_([npx](https://medium.com/@maybekatz/introducing-npx-an-npm-package-runner-55f7d4bd282b) comes with npm 5.2+ and higher, see [instructions for older npm versions](https://gist.github.com/gaearon/4064d3c23a77c74a3614c498a8bb1c5f))_
**You’ll need to have Node 8.16.0 or Node 10.16.0 or later version on your local development machine** (but it’s not required on the server). You can use [nvm](https://github.com/creationix/nvm#installation) (macOS/Linux) or [nvm-windows](https://github.com/coreybutler/nvm-windows#node-version-manager-nvm-for-windows) to switch Node versions between different projects.
_([npx](https://medium.com/@maybekatz/introducing-npx-an-npm-package-runner-55f7d4bd282b) is a package runner tool that comes with npm 5.2+ and higher, see [instructions for older npm versions](https://gist.github.com/gaearon/4064d3c23a77c74a3614c498a8bb1c5f))_
- **One Dependency:** There is only one build dependency. It uses Webpack, Babel, ESLint, and other amazing projects, but provides a cohesive curated experience on top of them.
- **No Configuration Required:** You don't need to configure anything. A reasonably good configuration of both development and production builds is handled for you so you can focus on writing code.
- **No Lock-In:** You can “eject” to a custom setup at any time. Run a single command, and all the configuration and build dependencies will be moved directly into your project, so you can pick up right where you left off.
- An offline-first [service worker](https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/getting-started/primers/service-workers) and a [web app manifest](https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/engage-and-retain/web-app-manifest/), meeting all the [Progressive Web App](https://facebook.github.io/create-react-app/docs/making-a-progressive-web-app) criteria. (_Note: Using the service worker is opt-in as of `react-scripts@2.0.0` and higher_)
The tradeoff is that **these tools are preconfigured to work in a specific way**. If your project needs more customization, you can ["eject"](https://facebook.github.io/create-react-app/docs/available-scripts#npm-run-eject) and customize it, but then you will need to maintain this configuration.
- If you want to **try React** without hundreds of transitive build tool dependencies, consider [using a single HTML file or an online sandbox instead](https://reactjs.org/docs/try-react.html).
- If you need to **integrate React code with a server-side template framework** like Rails, Django or Symfony, or if you’re **not building a single-page app**, consider using [nwb](https://github.com/insin/nwb), or [Neutrino](https://neutrino.js.org/) which are more flexible. For Rails specifically, you can use [Rails Webpacker](https://github.com/rails/webpacker). For Symfony, try [Symfony's Webpack Encore](https://symfony.com/doc/current/frontend/encore/reactjs.html).
- If you need to **publish a React component**, [nwb](https://github.com/insin/nwb) can [also do this](https://github.com/insin/nwb#react-components-and-libraries), as well as [Neutrino's react-components preset](https://neutrino.js.org/packages/react-components/).
- If you want to do **server rendering** with React and Node.js, check out [Next.js](https://github.com/zeit/next.js/) or [Razzle](https://github.com/jaredpalmer/razzle). Create React App is agnostic of the backend, and only produces static HTML/JS/CSS bundles.
- If your website is **mostly static** (for example, a portfolio or a blog), consider using [Gatsby](https://www.gatsbyjs.org/) instead. Unlike Create React App, it pre-renders the website into HTML at the build time.
- Finally, if you need **more customization**, check out [Neutrino](https://neutrino.js.org/) and its [React preset](https://neutrino.js.org/packages/react/).
We'd love to have your helping hand on `create-react-app`! See [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for more information on what we're looking for and how to get started.
