Next.js

Next.js is a web framework built on top of the React library: a ready toolkit that provides a website's core structure. It was created by Vercel in 2016 and is open source under the MIT license. It is widely used for projects where speed and SEO matter: corporate websites, online stores, blogs, and SaaS products.

React is a library for building user interfaces, while Next.js is a full framework built on top of React. With plain React you have to set up routing (navigation between pages), server rendering, and optimization yourself; Next.js provides all of that out of the box. In other words, Next.js does not replace React: every Next.js project is also a React project.

Yes. Next.js is open source under the MIT license and completely free, including for commercial projects. Costs only come from hosting and development work. Vercel offers paid hosting plans, but the framework itself does not depend on them.

Next.js can send pages as ready HTML from the server (SSR), pre-build them as static files (SSG), and refresh those static pages automatically at intervals (ISR). Search engine crawlers read the ready HTML immediately instead of waiting for JavaScript to load in the browser. The result is faster pages and more reliable indexing in search results.

It is a strong fit for corporate websites, e-commerce stores, blogs and news portals, SaaS platforms, and landing pages: especially wherever SEO and load speed are critical. For a simple one-page brochure site, lighter solutions can sometimes be enough; the right choice depends on the project's scale.

Yes. Next.js runs on any server with Node.js installed or inside a Docker container, and a project can also be exported as a fully static site for ordinary hosting. Vercel is convenient but not mandatory. SaytPro, for example, hosts the Next.js sites it builds on its own VPS servers.

The App Router is the page architecture introduced in Next.js 13. It is built around file-based routing, shared layouts, and Server Components (code that runs on the server and is never shipped to the browser). The older Pages Router is still supported, but new projects typically start with the App Router.

For a developer who already knows React, the fundamentals of Next.js take a few weeks to pick up, since it uses the same component model. Starting from zero requires learning HTML/CSS, JavaScript, and React first, which can take months. The official documentation is extensive and full of practical examples, which makes the process easier.

WordPress offers a cheap, fast start with ready-made themes, but sites tend to slow down as plugins pile up, and outdated plugins are a common source of security holes. A Next.js site is custom code: it usually loads faster, has no plugin dependency, and presents a much smaller attack surface. For a simple blog with daily posts WordPress can be reasonable; when speed, SEO, and custom functionality are priorities, Next.js is the stronger choice.

In practice it means a site that loads faster, ranks more reliably on Google, and does not buckle as traffic grows. The site is built around your actual business requirements rather than a template, and features like payments or booking can be added later on the same codebase. This is why studios such as SaytPro in Azerbaijan build their corporate and e-commerce projects on Next.js.