A Week with ReactBits: What It Gets Right (and Where It Could Improve)
2025-10-13
ReactBits surprised me with range and malleability. Variations are plentiful, source is easy to reshape, and export choices (CSS or Tailwind, JS or TS) make adoption flexible. The flipside: a few components feel greedy, some ship with mock data you need to strip, and heavily animated pieces can tax performance if you are not selective.
What stands out:
- Lots of variations and easy-to-edit source that maps well to business needs
- Exports in CSS or Tailwind and JavaScript or TypeScript
- Backgrounds and visual sections that spark ideas
- Some components are heavy; pick carefully to protect performance
Framing the Experiment
I was browsing new React component libraries for ideas and a friend pointed me to ReactBits. I know many sites feel similar lately because ShadCN is a strong base that a lot of libraries lean on. Variation is the differentiator. It costs more to build, test, and document, but it pays off when your UI needs to feel distinct.
I tried ReactBits on my own portfolio. Several components made it in, with a few edits to fit my content model and motion preferences.
Pros and Standouts
What I liked:
- Variation: multiple takes on common patterns so you can match brand tone.
- Editable source: easy to overwrite pieces to fit real business logic.
- Exports: choose CSS or Tailwind and JS or TS based on your stack.
- Idea starters: background sections are niche but spark good layout ideas.
- Performance on lighter pieces: components that lean on Motion only felt smooth.
Cons and Trade-offs
Some components include mock data. I did not mind it because it helped me understand intent, but you have to strip it before shipping.
A few components are greedy. They pack layout, data, and animation together. That speeds up demo building but reduces flexibility.
Heavily animated or Three.js based sections can hit bundle size and runtime cost. Pick those only when they are worth the visual win.
Design and Component Quality
Designs range from specific to broadly useful. Some pieces target narrow business cases, others are versatile and clean.
The ProfileCard impressed me. Attention to detail and motion felt polished, with thoughtful defaults and a clear layering model.
Performance and Bundle Awareness
Performance depends on what you pick. A Motion-only card is lighter than a Three.js scene plus Motion. If the design does not make it obvious, scan imports and verify in your bundle analyzer.
In production, I kept animations snappy and avoided per-frame work inside React when possible.
Documentation and DX
Docs are standard and serviceable. Only one component pushed me to open the source to understand the behavior, which was fine and quick.
Copy-paste plus export choices made onboarding smooth in a Next.js + Tailwind + TypeScript stack.
Example: Customizing the TiltedCard
I adapted their TiltedCard to fit my portfolio cards. The main changes: I integrated my Project type, wrapped the visual in my Card and Badge primitives, added metadata (date, team size), and linked the whole card to a project route. I also kept motion behavior but simplified props to match my usage.
1--- Original TiltedCard (ReactBits-style)
2+++ My TiltedCard (Portfolio)
3@@
4-import type { SpringOptions } from 'motion/react';
5-import { useRef, useState } from 'react';
6-import { motion, useMotionValue, useSpring } from 'motion/react';
7+import type { SpringOptions } from "motion/react";
8+import { useRef, useState } from "react";
9+import { motion, useMotionValue, useSpring } from "motion/react";
10+import { StaticImageData } from "next/image";
11+import Link from "next/link";
12+import { Project } from "./ProjectCard/types";
13+import { Card, CardContent } from "./ui/card";
14+import { Badge } from "./ui/badge";
15+import { Calendar, Users } from "lucide-react";
16+import { unstable_ViewTransition as ViewTransition } from "react";
17@@
18-interface TiltedCardProps {
19- imageSrc: React.ComponentProps<'img'>['src'];
20- altText?: string;
21- captionText?: string;
22- containerHeight?: React.CSSProperties['height'];
23- containerWidth?: React.CSSProperties['width'];
24- imageHeight?: React.CSSProperties['height'];
25- imageWidth?: React.CSSProperties['width'];
26- scaleOnHover?: number;
27- rotateAmplitude?: number;
28- showMobileWarning?: boolean;
29- showTooltip?: boolean;
30- overlayContent?: React.ReactNode;
31- displayOverlayContent?: boolean;
32-}
33+interface TiltedCardProps {
34+ imageSrc: StaticImageData;
35+ altText?: string;
36+ project: Project;
37+ scaleOnHover?: number;
38+ rotateAmplitude?: number;
39+ overlayContent?: React.ReactNode;
40+ displayOverlayContent?: boolean;
41+}
42@@
43-export default function TiltedCard({
44- imageSrc,
45- altText = 'Tilted card image',
46- captionText = '',
47- containerHeight = '300px',
48- containerWidth = '100%',
49- imageHeight = '300px',
50- imageWidth = '300px',
51- scaleOnHover = 1.1,
52- rotateAmplitude = 14,
53- showMobileWarning = true,
54- showTooltip = true,
55- overlayContent = null,
56- displayOverlayContent = false
57-}: TiltedCardProps) {
58+export default function TiltedCard({
59+ imageSrc,
60+ altText = "Tilted card image",
61+ project,
62+ scaleOnHover = 1.1,
63+ rotateAmplitude = 14,
64+ overlayContent = null,
65+ displayOverlayContent = false,
66+}: TiltedCardProps) {
67@@
68- return (
69- <figure
70- ref={ref}
71- className="relative w-full h-full [perspective:800px] flex flex-col items-center justify-center"
72- style={{
73- height: containerHeight,
74- width: containerWidth
75- }}
76- onMouseMove={handleMouse}
77- onMouseEnter={handleMouseEnter}
78- onMouseLeave={handleMouseLeave}
79- >
80- {showMobileWarning && (
81- <div className="absolute top-4 text-center text-sm block sm:hidden">
82- This effect is not optimized for mobile. Check on desktop.
