By Shivacha Engineering
Library vs framework
React is a library for building user interfaces from components. On its own it leaves routing, data fetching, rendering strategy and build tooling to you. Next.js is a framework on top of React that provides those pieces — file-based routing, server and static rendering, server components, image optimisation and API routes.
When plain React is enough
- Internal tools and dashboards behind a login
- Apps embedded inside another product
- Teams with an existing backend and routing setup they want to keep
When Next.js is the better choice
- Public pages that must rank in search and load fast
- Products mixing marketing pages, content and an app
- Teams that want server rendering and data fetching conventions out of the box
- Deployments on platforms optimised for Next.js
Our default
For most new web products we start with Next.js and TypeScript because it covers both public and authenticated pages well. For a pure internal dashboard, a lighter React setup can be simpler. Either way, the decision should follow your product's needs, not fashion.