Did Your Project Really Need Next.js?

Recently, I’ve been seeing more and more teams migrating projects from Next.js to TanStack . Cases like Inngest , which reduced local dev time by 83%, OpenPanel , and Documenso are becoming increasingly common. And every time I read one of these stories, I can’t help but wonder: was Next really the right choice from the start? Don’t get me wrong. I’m aware of the challenges since the Pages Router to App Router migration , the impact this had on the developer experience , discussions around Vercel lock-in , and even some security concerns that emerged along the way. But maybe the main point isn’t “Next is bad.” Perhaps the real question is: did most of these projects really need to use Next in the first place? What Next.js Really Is Next is primarily, an opinionated framework for building React applications, with a huge focus on server-side rendering. It was designed for SSR , ISR , SSG , and all those letters Vercel helped popularize. The initial goal was very clear: pre-render as much