83- </div>
84- )}
85+ return (
86+ <figure
87+ ref={ref}
88+ className="relative w-full h-full [perspective:800px] flex flex-col items-center justify-center"
89+ onMouseMove={handleMouse}
90+ onMouseEnter={handleMouseEnter}
91+ onMouseLeave={handleMouseLeave}
92+ >
93@@
94- <motion.div
95- className="relative [transform-style:preserve-3d]"
96- style={{
97- width: imageWidth,
98- height: imageHeight,
99- rotateX,
100- rotateY,
101- scale
102- }}
103- >
104- <motion.img
105- src={imageSrc}
106- alt={altText}
107- className="absolute top-0 left-0 object-cover rounded-[15px] will-change-transform [transform:translateZ(0)]"
108- style={{
109- width: imageWidth,
110- height: imageHeight
111- }}
112- />
113+ <motion.div
114+ className="relative h-full [transform-style:preserve-3d]"
115+ style={{ rotateX, rotateY, scale }}
116+ >
117+ <Link href={`/projects/${project.slug}`}>
118+ <Card className="h-full overflow-hidden bg-glass-gradient backdrop-blur-sm border-border/50 hover:border-primary/50 transition-all duration-500 hover:shadow-2xl hover:shadow-primary/20">
119+ <div className="relative overflow-hidden">
120+ <motion.div whileHover={{ scale: 1.05 }} />
121+ <div className=" bg-gradient-to-t from-card via-transparent to-transparent opacity-0 group-hover:opacity-100 transition-opacity duration-500" />
122+ </div>
123+ <CardContent>
124+ <div className="flex items-center flex-wrap gap-3 justify-between mb-2">
125+ <motion.img
126+ src={imageSrc.src}
127+ alt={altText}
128+ className="top-0 left-0 object-cover rounded-[15px] will-change-transform [transform:translateZ(0)]"
129+ />
130+ <Badge variant="default" className="text-xs">{project.category}</Badge>
131+ <div className="flex items-center gap-4 text-xs text-muted-foreground">
132+ <div className="flex items-center gap-1"><Calendar size={12} />{project.date}</div>
133+ {project.teamSize && (<div className="flex items-center gap-1"><Users size={12} />{project.teamSize}</div>)}
134+ </div>
135+ </div>
136+ <ViewTransition name="project-title">
137+ <h3 className="text-xl font-bold mb-2 transition-colors">{project.title}</h3>
138+ </ViewTransition>
139+ <p className="text-muted-foreground text-sm mb-4 line-clamp-3">{project.description}</p>
140+ <div className="flex flex-wrap gap-2 mb-4">
141+ {project.tech.slice(0, 3).map((tech) => (
142+ <Badge key={tech} variant="outline" className="text-xs">{tech}</Badge>
143+ ))}
144+ {project.tech.length > 3 && (
145+ <Badge variant="outline" className="text-xs">+{project.tech.length - 3} more</Badge>
146+ )}
147+ </div>
148+ <motion.p className="text-xs text-primary/80 font-medium" whileHover={{ scale: 1.02 }}>
149+ {project.cardHint}
150+ </motion.p>
151+ </CardContent>
152+ </Card>
153+ </Link>
154@@
155- {showTooltip && (
156- <motion.figcaption
157- className="pointer-events-none absolute left-0 top-0 rounded-[4px] bg-white px-[10px] py-[4px] text-[10px] text-[#2d2d2d] opacity-0 z-[3] hidden sm:block"
158- style={{
159- x,
160- y,
161- opacity,
162- rotate: rotateFigcaption
163- }}
164- >
165- {captionText}
166- </motion.figcaption>
167- )}
168+ {/* Tooltip removed in my version. Metadata covers discovery context. */}
169@@
170- </figure>
171- );
172+ </figure>
173+ );
174 }Lessons Learned
Engineering takeaways:
- Variation is valuable. It helps avoid clone-feel and unlocks better brand fit.
- Editable source matters more than magic. It shortens the path to custom.
- Greedy components are fast to demo but slower to evolve. Favor composable options for long term work.
- Scan imports and test the heavy pieces. Animation is not free.
- Mock data can teach intent. Just remove it before shipping.
Verdict
ReactBits is a good idea farm with practical building blocks. I would use it again for quick exploration, portfolio sections, marketing pages, and anywhere I want a polished starting point with room to customize. For long term product work, I would pick the lighter, more composable pieces and keep an eye on performance.