The Paradox React Developers Are Facing
Picture this: You’re a React developer, comfortable in your world of Next.js, enjoying server-side rendering (SSR), static site generation (SSG), API routes, and all the features that come with it. Next.js has become your trusty companion, guiding you through the complexities of modern web development.
But then, in the corner of your eye, you see Remix. It looks like another framework trying to join the ever-growing React ecosystem. But wait — this is created by the same team behind React Router. Isn’t that worth paying attention to?
You can’t help but ask yourself, “Is Remix just another buzzword, or is there something more here that I should seriously consider?”
Let me clear up that doubt right away: Remix is not just an alternative to Next.js — it’s a new, superior approach to building web applications. It’s time to leave behind the limitations of Next.js and embrace the next generation of web development with Remix.
In this blog, I’m going to break down why Remix should be your go-to framework, why developers are leaving Next.js behind, and why this might be the framework you've been waiting for all along.
No fluff. No hype. Just the facts. Let’s dive in.
Why Remix Outshines Next.js: Performance is King
Let’s talk about the most important thing that everyone wants to know when choosing a framework: performance. After all, you’re building apps for the real world where speed matters — for users, search engines, and ultimately, your business.
1. Data Loading: Remix’s Server-Side Magic
In Next.js, you’ve got getServerSideProps, getStaticProps, and even getInitialProps to manage your data fetching. But here’s the thing: They all create a disconnect between your data and the components. It’s like having a separate assembly line for your components and data, forcing them to sync up later.
Enter Remix with its Loaders. The loader pattern is genius because it ties the data-fetching process directly to the route. Each route’s loader can fetch data before rendering the component, giving you a smoother, more efficient loading experience. This approach eliminates unnecessary complexity and minimizes JavaScript execution, making your app faster.
Example in Remix:
// app/routes/products.jsx
import { useLoaderData } from "remix";
export function loader() {
return fetch('/api/products').then(res => res.json());
}
export default function Products() {
const products = useLoaderData();
return (
<div>
{products.map(product => (
<div key={product.id}>{product.name}</div>
))}
</div>
);
}
In Next.js (to achieve the same):
// pages/products.js
export async function getServerSideProps() {
const res = await fetch('/api/products');
const products = await res.json();
return { props: { products } };
}
export default function Products({ products }) {
return (
<div>
{products.map(product => (
<div key={product.id}>{product.name}</div>
))}
</div>
);
}
Notice the difference? In Remix, everything is neatly encapsulated in a loader, making your components simpler, with less boilerplate.
2. Progressive Hydration: No More JavaScript Bloat
Remix doesn’t load unnecessary JavaScript upfront, which directly leads to faster load times. Next.js may hydrate the entire app with a huge JS bundle before the page is interactive, but Remix ensures that only what’s necessary gets loaded on the client side.
This progressive hydration approach ensures users can start interacting with the page almost instantly, without waiting for the entire application to load. Think about it: your app is ready when your users are ready.
3. Built-in Optimization for Fast Rendering
One of the biggest challenges with Next.js is dealing with client-side hydration and rendering — especially when you have large pages with dynamic content. Remix eliminates this by optimizing the rendering flow from server to client, ensuring that fewer re-renders and less data fetching happens on the client side, which results in faster page loads.
Bottom line? Remix pages load faster and don’t require as much heavy client-side JavaScript, which leads to better performance and SEO.
Developer Experience: Freedom, Flexibility, and Control
Now that we’ve tackled performance, let’s talk about developer experience. If you’re anything like me, you want a framework that doesn’t just “do the job” but makes your life easier, allowing you to get things done without wrestling with boilerplate code or endless configurations.
Here’s where Remix truly shines.
1. Built-in Nested Routing & Layouts: Say Goodbye to Prop Drilling
One of the most powerful features of Remix is nested routes. This means you can define layouts and components at a granular level, directly inside your route configurations, and share them across pages without bloating your app.
The routing system in Remix is as intuitive as it gets. It’s essentially React Router on steroids. Instead of nesting components in a page and dealing with prop drilling, Remix gives you nested layouts where each page is independent yet seamlessly connected.
