When to Use Next.js Over React js and when not ?

Although Next.js and React are related . While both technologies are based on React, they serve different purposes and cater to different project needs. but choosing the right framework can significantly impact your project’s success.

Hossam Mohamed

May 20, 2025

About the differences

1- React: A powerful JavaScript library for building dynamic user interfaces. React is component-based and primarily focused on client-side rendering (CSR).But it requires additional setup for things like routing, state management, and data fetching. 2- Next.js: A React-based framework that comes with built-in features such as server-side rendering (SSR), static site generation (SSG), and API routes. It's ideal for performance-focused and SEO-friendly websites out of the box.

1- When to Use Next.js

Some key features will help you to choose Nextjs over React :-

✅ where SEO is crucial , If your application needs to render content on the server-side for better performance, SEO, or faster initial page load times, This is particularly useful for content-heavy websites, blogs, or e-commerce platforms .
✅ Next.js can help improve the performance of your application by pre-rendering pages at build time or on the server-side, reducing the amount of JavaScript that needs to be downloaded and executed by the client.
✅ Next.js comes with many built-in features, such as automatic code splitting, CSS and Sass support, API routes,translations Support and more. If you need these features in your application and prefer not to set them up manually, Next.js can save you time and effort.

2-when to avoid using nextjs and choose React js ?

Consider other framework or React if you are building following projects:

Best Practices:

✅Next.js is primarily focused on building frontend applications, so if your project involves heavy backend logic, choose other frameworks Express.js, Nest.js, or Spring Boot.
✅If your application relies heavily on real-time updates, like a chat application , Next.js might not be the best choice. While Next.js can handle real-time updates using client-side JavaScript,
✅ If your project requires intricate animations, interactions, or complex layouts, you might find Next.js limiting. While React provides a flexible foundation for building custom UI component

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