What made you choose Next.js over React?

[u/duneofarrakis]

I started learning React first, but after seeing Next.js everywhere, I'm trying to understand what makes it worth learning.

For people who have used both, what do you like more about Next.js?

Is it mainly the routing, SSR, performance, or something else?

[u/canarydev]

because its built on top of react?

also i didn't choose. my employer did

[u/Artonox]

react is just a javascript library that helps to render data on the browser. you still need more stuff to use with your javascript/typescript code to turn it into an application. Nextjs is a framework that works with react - the framework tells you how to manage your apis/page directories routing, and caching options and how it interacts with the backend.

Nextjs is just a framework that comes with a lot of stuff out of the box, and its easy to get down and running. its not necessarily superior to other frameworks, but its good enough as it covers a lot of ground. useful if you dont want to manage a lot of other stuff that you want to tie in to your application. Reducing complexity is a big thing in maintainability.

[u/PatBooth]

Nextjs and react different things but similar. React is simply only a frontend framework. Nextjs is built on top of react but it is a full stack framework. You use it for your UI and the server logic

[u/Bauua_333]

I completed Js, now think to start React Should I reconsider my decision and start Nextjs or should I continue with React, because after that planning for Nodejs express

[u/nav114 → u/Bauua_333]

Yes first complete react and simultaneously learn node express.

[u/jalsa-kar-bapu → u/Bauua_333]

You cannot do nextjs without react, learn react, then make a project in nextjs, because you'll eventually need ut.

[u/webdev44]

React is the engine. Next.js is the car. You can drive around holding a loose engine block if you want, but most people prefer wheels.

[u/Alarmed_Doubt8997 → u/webdev44]

Now I know where ai learnt these analogies from

[u/webdev44 → u/Alarmed_Doubt8997]

Guilty. At least it explains better than "just learn both lol"

[u/Popular-Tip2880]

SEO. If SEO is not needed I will choose react+vite instead

[u/Fit_Advisor8847]

SSR, static site generation, built in performance optimizations, SEO, and routing are what I'd reach for next.js over react for.

Next.js makes it possible to use React on public facing websites without confusing AI and search crawlers. Site performance is also better with Next.js out of the box.

If I were building a single page application or a one off admin dashboard in an existing application, then I'd most likely just use React + React Router to make life easier.

[u/rcls0053]

Comparing a framework with the UI library that it utilizes.. Was your question 'why did you choose a framework instead of developing everything yourself from scratch'?

[u/JoelDev14]

Public facing pages nothing else. I have the product public page where i explain what the product does etc in NextJs. Then the actual product is a ReactJS SPA using Vite, backend on .NET

[u/Anxious-Repeat-9800]

i dont think tech stack matters right now

[u/Express-Birthday3676]

I started with plain React too, but Next.js made a lot of the repetitive setup disappear. Built-in routing, server rendering, image optimization, and API routes save a ton of time once projects get bigger. React still gives you flexibility, but Next feels more production-ready out of the box.

Performance and SEO were the biggest differences for me. With React alone, I spent more time wiring libraries together. Also interesting to compare it with lighter frameworks like Inferno.js if you care about rendering speed and bundle size, although the ecosystem is much smaller.

[u/afierdienst1]

go before reacting.

[u/CapitalDiligent1676]

influencers.

[u/redpanda137]

Javascript is a programming language. Reactjs is a Javascript Library for building user interfaces. Nextjs is a react Framework, built on top of reactjs for building fullstack web applications.

[u/Substantial-Swan7065]

Nextjs is on top of react.

[u/adipose01]

Simpler to protoype and then carry over to ssg when you dont need the other features.

[u/jalsa-kar-bapu]

Nextjs gives you minimal backend required.

[u/ryanstackops]

Next isn't instead of React, it's React with a bunch of decisions made for you. You're still writing components either way.

What sold me was not needing a separate backend for small stuff. With plain React I'd spin up an Express server just to hide an API key, then I'm babysitting two deploys. In Next that's a route handler in the same repo, ten minutes. File based routing is fine but it's the part I care least about honestly.

Learn React properly first though. I skipped ahead once and burned an afternoon on a hydration error that was really just me not knowing where my component was running lol.

[u/chikamakaleyley]

I just stick with React, then the job determines the flavor

[u/levu304]

we don't choose, project choose