Remix vs. Next.js: detailed comparison

Next.js is one of the most popular React platforms used for server—side rendering. It has been around for a considerable time and provides an exceptional developer experience with all the features developers need.

However, with the advent of open source Remix, developers have started to wonder which framework is best for their application. So, let's compare some important functions of Next.js with Remix functions.

1. Routing

When it comes to routing, between Remix and Next.js has a lot in common. For example, they follow the routing file system and support nested routing and dynamic route segments.

As for the similarity, when you create a file in the /pages directory, it will be automatically set as a route in Next.js .

Remix can also create automatic routes. But you need to put the files in the app/routes directory.

As for the differences, Remix routing is built on top of React Router and allows you to use React Hooks such as useParams and useNavigate. On the other hand, Remix has built-in support for nested routing with nested layouts, while Nest.js requires manual configuration.

2. Data Loading

There are several methods of loading data in web applications. This is:

Server-side rendering at runtime.

Server-side rendering during build.

Client-side rendering at runtime.

A combination of server-side runtime, client-side and server-side build time, and client-side runtime.

In Next.js developers can use all of the above methods with different functionality to export data from a page.

You can use getServerSideProps to load server-side data at runtime, while getStaticProps and getStaticPath can be used to load server-side data at build time.

There are only two methods of loading data in Remix. You can use the server part at runtime and the client part at runtime to render data.

You should export the loader function from the route to load data from the server side and use the Fetcher Hook in Remix to load data on the client side.

Next.js supports server-side rendering (SSR), static site generation (SSG), incremental site regeneration (ISR) and CSR (client-side rendering). On the other hand, Remix only supports SSR and CSR.

3. Using sessions and cookies

In Next.js has no built-in functions for interacting with cookies or sessions. But popular libraries like Cookies.js, can work with Next.js or NextAuth.js for performing user authentication and storing session data in a cookie.

Remix has built-in support for cookies and sessions. You can create a cookie by calling a function and then serialize or analyze the data to save or read it.

4. Deployment

Next.js can be installed on any server that Node can run on.js by running next build && next start. It has built-in support for working in serverless mode when deployed in Vercel, and the Netlify team wrote an adapter for serverless deployment to their service.

Remix was created to work on any platform and interface with any system. As a result, Remix is a request handler inside an HTTP server that allows you to use any server.

5. Styling

The Remix is slightly different from Next.js when it comes to styles. Remix offers a built-in technique for linking classic CSS style sheets using link tags, while Next.js comes with Styled-JSX as the default CSS solution in JS.

Styled-JSX allows you to style your components using encapsulated and constrained CSS in your application Next.js .

Remix uses a simple method of adding styles to a page using the <link rel ="stylesheet"> tag. When you add a link to a stylesheet, you can use the link module in the Remix routing to export the layout.

Let's summarize the results

Remix improves the developer experience with new abstractions and user interaction by distributing less JavaScript. But Next.js has a more extensive user base and more significant resources allocated to its development by the Vercel team.

Remix is mainly used for personal projects and toy applications.

On the other hand, Next.js is used in many production applications.

In general, Remix is a reliable framework, and in 2022 it will become more widespread. But when working with production-level applications, use Next.js would be an obvious choice as it has proven itself well and enjoys the support of the community.

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Also a couple more points of comparison in short:

-Remix is just as fast or even faster than Next.js, when serving static content.

-Remix is faster than Next.js, when serving dynamic content.

-Remix provides fast user interaction even on slow networks.

-Remix automatically handles errors and interrupts, Next.js does not do this.

-Next.js supports client—side JavaScript to serve dynamic content, but Remix does not.

-Next.js requires client-side JavaScript for data mutations, Remix does not require

-Build time Next.js increases linearly with your data, the build time of the Remix does not depend on the data.

-Next.js requires you to change the architecture of the application and sacrifice performance when scaling data.