Why I keep choosing Vike over Next.js for frontend apps
I've built a bunch of frontend apps and landing pages over the years. Some simple, some complex, some just to ship something and see what sticks. And like a lot of people, I started with Next.js. It’s battle-tested, well-documented, comes with everything. But over time, I found myself reaching for it less and less — especially for frontend-only projects. It started to feel too heavy, too opinionated, too “big” for what I needed. That’s when I found Vike. And honestly? It changed the way I build. What is Vike? Vike is a meta-framework built on top of Vite and React. It gives you proper server-side rendering (SSR) with full flexibility — without turning your project into a full-stack ecosystem. No forced routing conventions, no CLI magic, no weird config layers. Just SSR, per-route control, and Vite under the hood. Why I use it (and keep using it)
I've built a bunch of frontend apps and landing pages over the years. Some simple, some complex, some just to ship something and see what sticks.
And like a lot of people, I started with Next.js.
It’s battle-tested, well-documented, comes with everything. But over time, I found myself reaching for it less and less — especially for frontend-only projects. It started to feel too heavy, too opinionated, too “big” for what I needed.
That’s when I found Vike. And honestly? It changed the way I build.
What is Vike?
Vike is a meta-framework built on top of Vite and React.
It gives you proper server-side rendering (SSR) with full flexibility — without turning your project into a full-stack ecosystem.
No forced routing conventions, no CLI magic, no weird config layers.
Just SSR, per-route control, and Vite under the hood.
