Glossary
What is Next.js?
Next.js is an open-source framework, built on React and maintained by Vercel, for building websites and web applications that can render pages on the server, at build time or in the browser.
How it works
React is a library for building interfaces; on its own it leaves routing, data loading and rendering choices to you. Next.js adds those. Each page or route can be generated ahead of time as static HTML, rendered on the server for each request, or a mix of both, while interactive parts still run as React in the browser.
Next.js was first released in 2016. Sites can be deployed to Vercel, to other hosts that support it, or to your own servers.
Why it matters for B2B websites
A visual builder covers most marketing sites. Next.js is the step up when the website has to do more than present pages: pricing calculators tied to real data, a docs portal, a customer login, a product demo inside the site, or content pulled from a headless CMS and your own systems.
Because pages are rendered as HTML, Next.js sites can be fully readable by search engines and AI crawlers, unlike React apps that only render in the browser. The trade-off is that every change goes through developers and a deployment.
Good fit and poor fit
- Good fit: sites with app-like features, logins, integrations or custom data
- Good fit: companies with developers who will own the code
- Good fit: moving off an AI-generated or client-side React prototype
- Poor fit: a marketing site that non-developers need to change every week
Example
A startup’s first site was generated with an AI app builder as a client-side React app, and its pages show up nearly empty to AI crawlers. Rebuilding it in Next.js keeps the same design and components but serves each page as HTML.
How we handle it
We use Next.js when a site needs custom logic or will be owned by an engineering team, with a CMS so marketers can still edit content. See Next.js development, or moving a Lovable or Bolt site to Next.js.
Last updated 15 November 2026
