React Compiler 2026: Should You Delete useMemo and useCallback Forever?

React Compiler v1.0: What It Actually Does

After more than two years of development under the codename “React Forget,” the React team shipped React Compiler v1.0 as a stable release alongside React 19. The premise is bold: the compiler performs automatic memoization at build time, eliminating the need for developers to manually annotate which values and functions should be stable across renders.

React Compiler solves this by analyzing your component code at build time and automatically inserting the equivalent of memoization where it would be beneficial — and only where it would be beneficial. The compiler understands React’s rules and uses that understanding to predict when a value is stable across renders without developer annotation.

How to Enable React Compiler in Next.js 16

For Next.js 16 projects, enabling the compiler is a one-line configuration change in next.config.ts:

const nextConfig = {
  experimental: {
    reactCompiler: true,
  },
};
export default nextConfig;

You will also need the compiler package:

npm install --save-dev babel-plugin-react-compiler

The compiler runs during both next dev and next build. The 'use no memo'; directive at the top of a component file excludes it from automatic memoization — the safety valve for third-party integrations and edge cases.