2. Error Boundaries, Straight from the Framework
Next.js gives you error boundaries, but Remix makes them first-class citizens. No more throwing try-catch blocks everywhere or writing complicated error handling logic. With Remix, every route is automatically wrapped in an error boundary, which makes handling errors clean and easy.
Real-World Examples: Remix in the Wild
So, is Remix really the real deal? Is it ready for production? Absolutely.
Let’s take a look at some companies who have already made the switch to Remix:
1. OpenAI (Yes, ChatGPT)
OpenAI migrated their production systems to Remix for improved performance and reduced reliance on client-side rendering. Their website now loads faster, with minimal JavaScript sent to the client, making it snappy and smooth.
2. Shopify
Shopify’s custom web apps switched to Remix to handle large-scale applications that required robust server-side rendering and faster data fetching. The result? A massive boost in app scalability, performance, and user experience.
The Bottom Line: Why Remix is the Framework of the Future
If you’re still on the fence about Remix, here’s the bottom line:
- Faster apps: Thanks to SSR, progressive hydration, and data loading directly tied to routes.
- Cleaner, simpler code: Remix’s structure reduces complexity with first-class error boundaries, nested routes, and built-in loaders.
- Better performance: With optimized rendering, reduced JavaScript bloat, and smarter data fetching.
- A more flexible, empowering developer experience: Remix gives you the control to build exactly the way you want, without the rigidity that other frameworks impose.
So, Why Stick with Next.js?
Next.js has served us well, but the times have changed. Remix offers a cleaner, faster, and more efficient way to build modern React applications. It’s like upgrading from a sedan to a high-performance sports car. Sure, the sedan gets you from point A to point B, but with Remix, you’ll get there faster, with more control, and have way more fun along the way.
If you’re ready to embrace the future, switch to Remix. You’ll thank yourself later.
Start building with Remix today by checking out their official documentation — it’s time to leave Next.js in the rearview mirror.
Feeling the need for speed? Ready to take control? Join the Remix revolution.
Top comments (9)
You’re comparing Remix to Next.js before page router. Your examples aren’t correct according to the new paradigm of Next,js, comparable to Remix.
Also I feel wrong to say that code is cleaner and/or simple with Remix. Code is cleaner and simple I’m both frameworks, if the developer is knowledgeable.
Last but not least, you don’t need to sell one over the other. It’s much better to compare them and let people decide which one to pick.
Conclusion. This smells as a shallow article written with AI.
I would put Astro over all of them. I will be talking about that in my weekly article next week. Follow to see what all the hype with Astro is.
Did you really write an entire blog bashing Next.js but you didn't even mention the Next App router?
Like, every single argument is moot in the new router.
I am a NextJs user as well. And I thought I could learn something from this article when I saw the title, alas no. Based on the examples you provided, I don't see the any difference between NextJs pages router and Remix, and it is inferior to the app router. SSR has been in the play for a long time even before nextjs. Sounds like Remix is yet to catch up. You know, you actually convinced me not to switch to remix, lol. Either way I shall do my own research. In my current tool chain, Vite+ReduxTK+React Router, NextJS, Vitest+RTL are the king of their hills - simple SPA, react framework, testing tool respectively. Change my mind!
The article is moot by not talking about app router.
Each framework has use cases in which they excel at and like everything else the answer is always "it depends" with the biggest part being where and how are you going to deploy the application.
Not to mention that Vercel is... Well it's not been founded with the same open-source ethos of the greats.
Vercel represents a step towards business controlling the capacity for new devs to do anything.
Remix is a step towards keeping web development available to everyone.
Remix is absolutely horrible to work in and actually scale with. Form validation is terrible, uses 2000’s magic name checks, and is unreliable. We’ve noticed a huge decrease in performance since going to it as well. Remix sounds great on paper but in the real worked it’s horrible, don’t listen to this article that feels like it was paid by Shopify who also heavily invested their own $$ in remix so of course they want to say how amazing it is.
In the end, stick to next.
The future of both Next.js and Remix is vike.dev/
You know they’re moving all of the remix functionality to react router, right? Remix will not be around in its current form basically anymore.