Next.js

Next.js is a web framework built on React. It adds what a production web application needs and React alone does not provide: routing, server rendering, data-fetching conventions, caching, and a build pipeline that sends less JavaScript to the browser.

Where it fits

Applications where the first load matters, such as customer portals, content-heavy sites and dashboards used on ordinary connections. With server rendering the page is readable before the browser has run all the JavaScript, which helps perceived speed and search indexing.

The framework also settles structural questions for the team, such as where routes and data loading live, that would otherwise be decided differently on each project.

Its limits

A small internal tool behind a login, with a handful of users and no search requirement, does not need server rendering, and a plain React setup may be simpler. Next.js is for the web, so a native mobile app needs a different tool. Its caching and rendering options take time to learn, and some defaults have changed between major versions.

How we use it

We choose it when rendering, performance or content structure are real requirements of the project, and we decide page by page whether content is rendered on the server, at build time or in the browser.

Related

Web Application Development, Enterprise Software Development