Directives are replaced by React components. I would argue, IMO, that directives are actually a half-assed implementation of components. In terms of services,

Directives are replaced by React components. I would argue, IMO, that directives are actually a half-assed implementation of components. In terms of services, I would recommend using Flux to perform actions / store your state. This is what a lot of developers are leaning towards these days. There was a great talk at React Conf about Reflux, I've never used it, but the presentation has convinced me to try it out on my next project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsSnOQynTHs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsSnOQynTHs When you build with React, imagine building an application in Angular using only Directives. It isn't that simple, but that is sort of the idea with React components. I started with Angular (and still work day to day with it at work) but if someone asked me how I would architect an application tomorrow, I would go with Flux + React + ES6, no questions asked. Also, Angular2 is heavily influenced by React, so learning React now will allow you to have a better understanding of Angular2.