Top React Projects to Sharpen Your Skills and Build Your React Portfolio

The best way to learn any skill is through hands-on experience. React, the popular JavaScript library, is no exception. By building real-world React projects, you can strengthen your React skills and knowledge. 

Trial and error is an essential part of the learning process. This means that the more projects you work on, the better you will understand React developer tools and the ecosystem required for each project.

There are many React open-source projects with source code that you can experiment with and figure out to complete a project. In this article, we provide a list of React projects for all skill levels, sample templates, and tips for your portfolio.

5 Skills That React Projects Can Help You Practice

Learning React is helpful if you want to become a front end developer. As you take on real-life React projects, some of the skills you will practice are listed below.

•  HTML and CSS. You will learn to work with HTML tags and CSS selectors. You can also practice implementing a CSS reset and responsive web principles, including the proper use of media queries.
• JSX. In React app development, you don’t always work with standard HTML. Instead, you may work with an HTML syntax extension known as JSX. It looks and works like HTML, but it’s more efficient.
• JavaScript. You can’t be a React professional without fully grasping the ins and outs of JavaScript and ES6. As you build each real-world project, you will learn about variables and scoping, array methods, functions and arrow functions, DOM manipulation, and event handlers.
• Git and GitHub. Git is critical for storing projects on GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket. Learning these skills will help as you begin building projects and compiling your portfolio.
• Node. React developers need a solid grasp of Node, a JavaScript runtime used for server-side or desktop apps. Knowledge of npm, the package manager for the Node platform, is also critical. 

Best React Project Ideas for Beginners

When starting with React development, look for small real-world projects that will help you turn your theoretical knowledge into practical skills. These should be easier apps that don’t require a lot of knowledge to complete. 

Focus on building one simple feature at a time and building on that. You can also follow an open-source project and try different React tools and ecosystems to understand how an app functions.

Music Player

• React Skills Practiced: HTML, Javascript, and Git 

If you are passionate about music, developing a music player using React is a good project for you. To enable the app able to stream and play music, you can use a music API like Spotify. This will give you access to a library of audio tracks, albums, and artists. Spotify Developer API is powerful and easy to integrate into your app. You can register your music streaming app with Spotify if you want users to have a more personalized experience.

Meme Generator

• React Skills Practiced: HTML and Git 

You can use React to make a meme generator. You will create an application that allows people can insert text on meme images that are generated automatically. This cool project can take less than a day to develop because you only need to add two input fields. However, you can make your meme generator a little more sophisticated by adding features like login, save functions, and sharing options.

Photo Gallery

• React Skills Practiced: JSX and HTML

Creating a simple photo gallery like Unsplash is a beginner React project you can finish in a day. Start by designing the gallery and loading the images from a local database. Alternatively, you can use an image API to make work easier. Add a search bar at the top of the gallery so users can search for photos and download them. 

Recipe App

• React Skills Practiced: JavaScript ES6, API, and CSS

This project has you create an app that brings users easy-to-cook recipes right to their phones. Challenge yourself to create an app that shows the user a collection of recipes and that has search and save functions.

Weather App

• React Skills Practiced: Javascript, HTML, and CSS

A weather app is a great React project for beginners because it’s straightforward. This app should display a five to seven-day weather forecast and incorporate different weather information including city names, temperature, and wind speed. It must also display both high and low temperatures for each day.

The app must be responsive to accommodate changing weather patterns. You will learn how to connect your app with an external API to fetch data and display outcomes. You can also add a React Router to the app.

Best Intermediate React Project Ideas

These React projects are meant for learners who are familiar with the basics of the subject. If you want to build on the foundational skills learned through beginner projects, try these intermediate-level ideas.

Productivity App

• React Skills Practiced: JavaScript, Node, and npm 

Some popular productivity apps include note-taking, time-management, daily schedule, and to-do list apps. They are easy to make and you can find plenty of tutorials online that will guide you. 

If you are interested in productivity apps, you can also make an appointment management system that companies can use to organize appointments. The customers of the company can log into the app to choose their preferred appointment time from the available slots.

Calculator

• React Skills Practiced: React, JavaScript, and DOM 

A calculator is fairly easy to make, especially if you use the Create React App package, which provides a directory to hold and run the calculator app. To design a calculator app, you need to have Node.js and the npm package installed on your computer, along with a code editor.

A calculator app should perform all the basic mathematical functions and handle failures, crashes, and bugs. This means you must set up different components and establish a mutual interactive platform that makes everything work together.

Simple CRM

• React Skills Practiced: JavaScript, Node, and npm

The process of creating a customer relationship management (CRM) application using React.js is short and straightforward. You need to list customers and add options that allow the user to filter and sort them by different values. Users should also be able to add and delete customers. How many elements you add is up to you. You can also use Bootstrap since it has customizable elements.

