Next.js

Why deploy Next.js on Render?

Next.js is a React framework used for building server-side rendered and statically generated web applications. It simplifies the development process by providing built-in features such as file-system based routing, automatic code splitting, and hybrid rendering, removing the need for complex build configurations.

Instantly deploy a production-ready Next.js app using a pre-configured Blueprint that handles all build steps and runtime settings, bypassing the need for manual server provisioning or complex pipeline configuration. This setup leverages Render's managed Node.js environment to provide out-of-the-box features like automatic SSL and zero-downtime deploys, while allowing you to easily toggle between a dynamic Web Service or a high-performance Static Site architecture via the render.yaml.

What you can build

This template deploys a minimal Next.js application with active client-side routing between two example pages. It provisions a Node.js web service by default, while including configuration options to switch to a static site export. The result is a live environment ready for the immediate development of React components and navigation structures.

Key features

• File-System Based Routing: Utilizes the src/pages directory structure to automatically map files like index.js and about.js to application routes.
• Universal Link Navigation: Implements next/link for seamless client-side routing between pages without full browser refreshes.
• Render Blueprint Configuration: Includes a render.yaml file to define Infrastructure as Code for automated deployment to Render.
• Dual Deployment Modes: Supports toggling between a dynamic Node.js web service and a static site export via next.config.mjs configuration.

Use cases

• Students learning basic client-side routing between Next.js pages.
• Developers bootstrapping a multi-page app with Render deployment.
• Frontend engineers building a static site with export configuration.
• Full-stack devs launching a dynamic Node.js web service.

Next steps

1. Open your service URL — You should see the home page content defined in src/pages/index.js
2. Click the link to the About page — The URL should change to /about and display the content from src/pages/about.js
3. Refresh the browser while on the /about page — You should see the About page reload correctly, confirming server-side routing is active

Resources

• Next.js official site