If you’ve been building React apps for a while, you’ve probably used React Router for client-side navigation. It’s a great library, but once I tried Next.js for a personal project, I realized how much simpler my workflow could be.
- Built-In Routing
React Router requires you to manually set up routes, but Next.js has file-based routing by default. Just add a new file in your pages directory, and boom—instant route! No extra config or imports needed. It feels less cluttered and keeps your folder structure organized.
2. Server-Side Rendering (SSR) and SEO
One of Next.js’s biggest perks is server-side rendering out of the box. This makes your pages load faster (especially on slow networks) and improves SEO because search engines can read fully rendered HTML. With React Router, you have to add extra libraries or roll out a custom SSR solution. Next.js handles most of that automatically.
3. Performance
Because Next.js can pre-render pages, you often get better performance than a purely client-side app. This is huge if you’re building something like an e-commerce site where every second of load time matters.
4. Easier Data Fetching
Next.js provides multiple data-fetching methods (getServerSideProps, getStaticProps, and getStaticPaths) for different use cases. You can fetch data at build time for static sites or fetch dynamically for each request. It’s straightforward and keeps your code organized.
5. Smooth Developer Experience
Overall, Next.js feels like a one-stop solution. You get routing, SSR, SSG (static site generation), API routes, and more — without juggling multiple libraries. Sure, there’s a small learning curve, but once you get it, things just click into place.
Wrapping Up
React Router is still awesome, especially for simple client-side apps. But if you want SSR, better SEO, or just a cleaner developer experience, Next.js is worth a look. I was skeptical at first, but after switching, it’s hard to go back. If you’re about to start a new React project, give Next.js a try, you might be surprised how much easier life becomes!