Blog

• React Skills Practiced: HTML, CSS, and Git 

Every website or business needs a blog section for SEO purposes or to educate potential customers about different aspects of the business. You can use React.js to create components of the blog post, including the title, text, images, and comment section. You also need a way of publishing the blog posts, which requires a form with all the above components. Later you can add additional features like voting or editing posts.

Messaging App

• React Skills Practiced: Node, HTML

Mobile messaging apps are also in high demand. As businesses shift online, they need instant messaging services to provide immediate customer support. In this project, you’ll be building an app that allows people to receive messages in real-time. You can use React Native to build the app as well as services like Firebase or Hasura to send and receive images, video content, and text.

Advanced React Project Ideas

Many expert developers struggle with which project to put on their portfolio. The best projects to undertake and add to your portfolio are those that match the types of companies you want to work for or collaborate with.

For example, if you are interested in big businesses, developing an ecommerce site is a suitable project. If your passion is in the film industry, your portfolio should showcase your expertise in that area.

Ecommerce App

• React Skills Practiced: Node, npm, Git, and CSS

Ecommerce apps like Amazon Shopping and Nykaa have become essential parts of everyday life for many people. More people are embracing online shopping, which means the demand for ecommerce apps will continue to rise.

When building your own ecommerce application, make sure to include a search tab, product categories, and a shopping cart to streamline the checkout process. Users should also be able to add or remove shopping cart products. Try to keep the interface and processes clean.

Hotel App

• React Skills Practiced: JavaScript and Redux 

This project challenges you to create an app that shows pictures of the hotel and information on the services provided. It should also allow the user to book a room. Try to make the application easy to use and visually appealing so navigation is seamless. The app should also be highly responsive.

Social Media App

• React Skills Practiced: Node and JSX

A social media app boasts more than a few advanced features to improve the user experience. You can use Facebook as inspiration to create an app with basic features like user authentication, posting, sharing, newsfeed, notifications, and commenting. Challenge yourself further by adding features that allow users to customize their own accounts.

Movie Search App

• React Skills Practiced: JavaScript and Git

In this project, you will be working on a movie app that allows you to browse movies using the MoviesDB API. Your app should have a tab for logging in and the option to save any content you like. You can also add the ability for users to comment, like, and share content with other users.

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Puzzles and Games

• React Skills Practiced: HTML, CSS, and Git

The gaming industry is moving online and people want to play on the go. React makes it easy to design a gaming app because you can add features incrementally and simplify the user interface.

For example, you can create characters and backgrounds for a game. You will then configure movements and actions to make the game interactive. You can use Gatsby themes to create the different pages and functionalities before adding a CSS framework.

React Starter Project Templates

React starter projects come in handy for beginners who are still learning React skills and developers who want to save time. A React project template helps you get started so you don’t have to design everything from scratch. The best React starter project templates are listed below.

• Create React App. Create React App is a fantastic template for novices. It lets you set up a modern web app by running only one command with no configurations.
• Gatsby. Gatsby provides fast, reusable code for creating static websites or apps in React. It is the perfect tool if you need a fast and efficient app for an ecommerce site or business.
• Razzle. Razzle is also reusable. It comes with the same CSS setup as Create React App, but it works with more libraries. The template removes the most complex steps of building a single-page app.
• Neutrino. Neutrino allows you to build a JavaScript web application without the initial configuration. In addition, it supports developing, testing, and linting JavaScript projects.
• React Redux Universal. This boilerplate lets you work on the server-side and the client-side without much configuration. It’s best for multiple UI layers and rich ecosystems.

Next Steps: Start Organizing Your React Portfolio

React can be used to create your digital portfolio. It has a number of features that speed up your workflow, and you can create or use components without having to copy and paste the code every time. 

If you decide to configure your portfolio with Create React App, you can save time because the terminal does most of the work for you. Below we have included tips to help you organize your professional developer portfolio.

Be Unique

You want to stand out and show potential employers the range of your skills. You can do this by including complex projects that showcase your React skills. Some examples of these projects include a UI kit, an analytics app, and an error tracking app for websites.

Come up with an Impressive Design

To truly stand out from the competition when applying for a job, your portfolio should have a design that leaves an impression. You can come up with it on your own or visit the Figma Community for inspiration. Whatever design you choose, make sure your portfolio is concise and organized.

Write Clear Descriptions

As a software developer, you will be working with a team of other developers. Your colleagues can learn a lot more from the work showcased in your portfolio. As such, it is important that you include an explanation for each project detailing your workflow, the tools you used, and any other important information.

React Projects FAQ