Technology
Next.js
Next.js is how a company site, a SaaS, or a tool lives on a repository you own. App Router, a CMS your team can use, and previews you can refuse.
What it is
Next.js is Vercel's React framework for production websites: routing, server rendering, static generation, API routes, and a build that understands the server and the browser as one app. It is how a lot of serious marketing sites and a lot of SaaS products actually ship React.
The App Router, Server Components, and a file-based map of the site are the current shape. You still write React. Next.js decides when HTML is made, how a URL maps to a page, and how a preview deploy gets a link. TikTok's web presence, Notion, and a long list of retailers have shipped on it.
What it does
Teams use Next.js when they want React without pretending a single-page app is a good first paint. Content sites, authenticated products, and hybrids that share a design system all land here. Vercel is the default host. The app can still run on Node elsewhere.
We use it as the default for company sites and product UIs we intend to keep. Preview URLs for every change. The repository is yours. Next is how we ship, not how we keep you.
Why we use it
The framework we ship production sites on.
Server rendering where it helps, static where it can be, a CMS that publishes into the same repo. Auth, billing, and mail are code next to the UI, not a zap. The same team writes the design and the routes, so nothing is lost in a handoff.
If you cannot clone the repo and run the site, you do not own the work.
Built on it
TikTok
The web app is a high-traffic Next.js product.
Notion
Has used Next.js for marketing and product web surfaces.
Hulu
A widely cited Next.js streaming site.
Nike
Has shipped large commerce and campaign sites on Next.js.
OpenAI
ChatGPT's web app and openai.com have been Next.js properties.
Tell us what needs to ship.
You use a working prototype before the production build goes ahead.