February 25, 2026
React custody battle, anyone?
React just left meta. Here's what that means for developers
React moves out of Meta’s house — freedom or a messy breakup
TLDR: React left Meta and joined a new Linux Foundation-backed React Foundation with eight big sponsors and a $3M+ pledge from Meta. Comments split between hoping neutral governance brings real contributions and cheering a post‑React web, with jokes that $600k a year buys… basically two developers.
React just packed its bags and moved out of Meta’s basement: the new React Foundation under the Linux Foundation has eight backers (Amazon, Microsoft, Vercel, Huawei, Callstack, Expo, Software Mansion, Meta), an executive director (Seth Webster), and Meta pledging over $3M across five years. Your apps? Still work. The comments? Pure drama.
One camp is popping popcorn, asking if this "neutral home" means real collaboration or just corporate logos. Fans cite Kubernetes’ move to the CNCF, where rivals became contributors; skeptics quip it’ll be more meetings than commits. Money talk stole the show: "$600k a year… basically two devs," sneered one user, turning big numbers into a meme.
Then came the flamethrowers: "beginning of the end for React," cheered the anti-framework crowd, dreaming of WebAssembly (a faster web engine), native web components, or even serving plain HTML. And because it’s the internet, someone yelled "LLM-generated!" — that’s "large language model," aka AI — sparking a mini brawl over who’s writing the narrative.
Bottom line: the foundation won’t change your code tomorrow; it changes who gets to steer it — and the internet has feelings.
Key Points
- •React moved to the React Foundation under the Linux Foundation on Feb 24, 2026.
- •The foundation launched with eight platinum members and executive director Seth Webster.
- •Meta committed over $3 million across five years and previously controlled React’s trademarks, infrastructure, and core team.
- •Foundations provide neutral governance: legal custody of IP/trademarks and separation of technical vs. business governance.
- •Kubernetes’ CNCF transition is cited as a successful model for neutral governance spurring wider contribution and adoption.