production: Add TypeScript, write tests, optimize performance, and deploy real applications

The leaderboard helps you cut through the noise in an ecosystem that moves fast. These community recommendations guide you to courses teaching modern, practical React you'll actually use in production. And remember: watching videos isn't learning React—building with React is learning React.