Creating Stepper Components in React: A Comprehensive Guide

Using Libraries

There are several libraries available for creating stepper components in React. Two popular options are react-stepper-horizontal and react-form-stepper.

React Stepper Horizontal

react-stepper-horizontal is a library that provides a pre-developed, pre-styled stepper component. It offers several props for customizing the component’s behavior and styling. Although the library’s GitHub repository doesn’t show much development activity, it’s still highly usable in React apps due to its complete features and customizability.

import React from 'react';
import { Stepper } from 'react-stepper-horizontal';

const steps = [
  { title: 'Step 1' },
  { title: 'Step 2' },
  { title: 'Step 3' }
];

const App = () => {
  return (
    
  );
};

React Form Stepper

react-form-stepper is an alternative to react-stepper-horizontal. It offers a Material-inspired, pre-developed stepper component for React developers. This library is actively maintained and provides almost all customization features, including modern features like HOC (higher-order components)-based step definitions.

import React from 'react';
import { Stepper } from 'react-form-stepper';

const steps = [
  { title: 'Step 1' },
  { title: 'Step 2' },
  { title: 'Step 3' }
];

const App = () => {
  return (
    
  );
};

Using UI Kits

Many React developers use UI kits to develop their apps because they offer all the generic components needed, eliminating the need to look for multiple-dependency libraries. Most modern React developers use fully-featured UI kits like MUI, React Bootstrap, or Prime React instead of writing their own UI elements. These UI kits often provide pre-developed stepper components, making it unnecessary to install a dedicated stepper library.

MUI

MUI offers the Stepper component for adding steppers to your React apps. The MUI stepper comes with several sub-components and props for customization purposes.

import React from 'react';
import { Stepper } from '@material-ui/core';

const steps = [
  { label: 'Step 1' },
  { label: 'Step 2' },
  { label: 'Step 3' }
];

const App = () => {
  return (
    
  );
};

Prime React