Astro vs Next.js: Which Should You Use for Your Business Website?
Use Astro for content-led sites like business sites, portfolios, and blogs. Use Next.js when your site behaves like an app, with logins, dashboards, or personalised content. Here's how to decide.
Short answer: use Astro if your website is mostly content, like a business site, portfolio, blog, or landing pages. Use Next.js if your website behaves like an app, with user logins, dashboards, or pages that change for each visitor. Many businesses only need the first.
Developers argue about this a lot, usually on technical grounds. For a business owner, the question is simpler: what does your site need to do?
What is Astro?
Astro is a web framework designed for content. It builds your pages into plain HTML ahead of time and sends no JavaScript by default. When a page needs something interactive, like a form, a gallery, or a pricing calculator, Astro adds a small “island” of JavaScript just for that piece.
The result: pages that load almost instantly, especially on phones.
What is Next.js?
Next.js is a framework built on React, the JavaScript library behind many web apps. It’s designed for sites that are interactive throughout: user accounts, dashboards, live data, personalised content. It can also build static pages, but its strength is everything that happens after the page loads.
How do they compare?
| Astro | Next.js | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Business sites, portfolios, blogs, marketing pages | Web apps, member areas, dashboards, complex stores |
| JavaScript sent to browser | None by default, added per component | React on every page |
| Speed out of the box | Very fast | Fast with careful tuning |
| Hosting | Static pages can often use a free tier | Server features need a paid plan |
| Complexity | Low | Higher |
| Interactive components | Yes, as islands (React, Vue, Svelte…) | Yes, everywhere |
When should you choose Astro?
Choose Astro when most of your pages are the same for every visitor:
- A service business site: home, services, about, contact
- A portfolio or case studies
- A blog or content hub
- Landing pages for ads or outreach
- A small store using Stripe Checkout or a Shopify Buy Button
For these, Astro gives you the fastest pages with the least to maintain. Speed matters here: Google uses Core Web Vitals in rankings, and slow pages lose visitors before they convert.
When should you choose Next.js?
Choose Next.js when the site is really an application:
- Customers log in to see their orders, bookings, or account
- You need a dashboard or member area
- Content is personalised or updated in real time
- Most pages are heavily interactive
Here, Next.js is the right tool and Astro would be fighting its own design. Budget for monthly hosting: server-side features cost money on any host.
Can you use both?
Yes, and it’s often the smartest setup. Keep your marketing site (the pages Google and new customers see) on Astro for speed, and run the app part, like a customer portal, on Next.js at a subdomain such as app.yourbusiness.com. Each does the job it’s built for.
Which do we use at Delivr Studio?
Both. Astro is our default, because most small business sites are content-led and benefit most from its speed and simplicity. When a project needs logins, dashboards, or personalised content, we build it with Next.js, and tell you the monthly hosting cost upfront.
Not sure which your project needs? Tell us what your site has to do and we’ll recommend one, with a fixed quote.
