Next.js vs React: What's the Difference and Which One is Right for Your Project?

For any developer, choosing the right framework for a project also includes a careful consideration of the developer's experience. And by “developer experience”, we mean the convenience of the developer as they tend to choose frameworks that are easy to use. But one of the major decisions that any developer has to take before the beginning of the development lifecycle is to consider which platform will be used.

This is also where many developers struggle with the question of Next JS vs React. So, in this blog, we will provide an understanding so it helps you choose the right technology stack for the right project.

Code lines in the screen.
Photo by Chris Ried on Unsplash

Understanding Next.js and React: Key Concepts Explained

What is Next JS?

A creation of Vercel, Next.js is an open-source JavaScript framework. It allows developers to create quick and user-friendly web applications as well as static websites by using React. Based on Node.js and Babel, Next JS allows developers to integrate itself with React to develop. This helps make server-side convenient and easy.

It is an open-source and lightweight web development framework for React applications.

With the help of Next JS, developers can build server-side rendering. Next.js is based on React babel and webpack that provides out of the box solutions for server-side rendering (SSR) or React components. 

Features of Next.js include:

  • Static Site Generation (SSG): Pre-building pages into static HTML files for speeding up loading time and lessen server load. 
  • Static Site Rendering (SSR): Provides in-built support to developers for server-side rendering that allows pages to be pre-rendered on the server. This also leads to better website and SEO performance.
  • Dynamic rendering: Rendering pages on the server when requested t content that is up-to-date.
  • Partial pre-rendering: Combining static and dynamic rendering on the same page.
  • Automatic code splitting: Splits code automatically into smaller bundles for quicker loading time of pages.
  • Built-in CSS and Sass support: Allows developers to import styles directly into components.
  • API routes: Simplifies backend integration by allowing developers to create serverless functions directly in the application.
  • Quick refresh: Provides instant feedback during the process of development.
  • Integration with popular tools: for maintaining code quality and using static typing, it allows itself to get integrated with tools like ESLint and TypeScript.
  • Serverless deployment support: Developers can efficiently deploy applications to any cloud environment without setting up and maintaining a server.
  • File-based routing: Allows developers to map out URLs directly to files in the project’s directory.
  • Meta tags: Developers can characterize every page with independent titles, keywords, and portrayals.
  • Data Fetching: Offers different fetching methods like getStaticProps and getServerSideProps, for fetching data at build time or request time.
  • Image Optimization: In Next.js, images are automatically optimized which in return optimizes loading time by resizing and compressing images.
  • API proxying: Create API routes that can work as third-party APIs by aiding fetching of data and security.
  • Internationalization Support: Provides tools and libraries for adding multi-lingual support to an application. 
Code lines in the screen.
Photo by Rahul Mishra on Unsplash

What is React?

Developed by Facebook, React is an open-source and flexible JavaScript library that allows developers to come up with scalable, simple, and fast frontend interfaces for both single-page and multipage web applications. It has a reactive approach and supports a functional programming paradigm. 

One of the most extensively used front-end libraries that allow developers to create reusable UI components, React is an easy-to-use-front-end library offering different tools that enclose routing and state management patterns beside Redux and other libraries.

The user interface of React is a combination of HTML and JavaScript that contains all the logic that is needed for displaying a small piece of a bigger scale of UI (user interface). In order to keep users on your web page, it is imperative that the user interface is at its best. 

Features of React include:

  • JSX (JavaScript Syntax Extension): A combination of HTML and JavaScript, developers can embed JavaScript objects inside the HTML elements. Since JSX is not supported by browsers, Babel compiler transcompiles the code into JavaScript. With the help of JSX, codes become easy and understandable, especially if anyone has prior knowledge of HTML and JavaScript.
  • Virtual DOM: DOM or Document Object Model is one of the most significant parts of the web since it divides modules and executes the code. While JavaScript updates the whole DOM at one go, React uses virtual DOM, an exact copy of the real DOM. So, whenever the web application is modified, the whole virtual DOM gets updated first and then finds the difference between real and virtual DOM. 
  • One-way Data Binding: As the name suggests, the data flow in React is in one direction- from the top to the bottom. When the transfer from the parent component to the child component happens, the props in the child component cannot flow back to the parent component. However, it is possible to communicate with the parent components for modifying the states as per the given inputs. 
  • Performance: Since React uses virtual DOM and updates just the modified parts, it makes the DOM run faster. 
  • Extension: By using different extensions of React, we can also create complete UI applications that support mobile app development and also provide server-side rendering. Extensions such as Flux, Redux, React Native, etc. also help in building good-looking UI. 
  • Conditional Statements: JSX lets developers write conditional statements. 
  • Simplicity: React is component-based, and this makes the code reusable and easy to understand. It is also easy to debug and developers have to sweat less on coding. 
Two monitors one has code line and other mountain wallpaper.
Photo by Fotis Fotopoulos on Unsplash

Next js vs React: Core Differences

In the debate of react vs next js, let’s take a quick look at the differences: 

Next JS

React

Next js is a framework for react that is built on react library.

React is not a framework, it is a JavaScript library.

It is famous for server-side rendering and generation of static websites. 

Doesn’t support server-side rendering.

Can be difficult to learn for anyone who does not have knowledge of React.

Easier to learn.

Web apps can be built very quickly.

Building web applications is slower.

Does not need offline support.

Needs offline support.

Does not require index.html file as it is made as per the kind of need

One HTML file index.html is present in the public folder that manages the app.

If you choose Next JS, it comes with the best server-side rendering along with static website development solutions. It also lets you manage project

Next JS vs React: Which is right for your project?

There is no right answer for the question of react vs next js as the choice depends on the need of the project. Both of them are emerging and beneficial tools for your project. But they are only functional for performing some tasks. s easily with various tools and features.

React, on the other hand, is the ideal choice for developing user interfaces for single-page applications. As it works with the layer of mobile and web apps, it lets you create more appealing and intuitive applications. 

In the debate between next.js and react, there is no one winner. However, we hope that with this article, we have given you some insight to choose right. 

What is the main difference between Next.js and React?

Next.js is a framework that adds server-side rendering and static site generation to React. React is a JavaScript library primarily for building user interfaces.

Is Next.js better than React for SEO?

Yes, Next.js has built-in server-side rendering (SSR) and static site generation (SSG), making it better for SEO than React, which only supports client-side rendering by default.

Can I use React components in Next.js?

Absolutely! Next.js is built on top of React, so any React component can be used within a Next.js application.

Is Next.js harder to learn than React?

If you're already familiar with React, learning Next.js should be straightforward. Next.js adds some additional concepts but simplifies tasks like routing and server-side rendering.

What types of projects are best suited for React vs. Next.js?

React is ideal for dynamic, single-page applications, while Next.js is better suited for projects that benefit from fast-loading pages and SEO optimization, like blogs, e-commerce sites, and portfolios.